Sonin App Development

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Commercial Director at OpenAir Medical Devices. OpenAir Med builds user-led products to provide peace-of-mind and the improve quality of life to our users suffering from respiratory illness.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sonin App Development, and what were your goals?

We needed an app that would work seamlessly with an IoT-enabled healthcare device we were building. The device records peak flow and lung capacity data. The app would have to instantly feed this data back to users. This data needed to be presented in a way that was easy-to-understand. We wanted to give control back to patients by helping them to better understand their conditions.

To do that, we needed an agency that would be able to work on the integrations required as well as the overall platform experience. Every week, over 10,000 new people are diagnosed with a respiratory illness. These conditions affect every aspect of a patient's life. This is why we launched OpenAir Med. The goal was to provide patients with peace-of-mind wherever they are. Meanwhile, the vision was to use the data collected to deliver proactive, personalised healthcare advice at an unprecedented scale. To do that, the app had to act as a flexible foundation for future development and enhancements.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We wanted an agency with experience in healthcare as well as with the Internet of Things (IoT). Sonin had both. Their portfolio showed their team understood how to use mobile to make personalised healthcare happen. They were also working with Smarter on the iKettle's accompanying app. We felt safe knowing Sonin could deliver a best-in-class IoT-enabled healthcare app. That's why we chose them to develop our digital platform.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Sonin built an IoT-enabled app for iOS and Android as well as the accompanying back-end to view the data collected. Set-up is seamless. This is where the emphasis on user experience came into play. Users can register for OpenAir Med and take their first reading in just a matter of minutes. Feedback is then instant. A universal traffic light system makes it easy for patients to understand their peak flow and lung capacity readings. During all this, in the background, OpenAir Med uses device data and third-party integrations to automatically capture contextual information like location, weather conditions and pollution levels. With OpenAir Med, patients don't just understand when their health is in danger - they understand why. We've continued to work with Sonin to support and enhance the OpenAir Med app as we move into production of the hardware.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We took an agile approach and worked in focused sprints. This meant that the team composition changed depending on what challenge we were solving or features we were building at the time. The core team, however, remained consistent which helped to maintain a nuanced understanding of our business throughout.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

While the app is still in a closed beta, we've already built a foundation for making personalised healthcare happen at an unprecedented scale. As more users join the platform, we'll be able to develop an invaluable dataset of seasonal and conditional trends, which we can use to provide proactive healthcare advice that saves lives.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Very effective across-the-board. The collaboration between us, Sonin, and the hardware managers was excellent. From a project management point of view we interacted with Sonin using Trello as well as standard communication from email, phone and Zoom

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

When we initially approached Sonin, we were still defining the OpenAir Med platform. We didn't have hardware providers in-place but Sonin had a partner who managed the hardware procurement alongside their app development. Doing this simultaneously meant progress on the platform was much faster than it would have been otherwise.

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

Overall we have been very happy with the deliverables. With remote working and lack of face to face project meetings the only point to add is I think we could have utilised some more regular WIP touchpoints

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of a Healthcare chain, as part of which we are developing a health and fitness app that gives people the motivation they need to get the 150 minutes of exercise per week that's required to stay healthy.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sonin App Development?

We needed someone to work with us on the strategy and design behind our health and fitness app. As we were bringing a new product to market on a tight timescale, it was important to understand where we should focus our efforts first to create the most impact.

What were your goals for this project?

We all have time for exercise. It's just making it a priority that's the problem for so many. The goal for the app is to make it easier for people to fit exercise into their lives. Through the app, we're helping people turn exercise into a sustainable habit.

SOLUTION

How did you select Sonin App Development?

We were impressed with their portfolio, the quality of their work and their client list. What made them stand out among the others though was their approach. Their whole process was based around building and validating the business case for the app first which was exactly what we needed.

Describe the project in detail.

The app uses gamification and competition to incentivize exercise. Users get points for every minute they spend working out against a weekly target that's directly tied to the World Health Organisation's recommendation. These points then get added to a weekly leaderboard of friends and family members which incentivizes users even more.

Sonin worked with us as we built out the business case for the app. They helped us to organise our roadmap based on what would bring the most benefit to our users and help them improve their health.

What was the team composition?

We dealt mostly with the Managing Director, our Product Manager and their UX and UI designers who helped us work out the strategy and turn it into a prototypes. They fed back recommendations from different departments like design, project management, development and product success which was incredibly useful.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In a short space of time, we were able to plan and launch the app. The reason we were able to move so fast was thanks to the practical advice Sonin provided and the strategy they helped us to implement.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Workflow and communication between the teams were excellent. I always had access and time to discuss anything I needed. Every team member that I spoke to has always been open, enthusiastic, and demonstrated a high-level domain knowledge.

Using their experience in the healthcare sector, they were also able to provide us with recommendations on the revenue model that would best support the app's growth.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their advice was amazing. What was most impressive though was how they communicated it. They explained every decision in detail. This meant we built our own understanding of product strategy and management instead of just implementing their suggestions.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There are no areas where I would suggest improvement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an HR talent management organization. We have clients who come to us to set up their HR and talent management systems.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sonin App Development?

Our system wasn’t digitized; it was effectively run on spreadsheets. We originally started doing this on a paper system. We then morphed it across to a Lotus 1-2-3 which was a very early version of Excel. 

After we moved onto Excel, we wanted to digitize it, so we hired Sonin to digitize the whole system for us which gave us an opportunity to start from scratch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We first had to sit down and write the spec. We sat with Sonin and specified what we wanted. We were lucky in the sense that we were already running a system, albeit it wasn’t digitized, so we were able to get our specification pretty accurately. 

With that specification, we then agreed on them producing wireframes. They wireframed the whole process. We then troubleshot the wireframes and worked out what would and wouldn’t work because some things that worked in Excel wouldn’t work digitally.

They were able to tell us that we didn’t have to do it a certain way and that they could cut it and make it a lot faster. They were also able to tell us they could crunch much more data than we had been doing at that moment which is exactly what we needed. 

After the wireframes, we then agreed on the cost and a program in terms of time and off we went. We had a good understanding as to what we needed because we had been doing it for over 20 years, but of course what we didn’t know was what they could do for us, and what they were capable of doing. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with 4–5 people, but it depended on the volume of the work at the time. At the peak, there was a maximum of 5–6 teammates, including Lauren (Project Manager).

How did you come to work with Sonin App Development?

Sonin was recommended to us by someone else who had used them. We had looked at 10–12 businesses, and we brought it down to six and then again to three. We brought it down again to one, and we were quite rigorous in our selection process.

How much have you invested in them?

It is well over $1,000,000 and possibly over $2,000,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in December 2014, and we went live in September or October 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have seen an increase of over 100%. We knew we had to digitize our system. What we produced in partnership with them was absolutely fantastic. They were core to the success of our business, no doubt about it. There was a strong partnership, and they improved upon what we asked for quite considerably.

How did Sonin App Development perform from a project management standpoint?

Sonin did well. They used a tool to log all of the requests, and another tool was used to demonstrate the wireframes. If communication was outside of the project management tool, it was either through text, email, phone call, or a face-to-face meeting. 

That was then logged in the system so that there was a complete auditable record of our discussions and what was agreed, which was important, especially when building a system the size of ours.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What separated Sonin from the other teams we interviewed was that they were more personable in their dealing with us. We interviewed a couple of really big organizations, but we were concerned about the fact that they were huge and that we would be a very small cog in their overall client base. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind right away. The improvement came with the project. The more the team got to know us and the more we got to know them, the better we worked together. I wouldn’t say that was necessarily an improvement from their side. I think it was a learning curve from both of us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ask to meet the project team and thoroughly get to know them. Get to know the project manager and the person with whom you will be dealing with. Lauren was fantastic, but we made the effort to get to know her and she made the effort to get to know us which was very important.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founder, we are a business seeking to use technology to help people life safe independent lives through their senior years

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sonin App Development?

Initially to build a working prototype of a home care platform. The opportunity we wanted to address was using technology to keep people living at home for longer at reduced costs. After the success of this we are working with Sonin to expand the platform and commercialise the offering

What were your goals for this project?

The objective was to build an MVP quickly; a concept that we could user test and collect feedback from. The first focus was functionality and a clean UX/UI over full designs.

The goal was to raise the visibility of elderly care and improve the quality of care that residents were receiving. A secondary goal was creating a foundation platform based on video call technology and reporting that we could adapt for other industries.

SOLUTION

Describe the project in detail.

It's a healthcare platform that uses video-calling tech to connect care residents with their families.

To date, the platform involves an app for multiple types of users who all need different experiences. The platform uses behavioural analytics and connected sensor to try and understand when something's wrong and take action.

Residents also have access to an instant panic button at all times to connect them with their carer straight away. The platform provides residents independence and a higher quality of care while providing family members more peace of mind.

What was the team composition?

It was a focused product team made up of a product manager, designer, three developers, and QA. My main contact was the PM who was consistently great and really enthusiastic about the product we were building.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In just 20 days, we built and tested an MVP to prove the concept. That in itself was fantastic. Following this, we've been working with Sonin to build on top of the foundation as we talk with investors. Right now, we're working to integrate sensor and connected devices to increase their safety proactively.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

I always felt like I had a good grasp of where things are with the project board and demos. When you're working sprint-to-sprint on an MVP, that level of visibility helps a lot. The only time I was worried was when during the move to remote under the new lockdown rules. This was never a problem, though. Communication was always excellent and the momentum never stopped.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Above-and-beyond approach. Everyone always seemed to be thinking about the product. The business-case was front of mind. The speed of delivery was thanks to several key integrations which Sonin suggested and using their existing hardware partners which has made the IoT work remarkably straight forward.

It also helped that everyone from the Sonin team genuinely seemed to care about the mission behind it.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No. As I said, following the success of the initial sprints we're continuing to work with Sonin to build on the MVP.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the Chief Visionary Officer at Buddyng, a business focussed on ensuring everyone has the opportunity to travel outside of their country and expand their perspectives. We are currently developing a travel social network app and online platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sonin App Development?

We needed someone to develop our mobile app that allows users to connect to others before they go traveling. They can share their experiences with friends and the Buddyng community. It was important that there was a really high level and high standard with the app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’re developing our iOS and Android mobile app which is a travel social network. It’s a global business with the aim and ambitions of travel being a form of education. We met six months prior with Paul (Managing Director) and he suggested that rather than an MVP but the concept of a minimum desirable product (MDP) where you’re not just looking to make your product viable for your consumers but you’re also looking to make it desirable with how it looks and feels.

The first challenge was enabling users to connect to other users while traveling. They developed that section of the app with the first stage of things. They used the development not just in one form but in Android development, iOS development, APIs, and web development. They were able to cover all aspects of that.

They use Swift, Xcode, and a lot of different software. We’re starting to migrate everything over to our core team so that our tech team can process it internally.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact is Sophie (Project Manager). Sarah (Design Lead) is the head of design. There’s a team of iOS and Android developers. There are 4-6 backend developers.

How did you come to work with Sonin App Development?

I was introduced to them through a mentor of mine. We had meetings to discuss the idea and Paul was very friendly and gave us advice and feedback. It was a good six months before I started putting my money into it. I decided to go with them based on their high quality and their friendliness.  

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent £92,000 (approximately $117,000 USD) for 12 sprints. We agreed to an additional two sprints to completely finish. It will take it to £105,000 (approximately $134,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2019 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The agile approach they’ve taken has been really phenomenal in addressing our core foundation of the business. It’s then allowed us to adapt to varying different areas of the app that we’ve been looking to expand into. It’s been really high quality and not just in terms of the visual aspects. The code seems quite good but we’ve just started migrating it over. Having them has been really useful. Sarah is an exceptional designer. She constantly recognized if a certain button shouldn’t be there, for example, because the user wouldn’t like it. Their expertise comes through in the recommendations they’ve made during design and development.

How did Sonin App Development perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a really good team behind the app which is fronted by a phenomenal project manager. She’s able to coherently provide me with the sprint plan, the operations they’re doing, and is a really good core point of contact. We have regular standups twice a week. We use Slack and it’s been really efficient.

We work in an agile approach so that we can attend to any changes that come along the way rather than having an archaic waterfall approach to app development. We had design workshops initially in person and since COVID-19, we’ve had them online. The designer will share the screen, we go through designs, pick and choose, edit the way it looks, and give a bit of feedback. I go through the development with the backend developers.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

Due to their friendly nature and collaborative approach, other people will give little bits of input as they see fit as they’re looking over the shoulder of other people working. They recognize the needs of their customers. They’re always willing to help and be available whenever needed. They’re very agile and they recognize that business and tech does change. They’re very willing and ready to move with the times. Any issues or scenarios that come up, they’re willing to adapt and make changes.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The idea was quite raw and the clarity of what we wanted to achieve could have been better defined. The timeline in which they accomplished what they have has been very good. It’s a huge, global app and there’s a lot of work and foundations towards it. There are many more areas we were looking to develop with it. The only potential criticism I would have is trying to get that sprint plant completed in the timeframe and maybe do a little bit more. However, the reason that hasn’t been accomplished is very much a two-way street. We’ve tweaked and changed little things and that eats up times that would have been reserved for other things.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The project manager will ensure that you have a clear line of communication. Just make sure that your ideas are clearly shared and that everyone that’s working on the project understands what your business is, why you’re doing it, and what you want to achieve.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company is Averma, a digital agency. I’m the owner. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sonin App Development?

One of our clients needed an enterprise platform to create and collaborate on presentations internally. Common templates needed to be branded, easily accessible, and relevant to each employee's job function. Workflows had to update stakeholders in real-time as each presentation progressed.

A key requirement for the client was the ability to use interactive multimedia elements that would help sales reps and staff to create more personalized and engaging presentations than is possible in other off-the-shelf options.

The solution also had to integrate seamlessly with live data from the client's existing systems.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sonin developed an enterprise presentation app for a corporate client on the iOS platform. My team provided the designs. Sonin then handled the development, user-testing, and deployment of both the iOS app and the accompanying content management system.

What is the team composition?

For the majority of the project, we worked with one person from Sonin’s team: a project manager. They were a great communicator and showed a strong enthusiasm for the project from the start. In my opinion, this was instrumental to its success.

How did you come to work with Sonin App Development?

I knew the founder from my professional network. I was aware that Sonin had already worked on similar projects in the enterprise app space. It was reassuring to know that they had experience in both building bespoke demonstration tools and integrating with third-party data sources.

How much have you invested with them?

The entire project was split between my company and Sonin, and it came to just over $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I believe we started the project last summer. We began conversations and the procurement process about six months before that. Throughout those conversations, Sonin was a huge help with pitching to the client and planning the project. We wrapped up the project in January 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The client was very happy with the end result, and we received great feedback from the users. The high quality of work was clear to everyone involved. Everything was completed on time and within the client's budget.

How did Sonin App Development perform from a project management standpoint?

From a project management standpoint, they were excellent. We typically communicated over the phone, email, and Dropbox, but Sonin was pretty flexible when it came to the tools we used. They adapted their approach around us and the client, which was great.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were impressed by how smoothly the project ran. There were no barriers at any point, which was impressive, given how many stakeholders were involved. Sonin was very good at identifying any potential problems ahead-of-time so that nothing slowed down the momentum once we started.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, Sonin exceeded all of our expectations. The end-product was great. They met all the requirements within the time allocated, which resulted in a successful project and a satisfied customer.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the IT Director at Explore Learning, a leading provider of after-school tuition in maths and English for 5-14 year olds. Our incredible people are at the heart of everything we do at Explore, and our tutors and centre management teams are experts at ensuring we achieve our goal:

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sonin App Development?

We worked with Sonin on a mobile transformation initiative that would bring everyone involved in the Explore Learning experience closer together: our tutors, our students and their parents.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal for the project was to build an easy-to-use platform that would provide parents with insights into their children's success and the tools to help them progress further. At the same time, the product also had to encourage and reward the children themselves.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We chose Sonin because, right from the very beginning, they were able to demonstrate that they understood our brand, our aims, and how we could best utilise digital to add value to our stakeholders' lives.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The overarching aim of the project was visibility; for tutors, parents, and our head office staff. To achieve this, we wanted a connected suite of digital products that had to work seamlessly with one another. Something that was really important throughout was reducing the chance of any data re-entry. We were looking to streamline our processes, not repeat them. To achieve this, the Sonin team worked hard to ensure the platform fully integrated with our existing systems.

What was the team composition?

Towards the end of the project, we switched from a waterfall approach to an agile iterative one based on Sonin's recommendations which proved to be invaluable. A changing team composition meant that we could access the skillsets we needed, when we needed them. We worked closely with our Account Director, the MD, and the Project Manager as well as UX/UI Designers and Product Developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Throughout the course of the project, we worked with Sonin to digitise key areas of our business. The suite of products they delivered has given us an unprecedented level of visibility. We've completely replaced our paper-based processes, empowering our tutors, staff and customers alike.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Both workflow and communication with Sonin was incredibly effective. The more we worked with the team, the more they felt like an extension of our own.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

One of the things that impressed me the most about Sonin was their business acumen. This understanding of digital strategy lead to them working with areas of the business we hadn't considered at the beginning of the project. Their forward thinking approach lead us to explore ideas ranging from mobile, to IoT devices and Artificial Intelligence to organise legacy data.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Founder and Director of Partnerships at Netcon Resourcing, an integrated partner to recruitment teams. We embed talent acquisition experts into our client's companies to fill vacancies fast and develop long-term recruitment strategies - all at a fraction of the cost of a full in-house recruitment team.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sonin App Development?

The challenge we wanted to address was how we could continue to effectively screen and interview candidates under lockdown. We experimented with several off-the-shelf options at first but quickly found that spreading the hiring process across different apps made applicant-tracking very tricky.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal was to allow our talent acquisition experts to effectively screen, interview, and track candidates from a single system. Business intelligence is also a key part of why our clients trust us. We needed the full picture of each candidate's journey from start-to-finish and accurate data to feed back to each client.

As an internal project, we were looking for an MVP that would meet our criteria. At the same time, however, we wanted to make sure that the MVP was flexible enough to be built upon and added to in future phases.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We needed a working solution in a short space of time. Sonin had previous experience building video-based MVPs which is why we chose them. They were very familiar with technology required and had already worked with the third-party integrations that would ultimately save us time and resources on the project.

Describe the project in detail.

To date, the platform includes a custom candidate-facing web app and an Applicant Tracking System. Every client, candidate, and job record in the ATS has a full history and quick links to things like meetings, interview invitations, custom timed tests, and comms templates.

Both products integrate with Twilio for video calls. Not only was this much faster for to build but the quality is also great, giving our talent acquisition experts, candidates, and clients something as close to the face-to-face experience as you can get.

Each member of our team has their own dashboard with custom KPIs and current progress. Myself and the other managers can access an admin view of all the activities being recorded. With this feature, it's been easy to manage the team remotely.

What was the team composition?

Our main contact during the initial stage was the Account Director who worked with us on the digital strategy behind the product. These conversations and the advice we received during them were another key reason why we chose Sonin in the first place.After we began sprinting, the project manager acted as the main point of contact. What was helpful was they opened lines of communication with other members of the team. When time is such a big factor, being able to ask and answer questions without everything being filtered through one person was great.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The platform has received fantastic feedback from our team as well as the candidates we've trialed it with. Choosing a custom solution has given us the opportunity to add new points of data to our candidate and client experience.

For example, every candidate test we send and video interview we conduct now automatically ends with a simple satisfaction survey. We now have a completely new metric to measure our success, feed back to clients, and use in our marketing.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Extremely effective. Their communication so far has been especially good. We received weekly updates from the project manager. We are also shown demos frequently which are a great way to see the progress being made throughout the project

What did you find most impressive about this company?

One of the most impressive things was the remote workshop Sonin held to kick-off the project. I wasn't sure how effective it would be over video but it worked great and we covered a huge amount of ground.

Across two sessions, we built out two target personas, mapped out the entire candidate journey from start-to-finish, and prioritised all the features for the MVP. We now have the workshop report to refer back to as we continue development.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Can't think of any areas of improvement. I would recommend Sonin to anyone else looking to build an app

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Business Director of a group of academies focused on developing the next generation of talent for the UK's creative industries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sonin App Development?

We worked with Sonin to develop a bespoke education application for our group of academies. The opportunity we saw was to enhance the learning experience for our students, staff and parents.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to drive engagement among students through their native platform - mobile. At the same time, we wanted to support our teaching staff with a wealth of data on their classes and courses. We also wanted to create a new channel of communication through which we could engage with parents. The solution also had a to provide a platform that allowed for future features and further development.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We wanted an agency with experience in the education field. Sonin had previously worked with a global group of learning centres. They showed experience and understanding of e-learning which was perfect for our criteria.

Describe the project in detail.

The product involves two mobile applications: one for students and one for parents. It also involves a web app and back-end CMS for staff with analytics on their classes and learning programs.

What was the team composition?

With no resource available internally, we worked with the full product team supplied by Sonin. The team composition changed from sprint to sprint but included a Project Manager and a UX/UI Designer as well as Android, iOS and Web Developers and a QA.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've had great feedback from user testing with each user group: students, parents and teachers. In the student pilot program we ran at one of our academies, we saw an uptick in assignment completion rate compared to the control group which was great validation for the project.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Exactly what we needed. Sonin felt less like an internal agency and more like an extension to our business. Rather than channelling everything through one point of contact, Sonin set up direct links between our departments and theirs. This let us move much faster than we would have otherwise been able to.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They're very knowledgeable, not just in regards to the education sector, but the business case for the platform too. This wasn't limited to one single person or Account Exec. The designers, developers and managers who I dealt with, all understood our business goals and were always thinking of how best to help us achieve them.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the co-founder of Open Banking Excellence, an established and trusted community of people looking to raise awareness about how making bank data accessible for third parties would benefit customers. Our mission is to be an authentic voice representing a global movement of like-minded experts who through collaboration provide technical, regulatory and legal insight into Open Banking and its wider implications for a dynamic and innovative financial sector.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sonin App Development?

We worked with Sonin to develop a bespoke events app that would better serve our community of like-minded experts.

What were your goals for this project?

"The goal for the project was to create a platform that would facilitate close collaboration within our community. The solution needed to connect like-minded experts, encouraging the sharing of technical, regulatory and legal insight into Open Banking and its wider implications for a dynamic and innovative financial sector. The solution also needed to create a completely new channel of communication with our audience. One that would provide each individual member with a personalised and engaging experience, helping us to continue growing our community, greaten our industry impact and drive forward the Open Banking revolution."

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We wanted an agency with experience in the events space but also a deep understanding of financial services and the community that we have established. Sonin had previously worked with The British Museum's events team and also had a proven track record in the financial services sector.

Describe the project in detail.

"The app shines a light on the many talented individuals and innovative projects within the Open Banking ecosystem. It serves as a platform for more effective networking, providing a faster and easier way of finding experts. Users can swipe the key attendees they want to network with to highlight them. Another swipe changes the highlight colour, making it clear who to follow up with afterwards. The app offers a unique personalised UX allowing you to book and confirm event attendance with just a few taps. And with a clever geo-location API, your ticket will appear when you arrive at events and switch to the agenda page as soon as you are signed in. The OBE app also enables our community to make charitable donations using Streeva’s gift aid API and Moneyhub to process payments. All without leaving the app. "

What was the team composition?

"Our primary contact throughout development was our Project Manager Sophie who was absolutely invaluable. She delivered regular updates which kept all the different stakeholders in the loop and aware of the risks and mitigative actions being taken. We also worked closely with Sonin's Lead Designer during a User Research & Discovery Phase at the beginning of the project. She helped us to build out the personas that ensured the end-product met the end users' goals."

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The initial feedback we've received from the user testing so far has been fantastic. We've also had consistently great feedback on the UI design of the app. Not only does it perfectly compliment our brand, but it also lends credibility to our community too.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

In the spirit of collaboration, we partnered with a number of different industry pioneers on the project. To achieve an effective workflow between a large number of stakeholders, Sonin opened and managed channels of communication between different teams from the different collaborators. This was fantastically effective as it removed blockers, allowing developers to talk directly with developers throughout the build.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

"What I found most impressive was Sonin's ability to manage a large number of stakeholders, requirements and integrations. I was also very impressed by the initial Discovery Phase. Already relying on an off-the-shelf solution, we weren't just looking for a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to replace this. We wanted a great app that would delight our community and exceed their high expectations. Sonin's Discovery Phase proved the value in the product before we even began development. It showed us what our community wanted to do, why they wanted to do it, what was getting in the way and the value that the OBE app added."

Are there any areas for improvement?

We'll be recommending them to everyone in our community!