#ThisGirlCan! Moyinoluwa Adeyemi develops Yoruba watch face for the android smart watch!

When I hear of a fabulous software engineer who is female, Nigerian, and has already created A YORUBA WATCH APP for the android smart watch, you tend to feel nothing but pride and warm fuzzy feelings.

Below is an excerpt of Moyinoluwa Adeyemi’s work life taken from another platform, Not of Code. Please read it at length, but before you do, totally download the app if you have a smart watch! It’s just too fabulous for words!

GO TO GOOGLE PLAY FOR APP DOWNLOAD >>

Growing up, not many of us had a clear vista about our ambitions in life and the same holds true for Moyinoluwa Adeyemi, a geek whose decisions, overtime, have been guided by values, and the gradual discovery of preferences. Moyin’s twin interest in Mathematics and Science saw her opting for Computer Science as a course of study at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. But then, as she put it, this didn’t spur her to become a programmer; the desire to “create cool stuff” just like her friends who are developers did.

From creating a directory app for her students’ fellowship out of sheer generosity, to deploying a culture-conscious widget that tells the clock in Yoruba language on Android wear, Moyin devises a connection between mesmerising techie solutions and simple everyday needs.

Apart from being a Software Engineer, she’s also a co-organizer at Google Developers Group (GDG Lagos).

Your location: Lagos, Nigeria.

Current gig (Place of work and role): Software Engineer at Swifta Systems

A word that describes how you work: Agile

Current mobile device (Apple or Android fangirl?): Android. 3 of them actually. All of them are test devices ?

Current computer: Macbook Pro

List of Apps or software you can’t live without: Aldiko, Nike+, Timely, Chrome, Uber, Keep

Describe your social media life in one sentence: Working on it.

What’s your best time-saving shortcut?

I avoid meetings unless they are absolutely necessary. Personally, I prefer addressing issues as soon as they come up. I also turn off internet connection on my mobile phone to avoid distracting notifications.

Do you use a to-do list manager?

I use Google Keep. I like adding a bit of context to some of my tasks. Also, I like being able to access them from all my devices including the watch.

GO TO GOOGLE PLAY FOR APP DOWNLOAD >>

Tell us about your Android watch design and the big idea you’re aiming for in the immediate.

So I’ve been on an Android Watch Face creating spree lately. I created an analog one for the Radar community and then a digital one for a popular Nigerian company whose name is similar to that of the South African hero. One Friday evening after work, I looked at a clock and thought “What if it could tell the time in Yoruba?” I then asked questions on Twitter and Facebook and picked the brains of a few of my friends, especially Dayo Oluokun. There was also this very helpful website that gave me ideas.

I remembered a couple of lessons on semantics from my Natural Language Processing class in school. So I put two and two together from all I had garnered and after 5 hours still on the same spot, I had a working prototype of a watch face that tells the time in Yoruba.

GO TO GOOGLE PLAY FOR APP DOWNLOAD >>

I didn’t even think too much of it until I posted the picture of the watch face on social media and people started asking what library I did the translations with, which were actually created by me from scratch just by studying the Yoruba patterns. I plan to upload it to Google Play and it will probably be the first ever indigenous watch face app on the store.

Copied with kind permission from Not of Code, where you can read the interview in full.