ArcTouch

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Manager of Digital Content Managment of ERCOT

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are the ISO for most of Texas. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire ArcTouch to accomplish?

• Maintain the app after go-live to keep it updated with the latest versions of iOS and Android.
• Rebuild our mobile app on a single platform.

SOLUTION

How did you find ArcTouch?

RFP sent out

Why did you select ArcTouch over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Best fit for timeline and demonstration of required deliverables.

How many teammates from ArcTouch were assigned to this project?

10+

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

Build new Mobile  App in Flutter. Deliver new code stack on a combined  platform (Flutter) for iOS and Android. Includes Current Features:  

• Push notifications 

• Special announcement screen override of home screen  

• Data visualizations reflective of those on ERCOT.com https://www.ercot.com/gridmk 

tinfo/dashboards 

• Caching of API data to engage users as soon as app is opened 

• Refresh ability while the app is opened to get the latest data 

• Embedding ability for browser to access external site links  

• Ability to support various screen sizes of iOS and Android device types including tablet 

• Ability to support landscape and portrait modes.

Provide technical design  details. Draft to be delivered before build is started  and incrementally provided.  

Provide technical design details documentation.

Build Testing Plan. Provide Testing Plan for unit and product  testing for all requirements as listed in “new  build” requirements. UAT testing and UAT testing.  

Deliver code. Supply source code for review for each  increment.  

Incremental reviews and/or build should be  provided for testing as product is  available. 
Deliver new  build into app  stores. Load new build into both stores for review  and approval.

Monitoring updates in Firebase and  ongoing maintenance and support with Silver Standard.
Continue support of iOS and Android apps for  software and security updates, bug fixes, 3rd party updates, analytics  review, and monitoring Firebase (crashes,  etc.) 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Three week sprint demos and weekly meetings with the project team from our company and ArchTouch. 

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

The team was amazing! They addressed each concern and worked through any issues with professionalism and efficiency. The PM and leads sent reminders to me as well when things needed decisions. I was very impressed with the team. All timelines were met. 

What was your primary form of communication with ArcTouch?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Each team member was very professional and was an expert in their knowledge. They were each attentive to our deadlines and requirements. They also suggested things we had not thought of. I very much enjoyed working with them all.

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

My only concern was not notifying us sooner of a requirement they could not meet due to needing more data on our company's side of the API. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of marketing of a consumer packaged goods company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with ArcTouch?

We needed help transitioning to a new website for an acquisition we had.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ArcTouch provided web design and development services using Squarespace as their main tool. The team helped us transition our new acquisition’s old corporate website to a new platform that we could manage. They took care of coding, created some assets, integrated third-party geo-location software, and made buying links while adapting to our tight deadline.

What was the team composition? 

We worked with 5–6 members of ArcTouch’s team, and Carol (Project Coordinator) was our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with ArcTouch?

Someone referred ArcTouch to us.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from May to July 2023.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everything on the high-quality website that ArcTouch developed worked perfectly.

How did ArcTouch perform from a project management standpoint?

ArcTouch successfully completed everything on time and within budget. Regarding communication tools, we used phone calls, email, and Zoom meetings.

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review? 

Everybody was great to work with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

ArcTouch’s communication, planning, and scheduling were structured and organized.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I didn’t think there was anything they could improve on because everything went very smoothly.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open and transparent with your needs because ArcTouch can be flexible with upfront communication.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the principal product manager for a software company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ArcTouch?

We are a small startup with no in-house UX design expertise; we hired ArcTouch to fill that role. We initially started this design project with another firm but weren’t pleased with the engagement results, so we decided to work with ArcTouch. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with a few discovery calls where we explained our products and gave them examples of what we were looking for. ArcTouch provided us with Figma design files. They were responsible for designs, wireframes, and creating mock-ups. 

What is the team composition?

We primarily worked with three people from ArcTouch. 

How did you come to work with ArcTouch?

I’ve worked with individuals from ArcTouch previously, so I was familiar with the company. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together between May–November 2023. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The designs they delivered were fresh, modern, and consistent across the board. There is no way that we would have been able to achieve designs of this quality without them. The project went longer than we initially expected, but that was because we were so happy with their work and continued expanding the engagement scope. 

How did ArcTouch perform from a project management standpoint?

ArcTouch stuck to timelines, and we were pleased with the project management provided. 

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

We’d like to shout out Fabiana (Senior Designer); she was fantastic to work with. Despite unfamiliarity with our product, she took the time to understand everything we needed and was successful. She was able to create something that stood out visually. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

ArcTouch was very good at working through the details and UX behaviors of what we had outlined. They met our expectations and have even exceeded them in many places. They did a fantastic job and were a great team to work with. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing we can come up with. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have an idea of what you’re looking for because that will help them understand what you need. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VP of Product of Common Sense

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Common Sense is the leading independent nonprofit organization dedicated to helping kids thrive in a world of media and technology – we empower parents, teachers, and policymakers by providing unbiased information, trusted advice, and innovative tools to help them harness the power of media and technology as a positive force in children's lives.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire ArcTouch to accomplish?

We hired ArcTouch to help us strategize, design, and build an iOS and Android app focused around our Common Sense Media ratings, reviews, and curated picks. Our goal was to create a highly engaging app experience allowing users to search, browse, and discover entertaining and appropriate content for their kids and family. 
We wanted to leverage the app expertise of ArcTouch to help us design a modern, creative, and innovative app experience, while also relying on their technical expertise to help us build a maintainable and scalable app infrastructure that we could build upon moving forward.

SOLUTION

How did you find ArcTouch?

Referral

Why did you select ArcTouch over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from ArcTouch were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

We engaged in a full service scope of work with ArcTouch including: 

• Strategy and User Journeys: They helped to define the MVP core features and created initial gray box user flows and wireframes. 
• UX and UI Designs: They created the layout, components, and visual elements of the app. 
• Accessibility: They created all designs and UIs to adhere to WCAG AA 2.1 accessibility standards. 
• User Testing: They conducted a couple rounds of usability testing to help inform their UX/UI. 
• Coding and Development: They built all of the flutter code for the app. 
• QA: They provided QA around the UI, app usability, and design elements. 

The scope of work is defined in the answer above, some key deliverables included: Strategy document of core MVP features Visual design direction options Wireframes of all core screens in Figma (2 versions) Summary of user testing findings (2 sessions, 5-6 participants each) UI designs of all screens and interactions states in Figma (multiple revisions) Design assets, components, design system files and templates in Figma Flutter build with key features delivered periodically in a test build for group testing

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The apps launched a few months ago. The apps are slick and stable, with good user feedback. While it is still too early to draw definitive conclusions, early data suggest the app performing well on key measures of success - subscription conversion rate, in-app engagement and repeat visits.

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

What was your primary form of communication with ArcTouch?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

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

One area that could have been done differently is proactively letting us know about some complicated technical projects that we would have to solve and build on our side. We were handling all of the complex APIs and back-end end points for the app around registration, purchases, user data, app content, etc. Our team is highly skilled, however app development is new for us. 
We were unaware of some of the complex integrations and projects that we would have to solve our end, particularly the in-app purchase flows with Apple and Google. It would have been ideal if ArcTouch would have let us know the complexity involved before the build started. 
The in-app purchase functionality was incredibly difficult and time consuming to implement, test, and support. We ended up doing a lot more work and testing with this payment flow than we had expected.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of embedded systems and controls for a recreational vehicle (RV) company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ArcTouch?

The UI is a major part of the fully integrated RV, which is why we worked with ArcTouch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ArcTouch provided backend development and UX/UI design services. We discussed requirements leading up to the signing of the contract. When we officially started the partnership, we talked about the requirements in more detail and solidified them. Our design team and product managers met with ArcTouch to brainstorm ideas that were important to us from the engineering perspective and the user. ArcTouch brought back a proposal about how to structure the product and fit in our requirements.

Then, ArcTouch moved on to the layout and design of the UI. They sent us ideas about what the product could look like and how the features could be arranged. Our team and their team discussed the design until we found the best path for the overall design and structure.

The large initial phase of the project wrapped up around March 2023, when we launched our vehicle. There was a shorter follow-up phase after that. The engagement is currently on pause but will likely resume later in the year; we want to add more features and components to the interface. ArcTouch will be adding to the UI and coding to allow the API we developed with them to be used.

What is the team composition?

At the height of the partnership, there were about five ArcTouch teammates working on the project. Teammates focused on the frontend design, backend software engineers, and the director of technology were all involved in the project. There was also a QA-focused teammate and a project manager.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from November 2022–June 2023.

How did you come to work with ArcTouch?

We found them while searching for different vendor options.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

From the qualitative perspective, our AR launch featured the UI we developed with ArcTouch, and it was well-received publicly and received press coverage. We don’t have quantitative metrics available, but the quality of their work was high and met expectations. The product worked well and looked good; there were minimal bugs that needed fixing. Any issues we did find were fixed quickly.

How did the company perform from a project management standpoint?

ArcTouch performed well when it came to managing the budget and deadlines. They were very aware of our tight schedule and the hard deadline. We had to make some tradeoffs in order to meet the deadlines and budget that we knew we might have to make; the product didn’t have everything we wanted, but we needed it done. 

We had weekly Zoom discussions and met with ArcTouch twice a week at some parts of the project. They were also connected to our Google Chat.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I was a little bit underwhelmed by some of the ideas ArcTouch brought to the table on the design side. We had a design team, so this wasn’t a huge burden for us.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Come to the table with a good idea of what features you want, as well as your budget and timeline. ArcTouch will have a good sense of how to get the desired results; they’ll understand potential tradeoffs between budget and schedule and everything you want from a design perspective. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for McCormick & Company, a global flavor company with numerous consumer brands. I’m the director of global digital experiences and oversee the strategy and development of our company’s digital experiences, including our website and flavor-making app. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ArcTouch?

We needed to develop a mobile application to connect our variety of seasoning products with a digital experience.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ArcTouch has developed our mobile application from scratch. During the discovery phase, we worked together to develop the app’s strategic approach and define the functionalities that would best serve our customers’ needs. ArcTouch then created the app’s UI/UX design. We already had our brand’s user personas, and ArcTouch has helped us identify the right audiences for our app and understand them with their UI/UX design expertise. ArcTouch has used Figma for design and Flinto for capital demos of the app’s UX.

ArcTouch developed the app’s beta version for iOS and launched it in February 2019. Since then, we’ve been working with ArcTouch to optimize the app’s features, and they launched the app’s Android version in December 2019. We initially launched the app for the US market, and recently, ArcTouch has adapted and launched the app’s version for Canada, featuring our product offer for that market.  

Our app is basically a recipe app where users can discover recipes, and our internal website CMS team developed the API that feeds this content. The app allows users to discover recipes and save them. Users can also create custom collections in the app and a digital version of their pantry by scanning the McCormick products.

The app also features a video library where we share video content about recipes and a meal planner tool where users can plan meals and create a shopping list of ingredients. Users can take the shopping list to the store or export it to an e-commerce retailer store’s site from the app. The only development piece that wasn’t created by ArcTouch was the API that feeds content into the app.

What is the team composition?

I work with 3–5 teammates from ArcTouch, including a product lead, a design lead, a development lead, and a project manager. I know ArcTouch has a bigger team working on our project; however, I mainly interact with that team. 

How did you come to work with ArcTouch?

ArcTouch is part of our lead creative agency’s network. We used to work with this creative agency for other digital activations, mainly related to our website. One day we mentioned our need for a development agency and contacted ArcTouch through that creative agency.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $5 million with ArcTouch. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with ArcTouch in June 2018, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Some of our most impressive metrics are that the app has been downloaded 1.5 million times since we launched it. Additionally, the monthly average time that a user spends on the app is over six minutes, which is 5x more than our metrics from our website, where users don’t tend to return as often. When users go to the app’s meal planner tool, they stay 10x more time. 

We also have a better first-party data conversion rate from the app than from any other channel, 25%–35% depending on the season. We also have a 4.7 rate review in the app stores. 

Moreover, ArcTouch has helped us understand what we were looking for. Our initial goal was to connect our products to a digital experience, and ArcTouch’s architects have helped us conceptualize our process since the first day we started working together. Since I met ArcTouch, I’ve felt confident that I’m working with the right team. 

Overall, ArcTouch’s UI/UX design is excellent, and they’ve developed a delightful app that users enjoy. Every time I’ve challenged ArcTouch with something, they’ve come back with a better solution than I expected. 

How did ArcTouch perform from a project management standpoint?

ArcTouch meets deadlines and stays on budget. We usually drive increases in the budget by asking for more requests, which causes to disrupt the project’s timelines. ArcTouch is solid in delivering the work.

We use a custom project management tool that ArcTouch has adapted to. Our development teams communicate through Slack, and we also have meetings through Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed with ArcTouch’s development approach since they work having the users in mind. ArcTouch is process-driven, analytical, and fun to work with. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only aspect that needed improvement was our road map forecasting, and ArcTouch has helped us with this. When we finished the app’s development, we needed to adjust our road map planning because we would spend our year’s budget before the year ended. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend being clear about what you need to accomplish and letting ArcTouch identify the solutions. Since we started working together, ArcTouch has brought better solutions than we expected. Our CEO also recognized ArcTouch’s proposal’s value since the designing phase.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of Bump LLC, a location-based social media photo and video-sharing app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ArcTouch?

We needed someone to redevelop, modernize, and streamline the code of our mobile app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We engaged with ArcTouch to take over the frontend development of our iOS and Android app from a previous company that built it using a Xamarin native code.

They were tasked with handling the code, fixing the bugs, and ultimately re-implementing the UX aspect of the app to use Xamarin.Forms instead of Xamarin native — so we can have a consistent code base across both iOS and Android platforms.

What is the team composition?

I normally worked with a product owner, project manager, three developers, 2 QA specialists, and a designer.

How did you come to work with ArcTouch?

I found ArcTouch as a recommendation from Microsoft.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested about $3 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on this project from June 2020–September 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

ArcTouch delivered a working product and identified and resolved around 6,000 bugs in the app.

How did ArcTouch perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated consistently through Microsoft Teams and had daily standups every day with the entire team.

Additionally, we utilized Azure DevOps to manage the project, and used Figma and Zeppelin for the design and generation of assets for the app.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were impressed with their responsiveness and ability to adapt, understand, and execute our 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could’ve improved on the retention of some of their staff. We had to replace a number of employees, which caused some delays in the project because of the training and onboarding time.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d advise you to communicate daily with your team and stay engaged throughout the project. ArcTouch is capable of doing everything on their own, but it would help to stay abreast and involved in the process.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Lucid Motors is a luxury electric vehicle automaker.  At Lucid, our mission is to inspire the adoption of sustainable energy by creating the most captivating electric vehicles, centered around the human experience. I'm the product manager for the mobile app and IoT apps.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ArcTouch?

We hired ArcTouch for several projects, the ones I was directly involved in were for the mobile app and IoT (Apple Watch app, voice assistants integrations with Siri and Google assistant).  

SOLUTION

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

We were referred to ArcTouch from a VP who had previously worked with them and had a positive experience.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

The projects that I was involved in were the mobile app, Apple Watch app, Siri, and Google assistant.  For the mobile app, an ArcTouch engineer was virtually embedded within our team as staff augmentation.  The engineer quickly ramped up and was part of the team through and through. 

For the Apple Watch, Siri and Google assistant projects, Lucid created the requirements and designs, while ArcTouch provided the engineering team. This team provided expertise in domain knowledge, architecture design, engineering, validation, and project management.  

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

Lucid had an initial call with ArcTouch where we discussed high level goals and baseline requirements. This was followed up with a meeting in which ArcTouch presented their proposal.  After a few rounds, we were happy with the proposal and proceeded to the contract signing phase.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?

Our team successfully released the inaugural version of the apps when Lucid Motors shipped its first vehicle, the Lucid Air, to the public in Oct of 2021.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We use the agile scrum methodology as our development process. The ArcTouch teams had no issues adapting to the way we used agile scrum. Daily stand up meetings flowed like clockwork and we communicated via emails, Zoom meetings, and Microsoft Teams chats. Most of their teams were located in Brazil, and a technical lead was located locally in the same timezone as Lucid HQ in the San Francisco Bay area.  The communication was effective and professional.

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

All the ArcTouch team members were of high caliber. They quickly ramped up, got familiar with Lucid systems and started making an impact immediately.  They were knowledgeable in their respective domain areas, and in a few areas had the experience that our teams did not.  They also cared about their work quality and often gave great suggestions on improving our UX.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a digital transformation senior director, and my role is to identify inefficiencies that could be driven through digital solutions. My function also involves changing the experience that we’re offering to our members through digital channels. Since I’m part of the pharmacy benefit management unit, I deal with the services we offer to our customers who have health plans or are part of employer groups. Basically, we’re helping our customers to manage the benefits of their people when it comes to pharmacies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ArcTouch?

We wanted to develop an app for our members. The purpose of the app was to address the needs of our members and try to accomplish the goals we had. We also wanted to make sure that our members get the best care that they need without worrying too much about what was going on.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We built the backend, and ArcTouch was responsible for building the frontend. They also helped us design the look and feel of the apps. We went through multiple user journeys and UX/UI exercises with them. The app was a hybrid native mobile app which means that we have one codebase for iOS and Android, and we used Flutter as the framework.

We were trying to elevate the experience of our customers in our commercial line of business because our commercial line had our employer groups and health plans. On top of that, we wanted to create a new digital experience that would allow them to get better visibility on the prescriptions that they were taking as well as insights on cost savings opportunities relating to their prescriptions. 

Above all, we wanted to provide transparency and visibility on what was going on behind the scenes when they go through complex processes such as getting authorization and other things. So far, The ArcTouch team has completed the original ask, but we’re still working with them on improving the initial solution that we deployed.

What is the team composition?

There are probably 5–10 people that have worked on the project; it was a mix of UX/UI designers, product owners, project managers, and software engineers.

How did you come to work with ArcTouch?

I wasn’t sure which website I found them on because I went on multiple forums and sites that rank services companies. After that, I interviewed about a dozen of mobile app development firms — some were cheaper and some were more expensive. Based on the different criteria that we had, I came up with a list of finalists.

From the first interaction I had with ArcTouch, they were pretty much the top option for us. I really liked the level of quality and care that they put into the products that they built, and I felt that going with them was the best decision for our company.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent $500,000–$1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing project started in February 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We just went live with the mobile app a few weeks ago, and we’re now working on having a use case published at the end of 2022’s first quarter. One of the biggest challenges that we had was setting up a go-live date before we even started the work. Despite that, we met that pretty aggressive deadline. 

How did ArcTouch perform from a project management standpoint?

ArcTouch has been a fantastic partner, and working with them has been one of the best experiences I've had with an external partner. They’ve done a tremendous job of trying to understand our business problems, our multiple customer journeys, processes, and more. They have a sense of ownership in treating our solution as theirs and that has helped us from a project management standpoint.

We use Slack for day-to-day communication as well as email. We also have multiple calls on Zoom throughout the week with different touchpoints. Internally, we use Jira, but they don’t have access to that. We also have SharePoint slides which we utilize to share content and materials. I’m sure they use an internal project management tool to manage their work, but I’m not sure if it is Trello or Jira.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The level of care they show about the solution we’re building has been impressive. If you talk to Adam (CEO), he will tell you the same. They don’t just care about getting a new contract and moving on; they really care about the solution that they are going to be putting out there. They also ensure sure they’re aligned with us. Overall, we appreciate the quality of the work they deliver.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, I can’t think of anything. Perhaps, the cost would be one thing, but that’s always something that comes to mind. I don’t see any problems in our engagement, especially with their project management skills. They’ve delivered our app with no defect, and we’re happy with its UI and UX — we now have what we want for our customers.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Explain your business, processes, and the goals you’re trying to accomplish. Don’t decide on the solution right away; trust that in the process they’ll design a good solution for you. You may feel like you’re spinning your wheel and not actually doing implementation work, but that primary phase is extremely important because it’s going to help you achieve your goals. Once you do that, everything will be fine.