aeqdigital

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of FM Technologies Inc. We created an app that aims to facilitate positive social connections in public spaces. It encourages people to engage in conversation, which will hopefully lead to friendships and relationships.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with aeqdigital?

As technology continues to advance, we felt that society was becoming more anti-social. Media platforms encourage digital interactions, but that translates to everyone just sitting on their phones rather than engaging with the real people around them. We had the idea of using a social media platform to facilitate immediate real-world socialization. We wanted to offer a platform that could spark natural and spontaneous conversation in public environments like bars and cafes. We needed a vendor to help us develop this application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with a discovery phase where we shared an overview of our idea and some basic mockups. The aeqdigital team made some edits to refine and modernize our vision. We have no experience in development, so they also built the technical backbone for the platform. We only created an iOS version, and we’ll start working on an Android version after we've assessed the current app's performance.

We had a checklist of necessary features for the app and a wish list of items we hoped they’d be able to implement. aeqdigital built all of the required elements and a majority of the additional ones. They also added imagery to increase user engagement and enhance the in-app experience. On the platform, users can adjust their distance preferences to anywhere from 250 meters to 10 kilometers based on their location. The team integrated Twilio to add third-party chat capabilities to facilitate quick communication.

What is the team composition?

We had two primary points of contact, a project manager and the head of UX. They listened to our ideas and feedback, then shared them with the development team. Depending on the workload, there were anywhere from 2–5 developers working on our project.

How did you come to work with aeqdigital?

A friend had worked with them before. When we shared our idea with him, he recommended we reach out to aeqdigital.

How much have you invested with them?

We paid about $325,000 for the initial scope, but we added a sprint for some extra features at the end. That was an additional $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started planning in March 2018, but the actual build lasted from June–October 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have much evidence yet. We just launched two weeks ago and haven’t invested in any marketing efforts yet. So far, we have about 75 users, and all of their feedback has been positive. We’re excited to watch the platform evolve. There’s a lot of potential to grow in terms of functionalities and designs.

How did aeqdigital perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very communicative. We mainly spoke over email. They would reach out with any question, problem, or issue that arose to make sure they stayed on track. We never felt ignored by their team. Both responsive and adaptive, they efficiently adjusted their workflow whenever we changed directions. They followed a clear and structured development process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Overall, we were impressed with their passionate approach to the creative elements of our app. It was clear that they were invested in the product and really cared about its look and feel.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. If they ever hit a barrier, they would research on their own and come up with a solution. They showed great problem-solving skills.

Any advice for potential customers?

Clients should have a clear vision and a philosophy to support it. Give this to aeqdigital, and they’ll translate it into a high-quality app.