BACKGROUND
Can you please provide a brief description of your company and the role that you play there?
We’re a Pan-European pure IT [information technology] business-to-business online player. We previously focused primarily on print applications but we’re no longer in print and now only found online. We have a brand of journalists in each country, we have offices and dedicated teams to write stories. My job in France is to manage the technical team and maintain all of our websites.
What is the name of your application, and what is its main purpose?
GoodBarber has helped us to develop a number of apps. They’ve done apps for our offices in six different countries, with four to six apps per country. We are a large publisher, so our apps are centered on content and articles. We don’t really have apps with functionalities like games. Our main goal is to enable people to read our stories on their mobile. GoodBarber’s solution is really nice because it’s easy for us to use and maintain, and we have great apps available for our users in all their mobility usage.
Please describe your role in the initial app development process and your current engagement with app development or content updates?
GoodBarber has helped us to develop increased functionality to be able to have more than just the standard SDK [software development kit] available. They have a lot of back-end tools where we can choose to sort which app server we want to use, which makes it very simple for us. We have so many apps to manage that it was important to us that the software back-end was intuitive to use. Then, for our app statistics, GoodBarber helped us to plug and play our Google Analytics system, and they have their own analytics offering as well. They’ve provided a great tool where we can manage everything very simply. This helps us a lot because if we had to do it ourselves, it would have taken us quite a lot of time and money.
How would you describe your app development skill level, such as beginner, some coding experience, expert, and so on?
Beginner. The people on my team are developers, but no one had knowledge of developing apps in iOS and Android.
OPPORTUNITY/CHALLENGE
What was the business challenge your company was facing that incited the need for a mobile application and what was the business goal that you were hoping to accomplish?
We’ve been working with GoodBarber to develop all the mobile apps for all of our brands. We are not big enough of a company to maintain our websites and develop mobile and tablet apps internally. We started working with GoodBarber nearly seven years ago. We had no one on our team that had any experience developing apps for Android and iOS. When we started developing for Blackberry and Nokia we realized how time-consuming app development was.
What app platforms did you want to build an app for? Did it matter to your business whether the app was a hybrid or native app?
Android and Apple. They’re all native apps.
SOLUTION
Did your company have a formal selection process for deciding on a mobile app development software? Was your company considering other software or possibly a mobile app development service provider?
GoodBarber did quite a lot for us because we were their first publisher with a Pan-European requirement. They had to set up the apps in all languages. They helped us to make sure the apps were up to the latest standards.
Did you initially begin with the software’s free version or trial period? What pricing plan does your company currently utilize?
The cost of developing an app independently is between €10,000 and €20,000 each [approximately $11,800 and $23,600], and we have 26 apps. So, it would have been a lot of money. With GoodBarber, it’s not that much. If I had to recruit developers to maintain all of these apps it would have been a lot of work and money.
When was the application published and to which application stores?
We have the apps in the Android and Apple stores.
RESULTS & FEEDBACK
Can you share any success, metrics, or overall results of your application since publication?
I would say GoodBarber is a top-of-the-line app solution.
FEATURES
The next series of questions is a chance to speak to specific feature areas of the software. Can you speak to the available development tools, such as templates and drag and drop?
The template selection is great. There’s lots of designs to choose from. Sometimes, we asked them to help with an original design and logo, and they did it for us. In terms of navigation, it’s just very easy to use.
Can you speak to the content management system, such as how do you upload new data or make changes?
Managing our content is very easy. When I want to make changes, I can see how the app will look before I update it. You can change the design, the navigation mode, the icons, the category, and all of this is based on just a feed. You put in your content feed, and will have a display of what the user sees on the other end. What I really like is that we don’t need to resubmit the app to the Apple Store, unless it’s a big change to the SDK [software development kit].
Are you satisfied with the social media, push notifications, and gamification integration options available?
We allow our journalists to send out push notifications. They are able to choose the news they wish to push out, and pinpoint which of our subscribers will receive a notification, and the pushes are extremely easy to create.
Were there any software features and tools that you were really impressed by, of which potential buyers should be aware?
Overall, ease of use. I use their solution personally for my church. I have no knowledge of app development, and it was easy to choose a template that suited my purpose. There are so many choices. It can even fit something for a church.
Looking back, were there any areas of the software that you felt were not intuitive or that you feel could be improved upon?
At times, we need a specific piece of original development. The turnaround time can sometimes take quite a bit time because GoodBarber is not a very large company. Apart from that, we’ve been completely satisfied.
OVERVIEW
We have a few quick questions, and for each question we ask you to rate the software on a scale of one to five, with five being the best. What you give the software for ease of use in the development process?
Five.
What would you give the software for quality of features available?
Five.
For support, as in responsiveness, communication, and resources available?
Four and a half.
For cost, as in value for your money and the time dedicated to development?
Five.
For overall usability and satisfaction with the software?
Five. For what you have at the end, I think it’s really great.
How likely are you to recommend the software to a colleague?
Five.
