Atomic Object

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an engineer at a commercial vehicle product firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atomic Object?

We had a customer request for a sensor system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided embedded software and application development services. They used C for all app development and also supplied some frontend work.

What is the team composition?

There were initially two people assigned to the work, then we rolled it down to one person.

How did you come to work with Atomic Object?

I knew of the company from old classmates and acquaintances who worked there. They are highly regarded.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work began in June 2019 and ended in April 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We didn’t have many metrics, but anecdotally they were flexible and willing to adapt to changing circumstances.

How did Atomic Object perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication and ability to meet deadlines were good. They used JIRA for tracking and Basecamp for collaboration.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their quality of work is very high. I was happy with what they did.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to be honest and open in communications. Be good at being flexible so you can get value through transparency and honesty. You don’t need to spend so much time writing specific instructions because they’re good at understanding what you’re trying to accomplish.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and CPO of Find MeTime. We’re a family and childcare tech company. We connect parents to short term, hourly childcare services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atomic Object?

We’d worked with a freelance developer to launch our MVP. After being live for a couple of months and gaining users, we realized we needed to make some adjustments based on our customers’ needs and habits. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We engaged Atomic Object to help us release version 1.2 of our app. The team helped us build several new features, including increasing our search flexibility. The initial product, which is exclusively a web app, was created in PHP, using the Laravel framework. 

Along the way, the team collaborated with us on ways to expand the architecture and plan for long term growth and the updates that will come with it. The advice they offered extended past appropriate future technologies to even include strategies on how to recruit and interview an in-house engineer. 

What is the team composition?

We worked three people in total: two full-time developers and a delivery lead who was available as needed.

How did you come to work with Atomic Object?

Atomic Object was a partner of a company I previously worked at. Though I hadn’t worked with them personally, I knew they were a team who could deliver fast, quality work, which was exactly what we needed.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent a little under $70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project took place from January–March 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app is live, but it’s difficult to track metrics right now, as social distancing has limited childcare services greatly. However, we’ve presented the app to some of our investors and strategic collaborators, and they all love it. The increased functionality has had a great impact on the user experience of the app overall. 

How did Atomic Object perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management style was the best part of working with them. As a designer myself, I was heavily involved in the project, and we collaborated directly throughout the project. Atomic Object set up criteria and procurement tools early on, which allowed us to have an effective workflow. We used Basecamp for communication and Pivotal Tracker for task management. 

Though the team didn’t come into the engagement with an extensive background in Laravel, they picked it up very quickly, asking the right questions of our freelance developer who built our initial MVP. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their natural ability to talk to us in a language we could understand and guide us through decisions was phenomenal. I always felt included in the conversation, and despite their expertise, they never patronized me. Atomic Object provided our organization with so many educational moments without it ever feeling like they were doing so. It was always a seamless part of their communication.

Further, when I give a development team my vision for the frontend, it’s often a long time before I can see it come to life. Atomic Object stood out in that they were always able to develop a high-quality product, while balancing our need to be scrappy as a startup.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not at all. They’re doing everything right.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Figure out what you want your role to be in the engagement. You can maximize what you get out of the relationship with Atomic Object depending on what you put in.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a state education department. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atomic Object?

We needed help with designing a platform to support our schools. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Atomic Object first created focus groups to develop a series of user personas. From there they begin to build the platform with a series of wireframes, starting from scratch. That took six months. They also provided development support to help the dev team take what was in coding in the design process and translate it into the platform. 

What is the team composition?

We had a main point of contact on the team as well as a couple of programmers and developers.

How did you come to work with Atomic Object?

We’d partnered with an educational organization made up of intermediate school districts to develop platforms and applications to support the field. Together, we worked to develop an application to support our schools and provide teachers with up-to-date, accurate data. Atomic Object helped design the look and feel of the platform. When we had another, bigger platform to develop, we brought on Atomic Object again.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $70,000–$80,000

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in August 2019 and ended in January 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Atomic Object produced the product on time when we agreed. They were responsive as we were doing an agile method of development, which involves a lot of give-and-take. One of the advantages of having a company like Atomic Object is that they have the vision of what technology use looks like and in the future. They’d give advice about what my suggestions would feel like to the user, but left us to make the ultimate decision 

How did Atomic Object perform from a project management standpoint?

They hit deadlines perfectly, and the communication was constant. There were very few times where I had to wait more than an hour for a response via phone call, text, or email. We also had access to Zeplin and another project management tool in order to see the work being done.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve never worked with another provider. However, what made me very confident about Atomic Object was that, like a good contractor, they made me feel like we’re the only customer they had. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The time they took to make user personas was just way too long. I feel that time could have been cut in half.

Any advice for potential customers?

Have someone who is 100% dedicated to the project and available to answer questions. That helps keep the processing going.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Root is a strategy enablement and change leadership consulting company, and I lead our learning media and development teams. When an organization is initiating change, we help make sure that change is understandable and accessible to the broad base of employees by providing learning resources and strategy discussions that engage everyone in the process.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atomic Object?

Atomic Object is helping us build a suite of digital tools that will help companies sustain their change once they start it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a pretty clear understanding of the need and a less clear understanding of what we wanted to do about it. Atomic Object was able to take us through a design and technical scoping process to figure out a really clear workable prototype and a clear path forward for what would eventually become the first release of all the tools we wanted.

What is the team composition?

There were between 2–4 people from their side working with us at any given time.

How did you come to work with Atomic Object?

They had actually been on our radar for years and we had a few chances to get to know them through networking and scoping out a couple of potential ideas. They’re also very close to where we work, so when we decided to go ahead with this project, they were an easy first choice.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2019 and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have any direct client measurables yet since we haven’t produced the project, but they were above every milestone in all of the work that they completed for us. They delivered everything in advance on their end, and when we had some internal shifts, they were incredibly agile and did a great job of keeping the project on track.

How did Atomic Object perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication skills are excellent. We never felt like we weren’t on the same page with them at any point in the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They run really clear, well-organized projects. A lot of times you end up with vendors who champion their own opinion or sit back and don’t offer any input. Atomic does a great job of bringing a ton of experience to the work but making it feel like you are owning the project with them.

They’re not afraid to bring their opinion and recommendations, and then also iterate with you and let their opinions shift as requirements might clarify or move in one particular direction or another.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind at all.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t hesitate to rely on them for elements of the project that you might not know how to approach off the top of your head. They do a really good job in all of their work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the chief product officer at a small technology company. We make hydrogen fuel cell-powered electrical generators—small devices that produce electricity from chemical energy.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atomic Object?

We had to do a lot of software development in a short amount of time and needed additional bandwidth to meet a deadline.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a certain amount of software that needed to be cleaned up and transferred from an existing application to a new application. We relied on Atomic Object to help us with the remaining software porting effort for this embedded system.

Specifically, we have a microcontroller that reads a variety of sensor inputs and then executes our control algorithm and sets outputs appropriately to control, maintain, and operate the device. We do basically all of our development in C, and we used Jira and Bitbucket as our primary development tools.

What is the team composition?

At any given time, we worked with a maximum of four people. But some members rotated on and off, so we were exposed to quite a few people from their team.

How did you come to work with Atomic Object?

We reviewed firms across the country that had the best combination of talents, quality, and price, and we ultimately chose Atomic Object. We found them to be very well-qualified and have the necessary technical experience. Their familiarity working with embedded systems distinguished them from other options. We also liked their agile approach and test-driven development methods. It was not a preference or a goal to work with a remote team, but it certainly worked out very well.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from August 2018–March 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We found the work to be very high quality. They did everything the way we had hoped for them to do it.

How did Atomic Object perform from a project management standpoint?

They were well-organized and methodical. I found them to be very customer-oriented. I could tell that their approach was intended to give us the best experience. Their methods were quite polished in that regard.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have an influential internal company culture. They groom the developers into certain practices and procedures that make the experience very seamless. Very few other firms will operate in that same way.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They were hyper-focused on the process, which can be a good thing but also sometimes limiting to the overall flexibility of the engagement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You can’t go wrong based on their approach. Their meticulous attention to detail and their onboarding process will more than likely give you a great experience.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a biotechnology company that makes software and apps for circadian rhythm purposes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atomic Object?

I was working on a circadian rhythm application for a government agency; the iOS solution was for cancer patients. I hired Atomic Object to do the design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Atomic Object interviewed current patients and other people that fit personas. The team then drew up the flow from a UX perspective and did styling. They designed the app from scratch based on my guidelines and also provided backend consulting services.

What is the team composition?

I worked with one designer. There was another resource for backend consulting.

How did you come to work with Atomic Object?

I had discussed other products with the team, but this was the first opportunity I had to work with them. Their past app designs had impressed me; I wanted a similar look for my solution.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project occurred in January 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everyone is impressed with the designs.

How did Atomic Object perform from a project management standpoint?

The team was transparent and delivered on their promises.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They checked in repeatedly to ensure everything was on track and budget. I felt comfortable providing both positive and negative feedback.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I was pleased with the engagement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clients should be as responsive as Atomic Object. Efficient lines of communication make the partnership easy.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an assistant superintendent for the Ottawa Area Intermediate School District (OAISD). We’re an educational services agency that runs various services supporting other K-12 school districts. For example, we manage a fiber optic network and have a full enterprise technology services department. We're the tech department for several districts. I’m in charge of innovation, technology, information, and security.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atomic Object?

We’ve worked on several projects with them, the first being an online system for testing and assessments. We did a review of various systems that were available, but we didn’t find anything we liked. Therefore, we decided to go the custom development route.

We’d done development work in the past as a department, but it’d primarily involved report-writing or scripts, along with a bit of SQL; custom work was out of our depth. In addition to developing the project, we wanted a partner who could teach us agile development and grow our team so we could eventually take over maintenance.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Atomic Object worked on a project called inQwizIT that delivers and manages assessments. We gave them some of our specifications, they offered us a quote, and then we designed the app; it still uses the same system today. Though it started as a math-specific assessment tool, it was designed as a universal assessment engine and is now being used in science, social studies, and other subjects.

It’s a web-based software whose front- and backend were originally developed with Ruby on Rails. It’s always been cloud-based, but we moved to AWS after launch. We still use Ruby on the backend (though we’ve made some code upgrades) but we’ve transitioned Ember.js on the frontend. Ember.js allows us to alter code more rapidly, while also maintaining all the backend pieces on Ruby.

We’ve done multiple other projects with Atomic as well. One was a speculative design project to identify a concept we could show to prospective donors. Although the timing wasn’t right, we still plan on using it. Recently, we did a UX/UI project requiring them to build wireframes and other components.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three people for the original project, though we brought the designer’s hours down as we went forward. We’ve worked with other people on various projects since then but there’s been some carryover from team to team. 

How did you come to work with Atomic Object?

I knew I wanted to do something in the agile world and looked at all sorts of app developers. I tapped the network of a friend who works at a large IT firm and he provided a couple of recommendations, including Atomic.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent close to $700,000. That doesn’t include the recent UX/UI project, as that was funded by another source.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from May 2011 until July 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

People love inQwizIT, largely because it’s the first time many of them have worked with software designed with them in mind, which is part of Atomic’s process. The software is easy for everyone to use (our client and their users), so it’s gotten positive reviews.

How did Atomic Object perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re as good as any software development company I’ve worked with. Everyone struggles with projecting development accurately; that being said, Atomic does it very well. They’re only 30 km away from us, so it’s always easy to connect with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re committed to not just developing software but to building software that’s impactful and unique. They took ownership of the app as if it were their own project and adjusted well to our change requests.

While they’ve expanded their expertise regarding development and design trends, they also respected us as domain, content, usability and customer experts. Other vendors assume we’ll have to go through a bunch of exercises to learn those things. Atomic does that to a certain extent, but they also understand we know what we’re talking about. This is nice for me, as I’m paying the bill.

Atomic has all the services to be a one-stop shop (initial concept, design, programming) but they’ve partnered with us in different ways as needed. Rather than always use a single approach, they’ve been flexible.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s room for improvement in any project, but they always take our feedback and make the appropriate changes. In our first project, there were some things I knew would come up later, regarding how we’d model the data, but I was more than willing to go with the flow. They decided to tackle the problem when they came to it instead of accounting for it in the original design. I think they learned how valuable it is to keep the end-result in mind while working on quick iterations.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work at Soar Technology. We provide artificial intelligence software to the government and military sectors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atomic Object?

We relied on Excel to keep track of everything internally. However, as a company full of engineers, we wanted to have internal software. We didn't have the design experience in-house, so we were looking for a company to design the software we could use for metric tracking and labor forecasting.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They interviewed three people from our organization and studied all the spreadsheets we sent them. After synthesizing all the data, they designed a web-based software for us. We just finished the design phase, and it ended up being three separate tools. We have multiple stakeholders, all of whom wanted to be able to get different things out of the software. Atomic Object was able to understand and meet our needs. We're now discussing internally what our next steps will be and whether we'll do the development in-house or in collaboration with them.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager, a full-time designer, and two part-time engineers. Their two managing partners were also involved.

How did you come to work with them?

Our CEO was referred to them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in December 2017 and the project was completed in May 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our internal team was very happy with their work and loved the prototypes of the design. All the meetings we had were very productive. We're still using our Excel spreadsheet, so our team is very excited about getting a better solution in place.

How did they perform from a project management standpoint?

They did an excellent job. They delivered everything on time and stayed within our budget, keeping our internal team on task as well. We had a lot of in-person meetings where they showed us prototypes and explained different steps. In between those meetings, we communicated via phone and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciated that they stayed on budget.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear idea of what you're trying to accomplish and keep your mind open to their solutions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The Van Andel Education Institute is a nonprofit science education institute serving the local community and K-12 teacher space. We provide professional development for teachers to help increase curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking in classroom settings. We also develop hard-copy and digital tools to support that mission. I serve as the product development and support manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atomic Object?

We needed web development services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve been involved with Atomic Object for multiple iterations of two primary projects. We had a general sense of what we wanted but realized it was best to give them the space to create the wireframes and design constructs. We focused our time on providing feedback and modifying things.

The biggest things we brought to the table were a vision and a clear sense of the different student, teacher, and school administrator profiles we wanted to solve problems for. This helped them understand our goals. They did both development and design work.

The initial project consisted of turning an instructional model into an iPad app. It’s a visual presentation of a model with boxes that users click on to get more details of our instructional model, thus helping both teachers and students. We had an elementary, secondary, and Spanish version. The basis of this app and our model was then taken to a broader project that we’ve since completed four different iterations of. The new launches were generally synchronized to release prior to each school year.

The second project focuses on bringing the model to life within the classroom and has three primary components. It has a forum-based teacher community and a content management system-based resource library where all of our downloads, instructional prompts, and teacher resources are stored for quick access and interactivity.

The third, more robust, portion of the platform has two parts. It has an interactive lesson building tool that’s based on our instructional model. After building a lesson, teachers can assign students who can then use the platform as their science journal to document what they’ve learned.

We had a pretty clear vision of what we wanted to do. We dealt with the design parameters quickly. They were awesome at helping us conceptualize possibilities in a web-based environment about how it might come to life. They went in two primary directions with the design construct in hand and the iterative nature of the work.

They did all the custom design for the teacher lesson plan and student journaling tools. They also helped identify the best off-the-shelf software platforms that we could modify to use with our own. They customized those two platforms, the CMS, and the forum-based teacher community piece. They reskinned it to look and feel like it was ours. The CMS they identified for us is Craft. The forum-based teacher community platform is Vanilla Forums.

What is the team composition?

We’ve scaled the team up and down to meet our operational needs. I’ve worked with as few as one person to a team of 10 compiled designers, project managers, and developers. We had a designer, project manager, and four teams of two developers before we launched in the summer of 2015.

How did you come to work with Atomic Object?

Some of my staff and I had worked with Atomic Object in previous venues. I was aware of their work processes, methodologies, and approach to Agile development because I worked with them in a similar capacity on a design and build for a different software tool. They were local and did high-quality work. We were very comfortable with their project management and methodologies.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent more than $2 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2014 and the relationship is ongoing. We have an active maintenance and support contract with them. We’re also stepping into the scope definition of a small enhancement project that we want to deliver for the summer of 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our teachers enjoy the interface and have quickly learned to appreciate its robustness across platforms. They can use it on a phone, Chromebook, Mac, or PC because it’s all web-based. We pride ourselves in making it strong enough to work across all current browsers and different operating systems.

Students often take to the platform more quickly than teachers. I encourage teachers to observe this because kids figure out how to add pictures and move content into their journal much faster.

How did Atomic Object perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management methodologies are very strong. They’re very focused on managing customer expectations. Their communication is accurate, clear, and timely. They’re far better than other software design and development vendors I’ve worked with or heard about. We communicate via phone, text, and in-person meetings. We utilize Basecamp as well as a variety of tools depending on the nature of a given challenge.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate how focused they are on quality. They sometimes provide feedback that could be construed as negative, but it comes from a perspective that’s more aligned with the customer’s vision. They’re very upfront about the cost benefit of doing one thing versus the other.

Last week, the project manager suggested not moving forward with something because it was going to expose us to too much risk and would be very costly. They don’t suggest something just to keep their developers busy. They’re always trying to balance customer expectations with our workload in order to keep producing quality products.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their scope containment and point structures, while sometimes necessary, can be confusing to non-technical people. They could maybe provide an introduction to their Agile methods and point structures in order to shed light on how they affect risk and cost. This could be an area of growth for them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Whether you have a clear vision of what you want or not, trust the process and be ready to work in a rapid development cycle. Be ready to continue to refine, polish, and clarify exactly what you want. If you expect to turn things over to them and not be a part of the process, then you won’t be utilizing their skills or experience in a cost-effective way.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of Carol Health. We help people get on-demand and in-home care.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atomic Object?

We were looking to develop an MVP (minimum viable product).

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We approached them with some research, sketches, and branding of what we wanted for our MVP. All the branding wasn’t complete from a web-application standpoint, so they took the initiative to match it and create some custom icons for the branding and workflows. Afterwards, they incorporated all of the branding. We utilized and relied on their team to build a full MVP.

They also took care of the actual development. It’s a custom Ruby on Rails web application. Our requests presented some unique challenges, but they were able to overcome them.

The app allows people to access, request, and receive care from a nurse in as little as an hour. It allows nurses a unique opportunity to sign up for the platform, utilize their licence, and get an additional income outside of hospital work.

What is the team composition?

We worked with eight people from their team throughout the project. We initially went to the Grand Rapids location and wanted to move the timeline up, which they were able to accommodate. We had the development team out of Ann Arbor, which had four full-time developers and designers.  

We also had a project manager but were able to communicate directly with the team if needed. It allowed everyone to remain on the same page the entire time.

How did you come to work with Atomic Object?

They are well-known in Grand Rapids and other communities. We really liked that they offered multiple references when we approached them. They truly stood behind their work and were very accessible as well.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in June 2017 and completed the project in October 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The handoff made for an easy transition for us. The work they did, the effort they put into it, and the communication all made for a very seamless development process.

Our development team is continually making updates as we learn. Our users really like it, so it’s made it easy for us to run through the entire application process. It’s a really good foundation for us to get started on learning how to build out the platform.

How did Atomic Object perform from a project management standpoint?

They were excellent and upfront throughout the process. We had close communication and continual updates. We mostly communicated through in-person meetings, phone, email, and Slack. We met during and at the end of every sprint. They were accommodating when we requested that they have a full-time developer in-office. We had a daily check-in which allowed us to understand progress, adjustments, or expedited work.

They walked us through the process and set clear expectations. They addressed their concerns about the project and its potential outcomes. We reviewed progress, upcoming milestones, and current or future concerns on a weekly basis.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most important things they did were set clear expectations and educate us about them. They followed through on everything and did an excellent job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you ask what they foresee as risks involved with completing tasks in the scope of work. Clients don’t always have a full understanding of what goes on on their end and what the variable is that could make or break a project (e.g., meeting deadlines).

It was really important for us that they address their concerns so that they could succeed in what we were trying to do. It allowed us to work on those things as they started other work so we could match them up at the end of the process.