Halcyon Mobile

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Smartup is a micro-learning and knowledge-sharing platform by everyone from startups to large corporates, including banks, people in the finances services industry, and telecommunications. We’re helping people to unleash the knowledge inside their organization and democratize knowledge creation so that they don’t have to rely on expensive external course providers and things. It gives their people the tools to create great content, share that with their colleagues, get feedback on that content, and it’s inspired by leaderboards, prizes, and interactions. I’m chief product officer. I have been here since day 0. I was here before the company was started and cofounded the company. We’ve had a long, interesting journey.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Halcyon Mobile?

We had a very big idea. We had built a lot of prototypes ourselves and we knew ultimately what we wanted the product to do. We brought in Halcyon because we wanted to work with a team that would help us, really quickly and to a high standard, take our idea from the conception stages to market. We had all this information and feedback from prospective customers, and we needed to get it in front of them in order to get real data and verify that we were going in the right direction. We essentially wanted Halcyon to bring our prototypes to life. We did that for 2 years with them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were super involved in the project. Their senior team, and even some of their more junior developers, spent time with us and our founder. I have nothing but praise for them. They helped us understand what was possible. When we went to them with some of our big ideas and some of our concepts, very early on, they helped us flesh those out and storyboard them in order to understand what the product might look and feel like from a design and UX perspective.

From there, we were able to flesh out the UI, and then move forward on development on both the native iOS and native Android platforms. We developed hand-in-hand with them the backend and content management system [CMS] too. Once we understood what the product features looked like and what the UX looked like and then went into UI design, they then actually executed and built the initial versions of the app and the backend.

How many resources were assigned to your project?

We had 2 backend, 2 iOS, 2 Android, and 2 web resources. At peak we had 10 people.

How did you come to work with Halcyon Mobile?

Halcyon is based in Cluj, Romania and we’re based in London. Our company was myself and co-founder/CEO Frank Meehan, who had involvement with Spotify and Siri and is a big-time investor.

Halcyon had a really strong, proven track record not only building apps and products for other people, but building their own products, and that really impressed us because it shows that they understand it. They’re not just people you’re going to hire who are going to just build your stuff; they actually have a real passion for building their own stuff and they understand how hard it is. That was really good to see.

They’ve won a bunch of awards from pretty big names. When we got out there, we saw quickly how it was such a professional outfit, but also really young and dynamic and fun, up for a good time. They’re doing this because they want to have fun as well, and they ask really good questions. I would say that’s one of their greatest strengths: not only can they build stuff, but they can dig down in a philosophical way to what it is you’re trying to do. It’s almost like a product consultancy helping you figure out what your assumptions are and what you need to be testing, not just taking a wireframe and building it because you say so but actually pushing you to be really clear about what you want, which is painful but so valuable.

How much have you invested with Halcyon Mobile?

[Confidential]

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them for 2 years.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We had such a good experience and found Cluj to be such a good place to do business; we actually opened up our own office out there. Not only did we open up our own office, we opened it in the same building as Halcyon and they’re our neighbors now. We built our own team of 20 out there. They’re a really great team.

For us, not only did we prove what we wanted to do from a product point of view with Halcyon, but we’re a successful company in that we’ve raised funding and we have customers all over the world. We have huge, huge banks and everything using us. Not only did Halcyon help us do that, but we realized they helped us understand how good a place Cluj was and how exciting a place it is to be.

We were picked up by Apple as a featured app. We got into the top 10 of the U.K. business apps and top 20 in the U.S. business apps in the App Store when we launched. That’s a pretty good recommendation for Halcyon—that Apple liked it so much they picked it up.

How did Halcyon Mobile perform from a project management standpoint?

We worked with them to the point where we were almost one company because we were working so closely with them. I was out there every other week and had a great time working with them. We ended up going out partying with them, became really good friends, and we’re still good friends now.

They’ve got really good project managers. The nice thing was that there wasn’t much burden on us to actually manage the deliverable. They had that handled. We had a dedicated project manager who also doubled as a product manager as well. If we weren’t on-site with them, we were still communicating daily. We maybe had a twice weekly formal call to go through things. Then, in some of the more intensive phases, we might join their standup meetings with the sprints. The nice thing about working with a group like that is that, because they know their trade and they’ve done this before, they can do all this stuff with very little intervention from you. You can be very strategic and leave them to their own devices once you’ve set the direction, and they’ll come back to you with good stuff. In the cases where it’s helpful, you can get very involved right down into the detail, and they’re pretty comfortable with all of that. You do have that flexibility with them.

What did you find most impressive about Halcyon Mobile?

We’re a difficult customer to deal with because we had a lot of ideas and a lot of things that we were still trying to figure out as they were building. Only by building something can you actually see if it’s any good and see what customers think of it, and then from there you get more data, and you iterate and adapt and grow. In order to be able to do that, you need an engineering team and you need a product team that is committed to quality and building something that’s really impressive, robust, stable, and appealing to customers.

That’s something that really impressed me about Halcyon: their ability to build something so robust and stable that Apple picked it up, while staying flexible with a team like ours that is still figuring things out. That’s a tricky thing to pull off. I’ve done that before. That’s a really hard thing to do as an engineer when you try to build something and people keep moving the goalpost. These guys are really good at that. The product they built, considering the amount of iterations, changes, new developments, thoughts, and feedback that went into it, they were really quick to implement stuff. They ended up building something which was still sturdy, and robust and strong and really well put together.

Are there any areas Halcyon Mobile could improve?

There were times when we wanted to do more with them and they just didn’t have the staff because they’re just so in demand. They’re growing and they should continue to keep growing. That was the one issue that we ran into. The tricky thing of working with a team like Halcyon for 2 years is that you can come to rely on them very much.

One thing I should say is that when we first installed our own team out there, they did a really good job of helping us transition the project from their team to our team. They even worked with our first key hires to help them get their head around the product.

I know some potential customers who may be reading this don’t often think about the exit strategy. Halcyon has helped you put an app together, now what? These guys were really good at helping us figure out how to transition from their team to our own team, and that went really smoothly.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Halcyon Mobile?

I would say be really honest with them and take them into your confidence. Be really honest where you think your idea isn’t very good and where you think your idea is very good, because they need to know that in order to help you build a better product. Just be transparent. That involves a certain level of trust and, from our experience, the more honest and the more transparent we were, and the more we articulated our thoughts and our nervousness, they were there to help us figure out how to get through that.

Don’t just treat them as some guys who are going to execute some wireframes that you’re going to send them. You can if you want to, but if you want to get the best out of them and really utilize them for all their worth, that involves much more than just them building what you want. They can do so much more.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The company is a for-profit social platform for addicts in recovery. We enable the user to track and share their recovery progress through chat, events analytics, and educational pieces while using the application so they can be encouraged and inspired.

I am one of the co-founders. I am also the head of products and customer service.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Halcyon Mobile?

They developed the application on both iOS and Android. We also needed help with the design aspects, which they provided. Tracking and flexibility were key goals.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us with the design and development of the app on iOS and Android. They’re building out a custom backend for our users to have more flexibility and analytics at a business-to-business level. They’ve done additional design work for marketing and websites. We drive the concept but they consult with us to make it better and implement our vision in an innovative manner. We rely on them from a user experience standpoint because we don’t have a technical cofounder.

How did you come to work with Halcyon Mobile?

We had experience with other firms in the US and internationally. We heard about Halcyon from colleagues who had used them. They’ve been a very successful company and recommended that we give Halcyon some work and see how great they are.

How much have you invested with Halcyon Mobile?

We spend between $15,000 and $30,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our relationship a year and a half ago and continue to work with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We are very satisfied with their work. We have incredible reviews on the App Store and a rating of 4.6 stars. People say they love us and we’re helping them save their marriage and get sobriety for the first time in their life.

How did Halcyon Mobile perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very responsive. We have enjoyed working with them.

What did you find most impressive about Halcyon Mobile?

They have a standard for excellence. Their sweet spot is in the mobile space. Compared to their cost, the value we get is very high. They’re unique in that they’ve brought us into their process and been transparent throughout the relationship.

Are there any areas Halcyon Mobile could improve?

At times they’ve been a little over ambitious in their estimates for delivery but I’m pleased with how things are currently.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Halcyon Mobile?

They should start today.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are HopeLab Foundation. We are a nonprofit research and development foundation. We make technical products that are designed to improve the quality of life of people. In particular, we focus on helping young people. That can take the shape of apps, websites, or games. 

What is your position?

I am a program manager in the R&D [research and development] department.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Halcyon Mobile?

We are working with them to build out an app that we had designed with one of our partners at MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology]. They handled the technical side of our project.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

We gave them a complete design for the iOS version. They built the iOS version of our app. Then, we wanted to build an Android version, so their designers redesigned the iOS version into the Android vocabulary, and they did that very beautifully. Then, they also built the Android app.

How did you come to work with Halcyon Mobile?

We were having trouble trying to find a strong developer. I was looking at apps on my phone that I use regularly that worked well. I really liked this app called SigFig. I searched the Internet and found that they were the developers behind it. Then, I reached out to them to see if they were interested in making an app for us.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

It was from $50,000 to $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work is complete. It finished over the weekend.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We are extremely satisfied. I have not been happier with a development group so far. In particular, the main project manager lead that was working with us is fantastic. We would give her the specs and designs and user experience, and she would look at it and come back with excellent questions to help clarify our thinking and also good suggestions when she finds something that she and her team thought was not the best user experience. 

The mobile app hasn't launched publicly yet. It's in the App Store now, though. We don't have many stats. The partners that we're working with at MIT are extremely happy with how it turned out. In general, people say it's a beautiful app that works reliably. 

How did Halcyon Mobile perform from a project management standpoint?

Halcyon Mobile would come back with a suggestion for us to consider. They were never pushy, but well thought out. In addition to making the app, they made it even better than we were expecting. They were very proactive. They offer very clear communication. Even though it was remote work and through Basecamp, it was fun to work with them and communicate with them.

What distinguishes Halcyon Mobile from other providers?

Halcyon Mobile always over-delivered and were always exactly on budget. I felt any suggestions they were making were truly for the good of the product. I just thought it was a fantastic partnership. We don't have a technical internal team, so we really needed them. I found they were always able to communicate with us as non-engineers very clearly, which is a special skill.

Is there anything Halcyon Mobile could have improved or done differently?

They exceeded all expectations. The thing I would do differently is when we gave them our specs for how we want the app to be built, they rewrote it in a much more logical format. I want to use Halcyon's specifications document as a template for our future specs.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

It is a mobile application project that my wife and I have been working on. We are creating a mobile app with Halcyon Mobile for people interested in discovering the latest fashion trends. Our app allows viewers to engage with each other and share fashion-related content.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I am the founder. I have an extensive eCommerce background with little experience in mobile. I created the concept, UI/UX and business/functional requirements. I oversaw the entire project lifecycle. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for the work with Halcyon Mobile?

Our goal was to deliver a high-quality mobile app, quickly, and at a highly competitive price. To have a strong partner to provide advice and recommendations based on their mobile expertise was another goal. 

SOLUTION

Can you talk about the scope of their work?

Halcyon built an iOS app based on the requirements provided as user stories, wireframes, and functional requirements. They provided the creative layer, UI/UX recommendations, based on the wireframes, all development, and the app submission process was handled by Halcyon.

Their overall mobile expertise paid off during the creative process by ensuring tablet platforms would be supported by the UI/UX.

Shortly after the app was launched in the AppStore, they released an updated build with bug fixes and usability enhancements.

Overall, Halcyon was able to take our idea from requirements and wireframes, and deliver an amazing mobile application that is currently being used by thousands of people and professionals who strive to keep up with the latest fashion trends.

What was your process for selecting Halcyon Mobile to work with?

I evaluated three mobile development firms in total. Halcyon provided the best solution and recommendations while keeping within my budget and committing to the desired timeline. Also, having worked with a Halcyon developer on a previous project, I knew the quality of work I would receive.

Halycon also had a respectable portfolio and proven track record delivering mobile solutions.

Can you give us a sense of the size of the initiative with a general cost range?

The project was between $10,000 and $25,000.

When was the project completed?

The app work was completed in 2013 for iOS, but we are going to start more work in early 2014.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of the project, do you have any statistics or metrics to share?

The results are a high-quality mobile application that exceeded my expectations prior to starting the project.

 The response from the app has been phenomenal. Halcyon Mobile deserves a lot of credit for the great reviews we received for usability. Their recommendations on the sign-up process and overall app structure have proven to be the right choices based on evaluating app analytics.

Overall, I got more than what I paid for. Also, the fact that Halcyon was very agile in their approach – they were able to accommodate shifts in functional direction while keeping within scope and budget – is unique.

When working with Halcyon Mobile, what is unique or special about them compared to some other IT firms?

Halcyon is focused on one thing, mobile, and they do it extremely well. They are passionate about their work and above all, want to satisfy the customer. They don’t need an articulate work order or SOW to get the project completed correctly. Their strengths lie in understanding iOS requirements, mobile design, and usability.

Looking back on the work, is there any area that you think Halcyon Mobile could improve upon or something you would do differently?

Overall communication on project tasks, timelines, and deliverables can be vague at times. This problem is easily solvable and manageable. I don’t think these are major issues that will take away from a project’s successful completion.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

I work for a football club, CFR1907.  It’s one of the biggest league football clubs in Romania, located in Kluge, Romania. 

What is your role and responsibilities?

I’m the marketing and media manager. The mobile market in Romania is very rough. We’re the first top Romanian football club to extend our website and interaction to the mobile market. It was my initiative to order the development of a mobile application. We have a big fan base, and a lot of people follow us on social media networks.  

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for the app?

We wanted to extend our platforms to connect with fans through the mobile market because we already have a website, and are on Facebook and Twitter. We have many fans in the city and region that come to games often, and we wanted to connect with them more.

Now, the mobile app is one of the main ways of communicating with the fans because of some attractive features that aren’t available with other modes of communication.

SOLUTION

What was your process for selecting Halcyon Mobile to work with?

I met the managing partners of Halcyon at the gym, and they had some projects that interested me because we were searching for a new partner for our ticketing platform. I contacted a few regional companies just to get a few references on software companies who can develop ticketing in a digital platform. 

Halcyon didn’t win the ticketing contract but performed well in the bid. We kept in touch with them. It was very easy to start the conversation with them later on the app.

Can you describe the scope of their work?

Obviously, there is some maintenance for a few special features. We put in a GPS mapping feature for our stadium to help fans. The app was very popular, but also very tricky to maintain. They have done a lot of maintenance work on this feature.

Can you provide a sense of the size of the initiative with a general dollar figure?

The project cost was around $20,000.

When was that project completed?

We launched the app before last season in the summer of 2012.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How has Halcyon Mobile performed?

I’m more than satisfied because they were very professional. I really appreciated the fact that most of their team was very young. Some of their developers were actually fans of our club, so it was a pleasure working with them because they had some extra enthusiasm.

In the end, the project ended very smoothly. They provided a lot of good ideas for design and extra features.

Is there anything unique or special about Halcyon Mobile compared to other IT vendors?

The main thing is that their team is very young. I appreciate that because I am young and enjoyed our working relationship.

They also met the project schedules. I really appreciated that because we wanted to start at the beginning of the next season, and it was achieved. 

Is there any area that you think they can improve upon or something you might do differently?

I would change a few things, but not necessarily because of the way the app was developed as it’s a very dynamic market. A few years ago, almost nobody was present in the mobile market, and now a lot of clubs have developed apps with improving features. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

Our firm is founded by three child therapists. We developed a suite of apps for educators around social skills and organizational tools for children.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I am one of the founders. We split up the roles evenly between the three of us. We all kind of do everything, but I took the role of communication with Halcyon. I’m the liaison between the other two partners and Halcyon. We also offer consulting to other therapists who want to make apps, I run the consulting arm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for the app work with Halcyon Mobile?

The goal for the first app was to create something abstract that acted as a curriculum. It was similar to a book, but we wanted it to be an app.

We expanded that later for the next round of development. The apps shifted from more of an eResource to tools. They’re much more engaging and interactive for the children.

What was your business goal for the work with Halcyon Mobile?

We worked at a tiny practice in Massachusetts and we really believed in the program we were doing and wanted to reach more people. The app was a great way to help children that struggle with social skills and help therapists have better tools to treat. That was the altruistic part of our goal.

We would also like to make money, but we don’t necessarily expect that. That would simply be an added bonus.

SOLUTION

Can you please describe the scope of Halcyon’s work?

There was obviously a lot of back and forth, trying to put our vision into an app. We started by sending them information, drawings, and ideas. They were able to shape it into the most functional app possible.

Halcyon handled all of the coding and they also helped us with submitting through iTunes Connect. They handled all the technical side since we don’t have that expertise. They have all of our sign-in information and they handle all the updates and any kind of technical issues. If there are any bugs or glitches with the app, they provide fixes. We have been using Basecamp with them for project management.

What was your process for selecting Halcyon Mobile to work with?

We originally worked with Thumb Arcade. Thumb Arcade introduced us to Halcyon since they could handle the app better. We’ve been nothing but happy with them. They’ve just been really amazing.

Can you provide a sense of the size of the initiative in a ballpark dollar figure?

Each app has cost us around $7,000, depending on the complexity.

When was the last app completed?

It was completed in early September 2013.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did Halcyon perform?

They’ve been really impressive and responsive to any question or concern, no matter how little it seems. They have a great team. Halcyon’s team really loves that they’re working on educational apps, too.

It feels good to know that these are people that really value what we’re doing, too.

Do you have any stats or metrics to track improvement from the app?

I think we’re over 15,000 downloads. We’ve been featured in a few good sites from an educational standpoint. I would have to say the response has been better than expected.

Is there anything unique or special about Halcyon that makes them stand out compared to other IT vendors?

I think it’s remarkable that they’re based out of Romania and they’re just amazing at English communication. They just make the process very easy and they’re understanding. Some of the concepts we’re trying to create are very specialized for our field.

I’ve spent less time in trying to explain my vision and more time in trying to make the app better. Their team has a small family feel. They’re very personable but professional. I hope that we get to continue to make apps with them for a long time because it’s been a pleasure.

Is there anything you think they could improve upon or you might do differently looking back?

I really have no complaints.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What were your business goals and objectives for undertaking the project?

About two years ago, we had a portfolio tracker. We hadn’t built anything in mobile and wanted to dip our toes in without committing the entire team. So, we did a little bit of research and found a few companies, I think, through oDesk. They were one of only a handful of people who stood out after our tech team screened everybody who wasn’t quite up to par. Essentially, where the relationship began, we started with one app with them. It was an Android app. We had built an iPhone app internally. From there, we decided that they were great, and started putting all of our mobile development into their hands.

SOLUTION

Could you talk a little bit about the average scope of the project you do with them? 

I was the project manager for all things mobile for the company. I would generally design the user experience and wireframe, such as how it would work. For final things, like polished details, they often have a designer that we would work with. Our designers get involved a little bit as well, but they were also providing design resources. Then, in terms of implementation, they were designing the entire client set application, and they were making use of our back-end APIs we had already build for our own service.

How long ago was the most recent project competed?

They still work pretty close with us. It’s a kind of thing where it wasn’t just build, and two months later you’re done. Mobile is an ongoing investment for us. They’re very much operated more like an extended part of our internal team than just a contractor.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How happy were you with the results of their work?

Honestly, we were psyched. They’re based in Romania, so there was a little bit of culturally getting used to the concepts around what our app is talking about. Just the idea of investing for some of the developers wasn’t always something they’re familiar with, or certainly the particulars of U.S. stock market. Those things really mattered when it came to how many decimal points should this one have? What should this look like? But I’ll tell you, on the whole, we were ecstatic with their work. They started off with really an Android app and a BlackBerry app. By the time I left and up until today, they now take care of our iPhone app, our iPad app, the Android app and Android tablet app, the Windows phone app, and the Windows 8 tablet app as well. They’re a pretty huge part of the mobile strategy. They were the mobile strategy when I left and still to this day. I can't say enough great things about that company, and the excellent work they do. That is a huge scope for them to be able to take on.

Is there anything that stood out as being unique or special compared to other developers that you’ve worked with?

That’s a good question. One thing that was really unique that stood out to us in the beginning is that the two founders have been involved in the mobile world before the iPhone revolutionized the app world. So, these guys had deep-seated mobile experience, you know, going back to Symbian and some of the earlier platforms. That definitely made an impression on us. The fact that they were able to expand what they’re offering in to local talent in Romania is a unique opportunity for developers in that area, so they had great developers they were working with was a unique thing for them. The fact they came with their own design resources was also helpful for us. The ability to ramp up with them, such as when they needed to get a new person or two on the project, they could either recruit on their end, or they might have other people on their staff who are freeing up from other projects. This really made us a lot more flexible on the mobile side than even the rest of the company.

Is there anything that you would do differently a second time around or wish they can improve upon?

One of the things that I would have done differently is just found an excuse to head up to Romania earlier on. We did a lot of the work. You know, we did a lot of the work remotely for a long time and not until we were maybe nine months in the relationship did I head out there and meet the team. About six months later, Zabi, one of the founders, came out to San Francisco. I think that just made a huge difference, just in terms of the two teams knowing each other. So it was really the only thing. It was less on them and just more a general coordination between two companies.