Ridván is a consultancy helping people navigate software and operating during an age of transition.

Services

Ridván offers beautiful and high quality websites distinguished for their high performance, their mobile first design, accessibility, and careful optimization for search engine results. This means that you will have immediate load times and smooth experience viewing the site, it will look great and run well on phones and small screens, it will be highly useable by blind and low sight users, and as you start sharing the website online it will be built to quickly rise in search results. Also included are analytics for page visits and marketing campaigns that give you information about the site usage while also respecting your visitors and not burdening them with cookies or invasive tracking. These sites are hosted efficiently for low cost and high security.

I also build mobile apps for both Android and iOS . Here I’ll help with the whole process: fleshing out a design, weighing costs and platform restrictions, app branding and logos, the actual building of the app, meeting the requirements for both of the app stores, a professional look on the store page, deploying to the stores, a beautiful and optimized marketing website with analytics.

There are also many well established software platforms such as blogs, scheduling tools, team chat, forums, feature voting tools, and the like. In these cases there will be many options available, and I try to keep a close eye on which tools are in a healthy place and might meet the needs of a client. In the case that one of these tools is ideal I can support getting up and running and making the most of it, managing hosting, customization etc.

In many cases the needs will call for a custom solution. This may be a single script to automate a common process or sort data that we can host on a webpage, or a full featured desktop application. Ridván can help with all of these. In any case an initial consultation can help us start to describe the objective and map a path forward. Sometimes it turns out that a simple, but very specific solution goes a long way and saves hours of tedious labor. Others the solution is found just in connecting the client with readily available resources and tools.

Tools

I primarily write Javascript, because it is well rounded, has a large community, fast, and it runs everywhere. The Rust language is a second choice for its small size, speed, and safety. On the web I build interfaces with React, Nextjs, Solidjs for fast load times, and smooth browsing experience for the visitor. Tailwindcss is a go to for styling for its strong community, well thought out defaults, and quick development time. For mobile apps I use React Native and Expo to cut some of the cost associated with cross platform mobile development. For static site hosting I use cloud flare pages and similar services for the great CD experience, security, speed, and security. For virtual machines and hosting I use Ubuntu, and often Docker as they are standard, well documented, and customizable. This is where we will often host blogs, forums and the like. Preferred options for custom server software are Nodejs, Deno and Rust. Finally for desktop applications with a graphical user interface I love Tauri for its easy cross platform builds and small bundle size.

Pricing

I think that negotiating costs can best accommodate both parties. By this I do not mean the self interested type of negotiation where each party tries to get the best for itself. Rather the type of discussion similar to members of a family exploring how they can together reach the best possible future for everyone. In the process information shared and we better learn one another's circumstances. The best agreements will leave both parties very happy and more united.

Because projects will vary so greatly in scope it is difficult to put an up front cost, but here are some general ideas. Static websites (where the content doesn’t change) will tend to be more inexpensive. Mobile apps on the other hand are inherently expensive because the work of getting into the app stores, we are designing for two platforms and the platforms tend to be error prone. Online platforms such as forums, social media, blogs etc will have a recurring monthly cost. The cost of a project will also increase with a more urgent timeline or more specific client control over the end product.

Overall it is an aim of Ridván to make these tools available to those with lofty aims independent of finances. I am happy to barter, trade, and provide circumstance based discounts.