Behind the scenes : The making of Podcast

The time when you were about to settle down with a great book and instead grasped a pair of earphones to make the learning as fun as entertainment.

MyTravaly developed its own podcast to experience both listening and creating in a much more amusing way than ever, and here we disclose the making of the platform, the people engaged at the back of the screen and obstacles faced - in detail for your knowledge. 

Our software engineer Mr.
Ankit Kumar went a long way to build this sensory experience by creating and bringing this podcast at your disposal and here in this interview enlightens us upon this action-packed and passionate journey in the rear of the scenes and the tests and trials linked to the captivating experience of the software developers who go ham to provide an interface that we use every moment. 

What were the challenges that you were facing initially in the making of the podcast?

At the initial stage, I would say, I was having difficulty analyze the look of the web page through which the podcast will be accessed or created, I was struggling to make it look attractive, regarding the positioning of different buttons, entering space, the cover image of the podcast and their interface. After a lot of attempts, I made one that wasn't that appealing. 

I also couldn't understand the other features we could add to make it more fun and engaging, how to include the feature of recording through HTML and save that through PHP which is completely different in terms of coding and also wasn't easy compared to other aspects. 

If someone significantly helped you in this whole process, if yes then how?

 I had the strong and constant support of our CEO, Mr. Hamlet Roy, he had my back all through the straining process of the creation, but the most impressive was the pinpoint design of the web page of the podcast, the defined interface which is designed by Hamlet himself and is impressive, clear and friendly. I was given access to the live server for testing for which I felt elated, suggested the other unique features that we could add to make it more exciting for our users and also the other challenges that I could tackle was all because of his constant guidance and support, so yeah he has a big role materializing this Idea. 

What do you think are some of the best features that you could make in this podcast?

The best features that we could make is the live recording access to let the users record directly through our podcast and upload them right away, along with that the addition of background music is something really fresh we think it'll add to the fun of hearing and delivering a podcast, the feature of commenting and replying to enable the creator know about the listener's feedback or simply react to make evident through minimum effort. We are working on it, soon we will let our users enjoy such live streaming. 

 What was the toughest thing that you faced but eventually overcome?

The toughest thing that I found while doing the task was in technicalities and after a few days before completion had given up on it already and handed over all the progression to CEO saying I won't be able to do XD. 

Somehow I happened to struggle more with it and randomly approached my colleagues and they suggested me an API of which initially I did not understand anything about but eventually hustling with it reaching other websites help and support to understand it better to program according to my needs and then finally gave it a second try and it worked locally, so now I had to work more to make it live which I eventually accomplished after a few more failed endeavors due to some in-discrepancies in the code functioning, but yeah I finally did it after overcoming all the inconveniences and feel ecstatic about it. 

One thing that you think was easy but turned out a little tough while executing. Mention something that was challenging as well as enjoyable in the whole process.

Yeah, regarding that I feel I had trivialized the amount of work to be put-in for implementation of the background music in the podcast', it turned out quite challenging as well as strenuous while on go with all the volume level adjustments which use to exceed the volume of the podcast itself for which I had to reprogramme the API  and overcome some other small difficulties too. 

The whole making of the podcast I  would say was challenging as well as an enjoyable experience for me.  The concept of the podcast along with all these happening features was a whole new concept for me, I kind of work from scratch because I wasn't even fully aware of what a podcast is all about and then created it through hook n crook and successfully transformed the idea into a reality so yeah it was an enjoyable journey for sure.

What are some of the future enhancements you're going to make with it and how have you planned working them out.

Regarding the enhancement, we are working on enabling the platform to live steam podcasts for which we think we'll soon be introducing which would be a completely different experience going live with the podcast building fanbase, engaging audience, various sessions, etc. I would also like to make our interface a little more user friendly and fun interacting with, also would be soon optimizing to enable it to load faster, adding compression features so that the files being uploaded takes less space and time. Also, I would like to add an audio trimming feature for a more convenient user experience on our podcast. 

How was the experience overall, was it close to what you had expected before beginning with it, if not what were the amendments?

It has been far beyond my expectations. I initially couldn't think of much features but once started working eventually the ideas and enhancements smoothly incorporated in along with the support  I could implement them successfully by myself which was thrilling likewise the progression was laudable and for which I feel elated as everything happened just in front of my eyes with all the efforts put in with astounding results and so had been far beyond anywhere near my assumptions of how it could be.

Something significant things you learned out of this experience in terms of technicalities. 

I had heard before that working with javascript is easier than working with Java, and was dumbfounded hearing and wasn't certain of how can it be possible, this experience not only made me agree to it but also let me easily implement this.    

Due to this enthralling experience working on Mytravely's community podcast I had a lot to work with Javascripts and in the process, I got more and more comfortable working with it, used to find it quite inconvenient working before and wasn't much fluent with it, In this journey I closely and actively had to deal with the language and therefore got to know more and more of it and eventually I learned dealing with it easily for which I would remain obliged to this experience. Also, I learned some more interesting features like implementing real-time updates which is quite intriguing for developers like us.

Was the experience fun or more learnable due to some unique work culture or element of MyTravaly? How easily are you likely to cope with similar challenges in the future due to this experience?

I think everything more or less would've remained the same except the constant support of our CEO which isn't common about a CEO personally addressing the difficulties and has your back to deal along with the direct support, so this is something I feel quite unique and amazing along with the challenging and growth-oriented experience at MyTravaly.

I am sure of creating something much more exciting and adding more interesting features upon making of a podcast or similar platforms due to the experience gained upon this journey because this time I'd be playing upon experience and not from scratch, an experience in which I learned here a great deal out of different facets of building a platform as this podcast can be. 

How do you think podcasts' can make people's lives more happening or add some significant changes?

Podcasts can be life-changing both in terms of making as well as listening when there is a world of diverse options to involve with for example listening to a meditation podcast can help your mind power down, soothe and activate brain cells, reduce stress and anxiety by a great deal in this fast pacing world can be a boon for senior citizens. Likewise, if one hears a comedy podcast the laughter, excitement, and cheer reduce the level of cortisol reducing anxiety or stress other people like to put up with news and other genres of their choices, well studies prove that podcasts stimulate mental imagination and imagery more intensely than watching TV or reading texts.

While creating a podcast is a success due to the current trend for the social networking strategy, the time-saving concept due to listening while completing other tasks and if interesting can be a great company in solace, being an efficient form of communication due to a personal effect and a technology which is on-demand.

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