The Zaarly Blog

Last month, I became sick for about 10 days.

My entire body felt like a combination of strep throat and how those zombies probably felt in 28 Days Later.

This illness got me thinking about my childhood.

When I was a kid and felt sick, I remember lying in bed with my sheets covering my face.

I would shout random war cries and hold my breathe to make my cheeks bright red - and I’d wait for my Mom to enter my room.

Once we agreed that my illness warranted a day full of Cameron Crowe movies and “sick kid” food, I started to make my requests.

The first thing that I would always ask for: Mama Rosenberg’s homemade chicken noodle soup. 

I’m not sure why every human asks for chicken noodle soup when they feel sick, but it’s always been my cure - and my Mom’s soup is magic.

But then you become an adult and life changes and you move away from your Mom - far away from her chicken noodle soup.

Here is what they do not tell you as as a kid:

When you are an adult, you will still get sick, and you will still ask yourself, “who is making me homemade chicken noodle soup?”

My Mom lives an hour way. She would deliver soup if I called her (I love you for that Mama), but it’s not a practical 28 year-old son request anymore. 

So when I got sick last month, I found Ford on Zaarly and asked him to cook and deliver homemade soup for me. 

Ford is often described as “Martha Stewart meets MacGyver” and his Zaarly reviews for homemade chicken noodle soup are perfect. 

Ford responded within minutes and delivered the most amazing homemade chicken noodle soup since my Mom’s batch in 5th grade. 

Even better, Ford checked in with me throughout the week to make sure that I was feeling better, just like a family member would. 

People always ask why Zaarly is different.

Zaarly connects you with amazing people. You meet people who care about you and become part of your daily life. 

When you are sick, they will bring you homemade chicken noodle soup - and they will make sure you’re feeling better, even after the deal is done. 

You will be happier in your neighborhood when you discover these talented people and hire them when you need help.

I know am happier because I met Ford. Oddly enough, I kind of look forward to getting the sniffles again. 

-Jeff Morris Jr.

(you can find me on twitter @jmj and be my best friend if you agree that homemade chicken noodle soup will save the world)

Products can be built in many different ways. But, no matter what the process, usually the end goal is always the same. A simple, useful and meaningful product that people love. 

We just released Zaarly 3.0. We wanted to share a few early sketches that we made on a favorite iPad app of ours, Paper.  

Many of the ideas below were killed, edited or morphed into something different. The editing process of going from an idea to an end product is the best and most challenging part. Paper really was a fun place to start.

Paper has a way of making things look and feel beautiful and focused yet not overly detailed so you can make core UI decisions that aren’t about the pixels.

You can see a lot of the new Zaarly (web and mobile) in many of these sketches. Many you can’t because they never made it to life. Hope you enjoy some of the thoughts behind these sketches. 

A few of Matt Donovan’s Sketches:

A few of Erica Burnett’s Paper Sketches:

A few of My Paper Sketches:

- Shane Mac - Zaarly.com