AE Studio

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Chief Transformation Officer of a healthcare company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

The leading dermatology platform built by Derms for Derms to elevate patient care.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire AE Studio to accomplish?

• Build and structure a scalable website to support our growing digital presence and product roadmap

SOLUTION

How did you find AE Studio?

Online Search

Why did you select AE Studio over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned
• Technical Capabilities

How many teammates from AE Studio were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We had a need to fully rehaul and modernize our digital product and experience, as our legacy site was out of date with modern web and industry standards, and was difficult to maintain and scale for our digital transformation strategy. AE Studio audited our legacy website, proposed a new technology & data stack and plan of attack, and then went to work implementing our new digital product from the ground up. 

Along the way, they also handled critical improvements to fulfill changing, highly specific regulatory requirements, built out a headless CMS with Strapi so that we could push content changes ourselves in a no-code solution, and implemented a strong data stack for detailed analytics and reporting which has enabled us for increasingly sophisticated data science and AI offerings. 

Finally, AE's agile process allowed us to request new features and adjustments as we went along, and AE helped us estimate and prioritize work on an ongoing basis. We really appreciated AE's ability to handle different budgetary considerations depending on which phase of our strategy we were in, and our collaboration on our digital strategy and product roadmap has allowed us to drive innovation as industry leaders.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Fully integrated education learning platform with ability to generate user certificates 
• Scalable headless CMS and design for functionality 
• Data and analytics reporting for key digital programming 
• Integrated account authentication 
• Seamless site cutover with no technical failures or outages

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

AE managed the project utilizing both technology tools (PM software), daily standups, weekly account check ins, and multiple problem solving techniques to assure development and delivery remained in scope and on time.

What was your primary form of communication with AE Studio?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

AE Studio is technology- and innovation-driven - and their ability to jump in to understand our unique business and positioning, and partner with us on our journey sets them apart from the rest. We continue to partner with AE as we transform into a robust platform with unique and unparalleled offerings to our community through our digital offerings. They continue to provide strategic partnership as we develop our roadmap and providing line of site to cost, development and integration.

Are there any areas for improvement or something AE Studio could have done differently?

We continue to have a healthy and productive partnership with AE Studio.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CTO of a chemicals & biotechnology company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We build tools for synthetic biology.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire AE Studio to accomplish?

• Software development

SOLUTION

How did you find AE Studio?

Referral

Why did you select AE Studio over others?

• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from AE Studio were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

AE Studio first worked with us to scope out the requirements for our alpha and beta launch - these requirements were complex, and had critical dependencies on evolving hardware and lab operations requirements. AE then provided a full service team and built out our platform for alpha customers over the course of 3 months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

AE has a wide breadth of experience and capabilities across bioinformatics, full-stack development, product design, data science, and cloud infrastructure management and orchestration. They worked closely with our in-house bioinformatics team to build a custom cloud-based bioinformatics pipeline, in addition to handling the user-facing software product build from scratch.

Furthermore, AE Studio was very accommodating of changing lab requirements and hardware delivery delays, including rolling off team members and at times pausing the project while we waited for these dependencies to resolve - their attention to detail and budget were pivotal to allow us to land the alpha launch successfully, within our budgetary constraints at our early stage as a company.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

AE Studio provides multiple effective structures and fail-safes to ensure budget, timelines, and delivery are maximally de-risked and highly visible and transparent. AE held weekly Program Director calls with a technical partner at their company, to review updates on the project and plan for any changes in hardware delivery timelines and other dependencies, and pre–reacted accordingly by shifting team allocations to maintain our budgetary constraints. 

Their meticulous planning allowed us to navigate these challenges efficiently. They are also skilled at working independently but collaboratively, freeing up our time to focus on other parts of our product offering. In addition to strong async communication, they also held weekly agile meetings including a stakeholder demo each week to collect feedback from my team and non-technical colleagues, and also offered real-time support in tight alignment with our internal bioinformatics resources. These structures were the bedrock for ensuring the product launch landed effectively within our unique constraints.

What was your primary form of communication with AE Studio?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

AE Studio's attention to detail, flexibility, and agile planning allows us to move as efficiently as possible, while working around a variety of external dependencies and constraints. This, combined with their broad skillset across cloud-based product development, UI/UX, data science, and bioinformatics left me very impressed, and feeling secure and confident that the product was in the ideal hands to make us successful.

Are there any areas for improvement or something AE Studio could have done differently?

I can’t think of anything that AE Studio could’ve done better. They bring great people and skills to the table, which we couldn’t have done without.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Chief of Staff at a leading media & technology company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire AE Studio, and what were your goals?

We collaborated with AE Studio to launch our inaugural collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) built on the Flow blockchain.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We found AE Studio through a referral and ultimately partnered with them because of the team's strong domain expertise, familiarity with the Dapper Labs team, and proven track record.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

The AE Studio team helped build the web3 functionality on Flow, where users can purchase NFT packs that include a set of NFTs, allowing them to open packs to reveal and obtain the NFT assets included in their packs.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

There were 3 people in the core team, including a stellar CTO, technical project manager, and blockchain engineer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We were able to launch the first collection on time and fairly smoothly, and achieve our goal of selling out within 2 hours.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Despite working across various time zones, the team was effective and timely, holding weekly meetings, communicating swiftly on Slack, and always on call to assist.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

We had direct access to the whole team and they truly went above and beyond in their support and guidance.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

We were moving on an aggressive timeline and some steps (e.g. approvals) took longer than we'd hoped, although this was out of AE Studio's control.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of SIQ Basketball, a sports analytics hardware company that manufactures hardware inside a basketball. We connect to a mobile device via Bluetooth and provide advanced analytics for players on any court in the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AE Studio?

We were looking to refresh and improve our UX/UI, educate our consumers on using our product, and onboard new users.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

AE Studio did a complete mobile application redesign, from understanding what our product does from a core UX level to simplifying and streamlining the entire UX. We had a previous design, but they did everything from scratch. The team worked on the UX and general flow of the product. Then, they also provided a total redesign of the interface, including iconography, fonts, and colors for the brand identity.

Our main feature is connecting the basketball via Bluetooth. Once the ball is connected, users can shoot it, and the app provides plenty of analytics. For example, we can tell if the person made or missed the shot, the release speed and angle, the heat map, and more. AE Studio worked on the data visualization, and the app also has a lot of social components so users can compete and play with each other. Additionally, there’s a leaderboard to showcase global ranks. Overall, it has a lot of built-in network effects.

What is the team composition?

We have three people on the team. Greg (Partner & COO) oversees everything from a managerial position, and we work with one project manager and one UX/UI designer. We mainly work with these two, and then we have a weekly check with Greg just to make sure we’re all on the same page and within budget and time.

How did you come to work with AE Studio?

We’ve worked with Greg on other projects throughout the years, and we’ve always had a great experience working with AE Studio. They’ve been nothing but professional, and the team delivers amazing results — they’re always on time and within budget. Therefore, we didn’t have to fix something that wasn’t broken.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $25,000 on the first phase of the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We agreed to work with them about six months before we actually started the project. We had some internal delays, and they were patient and professional. We’ll continue the project once we implement what we’ve designed. Right now, we don’t have the capacity to continue, and we also need to learn more about what the consumer wants before we can make more changes.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

It’s been nice to work with a big fish. They’ve delivered professional results for our little startup. In terms of setting expectations and delivering goals, they were faster than expected and just right under budget.

Moreover, the entire process was incredible. We had a nuanced, specific niche, and Greg placed relevant designers to work on our project. Since we had a basketball-focused app, he found a designer who played basketball to work with us, which was incredibly helpful. We sent the product to the designer, and he actually took the product manager and shot the ball over 500 times to learn all the nuances of the app. Then, they applied those to the design process.

Overall, we’ve been thrilled with their process and learning the customers’ needs.

How did AE Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

We had a collaborative process. When the project was ongoing, they kept us updated every step of the way on how they were advancing the design. We interfaced through Sigma and Slack. Overall, the process was faster than expected and under budget, which was perfect.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re the most professional organization we’ve worked with. We’ve been lucky to find AE Studio and build a relationship with them over the last few years across multiple organizations. Everyone that I’ve referred to them has been very positive about their interactions. They’re borderline robotic in their process, which is a great thing for a service provider. It’s been an excellent experience, and whatever project we’re on to nex, they’ll be our top of mind.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Considering the resources and parameters we gave them, we couldn’t have expected a better outcome.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Their process is incredible, so trust it. However, you still have to put in the effort to communicate what you need. If you do it, they’ll deliver results.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and CTO for Mandolin. We’re a digital engagement platform for the live entertainment industry. The company was founded at the beginning of COVID-19 due to the shutdown of the music industry.

We initially focused on live streaming concerts. Since then, we’ve evolved into all aspects of digital live events, such as live streams, VIPs, and on-demand content. We also have web and mobile applications, and we’ve recently added our non-fungible token (NFT) platform for collectibles around the live experience.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AE Studio?

We were initially working with them on some data-related initiatives. We talked for 2–3 months about different projects as an early-stage startup. Our roadmap constantly evolved, especially since the pandemic was impacting our industry so significantly.

Therefore, we discussed data science projects around fan enrichment and how to understand our user base at a deeper level. Then, we got things going with our NFT project, and we worked with them this year on our data and Blockchain projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, AE Studio built the application to connect MetaMask wallets and integrated it with OpenSea SDK so we could put NFTs into our show experience for buying and bidding within the Mandolin platform. It took them four weeks.

After that engagement, we envisioned the 2.0 version of the platform, and they worked on a second project for 5–6 weeks. We leveraged a third-party platform called FullContact, and AE Studio built a custom data pipeline in AWS with Lambda and tied it to our authentication service. When a user registers or purchases a ticket, we bounce their email against FullContact, and it gives us publicly available information around demographics, household income, and so on to store the data in our data warehouse.

Then, we focused on NFT 2.0, which allows us to sell NFTs on our custom Shopify app. Users can buy those NFTs using fiat money or cryptocurrency, and we have a custom infrastructure using the polygon Blockchain solution for Ethereum and a built-in wallet powered by Magic.

Additionally, they did frontend development on React as part of the entire web application.

What is the team composition?

At any point, we had between 2–5 people. We had a project manager, a tech lead, and 2–3 senior developers.

For the last project, I was in charge of project management because we had a tight budget. Nonetheless, we’d already worked together, so we had that established rapport. We also had the same developers as the last iteration, so they knew the codebase.

How did you come to work with AE Studio?

They reached out to us. Jevan (Executive VP) sent an email back in November 2020, and it was a compelling outreach.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began the project in Mach 2021, and it ended in September 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We were able to get something off the ground very quickly. We had a well-sized engineering team, but we also had a lot of rigor in how we managed the project. Also, bringing them in to build something out was key, and it was a significant signal to the market that we’re really innovative.

On the data front, we were able to identify some segments within our fan data population, and our marketing team has been running some test campaigns to look for a lift in higher net-worth individuals.

How did AE Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

I’ve worked with many outsourced dev shops, and I like to develop requirements in real-time and move forward on a daily basis. In that sense, AE Studio was with us every step of the way. They had a project manager to keep the trains moving and ensure everybody was communicating well. Overall, we operated with flexibility.

What did you find most impressive about them?

First, the speed at which they were able to execute our requirements and their professionalism were impressive.

The project touched on five different parts of our infrastructure, from our web app and through our API and everything in between. They ramped up in a week, understood where things needed to plug in, and executed all at a high-quality level.

Moreover, the engineers were outstanding. It was great to work with people who could code, translate product requirements quickly, and communicate well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think so. We’re 100% satisfied with AE Studio, and we’ll definitely be doing business with them in the future.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re the type of organization that wants to build in a flexible and fast-paced manner, they’re a great partner for you. If you think something is too big for a given time frame, they’re willing to lean in and help find ways to get it done. They’re very product-minded.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the VP of Products at Prosperity Digital Marketplace, a wholly owned subsidiary of United Way Western Connecticut. We are building a marketplace like platform that aims to meet the needs of those who live paycheck to paycheck - a population that spanned 40% of the American population (pre-Covid)

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire AE Studio, and what were your goals?

As of today, there is a huge population that are defined as ALICE (Asset Limited Income Constrained, Employed) - these are people who work hard, often more than one job, but do not qualify for Social Services or Federal aids, because often, they make a dollar too much. COVID has also brought them into the spotlight - they are our essential workers. There is nothing currently available that can be an easy, one stop solution for all their needs - they are hardworking and proud and do not want to take away from those in need, and yet busy and do not have to time to jump hoops and spend hours trying to find what they maybe eligible for, that could make their life easier.

On the other side, there are businesses and non-profits that are aiming to help this population and give back to their community in a trusted manner. We aim to be that trusted solution that connects those who need the help to those who can help. A single platform that helps our users in all their needs, be it financial, career based, basic needs etc - that lends a hand up, not a hand out; one that can also be the single source for both business and non-profits to be able to expand their reach and offerings that help both the community and them in a way that they can trust that the people that get these benefits are the right ones.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

They came recommended by a trusted source. We interviewed them for technical capabilities and practices, and also looked up their reviews on Clutch and spoke to references.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

They have built a Strapi based platform that allows our stakeholders to build content, (offers, programs etc.) that can be made available to our users in way that that it gets customized to the needs of our users. Users have to apply to qualify as members. They had a discovery call where we discussed the scope of the project in detail, through discussion and some exercises, they got a sense of our priorities and vision. Together we prioritized the approach to be taken and have been delivering in 1 week sprints in an extremely agile, iterative and responsive manner.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

initially, 1 account manager, 2 to 3 developers and 1 product designer/product manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We were able to have. POC up and running in about 2 months! this gave us the ability to demo to investors, and have our stakeholders initiate content development, while we worked on refining features and build for security and scale. The interface designed is extremely modern and does not at all feel like a "social service site" . AE has been critical in providing us with solutions and tools to get what we need. Within the first month, we are averaging a 4% conversion rate for our funnel!

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Their project management style and communication are the best! Extremely transparent, really good with prioritization, taking ownership and very very responsive to stakeholder needs. We use Pivotal Tracker, Slack, GitHub and Heroku. Dev Ops has also been very smooth.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They are consistently great with their deliverables and the style of managing the project. This definitely reflects on their leadership and their ability to set company wide standards on soft skills, which is unique and refreshing. We are enjoying working with them and are assured in the quality we are receiving all around.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Once so far, there was miscalculation of effort, and gaps in communication, but they more than compensated in their efforts and results in delivering what was promised.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and co-founder of Indicator, an IT wellness company that currently focuses on developing a mobile application that measures cannabis effects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AE Studio?

We needed a team to help us make our MVP more user-friendly and integrate new functionalities.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Prior to AE Studio’s UX/UI efforts, they built our app's backend and performed data science-related tasks that led to machine learning and AI integration. Additionally, they created an AWS-based dashboard to help us view and sort our app's raw data. As for the design, their team implemented web visualizations and patterns that provided our users with an optimized viewing experience.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Greg (CTO), whom we met with regularly. From a project management standpoint, our main points of contact were Dan (Project Manager) and Ben (Product Designer & Manager).

How did you come to work with AE Studio?

Their team was referred to us by a friend who worked with them in the past. One of the main factors as to why we decided to go with their team was that they were the only agency that offered the range of services and expertise that we needed for our project.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from September 2020–March 2021. The entire timeline consisted of a two-month design and development sprint, internal testing, and limited data testing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We’ve successfully deployed our application to the App Store and as of writing, we have more than 500 organic downloads. AE Studio worked hard on improving the UX/UI of our platform, and we feel that we truly got what we paid for through their dedicated services.

How did AE Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly communicated via Slack. AE Studio was a responsive team that adjusted well to our preferences and canceled meetings. Additionally, they were also highly receptive to our feedback — we always received their edits and solutions within the day. The accuracy of their deliverables also sped up the entire process as we didn’t have to allocate too much time in going over the same things. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were truly pleased with the smooth flow of their work and our collaboration. AE Studio had a great balance of efficient communication skills and reliable expertise. Their technical knowledge was a pivotal aspect of our product’s success — they worked swiftly according to our timeline without sacrificing the quality of their deliverables.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I didn’t encounter any areas that needed improvement. Even when one of our sprints went behind our expectations, their team handled everything for us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very open in communicating your goals to AE Studio’s team and value their technical capacity —  AE Studio will take it from there and deliver what you need.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of RealSleep, which is a personalized plant-based sleep aid provider. We use plant-based ingredients to address personalized sleep issues and deliver customized formulas. We also include cannabinoid-derived ingredients like CBD and CBN in our formulas, so we’re categorized as a CBD company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AE Studio?

We wanted to enhance our website’s UX.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

AE studio built a quiz experience for our website. They used Sigma to build the quiz from scratch, using databases and records. We requested that it asked for the user’s name, age, gender, and sleep habits to help us provide personalized aid.

They also built a web-based app which was a mobile-compatible version of what they built for our website.

What is the team composition?

Arun (Data Scientist) was our project manager. We also worked with Greg (CTO) and Ed (Head of Data Science).

How much have you invested with them?

The full project’s cost was around $125,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March–May 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We’re in the data collection phase of the survey. We’ve installed Amplitude to track how many visitors we have and how much time they spend on our website. We’ll be in the tracking period for the next two weeks. We’ll then start our PR marketing push, so it’s too early to give specific metrics.

How did AE Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

We had a Slack channel where we had access to their leadership team and people working on the project. In addition, we had a 15-minute stand-up daily. On Tuesdays, we had working sessions to discuss what we were working on, and on Wednesdays, we had project review meetings with Greg and Ed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were always available when we needed to fix anything, and the speed at which they got to it was amazing. The scope was constantly changing, so I appreciated their flexibility and ability to add more members to get everything done on time, especially when we moved from a web-based survey to a mobile web app.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The design process could be improved. Usually, you tell them what you want, and after some iterations, you get to see it in action. However, our timing didn’t allow for the optionality that I believed would’ve helped us. Nevertheless, we were happy with the design — they did a great job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be as open as possible. Communicate often and tell them everything you want, and they will deliver.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Samsung NEXT is the innovation arm of Samsung. My role was Head of Platform at Samsung NEXT Ventures, leading programs, resources, and support for our portfolio of startups by leveraging Samsung's global reach and resources to help our startups get to their next phase of success.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire AE Studio, and what were your goals?

AE Studio worked with us to design and implement an exclusive hub for our startups to have all of the tools, advisors, and research needed to problem solve the challenges early stage startup leaders face.

They also helped us explore a tool we wanted to build for analyzing and leveraging strong professional network connections.

SOLUTION

How did you select AE Studio and what were the deciding factors?

We selected AE Studio for their teams' skills and knowledge best matching what we knew we wanted to accomplish, as well as their project leaders providing great clarity at the forefront on how we would accomplish our goals together.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We wanted an in-browser, mobile-friendly platform hub for our startups. We knew that we needed to honor our startup leaders' varied roles, from CEO to Finance to HR, in how we selected tools for notification and communication.

AE Studio was incredibly thoughtful in making sure we stayed focus on designing for our specific audiences and kept to scope. They were very good at managing expectations on timeline and what would be delivered in that timeline.

As far as I recall, they used fullstack JavaScript and used vendors such as Heroku and GitHub for easy handoff back to us to maintain.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

5 at its peak. They didn't always keep 5 positions because, depending on the phase of work, there wasn't much for them to do(which was very respectful of our budget and their time). Design, engineers, and lead.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

AE Studio worked with us a few times to iterate over the portal as we got data over time as to what we needed to change (they had nothing to work off of when we started for user feedback because we greenfielded).

By the end of our project work, thanks to suggestions from AE Studio, we had formed relationships with 20 startups who had been near silent with us prior and were able to provide quick expiring opportunities to our startups where prior we had 1 week turnarounds for any communication back and forth.

They empowered our org to build better relationships through providing real value to our startups.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

We had a regular weekly calendar of meetings, from design to debugging and demo/updates. From my experience, AE Studio offers a modern design-thinking focused project management style without spending too much time in the weeds of the brainstorming phase.

We did this design phase work in-person for one project, and in another used collaborative, online tools for group work(stickies.io and figma, iirc).

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They have strong opinions, as they should in their areas of expertise, and honor the strong opinions of their clients that allows for a great finished project and doesn't make you feel railroaded.

They are very diplomatic in handling such discussions. AE Studio is good at managing expectations with timeline and outcomes desired weighed against the budget you've laid out.

They also take care in trying to figure out how the handoff to client will work once the project is completed.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

N/A

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a consumer technology startup that’s at the intersection of wearables, connected devices, and analytics. I’m the CEO and co-founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AE Studio?

We needed them to build an agnostic health and wellness platform for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In the health and wellness space, the big user pain point is finding what works for them and what to do next. We were solving that by building an agnostic platform that used gestural technology to provide personalized insights. Lastly, it was intended to turn those insights into an actionable takeaway. 

For instance, if a customer’s goal is to increase athletic performance, the app may recommend a class to help you achieve your goal. It’s a complex product, and we needed someone to create the app as well as the analytics architecture, backend infrastructure, and first integration with the Apple Watch. This was a technical undertaking. We have machine learning and AI models on the backend that manages data processing as well as creating recommendations. They created the platform for iOS, but we used React so we’d be able to switch to Android pretty quickly. Our target demographic generally uses Apple products more than Android, so we decided to start there while leaving the opportunity to scale open for the future. We’re live in the App Store today.   

What is the team composition?

We worked with five people. Our most direct contact was Melanie (Head of Technology). We were in weekly check-ins with her about how they managed the priorities of the last week. In addition to Melanie, we worked with Amelie (Director of Product & UX), Lucas (Senior Software Engineer), and Arun (Data Scientist).   

How did you come to work with AE Studio?

We were an early-stage startup that was searching Google for an ideal partner after putting together funding. I have a technical background and helped guide our team on what to look for in a development shop. We ended up vetting them and two other teams. AE Studio was proficient in a wide range of technologies and platforms: mobile apps, websites, product design, machine learning, and more. Their experience with recommendation engines and scalable architecture really stood out because those skills would be necessary for our project as well. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $125,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since August 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We measured their success by examining speed, efficiency, cleanliness of code, and QA. Our team measured them against our benchmarks on a weekly basis during our weekly meetings. Internally, we were very pleased with their capabilities.

In terms of external feedback, users find the app to be beautiful. We also haven’t experienced a single crash since we’ve entered the App Store. Most players in our space can expect a 16% retention rate, and we’re experiencing a 46% retention rate. From a product standpoint, we’re impressed with that.

Their development speed impressed us as well. When we started the engagement, our goal was to complete the development in nine months. AE Studio blew us away by immediately telling us we could complete the work on a faster timeline. They helped us return to the scope and ramp up technologies we didn’t even know we had access to. In the end, the development only took about four months.  

How did AE Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

They're some of the most efficient project managers I’ve ever seen. We have at least five touchpoints each week with the team, including demos, an account manager check-in, and a weekly retro or recap.

Our check-ins with Melanie were far beyond transactional. They covered timelines, updates, and more. The documentation is so good that I can look back and still see their reasoning for each edit they made throughout the project. 

Melanie was instrumental in the structure of the entire project. Through her, we were able to learn how their company operates. The team was cross-functional and fit our team like a glove.

For communication, we use Notion, which they were happy to adopt. Additionally, they used Pivotal to manage the development roadmap, Amplitude for product management, and Figma for designs. Figma allowed us to engage in live design-based discussions with Amelie. Early on in the engagement, we mapped out architecture with Lucidchart as well. We communicated solely through Zoom, but still maintained several touchpoints each week. There was plenty of cross-functional collaboration, so we hopped on calls whenever needed. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re great human beings. It’s one thing to have technical skills, but they’re great human beings that are also great at their jobs. That speaks volumes about their company culture. For companies looking to hire people with strong proficiency in their field, great know-how, extreme adaptability, and great personalities, then they’re the team for hire. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wish they would’ve told us “no” a little more often. Early into our planning, we had tons of ideas. Sometimes, they would discourage them when they knew they wouldn’t work. However, other times, they would attempt to investigate those ideas to satisfy us. I wouldn’t have minded them telling us “no” more. That could be considered semantics at this point.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re extremely valuable when you treat them as a partner. Don’t be afraid to lean on them and treat them as an internal team. Then, they’ll best be able to pull from their internal experience and apply it to your project. You’ll see a significant return on your invested time and possibly craft an ongoing relationship.