hedgehog lab

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of business development at NetVirta, a startup with a focus on digital 3D scanning technology.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with hedgehog lab?

Our central business premise centers around providing our customers with a way to 3D scan a part of their body so they can order custom-fit apparel and accessories. We needed to completely revamp both our iOS mobile app and our web portal user interfaces. At the time, we had just formed a partnership with a large custom-fit football helmet company, and we needed to customize our entire app and web solution to integrate our services with their business. Although we worked with our client to figure out specifications for user flow, operational mockups, and the product’s overall functionality, we needed an outside company to do both design and development work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our partnership began with a discovery call to give them the opportunity to learn about our business, which was helped by their previous experience within relevant industries. Although their work was not completely from scratch, the design was entirely their purview. hedgehog took the ten mockups with which we provided them initially and expanded them into a fully realized mobile app design. They also drafted both the app and portal’s low-level functionality and user interface alongside the specifications with which we provided them.

During the primary stage of the project, they worked on coding the frontend of the app in React Native, as well as collaborating directly with our internal development team to integrate hedgehog’s design with the backend, to make sure that everything was cohesive. After their initial development phase, we reviewed their work alongside the client, and gave hedgehog feedback. They provided us with different variations of the final products until everyone was satisfied with the outcome.

The app was made for iOS, but in the future, we intend to have hedgehog create an Android version. Once the app was completed, they went through the same process for the web portal, utilizing HTML, CSS, and Bootstrap, and then integrated it with our extant backend.

What is the team composition?

There are four primary team members with whom we worked, although I believe there may be a few others who assist on their end. Patrick is the managing director for the US, and although he supports the project and attended calls with our client, he was not involved on a day-to-day basis. Alex is the lead designer for our project, and he has been phenomenal. Ryan is the project manager, and Bruce is the web portal’s frontend designer.

How did you come to work with hedgehog Lab?

Having used Google as my primary search tool, I reached out to a number of web and mobile development firms, conducted interviews, and received price quotes. After that process, we decided that due to their technical expertise, prior experience, and affordable cost, hedgehog was the best fit for our needs.

How much have you invested with them?

About US$100,000 for this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We engaged them in October 2017, and our work with them is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have any tangible metrics, in part because the final versions of both the app and the portal are still being finalized. There have been no issues or bugs of any significance so far, thanks to them having planned for most possible scenarios. For us, the important thing has been delivering a good product in a timely manner, which they have done.

How did hedgehog lab perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management has been great, with Ryan having been in touch with me almost on a daily basis regarding deliverables, by when they needed feedback from us, scheduling meetings and calls, and other necessary details. Having him touch base with us so regularly has been very helpful both for us internally and for our own communications purposes for our outside partner. He and I spoke mostly through email, although we also had a call scheduled once a week via Zoom. Our whole project team used Basecamp to do most of our day-to-day work, and their team used both GitHub and Atlassian in addition to the above. Additionally, Patrick was always available for questions, and would respond to emails right away.

What did you find most impressive about them?

hedgehog has been very easy to work with and open to matching our company’s unique work style. In particular, they are good about collaborating, and have gone above and beyond to provide multiple options for any design or feature when requested. They had experience with other complex technologies like AR and VR, as well as prior knowledge of 3D scanning or printing, and they were able to apply that specialized knowledge to our project. As a result, it felt like hedgehog had a deeper understanding of our business and the ways in which our customers interact with it. Additionally, they work at a rapid pace. After that first discovery call, they were able to provide us with a broad set of designs in under a week, which was far faster than I had expected.

Everyone involved has been very happy with both end products, the app and the portal, and everything was delivered on time. We had a good experience with them and their employees. I always felt like they were receptive to our ideas, and their own ideas were always top notch. In the end, our collaboration produced the best app and portal that was possible. It has been a pleasure working with hedgehog.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only real negative to working with them is that they are based in the U.K. while we are based in Boston. Any project of this scope is easier to do in person. It would be fantastic if they could have more than just two representatives here in their U.S. office, but I recognize that likely is not feasible.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that the company has relevant experience to your industry. It is also important to make sure that you will be comfortable working with those people and that you know who is going to be involved from day one – how many designers there will be and what their experience levels are, for example. Lastly, have a good idea from the beginning what their day-to-day process is going to be like, from discovery to design to development to implementation.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Crowd Scholar is a newly registered charity. We focus on providing scholarships to high-attaining kids from disadvantaged backgrounds. I’m the founder and a trustee.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Netsells?

We didn’t have the technical expertise to build the kind of site we wanted. The vision for the charities is partially democratic, so we needed to have features like voting. The goal is to have a clean, intuitive website that gets our message across.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

There was a heavy planning stage. The first phase was an agreement of what we wanted, how much it would cost, what it included, and them sharing different ideas and looks for what the site could be. We also had a couple of design proposal layouts. The second stage was building the one we picked and them testing it, making sure everything worked, and then going live. They used Hatchly for the CMS.

It’s a relatively complex site, as it has to be able to accept applications to the scholarship program. They also put in a loading feature for when someone donates through the website, they get the option to vote on the charity’s policies. It’s a smooth transition from being a donor to being a participant, which is hard to pull off and have it look as good as it does. They also provided small logos for parts of the site where we refer to certain things.

They provide ongoing support, and when we need to touch up on things here and there, they’ll add stuff.

What is the team dynamic?

We mainly worked with 2 people, who were front-facing, client facing. They had a development team behind them, big enough to get everything delivered on time and on spec. The first phase had someone who took us through setting up the scope, contract, and making sure both sides knew what was expected. After that, we had a project manager overseeing the delivery of the final product. Both were responsive and friendly.

How did you come to work with Netsells?

We had brief discussions with companies we researched online, and had them send a cost proposal. We narrowed it down to 2 companies and spoke with current clients of theirs for feedback. We really liked Netsells's initial response and speed with which they got back to us.

How much have you invested with them?

$8,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2017, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The site is 80% finished and built in the way we wanted it. There are a few added features that won't come into play until a month down the line. We've seen them all, and they’re pretty much done but aren’t live yet.

It looks fantastic, especially considering the price we paid. There are no issues when it's been live. When you go through testing before it goes up, obviously things get caught. Once it's been up, everything’s worked smoothly. There was one time when a link wasn’t working to Twitter or Instagram, and it was fixed within a few hours.

How did Netsells perform from a project management standpoint?

They are very responsive, which is one of the reasons we picked them. Just today, I pinged 3 or 4 emails with Andrew [Junior Business Analyst, Netsells Limited], who is managing the project. They always get back to us and get it done quickly. We also call on Google Hangout.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their responsiveness, and that they’re client oriented. They invested the time to learn about us and what we want, which shows in the final product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything that I’d change with how this is going. They’ve been very good.

What advice would you give to a potential client of Netsells?

We learned to really trust them. They know what they’re doing. It helped to let them learn about what we're trying to accomplish. They’re the kind of people who will take that onboard and have it affect how they do their work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I own a business called Tempt App, which allows social media stars to engage with their fans on a paid-for basis. They announce on their social media accounts that they’re posting content and interacting with fans. Then, they link our Tempt App to that social media post. Fans download the app and can buy coins to open the content or send messages directly to a star’s inbox.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with hedgehog lab?

I’ve launched a series of websites during my career, but I’ve never actually built an application. This was my first time working with an app developer.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built an app from scratch for me on Android and iOS. I went over the business plan with them, and they went through the details in order to suggest improvements and explain how they’d fulfill the requirements. We moved into the development process to ensure that everything was documented and that we had the right building plan.

They led me through a great discovery process. I’ve worked with development firms that had only one or two developers and others with teams of 50 or more. hedgehog lab allocated many resources for the discovery process. We detailed the exact elements of the application: what it needed to do, how it needed to perform, what technology we should use, and what the scope would entail.

We developed two native applications on iOS and Android. They’ve built the app so that it functions and allows social media stars to post video and photo content. Some of that content is free, and other content is paid. We prompt users to pay for content through coin packages through the app via a push button purchase. It also supports card payments. Once the users have bought coins, they can redeem them to open paid content and send messages. If the social media star wants to message that fan back, the fan also has to pay to receive those replies.

The application markets itself because social media stars are using their platforms to market our business. If we bring on a social media star with two million followers, she’ll post that she’s using Tempt App throughout social media. Then, hedgehog lab provides a link that the social media stars can post, which will direct the user either to our website or the App Store or Google Play. hedgehog lab created all the links and infrastructure to support these functions.

What is the team dynamic?

I’ve worked with ten people in total. There were five full-time developers on the project at a time.

How did you come to work with hedgehog lab?

I researched five companies from the app world on Clutch. I received quotes ranging from $50,000–$250,000, so I had a huge variety to consider. First, I wanted to choose a firm that was competitive. I wasn’t going to go for the cheapest quote, but I needed to make a commercial decision based on price. Secondly, I needed to be able to get along with the team. I spoke at length with each of the teams I canvased, and I felt that hedgehog lab ticked all of my boxes. They’re mid-range in terms of price, but the team seemed reputable, professional, and friendly. They convinced me that they were the right team to work with in terms of their knowledge about the sector.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2016 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app functions brilliantly and received thousands of downloads in its first few weeks of launch. Apple has made things difficult with certain content that’s being posted through the application. Now, we’re working through those challenges. Despite the issues with Apple regulations, the app functions well and has received outstanding user feedback.

How did hedgehog lab perform from a project management standpoint?

They did well. I had a project manager all the way through the build. The project manager signed off a week after we launched, but then I opened a service agreement for 12 months, so we’re working through that now. I was assigned another project manager for any technical issues. I can contact that person at any time and report issues.

We’re using Jira, which lets me report technical issues to their support team. We also have an API that’s built into the backend, which allows me to control the application. I can look at user details, model posts, and spending. I’m completely happy with the tools that we’re using.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team understands my needs extremely well. Because we went through a long discovery process, they know exactly what I’m trying to achieve, and they’re able to handle issues or situations as they arise.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They have a large team. They respond to me quickly, but with this iOS situation, I’ve had to wait a few days before solutions are made. They could provide more immediate solutions to issues, but I do understand that they have other clients and that I can’t be their top priority all day. They always deliver and make sure that solutions are found within a day or two, so I can’t grumble about that.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The Continuing Professional Development [CPD] courses under the Conference and Events Unit sits within the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Leeds. We manage a portfolio of regular CPD activities for industry delegates, plus a range of ad-hoc engineering conferences and events.

I am a marketing and development officer for the university.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Netsells?

We needed a new WordPress-driven website to promote a conference.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Netsells managed the full design and build of the website, including the logo design. While we provided the content for the website, Netsells offered over-the-phone training to ensure we were fully up to speed with the use of the CMS [Content Management System] and update of the website. Their training services ensured we were able to easily add, edit and remove pages and other page content as required.

We provided Netsells content for each of the initial pages. 10-15 pages were required to implement based on a maximum of three different page templates. Certain pages also required downloadable assets, such as PDF files, to be included on the pages.

The project lasted three months to design and build the website, with minimal updates since.

How did you come to work with Netsells?

Netsells was one of the website developers on our preferred suppliers list. We requested quotes from three of the suppliers, and Netsells came back with the lowest price.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested less than $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in June of 2016 and ended in September of 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were really pleased with the services received from Netsells. The Conference Chair and our team were very happy with the final result. Netsells ensured the website was suitable and made to our specifications.

How did Netsells perform from a project management standpoint?

The project was carried out within the agreed schedule, and budget and communication throughout the project build were excellent.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were very enthusiastic about the project and offered a good level of service and training.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company provides a new London-based out-of-home marketing platform that delivers timely, engaging, targeted, and scalable advertising campaigns in central London during specific time intervals.  We are currently in our launch phase, and recently completed an investment raise, taking our raises to over $200,000 in less than a year since inception.

My role is founder and CEO.  I am involved in the vision and strategy, which often overlaps with IT system "discovery" phases.  Members of my team usually take over from there to project manage the IT development phases.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Netsells Group?

The project is in two phases: business challenges faced early on, and more recent business opportunities.  

The "early business challenges" phase revolved around the need to add credibility to our brand, equip us with "go-to-market" networking efforts, and support investment raising efforts.  This included developing phone app visuals for concept presentation and a high quality, professional-looking website on a limited budget. (All of this was prior to our recent investment installation).

The "more recent business opportunity" phase is ongoing, and will continue for some time.  It involves building sophisticated and reliable IT systems in order to engage key stakeholders in our operation and enable better logistics to deliver reliable and consistent service.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I found Netsells through an online search in December 2016, after having spoken to six or seven other potential providers. Upon speaking with Netsells, I got an immediate sense that they were "long-termists" with respect to their clients.  They clearly wanted to understand my needs and resource capacities so that they could provide me with the soundest advice possible. This was a quality I hadn't seen in the others, and so I opted for Netsells.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

We have been primarily engaged in the areas of strategy, design, and development. They have also demonstrated consistent support and offered sound and invaluable advice throughout the stages as we've evolved into a functional business.  We now collaborate with them in two key ways:  The first is dual concept ideation in discovery phases, and the second is with them working on formal IT development and subsequent testing phases. We communicate regularly to tie everything together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

My relationship with Netsells started when I was the sole employee of my company and about to run out of cash, with no obvious prospects of further financing on the horizon. Ten months later, we are a full-time team of eight hand-chosen employees, working from a central London office.  We recently completed a two-and-a-half-fold oversubscribed raise for $200,000 at a $3.4 million post-money valuation.  We have a full professional website (built by Netsells), a retailer phone app in the iOS and Android stores for our distribution network (built by Netsells), a patent-pending (with involvement and advice from Netsells), and a temporary customer relationship management system in place with a full one in development (again, Netsells).  With the IT service Netsells delivers, we are currently running scaled test operations in London in preparation for our upcoming launch (which is to be rolled out in stages over the next six months).  We have a growing network and following in the advertising and marketing space, which has benefited tangibly from the look and feel of our IT and website.  All in all, the business has come a very long way in the time since I first engaged Netsells, and their support during this time has been indispensable.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a headhunter at Hoshin Search, which is a recruitment business. I’ve developed a product called Portl with hedgehog lab that’s being run under my business, but it may ultimately become a new business in the future. Portl is an app that connects freelancers with clients (people who want to hire freelancers).

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with hedgehog lab?

There’s a growing number of freelancers on the market who are very good at what they do, but a lot of them don’t know how to do business development. My app is trying to solve that problem by making it easier for freelancers to find work. In my job as a headhunter, I’ve noticed that many people hiring freelancers no longer want to use head hunters like myself. They tend to use other means for finding freelancers to save money. The app also addresses that and makes it easier and more cost-effective for people to find freelancers for hire. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I did all of the concept development, and hedgehog actually built the app. They went through a discovery stage, a design stage, and a build phase. The discovery phase was all about making sure that they understood the app’s purpose. The design stage was about designing what it would look like and how it would fit together. Then, we actually built it. The app is available on iOS at the moment with an iPhone version and a native iPad version as well. The strategy for the project was already in place when I went to them, and marketing is the next step.

They created a search feature where clients can find freelancers based on a range of different criteria. That’s the backbone of the app. As a freelancer, you register and create a profile, so there needed to be a slick onboarding process. There’s another onboarding process for the client as well that’s much simpler.

Other features include the ability to unlock profiles. Clients, once they’re registered, can purchase credits in the app and use those credits to unlock a freelancer profile that they’re interested in. This unlocks the contact details and the name of the person, which enables them to contact them and decide if they want to work with that person. We also created an availability update request for clients, if a client finds a profile that they’re interested in and wants to make sure that the freelancer’s availability is up to date before they unlock it. Both freelancers and clients can easily invite people via email, text, What’s App, or posts to various social media platforms.

How many resources have been assigned to your project?

We had 6 people in total—a project manager, a designer, a lead developer, and 2 developers that worked for the lead developer.

How did you come to work with hedgehog lab?

I did some research online and found a site that rated app development companies. I made a shortlist and looked into hedgehog lab in more detail in terms of visiting their website and looking at some reviews. I picked hedgehog because they were used to working with startups and got back to me really quickly. They made it clear that they wanted my business.

How much have you invested with hedgehog lab?

Without tax, we spent £80,000 [$101,000].

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May of 2016, and the work is ongoing. The app went live on the App Store this week. They provide a 3-month warranty period. After that, I’ll sign a service and maintenance contract for at least another year. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app has been live for less than a week, so I don’t have any feedback yet. They completed all the work within my budget. The app did take longer than we initially forecasted for various reasons, but that wasn’t a major negative because I didn’t have a specific timeline. It was more about getting the app done right than completing it quickly.

How did hedgehog lab perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication is really good. We used Basecamp to communicate daily and have weekly project status report on Fridays. We also did a number of show-and-tell sessions for each milestone via an online video conferencing system. After each build sprint, they’d show me what they were up to and let me ask questions. We also had a shared spreadsheet on Google Docs where I could document any issues that I found in the app during testing, and they’d use my notes for their quality checks.  

What did you find most impressive about hedgehog lab?

This is my first experience working with an app development company, so I don’t have any benchmark. They communicated very well and were really enthusiastic about the product. I think they’re well suited to working with small startup companies. Their quality of work is really good. Everyone I worked with had all the skills that we needed. The speed at which they turned things around and the way that they communicated were excellent. It was a really pleasant and enjoyable experience. The only issue was that the work took longer than they’d anticipated. But, they communicated that well, so it wasn’t an issue. Everybody that I worked with added value and understood the brief. I did a lot of work up front in terms of the concept, which helped, but everyone got on the same page really quickly. From a design perspective, the end project is very similar to the concept I brought to them.

Are there any areas hedgehog lab could improve?

They should probably build more time into their estimation of how long things are going to take. They don’t really have a buffer in case things take a bit longer. From a kind of sales perspective, it’s probably better for them to under-promise and over-deliver than the other way around in terms of timing. Other than that, the experience was excellent. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder of a mobile betting app that allows users to track their betting statistics and use those to find the best tips on any sports betting event.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with hedgehog lab?

We were trying to find a way to provide tips that came from people who had verified success. Also, we wanted to create a betting experience that wasn’t as difficult to use as the current sports betting apps on the market.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I came to them with a large idea and they helped to whittle it down to an MVP for iOS. From there, they’ve done all the design work, the development work, and we anticipate they’ll be helping us with the marketing work as well. The app needed to have full integration with the API of a third-party betting provider. We needed the ability to track betting statistics down to a granular level which required parsing data out of the responses from the API. There were in-app purchases and a couple of exchange rates in the app. There were also two wallets so it was a complex app. We hope to have an Android app in the future as well.

The composition of their team varied throughout the process. A third-party we were working with pulled out and it caused a rather large delay in the project. We ended up having a new team and each team had a project manager, three or four developers, a designer, and a lead designer and lead developer. There was also a client relations manager.

How did you come to work with hedgehog lab?

I found Clutch and emailed quite a few firms that I found there. I met with half of them and hedgehog were the ones who seemed most keen and most accommodating about the idea. They’re also the ones that came back with what I thought was the most reasonable quote.

How much have you invested with hedgehog lab?

When the project is finished, the app will cost £50,000 [$64,400].

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May 2016, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app will launch in August or September. The feedback on the designs has been very positive. That’s all we’ve been able to show people so far.

How did hedgehog lab perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done well. I think they’ve been in a period of expansion recently and the project management has gotten better since then. It’s been managed very efficiently. We communicate via email and Basecamp, and we have weekly Skype meetings. They’ve stayed within budget and are very accommodating with that. There was a big delay that wasn’t their fault and we’ve had other delays, but since January, that’s improved a lot. They’ve been working very hard to deliver on time.

What did you find most impressive about hedgehog lab?

I don’t have much experience with other providers, but hedgehog very personable. They’re very easy to work with, and they work hard. There’s no formal structure that has had to be adhered to.

Are there any areas hedgehog lab could improve?

I would have said communication, but that’s already improved. They could work on the speed and managing expectations.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Honcho Markets Limited is a startup business in the northeast of England. We’re developing an insurance trading platform between consumers and the insurers. I’m the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with hedgehog lab?

We needed to build a scalable platform with a mobile frontend that would operate on all the major platforms and would be cross-compatible and cross-buildable. We are using a Xamarin technology base and we needed a cloud-based backend in Microsoft Azure that was scalable to our tens of thousands of users.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had already built a reference prototype with another provider. We needed hedgehog labs to take that reference prototype in the technology that it was built in and bring that to the latest versions of Visual Studio, Azure, and all the toolkits associated with those platforms along with Xamarin. They were to correct any issues they saw and suggest areas where the technology could be improved. They did a discovery phase on that and a review of the technology base. From there, we defined the project to implement the prototype into all of the latest technologies with their dev team. hedgehob lab provided an account manager and a project manager. Because of the size of the build, we had a single, very experienced developer. Since the prototype has been completed, we have worked with them to look at scoping the next phase of the project which would include a variety of UX/UI, AB testing, a complete reskin of the application as well as building out all of the new functionalities that we want to include in the MVP. They have the capabilities to operate beyond purely dev, particularly in the areas of personal development, UI and UX, user flow, wireframing, etc.

How did you come to work with hedgehog lab?

They were recommended to us by a partner we already had. We had engaged another UK business who did branding and design for us. That company worked closely with hedgehog lab on several projects and had good feedback. It made sense to go with them because of the link they had to the other company we were working with. We looked at other vendors in the northeast. We wanted to work with a local vendor, but hedgehob lab came out the strongest in that process.

How much have you invested with hedgehog lab?

We have spent around $60,000 during the relationship so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2017, and the first phase of the project was completed in March 2017. After the first phase, they put together a cost proposal for our next phase of development which will take place after a funding round. They’re not actively working with us right now, but they are supporting us and we’ll be using them for the next phase, which is projected to cost $200,000.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have a working prototype in the latest technologies that’s available for us to demo for our funding process. What they’ve done gives us something that’s a much better fit than what we had before. We don’t have any metrics. We knew what needed to be built and they worked in Agile sprints to get it done. We ended up where we intended to be after the engagement.

How did hedgehog lab perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve got a lot of tools in place for collaborative working. They report their progress and can track bugs and work that needs to be implemented. We get a weekly report from our project manager so we can see what’s been done and what hasn’t been done.

What did you find most impressive about hedgehog lab?

They have a particular focus on non-PC based builds. They brand themselves as a post-PC development agency which means they build apps. Ours is a mobile-first, app-based business. There was a big backend, but they also did well with that. They’re very good at what they do.

Are there any areas hedgehog lab could improve?

Their account management function could be improved. From my point of view, it’s sometimes opaque what the account manager does for us and yet it’s a charged function. You can’t engage them without having a charged account management function. I think they’ll work on that in the future.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was updated on May 9, 2018, by the client. New content is below.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We are working on a much bigger phase now, which includes a complete user journey, UI/UX, design, and technology for the app and web solutions. They did a market analysis of competing products in our vertical, established what made those products successful, and applied that feedback to new parameters for our project. It was a valuable exercise. We got good information from a wide audience and had a better idea of what to avoid and how we could stand out from our competition.

What is the team composition?

My direct contact is a product owner. They manage the process and my involvement very well.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent £240,000 ($325,099 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started this new engagement in March 2018 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did hedgehog lab perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a very collaborative approach. They use hypothesis-led design and agile development principles. We use Basecamp and Jira to track our backlogs, reviews, and sprint planning sessions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their design is particularly good. They run their design sprints ahead of their development sprints. They user-test mock-ups with target demographics to see which hypotheses are strong, then take the good elements of each hypothesis and combine them into a cohesive user journey. All that information feeds the next development sprint. It’s a new approach for them and it works very well. We expect to deliver a fantastic user experience.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s difficult to interface with some of the finer points of project management. We don’t have a clear understanding of where the money is being spent. This is a consistent issue with this kind of agency engagement and they are clearer than most companies.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a systems integrator operational in 56 different countries. We have about 64,000 employees. They work across five main sectors: defense, aerospace, space, ground transportation, and security. I work for the Research, Techology, and Innovation hub, and we’re focused on potential new projects that could be incorporated into the business. We’ve got quite an outward focus. We tend to look at the project through a more customer-focused lens and how we could potentially integrate them into one of the business units.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with hedgehog lab?

We’re still working on a project to do with UI/UX. It’s got to the stage of the concept now where we’re looking to work with a collaborative partner on the frontend platform design. Since it’s still in the early stage, we’re not sure if it’s going to be a mobile device or a web interface or something else. So we got in touch with hedgehog to put out some feelers and see if they’d be a suitable match.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’re early in the process. We’re basically in the proof of concept stage. We’re doing a three-month process to work out whether there’s a market for the product. Without giving too much way, the platform is looking to assist the target user in terms of improving the efficiencies and processes of the tasks we ask them to do. They did it well. They split the project into short-term goals using current technologies. They were quite realistic in terms of what was achievable. This is primarily a web interface, so they’re very heavily focused on the UX design, making the user interaction with it top-notch. And then they did a timeline in terms of the technologies that could be used and incorporated into the design, so looking at things like using VR and AR as well as simulations, and really pushing the boundaries in terms of technologies we know exist and can be utilized. They’ve great at figuring out how they can be used. I know it’s vague, but I can’t really go into much more detail.

The work done with hedgehog provides the proof so we can get funding to go ahead, and the work that they’ve done has justified them as a really good potential as an innovation partner.

How did you come to work with hedgehog lab?

I wasn’t the one that originally got in contact with them; it was through a colleague who worked with the innovation hub. I don’t know how he got in contact, but that project began with looking for an interface design provider. It was through an open innovation company. They started taking, and hedgehog was really forthcoming and receptive to our needs. It was probably the customer service that gave them a head start over the other companies.

We flew out to meet with them. We met with their COO, Matthew. He was very hospitable in terms of what they offer. He explained the company – I think they had 60 employees at the time – and we talked about the project we were on. Working from very little information, he gave a detailed idea of what they could offer. Because it was quite an early stage, we couldn’t guarantee that they would have anything to do with actually building it. But they did some consultation for us, and the service they provided is really top-class. Great customer service from Kevin. The work that they produced for us was of a very high standard. They addressed the problems very accurately, and the work that they demonstrated showed a real awareness of current and future technologies that could be utilized. Overall, the process was very efficient.

What is the status of this engagement?

The first point of contact would have been around August or September of 2016. It’s subject to funding, but the intention is to continue.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t done any assessing in terms of the work that they’ve done, primarily because it’s an internal project at the moment. So we haven’t validated any of their work, but the response from the internal people has been very positive. We haven’t had any technical output from them; it’s all been conceptual. We had a slide deck put together, and they did the interface design, but no actual product’s been made yet.

How did hedgehog lab perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done very well. They demonstrated a very efficient time-keeping process. There was a good variety of skill on the team. And the way in which the output was done demonstrated a good understanding and awareness of the limitations as well as the possibility that we scoped. They’re very good with sticking to timelines and budgets, deadlines particularly. It is a fast-moving process. We didn’t give them very long. The work was turned around in two weeks. They offered to come down and visit because we couldn’t do the day-to-day work apart, so they were more than capable in that sense.

We mainly communicate through email, but we also use Basecamp, which they use to share files and any informational queries that they have.

What did you find most impressive about hedgehog lab?

Personally, I haven’t worked with any other providers in a similar area, but there are a lot of things that impressed me about the company. I’d say the first and foremost thing is that they’re very open-minded in terms of approaching projects. They’ve worked with a variety of clients in lots of different sectors, and it wasn’t just coming up with an interface they’ve been given. They went off and did their own research and justified themselves, so they would understand the problem better. I thought that was really impressive.

Are there any areas hedgehog lab could improve?

They could potentially be clearer in terms of what they were looking to get out of it. No, that’s a lie. They were really impressive.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The client is AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals. I’m a channel specialist dealing with all of our digital platforms between apps, websites, and video content. I specifically focus on apps and videos. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with hedgehog lab?

We have an app that was built in-house, and we needed to update it for the year. We also were taking on a lot of new projects, so we needed to be able to give that to an agency to take on the developmental role and free up some time for me to work on other projects. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They took what had been created before on both Android and iOS, updated it, and fixed some of the issues. There was a slight visual redesign that they facilitated, and there were some slight functionality changes to the layout of the app. It went from a menu interface to a timed interface. Also, they updated functionality in terms of how we send data to the app for our store search capability. They were able to facilitate setting up a new server that we could use as a destination for the app to pull our store information from.

We started out at the beginning of the year talking with them. Our update period is toward the end of the year, so we had a few months of planning and requirements discussion before the actual update needed to start. After we got through all of our planning, we went ahead and started the update. It took hedgehog lab a couple of months from beginning to end in terms of development time. There were just a few small things that needed to be changed because of internal feedback. The project took a total of nine months.

How did you come to work with hedgehog lab?

I work in Houston, Texas, and my manager is based in Newcastle, England. Originally, when I was looking for an agency, we wanted someone that either I or the manager can work with in the same area. I ended up finding hedgehog lab because they had offices in Austin and Newcastle. I thought that could be well-suited because if I needed to go to the office, it would be a few hours’ drive, and they would be able to meet with my manager in her office. We contacted them and found out that the Austin office wasn’t really used for development specifically. Everything was run out of the Newcastle office. I searched different agencies and went through a list of contacts that I had. We wanted a firm that wasn’t going to be extremely high-cost because our budget wasn’t huge. Previously, the app had been done in-house by one person. We also needed a partner that was going to develop on both iOS and Android, had some web server capabilities, and was able to work natively rather than making a hybrid app.

How much have you invested with hedgehog lab?

We’ve spent around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in the second quarter of 2016. The product was launched in January of this year. There were a lot of delays on our side. They finished most of their side of the project by November or December of 2016. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have any numbers yet because our company is very seasonal, so we’re coming up on our big buying season. In terms of time investment for us, I believe that previously the apps had been worked on over about a six-month period full-time. Hedgehog lab was able to get the coding done within a couple of months, so that allowed us time to work on other projects. They have a pretty robust testing setup compared to what we had before. We have minimal bugs and crashes now. I have had very few complaints from customers and internal users about any problems with the app. A lot of it is the same content and the same functionality as before but shown in a different way.

How did hedgehog lab perform from a project management standpoint?

We worked on Basecamp. I worked directly with them, posting back and forth to keep everything kind of in one place. We had a couple of phases in our project. At the beginning, the communication was off between us and hedgehog lab. Right at the time that we started with them, they were in a period of growth and were hiring a lot of people. For the first third of the project, there was a lot of problems with communication, but we finally got a test version sent out. After that, we all sat down together and realized that something had gone wrong. We worked with Kevin, who’s the lead client partner. He let us know that they were going to be making some changes in communication. For the rest of the project, we had really good communication. We had one main contact person and worked directly with Kevin as well.

The project was exactly what we budgeted. We did have some changes that needed to be made to the original requirements, which meant we went a little over. After the communication issues were ironed out, we were able to get more timely updates. We gave them a timeline, and they stuck to that.

What did you find most impressive about hedgehog lab?

This was my first use of an agency. I thought it was pretty impressive that they had a fairly small team of developers working on our app and got it done really quickly. They had a lot of talent working in their development department. We had one, maybe two developers working on each app.

Are there any areas hedgehog lab could improve?

We had those problems with communication in the beginning, but they improved right away when they realized something was going wrong.