Singlemind

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a leading educational content technology and services company for the K-12 market, as well as higher education, professional, and worldwide library markets. We provide print, digital, and library products within various fields. We're headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, operate in 40 different countries, and have around 5,000 employees.

What is your position?

I am the technology programs manager within the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with SingleMind?

My role within the company involves the integration of external systems (primarily for learning management in the education and professional space) and our own platform. We have a number of different platforms which we make available to customers with different areas of specialization. They could be focused on chemistry, accounting, economics, and so on.

The market demands a seamless experience. Clients don't want their students or employees to have to register or log in again when connecting to external learning resources. The instructors or the company offers our resources within a learning management system and, as users utilize those resources, they want to offer a unified experience. We also provide features like grade synchronization.

We engaged SingleMind Consulting to provide the infrastructure for some of these integrations.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

Originally, we worked on one-off integrations between specific systems. Over time, their involvement grew into a more general-services type of infrastructure, where we connect a lot of different learning management systems to a number of different company platforms using a common infrastructure. Their work is done in Java.

We're currently working with SingleMind on an ongoing basis, leveraging, at least, two of their employees in order to maintain our current system, as well as to help develop new features and functionalities. We interact mostly with our project lead.

For the most part, SingleMind controls who is assigned to our project, but we do have influence over these decisions. We've been involved in the hiring process for individuals when our team was expanded. It's a collaboration, but we don't exercise too much oversight. These positions have seen little turnover.

How did you come to work with SingleMind?

We initially worked with another company which collaborated with SingleMind’s president. He left that company in order to start his own. As such, he retained contacts with the old company’s clients and eventually came to work with us.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with SingleMind for over ten years. Our initial engagements had turnover times of about six months. Currently, we work with them on a full-time, ongoing basis. We don't engage them for individual projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

It's hard to attribute metrics to their specific work. I can say that our integrated platform has seen a tremendous amount of growth over the last few years. This is because more and more customers are demanding an integrated and seamless experience.

Our flagship platform can be used either directly from our portal or can be accessed from customers' management systems, for which we've seen an increase. About 62% of our activations (or purchases) for our flagship product are done through integration. To me, this is a testament that we are providing a solid service which meets customer demand.

How did SingleMind perform from a project management standpoint?

They're a consistent and reliable vendor in terms of sticking to the agreed-upon budget and timeline.

We use Jira for managing development tasks. We use it to assign work and monitor its process as it goes from specifications to development and quality assurance.

What distinguishes SingleMind from other providers?

We've engaged at least one of their developers in a way that goes well beyond their normal role. Any software will develop issues that are reported by customers. We call them escalations. Initially, when a client reports such an issue, it will go to our customer support group. If it cannot be resolved there, it becomes escalated to our team for more advanced troubleshooting and investigation. SingleMind provides more advanced troubleshooting and investigation of reported issues. In addition to that, they are always able and willing to meet with customers and talk about particular issues in-depth. This is a very valuable and helpful service to us.

Do you have any tips for potential clients?

SingleMind has provided project leadership services for our company in the past. A company with less experience in developing software might want to take advantage of this capability. We stopped using this service when it became redundant due to the additional positions which we added internally.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

OTTO DesignWorks is a new brand within the outdoor and cycling marketplace. We design and manufacture clever new products for outdoor applications.

What is your position?

I am the president of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with SingleMind?

We needed help for website and iOS development for one of our products.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

SingleMind has developed our website. They were involved in the platform selection process and have chosen what templates and technologies will be employed within it. They weren't involved in its cosmetic design.

Our e-commerce site was created using Drupal, which integrates to a payment gateway. The rationale for choosing it was that SingleMind had a greater expertise within this platform. We followed their lead.

We're now in the process of updating the site and making the customer management system more user-friendly in terms of adding products to the site and managing distribution variables. Given our structure, the current system has limitations that have become apparent. We built our first site with reduced features on a small budget. We're now working to improve it.

We've developed a sophisticated product that uses the front-facing camera of an iPhone to three-dimensionally visualize little targets that are placed onto hardware mounted on a bicycle. The app sees these targets and instructs users visually and verbally, via Siri, on how to adjust a bicycle's rear derailleur. It's a comprehensive app with software built using C, Python and native iOS layers. SingleMind has been a partner to us from the start for developing this product, designing its UX [user experience] and implementing all three levels of programming. They've run multiple iterations, fixed bugs, and made feature enhancements. We pivoted the product significantly last fall. It currently offers in-app purchasing. We've both learned much about the Apple release process throughout this project.

They've provided training and instructions to our staff in the past and have done a fine job with it.

How did you come to work with SingleMind?

I race bicycles in my spare time. I ran into their president and founder [Cort Buchholz] via a bicycle race many years ago. At the time, I needed to build a website and asked if he could do it. We extended a personal relationship to a business one. He is very good at technical understanding and problem solving. One of the things that make SingleMind stand out is the ability to distinguish between what is and isn't within their realm of possibilities.

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

In 2015, our budget was $350,000. In 2014, it was $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our application has been launched in July 2015. It has since had 12 release updates.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Our app is a new product within its marketplace and, therefore, has significant sales and distribution challenges. Technically speaking, all of our problems have been solved. We've released 270 beta builds in order to get the product to perfection. They came during the course of nine months, during which we resolved 155 bugs.

We primarily sell the hardware with which the app is meant to work. We've seeded the market with 2,000 units and have used our early users as testers for the product. Right now, things are going well. Users are making in-app purchases and the main challenge is for us to market it successfully. We have a roadmap of new features and other integrations.

How did SingleMind perform from a project management standpoint?

They're very good at project management and maintaining their budget. We use Pivotal Tracker for iOS development. It was recommended by SingleMind.

What distinguishes SingleMind from other providers?

Their vice president of operations is seasoned in terms of technical solutions. While he's not a sales and marketing person specifically, he can add value in terms of options. They have a good team overall, and their capabilities are broader today than what they were several years ago.

Is there anything SingleMind could have improved or done differently?

They could develop some more creative resources.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the #1 fan of Fan Curator, a web-based platform that makes it easy to explore and share curated journeys through digital media—albums, performances, videos, articles, and more—organized from a fan's perspective.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Singlemind?

I needed a partner who could take my verbal concept and turn it into something real that I could show to investors.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Singlemind brought an entire discovery package to the table, which was much more than just a working prototype. The team delivered a discovery findings report, user personas, experience maps, design concepts and wireframes, competitive analysis, strategic recommendations, and next steps.

What is the team composition?

I worked with two teammates from Singlemind.

How did you come to work with Singlemind?

I found Singlemind through an online search. Cort (Founder & CEO) had energy and enthusiasm, and he shared his advice on things to watch for even before I agreed to work with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from June-July 2025

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We received weekly live updates to the wireframes, as well as a fully developed discovery package upon completion. The feedback from my team and investors regarding the discovery package was positive.

How did Singlemind perform from a project management standpoint?

Singlemind's project management was attentive and responsive. The team met their self-imposed deadlines and stayed in clear and timely communication through emails.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed with Singlemind's energy and enthusiasm for the project. They also retained a third-party perspective, which I needed to help curb my passion and retain the project's scope.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There's nothing I can think of that they could improve on.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Product Manager of the company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a leading online university.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Custom software development

SOLUTION

How did you find Singlemind?

Referral

Why did you select Singlemind over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Singlemind were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

• Requirements review and clarification
• UI / UX design for both end user and administrative user interfaces
• Creation and implementation of an identity and access management framework
• Developed unique and secure method to provide messaging within a learning management system interface given that there was no published method to do so
• Custom development work for both end user "widget" and administrative console
• Identification and implementation of reporting framework

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Provided us with a new communication mechanism for outreach to students
• Equipped us to have better visibility regarding engagement and outcomes than most other communication channels
• Deepened our market leadership in proactive student outreach by being the first mover in implementing this form of communication

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

They were highly responsive, organized, and on schedule. They were also always willing to readily jump on an impromtu call. Any bottlenecks or delays were on our end, not theirs.

What was your primary form of communication with Singlemind?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

• Estimates are fair and realistic
• Unusually creative and highly lateral thinkers
• They're extremely dedicated and pleasant to work with
• Provide meaningfully and helpful value adds to the design and implementation process rather than merely being "order takers

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

Not that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder and CEO of GCX Solutions. We offer fractional product leadership services. Previously, I was with Momentum Design Lab, as EVP.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire SingleMind?

We collaborated on multiple occasions. We built a full financial service research firm website as well as rethink a data provider full website.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals are always to increase client conversion on the website. We want the visitors to click on the "Schedule a Demo" button.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I was introduced to SingleMind by a friend. He worked with them and was highly satisfied. We met and I liked their no-nonsense approach. I felt like I would get the real story.

Describe the project in detail.

The provided interaction and visual design services, as well a Drupal development.

What was the team composition?

The team was one project manager, one designer, and two developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The data is confidential. I can share that the user testing was unanimous that we dramatically increase the usability of the website.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They are great to work with. They have a laid back, no-nonsense style. They will adapt to the situation and provide as much or as little reporting overhead as you want.po

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Great people, very knowledgeable about web and app development and how to manage a web presence.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Some might think they are not serious enough because of their laid back style.