As I inch closer to releasing iFeltThat to the App Store, it really hit me today how an independent developer working in his or her bathrobe needs quite a closet full of hats to do what I consider to be the right things for such an application.

The application design and coding parts seem like distant memories now — my Programmer and UI Designer hats seem a bit dusty. I spent a lot of time not only mapping out the application, but eating my own dog food during the development process to (I hope) make the app behave the way users expect. I’ve had good usability feedback from testers, and I’ve watched some of them play with various versions. My QA Engineer hat is still on a nearby peg.

As an avowed non-graphic artist with zero budget, I fretted most about both the application icon and 16 related icons within the application. A great scheme for the group of 16 eventually came to mind, but then I had to figure out how to accomplish it with what little I knew about some old (CS2) versions of Photoshop and Illustrator on my system. That hat was labeled Beginning Graphic Arts Student.

I happened upon an intriguing piece of artwork that would be adaptable to the application icon. Unfortunately, it took me several weeks to find the true source of the art (while wearing the Search Specialist hat), at which time my Rights Licensing Negotiator hat went on. With the rights issue concluded, I switched again to my Graphic Arts Student hat to make the artistic tweaks.

In the meantime, my Marketing hat popped on and off while trying to establish pricing and determining the optimum App Store category for my program. It’s not that easy when your program isn’t a game or a fart machine. I’ll soon put on my Sales hat to write the App Store description.

Also in the meantime, I put on my Web Site Developer hat to put this part of my dannyg.com web site together to support iFeltThat and forthcoming programs. The template that I use for the rest of the site is not only dated, it’s butt-ugly. That led me to give iWeb a try, in the hope it can help me put a better-looking sub-site together. Because I’m not publishing this site to MobileMe, I’m thankful for my years of web development experience to perform manual adjustments needed to fit this into my existing site structure.

While that was going on, I decided to put together my user manuals in the form of video demonstrations. The number of hats to pull off that feat on my own is huge: Scriptwriter, Cameraperson, Voiceover “Talent”, Director, Video Technician, and Video Editor.

Once the application is released, I’ll be wearing the Sales and Public Relations Hack hats to let as much of the world know about the program as possible. I’m well aware that relying on the App Store to promote my app is a recipe for disaster.

It’s a good thing that I have a good head of hair, even at my age. With so many hats going on and off, I’ll be wearing my scalp to the bone.