Twisthink

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief global water officer of Charity: Water, a nonprofit organization that builds clean water projects in 17 countries across Africa and five countries across Asia. Our company has been around for about 15 years, and we’ve built over 70,000 water projects in very remote parts of the developing world in that time.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Twisthink?

Over these past 15 years, we’ve learned that the communities we help sometimes face challenges with the maintenance and repairs of these projects that they can’t fix themselves. As the projects are very remote, we have delays in getting them repaired, and people go back to not having access to clean water.

Historically, the only way we had to know about an issue and fix it was to send a technician out on a motorbike and look at it, which was very expensive and unscalable. Thus, we started looking for other solutions, and we took inspiration from smart cities. We decided to implement IoT solutions to monitor our thousands of remote locations so that we could immediately know about any breakups and send technicians to help.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Twisthink is helping us tackle our problems using human-centered design. They usually go to the root of the problem before they start thinking about a solution, so we initially went through a discovery process where they tried to understand more clearly the problem that we were trying to solve. After that, we started to look at options for technical solutions.

The great thing about working with Twisthink is that we’ve gone from problem definition to R&D and now to manufacturing and deploying the actual device. We started from zero, and it has been a challenging but very productive process.

Twisthink specializes in connected devices using IoT, and they have a lot of previous experience in this area. Our project required an original IoT device, so they’ve built the first sensor of its kind, tailored to the solutions we were trying to achieve. 

They’ve been in charge of the whole project, from designing the hardware and its mechanical and technical engineering to developing its algorithm. Their work has included selecting the antenna, batteries, and plastics for the device’s housing. They also have deep knowledge of cloud computing, so we’ve used the AWS platform and its tools to develop our device’s management system.

This management system hosts all of the databases on the cloud, and it helps us with IoT fleet management, which is different from data management. Additionally, Twisthink has developed our platform’s frontend to deliver this data to the user. This includes the UI/UX design of a dashboard and the analytic reports that we email out.

The device they’ve created measures water flow in remote locations and transmits it to the cloud via the local GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) network. It has a battery life of 10 years and costs about $250 to produce.

This device can be installed in less than 15 minutes without using any special tools, requires no calibration or maintenance, and has a global SIM card that immediately starts transmitting data when installed. Additionally, it is tamper-proof and safe to be in contact with water for human consumption.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked very closely with the lead project manager and one of the partners at Twisthink, who have been my two main points of contact. I’ve also seen 25 different engineers working on the project at different times. They’ve brought various areas of expertise to the table, whether it is algorithm engineering, software engineering, hardware engineering, or electrical engineering. These engineers have been both employees and subcontractors, but they’ve all been managed by Twisthink.

How did you come to work with Twisthink?

Twisthink found me. They had been supporting another charity focused on clean water projects, and they read about some of the work that we had done on remote sensors. They reached out to me with the idea of building a remote sensor for this other charity, looking for advice.

After that, they invited me to a workshop where they gathered some water experts to do a human-centered design discovery process. I participated in that event, and I understood what they had to offer through those conversations. Finally, they channeled their design efforts over to a project with us.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2018, and our engagement is ongoing. We’re currently manufacturing the device in China, and the first production run should get deployed to the field in November 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Twisthink has brought to the table a combination of their experience and a fresh point of view to implement a new solution. Now, we have an original IoT device that is performing extremely well, and we actually have prototypes in the field that have been working for a year.

The device that they’ve developed is the fourth generation of this product. We worked with three other design firms, and I was working with one of them when I left them and went with Twisthink. This was the right decision because, compared to the three prior generations of the product, Twisthink’s has been the most successful by far.

For developing it, we had to overcome 8–10 significant constraints. Each of them seemed easy to tackle, but when we lined them up, the project got very difficult. However, Twisthink was able to achieve that task.

How did Twisthink perform from a project management standpoint?

Twisthink’s project management has been great. They’re great communicators, and they’re very transparent about the budget. Additionally, they’re very proactive about keeping me informed throughout the ups and downs of the project.

When working with innovative and complex projects, some things go better than expected, but others go worse. Thus, it has been key to stay well informed about it and understand where we are, and we’ve never had an issue in this regard in three years. Whenever there have been shortfalls, they’ve been very quick to correct them, and whenever they’ve seen an opportunity to save on costs, they’ve been very quick to implement them and move on.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Twisthink’s technical skills are very, very good. Compared to the other three companies I’ve worked with, their algorithm development is superior, and their testing process is more rigorous. As a result, we have a much superior product.

What makes them special is how deeply they care about their client’s results — They’re deeply invested in our project. When I talk to them, I feel like we’re on the same team, and I don’t feel just like a client of theirs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. Our experience has been very positive.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Think of Twisthink as a strategic development partner and as an extension of your business. If you can do that, you’ll get the benefits of their experience and thought process, and their approach will help you achieve your goals.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a senior strategic project manager at Vermeer. We’re a manufacturing company of industrial and agricultural equipment. We have about 3,000 employees and some facilities around the world, but we manufacture the majority of our products in Pella, Iowa and sell them through our dealer network.

My interaction with Twisthink consists of overseeing that what we’re spending aligns with what our executive team and board of directors have determined and approved. As we make progress, I just push it through and help with roadblocks.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Twisthink?

We had great, innovative equipment, but unfortunately, we didn’t have a great way to generate data and provide it back to the customer so they could make business decisions.

Our goal was to create some digital tools to interact with our dealers. We wanted to help them provide better services to customers through digital data, whether that’d be telematics or productivity information about their equipment.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Twisthink has helped us in two different ways. The first step was to determine what deserved to be built, so they went out and worked with customers, dealers, and employees to understand what type of information people were looking for.

They used human-centered design interviews to find out what the user wanted. They also created a lot of mock-ups and used them in their conversations to understand if we were hitting the mark or missing things, so they’d go back and rework that.

From there, Twisthink did all the screen and web design of the tool, and then they handed that over to an internal team that did the actual development of the frontend interface.

The second crucial task that they worked on was on the backend. We didn’t have great experience with cloud development at Vermeer, and we didn’t have any employees with those skill sets. Twisthink came alongside and partnered with a couple industry experts to develop our back infrastructure so that we could use the cloud to pass our data.

In summary, they've played on both sides of the fence. Twisthink has done backend work with us and helped create a sustainable solution for how we pass and store data, as well as helped with customer needs so we could design the interface.

What is the team composition?

They have almost 10 people working on the project.

How did you come to work with Twisthink?

We initially came about working with them because at Vermeer, we pride ourselves on our voice of customer, and we really loved their human-centered design approach. It aligned with us because we’re always trying to put the customer first.

Also, we had contact with some employees. At some point, someone had worked together with them.

Furthermore, we liked their expertise and their proposal was really strong.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $6 million so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

The initial contact started in the fall of 2018, but the work didn’t start until January 2019. We have finished portions of the project, but we have a five-year plan to continue and build other audiences, so they’re doing that in an iterative approach.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We do have a kind of net promoter score that goes from 0–10. The website that we have right now is running around eight, so that’s a pretty positive score for something that’s new and different to our audience.

We’ve hit all of our time and been on schedule with all of our launches. We’ve also been on budget; all their estimates have been right on.

How did Twisthink perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re amazing at project management; that’s one of the key components that makes our work relationship so positive.

They have a project manager in charge, and they use a lot of the tools, such as Jira, that we use on our web development team, so the transition has been really easy. However, the best thing has been that they use Miro to lay out all their screens and mock-ups. It’s available to everybody and it’s an easy way for us to see the iterations they create so we can give feedback.

Also, they hold requirement meetings every week and we have meetings with our project manager to make sure we’re aligned on the progress. All in all, they have great communication and tools to keep us all in sync.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What sets them apart from other vendors is their level of engagement in our company and their true love for the project. If you don’t know any better, you wouldn’t know that they’re a partner. They’re super invested, and they care about being a part of Vermeer so they’re just like one of us, and I love that about them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think they have the opportunity to be more understanding when we want to add a new scope or project. It’s almost as if they would dig in and find problems to fix so we'd pay more. I don’t think it was out of any ill intent, but that tends to rub people off the wrong way, and it’s a little bit too much.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear and upfront about the current state of your business. For example, we had some data quality issues, and even if we weren’t trying to hide them, we didn’t understand it well enough ourselves.

As we tried to communicate our needs, that created a lot of struggles because Twisthink went in thinking our data quality was great when it wasn’t. We ended up getting there, but it probably delayed our kickoff a little bit because we were asking them to scope something that wasn’t real.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of product solutions at Watts Water Technologies, a heating and hot water solutions platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Twisthink?

We needed help in designing our tech products.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were in the process of conceptualizing a product that identified the best directions for water heating and hydroponic systems. We started by sharing our project plan with Twisthink’s team. Upon receiving their preliminary designs based on our own ideas and preferences, we met with their team to determine how we could control the timeline and select the right tools to implement solutions.

After the planning stage, Twisthink generated the product’s structure, which included a control system that we were in charge of manipulating. Additionally, they integrated UX/UI features that were industry-specific and were actually unique in the market.

We’re now nearing the product launch, and their team continues to support us with their design services. Twisthink also monitors the features and controls to check on issues or areas that need reworking or polishing.

How did you come to work with Twisthink?

We liked the initial design samples that they submitted — our product was complex but their workflow and tools were simple and easy to understand, so we were happy to onboard them.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project kicked off in September 2018, and it’s still ongoing. We’ll be ready to launch the product in the market soon.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Twisthink really strives to give us high-quality results, especially in the programming aspect of the project. Their tools and controls have given the platform a reliable UX.

While we haven’t launched the product yet, I’m confident that their top-notch work and programming capacity will bring in great results for our business.

How did Twisthink perform from a project management standpoint?

We use collaborative tools like Miro, GitLab, and Excel for project management. Twisthink is a team that highly cares about our needs — they’ve given us everything and performed impressively from a project management perspective.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s their transparency — they’re not afraid to state their opinion, and they stay committed to delivering the best results for us. Twisthink values our success as much as they value their own. We’re happy to be working with a team that listens to our feedback and quickly comes up with alternative solutions. They’re simply very easy to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s no major area I can think of at this point. If anything though, they can be more critical of their customers. We’ve had some issues in the past wherein our internal team has had some shortcomings that hindered the project from progressing. Twisthink could work on identifying those issues for us sooner rather than later in order to avoid delays.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Spend a lot of time trying to understand what you truly want and develop the concepts early. These two steps will make it easier for their team to prepare everything that they have to do for your company.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an engineering project manager for an industrial and agricultural equipment manufacturer. I help facilitate progress on the application development projects for the computers that the equipment utilizes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Twisthink?

We previously had a telematics application that was built with another company that’s become dated in terms of design, user interface, and data accuracy. Telematics is crucial to our industry, so we felt we needed to update this app. Our team is relatively new, so we wanted to bring in a firm with design and development experience who could work closely with us, our customers, and our dealers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They focused on the human-centered design aspect of the project. They also helped connect us with a cloud development specialist. For the first phase of the project, we’re building a portal for our dealer users. We wanted this solution to be simple, showing both a map and a list view of all machines within the country. We’re currently working on enhancing the platform based on feedback. We’ll be expanding this solution for international use in the next phase of the project and then focus on a customer-oriented solution after that.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked directly with Kurt (Director of Technology), who I view as a project sponsor. I’ve also spent time working with Taryn (Lead Project Director), who leads the UI/UX team. That team has had several people on it who I haven’t worked with as closely.

How did you come to work with Twisthink?

I wasn’t involved in finding them initially. Their experience with human-centered design and incorporating user feedback into their solutions made them stand out to me as I came on to this project, though.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $4,500,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve worked together on this project since January 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve been mostly concerned with dealer adoption. In this process, we’ve seen mostly positive feedback from the dealers. We’ve been happy with all the feedback that’s come back, as it’s an indicator that they’re using the solution and it’s working as we intended. Having Twisthink’s perspective on human-centered design has been amazing for us. They’ve helped streamline development and make timelines, scope, and requirements clear to everyone involved. They operate well within an agile environment and provide us with deliverables as early as possible to keep us ahead of the ball. They’ve been honest with us throughout the engagement.

How did Twisthink perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done well. In the beginning, when I was new in the role and transitioning onto the project, I would have appreciated more of their time. However, I don’t think the scope of the contract would have allowed for this. Since then, though, everything’s been great. We’ve been in a really good rhythm. We use Mirro to bridge our project management and design processes and communicate via email and Microsoft Teams.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Having their experience with human-centered design has been crucial for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have much negative feedback to share. The only issue I’ve encountered is that they’re not super willing to share the processes behind their human-centered design.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I don’t have any specific advice. They’ve been a great partner for us.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Sr. R&D Project Manager of Stryker

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Medical device new product development and sales

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• PCB board design and layout

SOLUTION

How did you find Twisthink?

Referral

Why did you select Twisthink over others?

Close to my geographic location, Great culture fit, Good value for cost

What was the size of Twisthink’s team?

2-5 Employees

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

Engineering design, documentation, layout and prototyping of a PCBA board Key Deliverables:

• PCB documentation package
• 5 assembled and tested prototype PCBs
• 3 fully assembled drill prototypes

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• delivery of electrical design
• delivery of layout
• delivery of prototypes
• delivery of documentation

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

All items were delivered on time. The PM was very responsive, adaptive and accommodating.

What was your primary form of communication with Twisthink?

Virtual Meeting, Email or Messaging App

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

Their communication was incredibly effective and professional.

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

No