3Advance

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Timeless Traveler Inc., an app development company. We focus on creating immersive and interactive experiences that follow the paths of spiritual and historical figures. Our first app is called Footsteps with Jesus, and it gives users an experience of following the path of Jesus during the last three years of his ministry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 3Advance?

We hired 3Advance to create our app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

3Advance took my vision and ideas for the app and created all the visual assets and the look and feel of the app. They also did the programming behind the app that makes it work. I created a scope of what I hoped it would look like, and they took that and took it to the next level. The app was developed from scratch, and it was built for iOS and Android.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager, a head visual designer, and a development team of at least three people.

How did you come to work with 3Advance?

I found them through a referral.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together on this project from August–December 2024. However, they're currently doing maintenance for the app. I anticipate continuing to use them throughout the lifetime of this app and for future app projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Currently, we’re in the early stages of marketing, and we’ve had close to 500 downloads. The early feedback from people has been super positive. We've had around 10 five-star reviews and four or five responses on the app store.

There have been a handful of small bugs, and 3Advance has gotten on them right away. As more people have used the app and used a more variety of devices, we’ve found some other small things, and they’ve been on them pretty quickly. As of February 2024, the app is working as intended with no issues — it's very smooth and works well. I’m super happy with the team's ability to respond and recreate any issues that users have had and then address them.

How did 3Advance perform from a project management standpoint?

3Advance’s project management was exceptional. We had weekly meetings and check-ins. Sometimes, they were just a quick check-in. Other times, they were brainstorming sessions to demo and get feedback on the process. Everything was documented in Notion and Slack. There were never any questions hanging out there. I could always ask something when I was thinking of it, and someone on the team would get back to me pretty quickly.

Our live Zoom meetings with the extended team were super helpful to make sure the product was moving in the right direction. We used Slack for all communication, so there was a running record of all of those communications in one place. We kept all of the agendas, links, and progress in Notion.

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

Kieran, the visual designer, did an amazing job of bringing my idea to life in a way that worked across the entire app journey.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their professionalism was impressive. The whole team was dedicated to making sure the project met my expectations. There were no shortcuts, and they did everything to ensure that the vision was brought to life. It actually turned out better than I had hoped.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I didn’t find any faults in the process. Everything came out to my extreme satisfaction. I really appreciated the dedication that everybody put into it and continues to put into it.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get to know the team and understand who is working on the project. I didn’t quite understand that at first because I’m a new founder and come from outside the industry. It took me a few weeks to get my bearings and understand all the different roles on the team. I needed to have a clear understanding of the line of communication. I sometimes tried to message people on the team directly when I really needed to include the whole team. Once I understood the communication process, everything smoothed out.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the COO of a nonprofit organization that has launched a mentoring app geared towards changing the lives of underrepresented youth who can't see their current perspective and meaning by shining a light and career path. The app introduces a world of mentors to youth who have limited access to them.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 3Advance?

We needed support to develop our application after having struggles with other service providers. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially met with 3Advance and walked them through what we wanted for the app. We had a tight timeframe of two months since we were planning to launch the app at a fundraising event. We've met with the team to discuss the app's design and how each screen should look. 3Advance has used React Native to build an app for iOS and Android. The team has launched the app, and we've moved into a maintenance phase where we're looking at different ways to do iterations of the app. 

What is the team composition?

We work with Mark (Director of Mobile App Development), Jackson (Product Manager), and a designer. Jackson takes care of the administrative aspect of the project, and Paul (CEO & Founder) joins meetings often. 

How did you come to work with 3Advance?

We discovered 3Advance in our first round of searching for service providers on Clutch. The team shared a proposal along with several other proposals from different companies. My team voted for a different service provider at the time. However, that company didn't meet our expectations, and we decided to circle back to 3Advance.
How much have you invested with them?

We've spent around $180,000–$200,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with 3Advance in February 2024, and our engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Launching the app was our biggest milestone, and 3Advance has helped us achieve that goal. We have about 20 mentors registered in the app and a few mentees, and we're starting to build the app's content. 3Advance has made our dream come true. We had been working on the app for two years, and the fact that 3Advance has built it in two months is a miracle and a testimony of their team's quality. 

We're starting to share the app on larger platforms to get investors involved. We had a grand tour that gave us money specifically for this app, and showing our investors the app and walking them through it has been amazing. We're super excited, and 3Advance's work quality is fantastic. The app's design is modern and sleek. 

I like that Paul has a sight of things, and both of the owners came to the fundraising event where we launched the app. Having 3Advance's support means a lot because our project matters to them, and they aren't just fulfilling a job. We'll never leave 3Advance. 

How did 3Advance perform from a project management standpoint?

3Advance stays within budget and meets our deadlines. The team is very transparent, and working with them is easy. 3Advance is on top of work and is honest. We previously had a bad experience where the vendor didn't meet the deadlines they committed to, and six months after working with that team, they couldn't deliver our project.

We collaborate with 3Advance through Notion and communicate via Slack and email. We have a status meeting once a week and request additional meetings depending on the work needs and feature development. The team answers right away through Slack. Mark was available and on call during the app's launch, even though we were in different time zones.

3Advance goes above and beyond, and we've received a lot more than what we pay for because they're committed to our cause. 3Advance cares about our goals just as much as we do.
Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

I want to highlight Paul's work because he's really honest. I talked to him a long time ago and liked him, but my team decided to work with a different company. Even when we were working with another service provider, Paul reached out to ask how our project was going and if we needed a teammate to bounce work off. I was impressed by meeting a teammate like Paul in the business world.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I'm mostly impressed by 3Advance's timing to launch our app and their ability to meet our very tight launch date. 3Advance's leadership is also impressive: Paul, Mark, and Jackson are communicative and foresee issues before they pop up.

Additionally, 3Advance is honest and reliable. The team delivers the work they commit to with better quality than originally promised. Sometimes, we have a limited view, and 3Advance goes the extra mile by tweaking our requirements to increase functionality, and it's rare to find a company that does that. We've had unsatisfactory experiences with previous development companies and came from a distrusting environment. Working with a team that delivers what they commit to is a breath of fresh air.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't see any areas for improvement for 3Advance. They should stick to their formula and continue doing what they're doing. 

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I suggest working with 3Advance for app development projects because they bring out the most meaning and ask questions that make you think about the effectiveness of what you're building. 3Advance offers different cost implications and development options to work within our budget. The last company we worked with only offered the most expensive options without offering other alternatives. 3Advance is a trustful and honest company. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and co-founder of Brightn, a Gen Z mental wellness app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 3Advance?

I didn’t have experience with startup companies, let alone technology startup companies, so I decided to delegate the development work we needed to 3Advance.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

3Advance was basically in charge of all of our mobile app development work. Initially, we met with them and went through a discovery process, during which they asked us a lot of questions about what we were looking for. From there, we met with 3Advance’s team on a regular basis to strategize and figure out ways to come up with a prototype for our app.

We already had an idea of who our ideal customer was and what our go-to-market strategy would be. Still, 3Advance helped us fine-tune and validate our ideas, which was what we wanted. Now, our app is live and available for iOS and Android devices.

With this app, we wanted to allow young adults to self-assess and empower them to build their own mental wellness plan, just as adults have a financial plan. The onboarding process is very simple; it has only nine questions.

The app focuses on three areas of mental wellness: health, wealth, and purpose. Thus, our goal with the onboarding process is to identify opportunities to send to users daily. These opportunities can be a link or a video with suggestions for things to do to enhance their knowledge and participation in those three areas.

The app uses AI, a ChatGPT integration, and a gamified UX to achieve this functionality. Still, we didn’t want the app to be too gamified to avoid users becoming addicted to it.

What is the team composition?

In most of our meetings, we interacted with 3–4 teammates from 3Advance. Still, I know a full team was working behind the scenes on the app designs. Jason (Former Product Manager) was the project lead, but he recently left the company. Still, Paul (Principal) was very open and supportive, and we had a nice hand-off meeting with them and the new project lead assigned to us. We were very comfortable with that process.

How did you come to work with 3Advance?

We found them online. We interviewed two companies and ultimately chose 3Advance because we felt comfortable with their knowledge and desire to work in the mental wellness space.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first found 3Advance in September 2022. We then signed the agreement in November 2022 and started the project in December 2022. Our prototype was launched on September 1st, 2023.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since launching our app to the app stores, we have 16 five-star ratings

How did 3Advance perform from a project management standpoint?

The whole process was very educational for me. We had to make some pivots along the way as we got new data and information, and ultimately, we structured the app differently than we had originally planned. Still, 3Advance was very upfront and flexible.

We used Slack and Notion for communication, and we also had virtual meetings. Every meeting started with a review of the cash flow and where our money was spent so that everything was clear. We also discussed a few adjustments we made in advance so that there were no surprises.

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

Jason was instrumental in getting us where we’re at. When he left, he was very upfront with us and told us why he was leaving.

What did you find most impressive about them?

3Advance was very passionate about their work and always on time with their commitments. They were also very good at explaining terminology.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have a point of comparison to tell 3Advance’s areas of improvement because I had never launched an app before, so everything was new to me. We brought a CTO in 4–5 months ago, and they were a great complement to 3Advance. I don’t have any constructive feedback for them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of a financial services company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We provide digital tipping services to the hospitality industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire 3Advance to accomplish?

• Design and build a digital tipping platform.
• Provide ongoing support of newly-built platform.

SOLUTION

How did you find 3Advance?

• Clutch Site

Why did you select 3Advance over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location

How many teammates from 3Advance were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

We hired 3Advance to assist in building an enterprise-grate digital tipping platform to serve the hospitality industry. The project involved building a new platform and migrating the existing live platform from onto AWS back end from another provider. The new platform included a web-based and mobile app components.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The guide posts for this project were:

1. a web-based platform with a mobile app component
2. a smooth transition of the existing live system onto AWS from another back end without any interruption.

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

3Advance had good project management in place. We had regular status calls, live communication via Slack, and they effectively utilized various specialized platforms for collaboration (e.g., Figma for the design). We had a dedicated project manager assigned to us. He was always available and managed the project very effectively. We had a hard go-live date, which could not be moved, and the team was able to make it happen.

There was a mad dash at the end to ensure that everything was done, but this is expected, given the size and complexity of the project. At the end, the transition from the existing system was very smooth.

What was your primary form of communication with 3Advance?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The thing that impressed me the most about 3Advance is their ability to integrate with our organization and business model. Their team quickly grasped and internalized the intricacies of how we service our clients and the ins and outs of our old platform.

This translated into a very smooth design process (one of those rare instances where the design team understands what you are trying to accomplish and delivers highly through-through design on the first draft), as well as efficient ongoing support and new feature development. Working with the 3Advance team never feels like swimming against the current and you are truly getting a partner onboard when you hire them, which makes our lives much easier.

Are there any areas for improvement or something 3Advance could have done differently?

Not really. There was a bit of a mad dash at the end because of a hard go-live date that we had, but this sort of thing is expected, given the complexity of the project and the fact that we were working on a live platform.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the President of Engage Behavior Analysis, LLC

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Engage Behavior Analysis, LLC creates programs using behavior analysis that make people’s lives better.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire 3Advance to accomplish?

• Develop the No Weigh app

SOLUTION

How did you find 3Advance?

• Clutch Site

Why did you select 3Advance over others?

• Company values aligned

How many teammates from 3Advance were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

The scope of work included developing the native app for Apple and Android (React Native), developing the visual brand, all UX/UI design, and continued support following launch.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

An app that works

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

When I think of my satisfaction with 3Advance the first thing that comes to mind is the project management. I have complete confidence in the No Weigh Project Manager. I have heard other start-ups describe the difficulty of communicating with their developers but I cannot relate. All of the talent at 3Advance are just incredible— responsive, collaborative, smart, experienced, excellent communication across the board.

What was your primary form of communication with 3Advance?

• Virtual Meeting

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

Their authenticity. So many companies just want you to sign up and grab your money but don’t believe in your product or take their work personally. With 3Advance it is definitely personal— they hold themselves to their own standards because that’s how they live and work. I really respect them as people and their professionalism, expertise, and customer service cannot be improved.

Another thing about 3Advance is that they listen. They want to understand my vision and then develop it. They don’t ever try to sell me an easy solution—they are truly invested in creating the technology so that it aligns with what I’m trying to accomplish. I have never felt like I had to defend my project. They are right there with me checking details and finding solutions so it’s exactly what I need to accomplish that thing I am trying to do.

Their client-first approach gives me confidence as a start-up. This is a big difference from other companies I have interviewed and contracted. Finally, my experience with 3Advance has covered many of the needs that tend to come up with a start-up. They provided the logo, app design (which is more beautiful than I imagined), product development consultation, references for other needed services (for me it was a social media and SEO/ASO), screenshots for the app listing, and more.

One aspect of being a start-up that takes a lot of time is finding and managing contractors for all of the little stuff. 3Advance has provided a lot of support with these details and saved me a good deal of time.

Are there any areas for improvement or something 3Advance could have done differently?

No. Investing time and money into an app has come with many stressors, but 3Advance has not been one of them.

BACKGROUND

Describe your role or position at 3Advance.

I’m the founder and CEO of a food and beverage tech startup. We have an app, and we're in the process of developing an all-in-one customer engagement platform for restaurants.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire (provider name) to accomplish?

We didn’t have an in-house development team, so we reached out to Webknot.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

3Advance turned our concept into an MVP. We provided them with wireframes and a prototype that we had previously built through InVision. Once they had everything they needed, the team guided us through the conceptualization process where we came up with features that we thought could be good for the MVP. 

The app itself is a platform where people can share their nightlife experiences, specifically around the bars, nightclubs, or restaurants that they visit. Users can upload 10-second looping videos of the places they’ve gone to, and this media will be tied to a specific spot on the in-app map. 

What is the team composition?

I’m mostly in touch with Paul (CEO), but I’ve also interacted with Mark (Senior Director of Mobile Development), Jason (Project Manager), and several developers. I also talked to Doug (Director of Product) but he is no longer with 3Advance. 

How did you come to work with 3Advance?

I did some research and came across 3Advance. I found out that their team is local but spread out across the world at the same time. They had great reviews on Clutch, and we liked their development approach. They were also very personable, so we decided to bring them in for the project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $111,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We signed the contract in July 2021 and kicked off in August 2021. We’re still working on the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

3Advance has created an awesome app that we were able to take to the market. It is now available for download via Google Play and the App Store. We have around 2,500 users at the moment, but that number is still growing as more and more restaurants upload their content every day. 

How did 3Advance perform from a project management standpoint?

We mostly communicate through phone and Slack, but we also have bi-weekly meetings. 3Advance has good time management and always sticks to the delivery schedule. We can rely on them to openly share and readily address any challenges that they run into. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The communication between us is great in that they really guide us through the development process. They’re very knowledgeable when it comes to building something like this, they’re just a great team overall. We’ve had such a wonderful experience and are, in fact, considering working with them again to build out our customer engagement platform. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They were a bit bullish with their timelines, which caused a bit of stress on everybody. Still, they were able to complete all of the deliverables.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Knowing what you want may be a bit challenging in the app development world since you’ll have to constantly iterate and change things as you go. My advice is to be ready to pivot and openly communicate with the development team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Istruzi. We’re a vertically integrated iOS mobile app designed for golf swing coaches to help schedule, manage, operate, communicate, collaborate, and facilitate payments between golf coaches and players.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 3Advanced?

In the golf coaching industry the player and coach user experience varies greatly from coach to coach and between players. Most coaches use multiple tools to run their business and need help leveraging tech and automation for things like booking to long term player communication and relationship management to help build and foster relationships. 3A was the perfect partner to address these immediate needs as well as additional items on our development roadmap.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

One of the main features is an availability and booking solution that allows students to book time with their coaches. There’s also a native messaging function and the ability to upload images and videos to facilitate coaching. Finally, we have a Venmo integration.

Before coming to 3Advanced, I’d hired a developer to build a lightweight, no code MVP, as well as a freelance designer who designed the UI. I took these documents to 3Advanced, and they built out the rest of the screens, the AWS environment, and the feature development roadmap.

Currently, the app is in the private beta stage in TestFlight. There are dynamic links for coaches so they can get in and share it with players.  We’re on a month-to-month agreement with 3Advanced for support.

What is the team composition?

Paul (CEO) is one of my points of contact, and Darren (CTO) handles the architecture underneath the app. The main day-to-day management is handled by Mark (Senior Director of Mobile Development), and we also speak with Doug (Director of Product) and Jason (Project Manager). Chloe (Director of Designer) handles the UI.

How did you come to work with 3Advanced?

I was introduced to them by my attorney.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $150,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since May 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

3Advanced quoted the project to take six months, and they’ve stuck to that timeline. They got the app into our private beta successfully and drove the importance of sticking to the MVP and getting users into the app as soon as we could with a minimum version of the product to make it useful and valuable.

How did 3Advanced perform from a project management standpoint?

Doug and Jason have been very strong from this perspective. I’m happy with their expertise and advisory support; it’s clear they know what they’re doing and have experience doing similar work. Additionally, it’s easy to know who I need to go to.

We agreed to work through Slack from a daily communication standpoint, and they were always available. It was a new way for them to interact with customers. I’m glad they were willing to be flexible here.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I ended up talking to five potential partners, and only 3Advanced approached the project in an agile manner. Other vendors tried to scope every single feature and deliverable to a timeline based on information I gave them and some they added. This would have led to a lot of guesswork.  

Because we worked off a fixed fee, we spent a couple of months defining the MVP and what was going to be built and then adjusted it on a month-to-month basis.

I’m self-funding and it’s early, so the fixed fee was incredibly helpful. I’m not able to sign onto an agreement where a developer can charge me whatever they want without knowing what I was going to get. In my contract with 3Advanced, it says that they’re not done until the app is submitted to the app store. This built a lot of confidence for me.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Working with them is a good decision; you’ll will be happy with the collaboration and the end product.

Speaking of day-to-day advice, Slack helped us a lot, and the weekly touchpoints are super valuable. They’re also valuable to bring in front of your customers if that’s needed.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Whittle, which is an email and task productivity app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 3Advance Apps?

We saw that many people were having trouble managing and monitoring multiple email accounts, so we wanted to create a workflow that could help them in responding to numerous messages. We hired 3Advance to us solve a complicated business problem through an elegant, simple, and straightforward UX. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

3Advance designed the UI of our app in keeping with our brand. On that front, they also did some market research and provided some advice on how we should manage and position our product. 

The team helped us put together an investor pitch deck and built a landing page for our website.

What is the team composition?

I worked with 8–10 people throughout the course of the project. Paul (CEO) did some initial consulting for the idea behind the app to scope out the project and put a team together. We then went on to work with the product manager, developers, and designers.

How did you come to work with 3Advance Apps?

I was looking for app development shops that were in the area and came across 3Advance online. I did some due diligence and conducted initial scoping calls with other development companies, but decided to go with 3Advance. I saw the apps that they had developed on their website and loved their designs. Their products possessed the look and feel that I was going for with my product.

When I met them, they seemed super knowledgeable. I felt comfortable that I was going to get the most bang for my buck because of their competitive pricing. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We kicked off the project in November 2020. We’re still working together through a few approvals to get the app released on the App Store.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I would rate their work perfectly on any scale. They’ve just been a dream to work with. Besides them being very fast, transparent, and responsive, their design work is fantastic. Our app’s UI is quick, clean, and elegant, which is better than what I had envisioned. 

How did 3Advance Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is outstanding. The team has really helped us understand what the project roadmap and development process is going to be. Whenever we need a certain aspect of the design changed from what we had originally planned, they are reactive to it and could quickly pivot towards what we wanted. 

3Advance has really held our hand through the whole iterative process, taking our feedback and giving advice when we needed it. We’ve always felt comfortable with the direction the app was going.

We have weekly stand-up calls and multiple working sessions, depending on where we are in the development process. We use multiple methods of communication but we mostly do it through Basecamp where the project is mapped out.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a very capable and professional team. From the very beginning, they’ve given the impression that they could do this fast and within budget. I’ve always felt a level of security when working with them because they clearly know what they’re doing. They’ve hit every single mark for me. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

3Advance could build out a service for helping clients with investor presentations. They’ve helped us out with our pitch, but that wasn’t really part of the scope of work. This is especially important for people like me who are just about to release the first version of their apps and are in need of finding good investors. 

They could also look into providing a marketing service for the apps they build since that is the immediate next step that comes after development. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Definitely have an idea of what you want your app to look and feel like and approach 3Advance with a fully baked-out business problem that you need to solve. Having some guardrails will help you get started faster.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a live-streaming company that specializes on sports clients. Our platform allows broadcasters to use our technology to stream events. We’re not out on the field with cameras — we’re just a tech stack for broadcasting.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 3Advance Apps?

We wanted to rewrite our iOS and Android apps and turned to 3Adavance Apps for support.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

3Advance Apps rewrote our apps using different software libraries. There were two phases: the first involved rewriting a Wowza-based software development kit (SDK), and the second was for a Softvelum-based SDK. In each phase, we provided them with virtually all of the design specs and defined the project requirements while they wrote the code and shepherded the submission to the app stores.

What is the team composition? 

The team varied between the two phases. We talked to 5–6 people in total but only worked with 1–2 individuals at any given time.

How did you come to work with 3Advance Apps?

I’d met one of their founders several times at different events in the DC tech community.

How much have you invested with them?

The first phase was about $20,000, and the second was around $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The first phase was between December 2018–February 2019, and the second was from May–August 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The number one thing for us was that there weren’t a lot of user complaints or bugs that needed to be fixed once the apps went live. 3Advance Apps had strong code quality and followed our requirements well.

How did 3Advance Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

In general, 3Advance Apps was very responsive, acted quickly, and received our feedback well. We involved the team at the latter stages of the projects after we’d decided on everything, so they were only responsible for execution. 

On that front, they followed instructions well. They understood what was needed and stuck to our parameters. We didn’t have instances when we needed to go back-and-forth over a decision. Their communication was good, too.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We noticed that there wasn’t a whole lot that we had to handle if we didn’t want to because 3Advance Apps was a full-service shop. In our case, we did all of the project planning and had them code it, but that was because we had the internal resources to go that route.

If you’re a company that comes to them with just an idea or partial capabilities, then I’m sure they’re willing to supply that external help. They have designers and workflow specialists as well as coders, so you don’t need to do much work on your own if you can’t. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t have any feedback for them. I think they’re a great firm.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Anyone who works with them will be happy with the results. They can handle every part of the development process, including making sure that your project is submitted to app stores, supported, and maintained. 

That being said, you should make sure that you’re very specific with your requests and define things in detail before having them code. This is mostly from a cost perspective. You don’t want to be figuring out your project while you’re getting billed $150–$300 an hour depending on the resource. If you come in with a well-conceived plan, they’ll get it done. That’s where their expertise comes into play.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a co-founder of a travel app and Web site. We launched this year and we enable users to see live and recorded tours around the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 3Advance Apps?

We needed to develop the app from scratch and we needed help thinking through the. Logistics of transforming our ideas into a functioning platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

 They helped us from a design standpoint, thinking through our branding and the flow of our iOS app. They thought through the layout and brought up things to consider in terms of UI. They thought through what was workable and what would be allowed on the app store.

They developed the app, helped us integrate with a live feature, and they were instrumental in incorporating a rotating globe on the app. They’ve been very useful as we explored analytics. They’ve helped us look at different tools to fit what we need.

3Advance Apps also helped us work with third-party technology vendors so they could connect with our app. We had difficulty understanding the technology, so they stepped in and were able to break it down for us.

They’ve been a full-service partner on the development side .They also helped with our website and now we’re thinking though the Android version of the app.

What is the team composition?

We work with at least seven people. We had a project manager, an iOS, web, and Android developer. They also had someone from their analytics and design group.

How did you come to work with 3Advance Apps?

We did a lot of research and talked to a few developers. They seemed to be a good fit. I didn’t have a direct connection with them, but they clearly understood what we were trying to achieve and were able to immediately contribute some ideas on how we implement certain features.

What is the status of this engagement?

We stated working with them in April 2020 and the app was approved by app in September 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When we submitted it to Apple, they requested a few minor changes, but then it was accepted. Their technical experience and their ability to guide us so the app would be accepted by the App Store, was very valuable.

3Advance Apps was honestly fantastic to work with. They were open minded and pushed themselves to think of ways to pull it together in a functioning app. But also, they were proactive and honest about the challenges and the costs.

They were extremely helpful in managing our costs. They’ve been an absolute pleasure to work with.

How did 3Advance Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

They were excellent. We had weekly meetings, which helped us manage the overall process. We set weekly and monthly goals.

Whenever we had to talk to someone, there was always someone who could answer our questions. In addition to being readily available, they met all of their deadlines.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are incredibly responsive, and more than anything, very attentive. They listen to what we’re saying as opposed to telling us what they think we want to hear. Then the next time we talk to them, they’ve either drafted the concept, or they’re able to explain why it wouldn’t work for our project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Genuinely, there’s nothing I would change.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re very good about bringing the right people to the table, so be open about all aspects of the project. That will help them identify which of their experts to bring to the table to be involved from the beginning.