We at Lounging Hound are now half way through the first official iteration of development. Progress has been steady, and each day sees us spending more and more time in the zone coding. Our momentum is growing :) Our CI is up and providing us with valuable feedback (more on this later!).
Currently we are working on a prototype, which is a simple demonstration of our ideas. Simple is key. Simple has now become a mantra. Right now, we get the most value by writing simple features, then adding ideas for extending or refactoring to the backlog. We want simple features, not perfectly designed ultimate solutions.
This goes hand in hand with our (excuse buzzword) Agile development approach. Our requirements and features are addressed incrementally, and so is our design. It's more important to get a basic implementation up, tested, and evaluated before attempting to refine or improve it. This formal feedback cycle has helped us nail down several core concepts already. It also encourages communication on designs.
Once way we communicate is through open debate/banter. An issue/problem/concern is raised (when we are not in the zone, obviously!), and we explore it in an ego-less and open way. The exercise of explaining and defining a problem will help you find the REAL problem, and ultimately a good solution. If the outcome is "I'm not sure what I'm trying to do", dig a little deeper!
We have also started to embrace the Python way of programming. In C#, classes are your everything. In Python, classes are just one tool in your tool kit. Sometimes it's better to write a function, or use a simple public variable. Think in terms of functional modules.
Our quest continues. There is so much more to learn. And this excites us!
"There is no spoon". "There is no spoon?". "There is no spoon!" | 
