Jackrabbit Mobile

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a software company called CertAssurance

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Jackrabbit Mobile?

Jackrabbit Mobile developed an application that manages a specific paperwork task associated with commercial real estate and property management.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed a web-based application from the ground up. We talked through the wireframes together. Their work included the frontend GUI, they did all the style and design work around that, they provided me with a style guide. I now have the standards that they used, should I need it for a project in the future. They then built the website and developed the backend infrastructure, both on the website and database side.

The application lets users create a profile or their property based on their insurance liability requirements. It reads the insurance certificate and compares that against the requirements set up for the commercial property.

Then the application provides tools and notifications that enable the property manager to experience a high degree of automation when it comes to reconciling those problems as they arise.

Sometimes I get feedback from customers asking about certain features that we don’t have. The nI get in contact with Jackrabbit mobile, we’ll do a quick scope, and they’ll finish it up.

What is the team composition?

There was a project manager who was my single point of contact. I also worked with a sales manager, who stayed involved. Then we worked with a designer and a programmer.

How did you come to work with Jackrabbit Mobile?

I live in Austin, Texas, and Googled “Austin application development.” Then I contacted the top five companies with customer satisfaction ratings on the list. Four of them got back to me and then I had scoping calls with all of them. Once we received proposals, we selected Jackrabbit Mobile.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from July 2018–March 2020.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief operating officer. We’re primarily a specialized claims company we service infrastructure damage claims for state, municipal, and county governments.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Jackrabbit Mobile?

We asked Jackrabbit to construct a mobile app that could be used by first responders to report claims.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built the app from the ground up. It was really important that responders could access the app quickly and fill out the form in a matter of seconds. First, they developed a pilot, it was really a functional prototype. We reviewed it, they tweaked it, and then we approved it. Now we’re in maintenance mode and it’s available on iOS and Android.

What is the team composition?

During development, there were 5–10 people working on the project.

How did you come to work with Jackrabbit Mobile?

When we started this business, I too some time to interview companies while looking for a partner. Jackrabbit Mobile came out on top.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $250,00–$300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in August 2018 and they continue to maintain the app.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

From a quality standpoint, I’ve been extraordinarily pleased. The response to bugs is great—from their diagnostic ability to resolving the issue. The product they built was top-notch.

How did Jackrabbit Mobile perform from a project management standpoint?

How they go about maintaining it, like prioritizing the work that needs to be done, it’s all top-notch. They communicate well and met all their deadlines. They have, from the outset of their initial proposal, created a budget and stuck to it. For each step of the process, they’ve come in under budget.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They listened and were very upfront when I was interviewing companies. They understood our vision off the bat. They really got our vision and have been able to convey it to workers very easily.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes they get bogged down by being overly thorough. So, sometimes I need to remind them that unimportant tasks don’t need to be perfect. There’s no other vendor I’d rather work with. They’ve never been anything but a pleasure.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re building an app for the first time, I’d follow the same model we went through. We held an initial meeting, talked about what I needed, and went through the prototype together.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of Retiremax, LLC, a software application for financial analysis. It supports analysis for paychecks, taxes, retirement accounts, income needs, Social Security, and death benefits.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Jackrabbit Mobile?

We needed them to develop our iOS app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed our app based on specifications we gave them in an Excel spreadsheet. They coded in Swift. The app contains 21 tabs for various functions.

Jackrabbit Mobile also assisted with our website and integrated plugins.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three or four team members, including a project manager and a software developer. One of their executives was also on our calls. They occasionally brought in specialists to work on the website.

How did you come to work with Jackrabbit Mobile?

Our previous vendor went out of business, which left us hanging with regard to several projects. Our vice president found Jackrabbit Mobile. We interviewed a few firms, but we chose them because we thought a smaller partner would best fit our needs.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $200,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2017 and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app’s quality has been exceptional. Their programmers did an excellent job and they provided great follow-up. I was particularly impressed by their testing of the tabs on the app. Each tab has a .pdf file attached, and they ensured every detail. Nothing has fallen through the cracks.

How did Jackrabbit Mobile perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very timely. The project hit some delays which were unavoidable, but other than that, they always hit their deadlines. Our communication was excellent. We held weekly calls and they tracked to-do items.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I liked that the project manager checked their programmers’ work using an iPad to simulate the end-user. That really helped us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing stands out.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the co-founder of a volunteer matching service. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Jackrabbit Mobile?

We were looking for a vendor to help us create a prototype of a mobile app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We shared our idea with Jackrabbit Mobile, and they built a prototype of a nonprofit volunteer matching mobile app for iOS and Android. We used InVision, so we could show the design to our investors and potential clients. Jackrabbit Mobile is currently developing the actual app for us.

What is the team composition? 

We worked with four members of their team.

How did you come to work with Jackrabbit Mobile?

We considered a few different companies. Jackrabbit Mobile took their time to discuss our vision with us and educate us. They seemed very experienced and open, so we decided they'd be a great fit.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement? 

The project started in September 2018 and the prototype was completed in February 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The prototype looks great. It shows how the app is going to work and how different pieces will interact with one another. It also looks very user-friendly. Within a week, we secured funding for developing the app.

How did Jackrabbit Mobile perform from a project management standpoint? 

Everything went according to the plan. The communication was excellent and they worked collaboratively as a team. They quickly understood what we were trying to accomplish and answered all of our questions. I don't have any experience in development, but they were very patient and explained the whole process to me.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were impressed with their expertise and their proactive approach. We did market research in-house, but Jackrabbit Mobile did their own market research and highlighted some things we hadn't thought of. It's been a perfect experience. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything. I highly recommend them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO/Founder of Heart Rate Social. We are a social networking app to connect friends, workout buddies, and dating for those that have a passion for healthy and active lifestyles.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Jackrabbit Mobile?

They first helped me take my MVP on iOS from a buggy failed app to a commercial-ready product. Slowly upgrading and testing all the features and user feedback to create a great product. Then they helped me duplicate my iOS product on Android.

What were your goals for this project?

Improve user experience, add lots of features, measure and track UX, then duplicate on Android.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I interview at least a half a dozen dev teams, Jackrabbit Mobile was communicative, accurate quoting, quality of work, and willing to work with me on the terms I needed to complete my project.

Describe the project in detail.

First was taking my base MVP I had developed offshore into a great product with a limited budget. We outlined all the features we wanted, scoped the work, and implemented in phases to help my fundraising. The app is native on both iOS/Android. They provided very accurate timelines, honest about hours required, and always came through on their timelines.

What was the team composition?

I always had a project manager that helped stay the course, Matt (Sales and CX Director, Jackrabbit Mobile) was excellent to work with. I also had members of my own team that worked in conjunction with the Jackrabbit Mobile team, making sure we were hitting every angle and timelines.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I officially launched iOS last year, we launched Android this year, and I'm still working with Jackrabbit Mobile to implement my revenue models currently.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication has always been top-notch, there are always development issues that come up, and their guidance and expertise have always steered us in a good direction. They made very few mistakes, but when they did they owned their mistakes and made quick work to rectify.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their quotes were accurate, and the communication was great. Every other dev company I worked with would either under quote or overbill. That was never the case with Jackrabbit Mobile, and that alone was a good enough reason to continue to use them.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No suggestions from me, once again their mistakes were few and I was always satisfied with their response to those mistakes. As a business owner, that's all you can ask for.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am vice president of AutoPets, a manufacturer and retailer of highly functional connected pet products. We focus on the development of pet products that solve a need for pet parents. Our flagship product is called Litter-Robot. It is an automatic, self-cleaning litter box for cats.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Jackrabbit Mobile?

We were looking for the next version of the Litter-Robot, which included connectivity and our ability to understand the cats' usage of the Litter-Robot. The connectivity side, we know, is part of the future. We had been looking at IoT before IoT was popular. We originally looked to hire internally to lead that project. After some trial and error, we made the decision that we should look for an extension of our team through a contractor such as Jackrabbit. At the time, the development of the project was about 30% complete, which made it harder for a new vendor to pick up somebody else’s work. Jackrabbit could not have done a better job.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The product is a mobile app for the Litter-Robot. It allows pet parents to see how frequent the Litter-Robot is being used by cats in their household or if there are any fault modes. For example, a common fault mode would be a user putting too much litter in the Litter-Robot or the drawer getting full. The Litter-Robot mobile app tells users when they need to empty the drawer, if it’s in a fault mode, and how frequently it’s being used. The app also allows users to change the settings, such as the night light, the wait time, and push notifications.

The first big goal that Jackrabbit had was to get a prototype ready for a trade show, which created a very short window to finish the whole project. They got a prototype finished for us. Their team came out to attend to be there at the booth with us for a little bit.

Jackrabbit did only the development of our iOS app. It is now a completed project with ongoing, continued development. We are in official public beta, and our customers are purchasing in a small beta round right now. Our second beta version is about to launch within the next 2 weeks.

We chose to develop native apps, which are integrated with Magento using a proprietary open-source API.

What is the team dynamic?

In the whole project, there were two project managers speaking with us daily, as well as one iOS developer, one API developer, and one designer. The API developer was the most communicative, well-spoken, and organized developer we could have ever asked for. She quickly understood our product and the algorithm behind how the app works without making us repeat ourselves at all. She was so quick to understand everything, and so was the other developer.

How did you come to work with Jackrabbit Mobile?

We realized what we were looking for was beyond what one individual engineer could do alone, but we weren’t ready to hire an internal team. We were looking for a team of experts that had knowledge beyond what one person could offer us. We wrote a proposal for what we were looking for, similar to an RFP, but very detailed and with wireframes.

We evaluated five potential vendors, and we selected Jackrabbit. Jackrabbit impressed me with one of their blog entries, which was about hybrid versus native mobile apps. The knowledge in that article was something that I was looking for, and the article was well written and so well illustrated with examples. It gave me confidence in their ability to understand the problem and the situation we were in and have an answer to our questions.

Jackrabbit's VP of Engineering, an iOS developer, and an Android developer were involved before we paid them, which I valued very highly. They evaluated the current code and quoted the project based on what was actually there. They came back with questions to the current developer. They also had video walk-throughs of the current code, asking for very specific deliverables before they would even quote the project. Most other companies just blindly quoted low to get the business. Jackrabbit was the second most expensive of five quotes, but they had more of an intimate understanding than any other vendor based on the questions that they asked in the rigorous proposal process they put us through, which I appreciated.

How much have you invested with them?

We have spent between $50,000 and $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the proposal process in the beginning of July 2016 as we were phasing out the previous developer. Throughout July, there was a knowledge transfer which we were not billed for. iOS development went from September 2016 until August 2017. They’re getting started on Android in August 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re currently doing surveys with the beta testers. We are getting an overwhelmingly positive response, which is great to hear.

How did Jackrabbit Mobile perform from a project management standpoint?

Jackrabbit's project management is unparalleled. We've even had a project manager leave during our work with Jackrabbit, and there was no impact on our project, which is rare in development. The new project manager was brought completely up to speed and started working on our project several months ahead of their predecessor leaving. We don't feel that we've had to spend anything extra because of that turnover.

We communicate daily. They do daily stand-ups, and the client is welcome to join those. We also have weekly Sprint planning and weekly Sprint reviews. Of those three things, I've been part of every Sprint planning and the Sprint reviews since we started. They have built enough trust that I don't feel the need to attend the daily stand-ups.

The meetings are done through Google Hangouts. We also use Trello. I could not be more pleased with their project management, from the backlog to what was in development to how they tracked every single communication we have. That is what kept things working so smoothly throughout the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are creative developers. They are able to look at problems and help come up with solutions. They are able to look at dry content and come up with creative design to make the user experience better.

Are there any areas they could improve?

At this time, I don’t have anything. They have done a fantastic job from start to finish. There have been no empty promises, the delivery has been on time, and they set the right expectations. Everybody here in our organization is thrilled with the partnership.

They have cost more than we originally planned to spend. They’ve made us aware of that throughout the whole project, and it’s because of things that we’ve added to the initial engagement. Going into Android, we’ve already done all the light work to create the logic behind the app. In a perfect world, I would have gone to may freelancer to do Android because it would have cost maybe one-third the amount, but we still elected to partner with Jackrabbit for Android and our continued iOS development. That speaks really well to how much trust they’ve earned with us.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We’re a group of faculty and students studying human population dynamics at the University of Texas at Austin.

What are your role and responsibilities?

I’m a researcher and a graduate student. I work in a section of the university called the Population Research Center.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Jackrabbit Mobile?

Our team had some research findings that we wanted to make accessible to the general public and the legislature, and those findings were quite complex and very time sensitive. We were under a really tight deadline. We wanted to use a mobile app, so our research would be easy for people to find and understand.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

Jackrabbit Mobile made us a Web app that was optimized for essentially any mobile device. Our team was creating the data while Jackrabbit was developing the app. We basically did the back-end, and they did the design and the interface.

What was your process for selecting Jackrabbit Mobile with which to work?

As a public university, we have a rigorous contracting process. So, we got in touch with five different firms here in Austin, including Jackrabbit Mobile. Someone on our team knew one of their partners. We got quotes from all of them and got to know them. We chose Jackrabbit because, right from the beginning, we were talking to the people who would actually be building the app. With the other companies, we were just talking to salespeople. We wanted someone who took our work seriously, and Jackrabbit did. Also, their quote was the lowest one we received.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they did for you?

The project came in somewhere between $10,000 and $50,000.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of the project?

The project began in the winter of 2012 and was released in the spring of 2013. From the first meeting with Jackrabbit Mobile to the actual release of the app was about three months.

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

We got lots of great press, and our work was reported on in numerous news stories. We got what we wanted, which was to get our information out there so that it could inform the legislative process and the public around the issues that we study. We understand that the app was instrumental in making policy change possible here in Texas. To our funder, this was the most impactful thing we did with the grant. It was a smashing success.

Is there anything unique about Jackrabbit Mobile that really makes them stand out compared to other companies?

Right before the release, their team came together and fixed all these crazy coding errors that were coming from our side. They worked together well under pressure and delivered in the face of a really tight deadline. They really took me seriously and treated me with respect.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think Jackrabbit Mobile could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

No. I think they did a good job, and we knew exactly what to expect.

BACKGROUND

Please provide a description of your company. 

We are the Society of Wine Educators, and we’re located in Washington, D.C. We provide education and certification to wine and spirits professionals throughout the world.

What are your role and responsibilities?

I’m the director of education. I am responsible for all of our education and certification programs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Jackrabbit Mobile?

We wanted to improve our marketing capabilities so that our programs could get much wider exposure and reach a much wider audience.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

They helped us develop a mobile app for our "Wine and Spirits Quiz." Users can share the app across their social networks and work through the various levels of the quiz. The app even allows us to send updates, messages, and special notifications to our users.

What was your process for selecting Jackrabbit Mobile with which to work?

I began with a web search and initially identified five different companies. I chose Jackrabbit Mobile based on their service and their proposal.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of the project?

We had a release party at our conference a few months ago in Seattle, and the app received a very positive response. Several people from Jackrabbit came out to help us with the release, which was just great. Our relationship with Jackrabbit began in 2013, and remains ongoing.

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

I’m not the person who deals with metrics, but I do know that we’ve had more than 4,000 downloads since the release and have generated quite a number of promising leads. We’ve had nothing but positive responses to the app.

Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

Jackrabbit’s strength is in marketing and what I can only describe as energy. They were wonderful people to work with. We’re an older organization, so we were looking for Jackrabbit to come in and give us a more youthful perspective, and they did an excellent job of that.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

No. We were satisfied with the project from start to finish.