Logical Animal

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am CTO of Fielda, a field services software. Fielda gives mobile and desktop users access to mapped assets and field documentation on through the web. https://fielda.com

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Logical Animal ?

Logical Animal worked with us to launch Fielda's next generation platform. They provided artwork, design guidelines, and Swift iOS development services.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were to modernize the application, simplify workflows, and rewrite highly technical parts of the codebase responsible for data sync, map visualizations, state management, and generation of dynamic forms.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found Logical Animal through a personal/professional reference.

Describe the project in detail.

Next generation Fielda is a complete rewrite of the software stack. It has an improved data model and new communication interfaces such as GraphQL. Logical Animal joined us as the server/backend changes were nearly complete. We needed a strong team to bring this new system to life for end users. Fielda is designed as an offline-first application; nearly all features work with or without a steady Internet connection, and because of this rule, we needed the mobile app to have a robust caching strategy and fault-tolerant data sync. If that sounds a little difficult to implement, you're right, it is! Logical Animal did not disappoint. They quickly jumped in and contributed significantly to resolve our challenges.

What was the team composition?

We are a small, geographically distributed team. We organize work in an Agile and Kanban backlog, and we collaborate across several time-zones.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In about 4 months, Logical Animal finished our objectives to modernize the application and address technical challenges around offline access, data sync, and dynamic forms.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

One does not hire a team like Logical Animal to create applications that have dozens of stakeholders and long pre-planning (waterfall style) project schedules. Logical Animal provides direct access to top U.S. talent with a passion to get things done. Everyone in the software industry claims to be "agile" but Logical Animal actually is. I'm happy with what we were able to accomplish. Having been a software developer for 15 years myself, I know that non-trivial tasks never go as planned, and the best teams learn how to thrive on a kind of controlled chaos. We honestly did not know how much could be accomplished in 4 months when we started this project with Logical Animal, but now I can confidently say we made tremendous progress and I would have never been able to accomplish the same with most other software consultancy companies.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were cheerful, talented, and confident. They aren't afraid to say "no", and they produce top quality work. It would be difficult to choose one top quality that makes Logical Animal great because the combination of many great qualities is more important than any single one.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I tend to talk at length about issues the team is facing. It helps me process my thoughts, and since I have spent years on the architecture of this application, I have a lot to share in phone calls and chat. Yes, we have documentation, but people don't actually read documentation! For improvement, I would like Logical Animal to invite me into code reviews and pull me into technical challenges more often. I appreciate their desire to work independently and keep meetings short, but also I think longer meetings and code reviews or pair programming would have been productive.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Director of Product at Teltech Systems. We make innovative communication apps like RoboKiller and TapeACall.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Logical Animal?

We hired Logical Animal to redesign two key areas of our user experience in the RoboKiller app on iOS.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were to modernize the look and feel of the app for a 2019/2020 product, and to redo the hierarchy of information presented to the user such that it communicated what we believed was most valuable to the user.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were recommended to us from another group within our company.

Describe the project in detail.

We sent Logical Animal the latest mockups we had to give an indication of what we were looking for out of the 2 user experiences. To start off the project, they met with us and asked questions to make sure they fully understood the variables at play in accomplishing our goals for the screens, and then immediately got to work.

What was the team composition?

Two team members who worked collaboratively on UX design, as well as ensuring technical feasibility.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In the very short period of time that was allocated for the project (we conducted a 2-day sprint), Logical Animal delivered UX designs that we were very pleased with.

They demonstrated a comprehensive understanding of the variable at play, a keen focus on what the user's core needs were in navigating through these experiences, and an extreme thoughfulness in each of the microdecisions necessary to put together these experiences in such a short amount of time.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective -- they asked clear and relevant questions, gave thoughtful responses to our own questions, and moved very quickly to get this project done.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I valued their quick comprehension of the problem and variables at play in the project.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None -- we'd be thrilled to work with them again.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the SVP of Operations at Logical Buildings, a smart building software company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Logical Animal?

We hired Logical Animal to create an AI-driven monitoring, analytics, and energy management mobile platform that would be used for building operations.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to create a mobile platform that made building systems and energy consumption operations transparent for building operators. At the same time, we wanted to encourage efficient energy behaviors and turn the data sets into intuitive insights for users.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We searched for a team that specialized in turning data-heavy platforms into user-friendly interfaces.

Describe the project in detail.

Logical Animal led the development process. Their team performed user research, built the initial wireframes, and implemented the platform.

What was the team composition?

We worked with two developers on design and development.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The platform is a major success. Hundreds of buildings across the country are becoming more energy efficient. Logical Animal exceeded our expectations, completing the application with no delays. Users commented on the app being the most intuitive energy management platform they’ve seen.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow between our team was incredibly seamless. During the development process, features were changed and milestones were shuffled. Logical Animal didn’t miss a beat, still finishing the project on time.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Logical Animal is among one of the most talented groups of people I’ve worked with. They’re skilled at product design and execution. Every decision they make is well-thought-out and fulfilled to perfection.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There are none that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO and co-founder of Chinatown Bureau, a global strategy consulting firm focused on business growth through the use of technology.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Logical Animal?

One of our clients wanted to create an app to gamify small businesses becoming more sustainable and green.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired Logical Animal to help us think through specific use cases from a strategic standpoint. They figured out what the different transactions would look like and all the bits of information we needed to feed back to the business owner. Together, we built several versions of clickable prototypes in InVision of what the app might actually look like. From there, we took those prototypes into user and consumer testing

What is the team composition?

They had a UX designer and developer.

How did you come to work with Logical Animal?

We attended a workshop they put on and talked to them about their work. When one of our clients presented this project, Logical Animal was our first choice.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $30,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March–June 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They met 100% of our goals and were extremely collaborative. Users responded positively to the testing, and we received great feedback from our client.

How did Logical Animal perform from a project management standpoint?

We connected on a daily basis, mainly through Slack. We held weekly stand-up meetings and used Google Hangouts, as well. They were communicative and stuck to estimated budgets and timelines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They work quickly and are able to make complex issues easily manageable and understandable.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. They did more than we expected.