Lickability

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a startup called GoGoGames. We produce audio adventures for kids. Through our app, users listen to storylines, but unlike a podcast, they also hear directions and can become part of the story themselves by acting them out in the real world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lickability?

Our last contractor left, so we needed a partner to do iOS app development work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They took over a previous code base, but they ended up starting over from scratch. They implemented our designs and developed the initial version of the app before helping us get it launched on the App Store.

They did some product capability work for us. For example, they figured out how to use multiplayer connectivity through devices so our users could talk to each other. They also researched how to play synchronized audio on different devices.

They also helped us hire our lead iOS app developer. They ran the recruiting and screening process and recommended different candidates.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 3–4 people and our primary contact was a developer. We started with Daisy (iOS Engineer), but then we transitioned to Andrew (Partner). Matt (Partner) is overseeing the project as a code reviewer and product lead. Finally Jillian (Project Manager) and Tom (Account Manager) handled project management and account management stuff.

How did you come to work with Lickability?

We tried to hire Matt at my last company about 10 years ago and I’ve always respected him. When a friend of mine recommended them, I was excited to have the chance to work with him.

How much have you invested with them?

Our average invoice cost between $20,000–$30,000. Over the course of our engagement, we probably spent $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from April 2020–February 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They built a really high-quality product, and our first version is live on the App Store. They clearly know the ins-and-outs of developing for iOS. I think they’re among the best developers in the world.

When assessing their work, we measured the speed and the stability of the product as well as how well looks and functions. We examined everything from how it worked on different screen to how well it performs and how elegant their solutions are for loading time lags.

We also got pretty good feedback from the iOS developer candidates that we considered; they enjoyed working with Lickability.

How did Lickability perform from a project management standpoint?

They used a GitHub Kanban board to manage the project. They did a good job keeping the board up to date, clearing tickets, and asking questions through Slack.

They were professional and organized. Like a train station, they were always on schedule. They were on top of things and were never late to a call.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were thorough and thoughtful about each line of code. They paid attention to detail and thought about each decision they made and what the implications were.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re used to working with larger customers that are more focused on quality than speed. A few times, I told them to prioritize speed instead. We’re a new startup, so getting the product out there was our priority.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re expensive but worth every penny.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm creating an app for parents to read children's book to their children. I'm the creator and designer of the product.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Lickability?

I worked with Lickability and had them architect and develop the iOS app.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal was to design and build an MVP for the initial product and soft launch it by late Summer of 2020.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I was referred to them by a few different friends.

Describe the project in detail.

I was working on building an app that lets parents access a catalog of the best independent children's books and read those stories to their children, conveniently on their phones. I designed the app and reached out the Lickability to build it for iOS.

What was the team composition?

I primarily worked with a project manager and two engineers. They were all extremely knowledgable and helpful through the process. Also, they were super responsive and easy to communicate with.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In the end, I had a high quality, fully working app with an easy to use backend that I could use to use to populate content into the app. The team also helped me prep for launch via the Apple Connect.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective. We had weekly sync and ongoing conversations via a dedicated Slack channel that they set up for the project. Very seamless.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were flexible and willing to work within my constraints. They were always able to communicate different options for how to architect and develop the app and work with me to come up with the ideal solution.

Are there any areas for improvement?

They're a bit pricey. As an individual creator, it's hard to rationalize using them for all my projects. However, they do produce quality work, so it's a trade-off.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder of an IT company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Lickability?

We were looking for additional mobile development bandwidth.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to improve an existing application’s performance.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Lickability was recommended by a colleague.

Describe the project in detail.

We had a performance issue with an existing application. Lickability came to the rescue. They also followed up with recommendations for next steps when the time is right.

What was the team composition?

We primarily worked with Andrew (Partner, Lickability).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In under a week, Lickability resolved performance issues with our mobile app to an acceptable level.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Lickability has an extremely competent team. They were extremely flexible in communication. I joined their Slack channel and did extensive video shares since we were working remotely. 

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were extremely knowledgeable about everything I asked of them.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, there were no areas for improvement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of a mobile app company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lickability?

We needed to fill a hiring gap, and they provided development services to extend our team’s engineering efforts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The app is for iOS, and it was coded in Swift. We used Lickability for development work.

What is the team dynamic?

We worked with Matthew Bischoff [Partner, Lickability] and Brian Capps [Partner, Lickability].

How did you come to work with Lickability?

I used to work with Matt at a different company. I heard that he had started his own firm and that they were contracting resources.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since December 2016. We’ve been able to expand and contract regarding the amount of services, depending on our needs and our product road map.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The amount of code that they've committed has been on par with our full-time employees. They are very productive and efficient.

How did Lickability perform from a project management standpoint?

They are great. They’re extremely organized, transparent, and willing to give and accept feedback to build a better working relationship. They have also utilized our development tools so that we can track their work and collaborate. It's been a positive experience overall, which is why we've been engaged with them for so long.

When we first contracted them, it was meant to be a three-month stint, but we continued to work with them since they truly felt like a part of our team. Matt started out coding, but now he's taken on more of a project management role. Brian works mostly as a developer.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We've worked with other people, and we expand and contract. We’re currently working with Matt and Brian, but we have also worked with two other people on their team. In terms of capabilities, they are all proven technicians and very accomplished engineers. They've worked at other prestigious companies before, and they bring those best practices and insights with them.

I think this is a little bit different than some of the other companies we've worked with, which tend to hire junior people and train them through contracting work. Talent tends to use those companies as a jumping-off point, whereas Lickability is a much more senior team. Their business is a lifestyle for them, so they’re able to contract really talented people.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We would certainly much rather work with them in person and have them in our office more often. Some other firms we've worked with were much more flexible in that regard. However, they do a great job of working remotely, being collaborative, and using all our tools. But I would love it if they could spend time in our office with us once a month.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Respondent 1: I’m the executive director for digital product and technology at The Atlantic, a 160-year-old magazine.

Respondent 2: I was the primary designer on our side throughout the project.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lickability?

Respondent 1: We had an app that's been on the market since the early days of the iPad. It’s gone through a couple of different iterations over the years and was desperately in need of an update.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Respondent 1: They came to town for two days in the beginning as we determined our requirements and outlined the content API and registration API. They helped determine which aspects they would handle, and which aspects we could manage in-house in order to cut costs.

Respondent 2: They suggested very strongly that we develop the app through Swift, so we took their advice. They used the latest version at the time and have already suggested that we update the app to Swift 4.0 for next year.

In terms of features, they took advantage of a number of stock iOS capabilities. They built in support for Dynamic Type and fixed bugs on our API for content delivery.

They also integrated with our partners for account management, as well as third-party code for Omniture, Firebase, and YouTube.

What is the team dynamic?

Respondent 1: We primarily worked with Michael Liberatore [iOS Engineer, Lickability] and Brian Capps [Co-Founder, Lickability]. They served as developers throughout the project.

How did you come to work with Lickability?

Respondent 1: I knew of Lickability through their excellent work with The New Yorker app. I checked their references and contacted them along with a few other vendors.

Our previous app lacked stability, partially because we made bad requests during the build and saw no pushback from the developer. We wanted a partner who could help guide our thinking for this project, so we approached these vendors with a general idea for the app, but without a firm plan.

Respondent 2: We met in person to discuss scope and vision. They answered any questions we had and offered their expertise on the best way to create the product.

How much have you invested with them?

Respondent 1: We spent slightly more than $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Respondent 1: Our first meeting took place at the end of April 2017 and we shipped the app on August 23. It was a quick build.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Respondent 1: We took an app that was previously a premium model and turned it into a fully-gated, paid model. We honestly weren't sure what to expect, but I can say that we are very pleased with the conversion rate. It’s higher than we expected and our renewal rate is strong.

We also had a chat with Apple about how our app performed during an accessibility audit. They were very pleased with the work Lickability had done.

Respondent 2: Our average review score has also improved dramatically.

How did Lickability perform from a project management standpoint?

Respondent 2: We communicated regularly via conference calls and Slack, and exchanged design proposals through Zeplin. Requirements were documented through Google Docs.

They also had an organized checklist that made submitting to the App Store a very smooth process.

Respondent 1: They used GitHub to keep tickets clear and meticulously labeled whether specific aspects related to pre- or post-launch of the product. They never missed a deadline and clearly articulated anything they needed from our end.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Respondent 1: They pay close attention to detail and are very proactive developers. They pushed back on us if we made a request that would ultimately harm the app’s overall performance and made sure the app would scale well for for future cellphone sizes.

They were real partners. It didn’t feel like they were cranking through a quick contract and moving on.

Respondent 2: They care about small details and often caught things we missed. It was good to know our developers cared as much as we did.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Respondent 1: It feels like a cop out to say that I don't have anything noteworthy here, but they were just a breath of fresh air.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Respondent 1: I strongly recommend them. They delivered on time, offered proactive suggestions for improvement, and took pride in their work.

Respondent 2: If you want a company to simply build a product based on rote instructions, then Lickability may not be the right choice. They’re real partners and will work with you to ensure that an end product is the best it can be.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Meetup is a digital consumer website and mobile app whose focus is bringing people together around things that they love.

I am a Director of Product. I focus on member engagement by keeping members active through finding value in Meetup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lickability?

We had decided to completely rewrite our iOS app and didn't have enough resources in-house to make it happen on the timeline we wanted, so we contacted Lickability.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were very much seen as full-time Meetup employees in that they were invested in the quality of the outcome as much as we were. They were in discussions from day zero when we were talking about even deciding whether or not to rewrite our app. Lickability was involved in helping make that decision, doing some rough estimation of the level of effort of that decision, and then helping to strategize exactly how to execute the rewrite. Once we were actually in development mode, Lickability led all of our engineering, including a lot of the high-level architecture of not only the software itself but also of even how we work as a team. They made recommendations on our processes and best practices for making quality apps. On a day-to-day level, they were doing coding and making parts of the app happen.

How did you come to work with Lickability?

My manager, who's our Vice President of Product, had worked with most of them when they were all full-time employees at The New York Times.

What is the status of this engagement?

We engaged with them on the project sometime around June of 2015. The number one milestone of launching the redesigned app is completed. That said, they're still with us and continue to work with us on iterations and future versions of the app.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One big metric is that we hit our goal of our relaunch date. We could never have done that without Lickability.

Also, the response to the project itself has been super positive amongst a lot of different segments of people. Another step is that the code base is now 100% written in Swift programming language and there is 0% of code from our old app. It really was completely rewritten.

How did Lickability perform from a project management standpoint?

That's one of the best things about my experience working with them. I've worked with solid engineers in the past, but Lickability goes beyond with really, really great project management. Like I said earlier, we really thought of them as full-time employees in that they participated in every planning meeting. They were as communicative about their progress on things and any issues they encountered as any full-time employee would be.

What did you find most impressive about Lickability?

Their place among iOS developers in the world is really high. They are like the rock stars of the iOS scene and it makes it really great to work with them because they're at the forefront of that whole domain. Their investment, and I don't mean financially, I mean mentally or spiritually, is very high for a contractor. They were as interested in making a quality app as any of us were.

Are there any areas Lickability could improve?

It's really hard for me to think of anything. Maybe there's something to improve upon with cost, but I can't speak to that.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The organization is a reputable media company. I was the Director of Project Engineering. I ran the engineering team, and I was the point person for products for our digital properties, including the website, app development and anything else that came up on our roadmap.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lickability?

We were trying to develop a lightweight iOS app. Though we were not looking to recreate the entire user experience, we had a very specific goal in mind regarding the users that we wanted to attract and the development time we wanted to commit to it also. We were cognizant of the resources that we had available, but we also knew that taking on and creating a new project like this would require ongoing support.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Even though we had a developer in-house, we wanted to augment our development resources and were looking for an outside contractor to come in and help us. We had already submitted the coding for the development of the application before Lickability got involved, so the app was more like an advanced prototype. When they came along, it was still early enough for them to help with the overall architecture. They brought in the experience that they had from doing similar apps, and specifically insights to problems that they faced where they had previously worked. Their experience was very helpful regarding defining the scope and the feature set, and regarding prioritizing tasks also.

How did you come to work with Lickability?

I knew of the owner of Lickability from his previous work, so it was more like an internal referral from friends. It was also word of mouth. The applications that he and his team worked on were popular. We saw parallels between their work and what we wanted to do, so we selected them because they had already tackled problems in similar projects.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them around November 2015. The work has been completed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This was an entirely brand new initiative. Our digital edition is a replica of the magazine with some hooks into web content. The app has been live for a while now; it's been pretty successful. It has excellent ratings in the app store, and editorial and others are extremely happy with it. It works well with our existing systems.

How did Lickability perform from a project management standpoint?

One of the things they were good at bringing into the project was a sense of organization and definition. They talked to us about our actual goals and brought a lot to the table regarding priority.

What did you find most impressive about Lickability?

In many aspects, they have a similar format to other providers. The thing that distinguishes them is that they truly were trying to understand the problem that they were dealing with. They were proactive in getting things done. They brought a level of organization to the project that I don't normally see. In many aspects, there are third parties that I've worked with who you must prod a little bit, or you must do the project management to a certain degree with them. Lickability came with all that as part of their service, and it was very professionally done. It was very refreshing.

Are there any areas Lickability could improve?

Nothing obvious comes to mind. I was very happy overall.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Jet.com is an e-commerce marketplace where prices drop as you shop. I am the Product Manager for the iOS team. I lead a group of designers and developers working on the iPhone and iPad applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lickability?

We wanted to pretty much re-architect the entire app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Restructuring an app is a non-trivial task; it requires a lot of work, a lot of planning, and a lot of whiteboarding sessions. For most of our existence, we had one developer working on the app. We made it with hacked and nonscalable solutions, so we wanted to take a step back and really look at the foundation of the app from a codebase standpoint and make sure that it’s built in a sustainable and a scalable way. We needed a team that was quick, smart, and that’s done app development before. Lickability was recommended to us, so we engaged them and worked with them over the course of two months to re-architect the entire application from the ground up.

We rewrote a lot of things in Swift. When they weren’t in Swift, they were in Objective-C, so there was a lot of translating that occurred. As far as the tools they used, it was just your normal suite of tools that you use to develop an iOS application. We used the latest tools that Apple has provided and upgraded all of our code to adhere to that.

How did you come to work with Lickability?

Before I got involved with the team, there was another product manager who was in charge. Our lead developer knew of the guys who ran Lickability because of their great work on the Tumblr and the New York Times application. They were known people in the iOS community, and that just further validated that we wanted to use them. We also met with a couple of other companies, but ultimately we went with Lickability.

How much have you invested with Lickability?

The project cost was around $100,000 to $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Lickability in July 2016 and the engagement is ongoing. The deliverables lasted until mid-September. We’re still working with them now, but it’s in a different capacity. We liked all the work that they did, and we wanted to keep them on a retainer-like function where we could leverage them for their expertise on certain things or just to help out where we needed resources.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The type of work that they engaged in wasn’t as metric-driven as some other engagements could be. We didn’t ask them to build this specific feature that we were measuring out in the marketplace; it wasn’t like that. An analogy I’ve used in the past is that before, the foundation of the application, like a house, was made out of wood. When we ended up engaging Lickability, they were the ones who created the proper foundation. They put concrete and the appropriate structure in place so that we could build on top of it and not worry about bugs as much or worry about things crashing as often because everything was done in a sustainable way. It’s hard to put metrics around it. It was a close relationship between the engineers from Lickability and the engineers on our side looking at the code that was written on a daily, even hourly basis, and making sure that everything was aligning, making sure that it made sense, and when we integrated it, making sure that it worked.

How did Lickability perform from a project management standpoint?

They were involved in our sprint cycles, so it was as if they were just a partner of the team for the two months that they were working with us. We touched base with them every single morning. We had a Slack channel where we’d be able to talk freely. Managing the timelines and expectations was done in a very agile way, so we would understand if things were slipping in real time.

What did you find most impressive about Lickability?

They are just ridiculously good at what they do. A lot of people that we talk to on paper sound the same, but their knowledge of the tools and the technology from an iOS standpoint is so deep that it’s as if you’re engaging directly with Apple and the people that created it. Our lead engineer has been doing iOS development since the beginning, and he’s constantly impressed at what these guys can pump out. I think just the deep knowledge and speed in which they do things is notable.

Are there any areas Lickability could improve?

If something wasn’t working or if something wasn’t going according to plan, they were very reachable and very open to dialogue. With any issue that potentially was going to pop up, it was just a matter of talking to them either on the phone or through Slack and resolving it within a couple of hours. I can’t really say there was anything that they could’ve improved on.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VPE of Siro

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Empowers In Person Sales Teams. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Lickability to accomplish?

• Understand iOS reliability
• De-Risk React Native Upgrade

SOLUTION

How did you find Lickability?

Referral

Why did you select Lickability over others?

Referred to me

How many teammates from Lickability were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

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

Generate iOS crashes and provide a method for same. Use crash reports to help improve internal tooling and error detection.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Reliably reproduce crashes with our iOS app. Successfully upgrade react-native while not increasing crash rate.

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

On time, on budget, satisfied all our goals. 

What was your primary form of communication with Lickability?

• In-Person Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their diligence and attention to detail are impressive. Also very clear communicators!

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

Nothing comes to mind.