Not long ago we stumbled upon a really interesting WP7 app which was so simple and useful, that we absolutely needed to find out more about it.

Consequently, we contacted its developer (Squirrelinabox Media) and we aimed a couple of questions at them regarding the development process for Activity Roulette and whether or not are they planning to keep the app updated.

Read through the interview below and learn more about Squirrelinabox Media, the man behind the company and some other interesting Windows Phone 7 related issues.

1. We’re eager in finding out more about the man behind Squirrelinabox Media. Who is the person behind the company and what can you tell us about yourself?

Right now (and for the foreseeable future) Squirrelinabox Media is a one man team consisting of just me… Jeremy. I was born and lived most of my life in California and am currently living in Ohio. I have been in the software industry for a little over ten years working full time as a software developer at various companies doing mostly web related projects.

In fact, I still have a full time job while I pursue my own websites and WP7 apps on the side. It’s definitely difficult finding time to do even more software when I already do 8+ hours worth each week day.

2. Considering that developing WP7 apps involves some coding experience, do you have any background in software development?

As mentioned above, I have quite a bit of experience developing software. While most of my experience is web based, I have done some Windows Mobile 5/6 development in the past as well.

3. We’ve noticed that this is your first Windows Phone 7 app and we were wondering: why have you chosen to develop apps for WP7?

Pretty much since I graduated from college a little over ten years ago, I’ve been developing software almost exclusively using Microsoft technologies. My “weapons of choice” are definitely C#, SQL, and Visual Studio and while SQL doesn’t really play much of a part in WP7 apps, my experience with C# and Visual Studio makes developing for the Windows Phone an easy choice.

I actually held off on getting a smart phone until the new Windows Phone 7 devices came out, specifically because of my plans to do WP7 apps. This meant I was carrying around a 4+ year old flip phone way too long. I even had to switch my phone provider since I was on Verizon and they had no WP7 devices.

4. Activity Roulette is somewhat of a unique app, so we’re curious in finding out how did you come up with the idea and how long did it take for you to make it happen?

I wanted my first app do be something I’d actually enjoy using myself while also being something different that I haven’t really seen in the marketplace. The other big thing I wanted out of my first app was that I wanted it to be a great learning experience for me for future projects.

So this meant the app had to implement the metro design in a variety of ways (panorama views, scroll viewers, progress bars, etc.) and it had to take advantage of a multitude of different WP7 capabilities (local storage, web service communications, accelerometer, local settings, etc.).

I feel that Activity Roulette accomplished both goals, and as such, has given me a much better understanding of WP7 development so that I will be able to create new apps much more efficiently.

5. Are you planning to keep the app updated? What new features are we to expect in the near future?

Absolutely. I have a rather large list of to-dos for the app that I hope to implement gradually. I definitely don’t want over complicate the app though, so a big thing is going to make sure whatever I add doesn’t take away from the simplicity of what the app is right now.

While I don’t want to spill too many beans about what may be coming in the future, I will say that I want to add more abilities to find and organize roulettes/categories. Whether that means adding a favorites section, a frequently used section, or “don’t show again” buttons on activities – I think that once more and more people start creating roulettes, there will be a need for people to be able to easily find and organize roulettes they want to use. I also want to add some social features but how exactly is something I’m keeping under wraps for now.

The great thing about Activity Roulette is that the content is constantly being updated by the users so there will always be new roulettes for people to check out as long as they keep coming back to create more.

6. How about any plans for new apps? Do you have something in the works that you’d like to share with us? Spoilers?

I currently have a constantly growing list of ideas I want to implement. Because I’m pretty far from releasing any of these planned projects, I don’t really want to give out any specifics. What I can say is that my next few releases will most likely be games since I have a few ideas that are pretty original that I think would really be fun to make – and hopefully even more fun to play.

7. Both the WP7 SDK and the Mango SDK have received high praises from developers. What are your impressions; is there something missing or is there something you’d like to add?

Because I’ve had many years of experience using Microsoft Visual Studio and C#, transitioning to WP7 development was incredibly easy. I hadn’t worked with Silverlight before, so there was a little bit of a learning curve adjusting to that environment, but there are quite a few great tutorials and examples online that made sure nothing stumped me for too long.

The only big issue I had during development was that there is no “nice” way of handling when the app can’t connect to an external source (such as a Web Service to pull data). There are actually quite a few complaints on the development forums about this so hopefully Microsoft provides a fix in a future update.

8. Is there any message or piece of advice (when it comes to developing or promoting WP7 apps) that you would like to share with our readers?

I think the two biggest things needed to make an app great are a unique idea and great execution (which really goes for pretty much all types of products). The marketplace is filled with copies and poorly realized ideas.

If you can come up with something truly unique and are able to implement that idea properly, then your app should find an audience. Sure, there’s still some luck involved in trying to get the word out, but if you make something that you would love to have on your own phone, then so would other people and they will spread the word for you.

Thanks again WP7Lab for featuring Activity Roulette and doing such a great job covering the great platform that is Windows Phone 7!

We would like to officially thank Jeremy for taking the time and answering our questions and we hope that we can do this again some other time. Keep up the great work and we can’t wait to see more of your great apps.