AirDev

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

The goal was always to create custom tools that would help serve the people we were working with, whether that was realtor partners to help inform them of what a renovation might cost and help them close the property and inform a potential client of the cost as well.

The goal was always to educate people and give them the tools that they needed to empower them to move forward with their renovation, feeling like they had all the information. 

When a homeowner reaches out to us and says that they don’t know what their renovation is going to cost, we're able to send them the calculator tool based on our own proprietary and historical data, and they can use the different inputs in that tool to customize their renovation estimate. 

The success metric would be when the homeowner comes back to us and says that the results are spot-on or that they like that they can see how much different scenarios would cost. 

Our existing clients who are using the homeowner portal love that they can filter the documents by type or see their timelines. So far, everyone has raved about the clean design and easy functionality of the tools.

How did AirDev perform from a project management standpoint?

AirDev’s project management is great. I liked the tool they used to manage the project because it was a dedicated workspace where everything was consolidated. I was able to get notifications via email, and they kept me updated. 

\I really appreciated that they supported us not only during the build but also for a period of time after the launch when we had follow-up questions. There was one time I had a technical issue, and I wasn’t sure if it was related to the product launch or if it was something else entirely. 

It ended up being something else entirely, but they still took a good day's worth of time to help me sort through what might be wrong and how to fix it, which they didn't have to do. I felt like AirDev went above and beyond.

Everyone that I've encountered on their team has been very pleasant to work with. They have a keen ability to quickly understand the nuances and specifics of their clients' needs and industries.

That's one thing I was really blown away by — their ability to quickly get to the root of what we were trying to accomplish and understand how that impacted not only our clients but also our team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team sets them apart. They are extremely knowledgeable, but at the same time, they are friendly and approachable. I’m not a tech employee, but the team never made me feel like I couldn’t understand what they were working through. 

AirDev presented everything in a way that was easy for me to grasp. It felt like we were truly a team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In addition to the project management through the portal, it may have been helpful for me to have a weekly call. I loved having the portal because it was separate from my e-mail, so the information never got lost. 

However, for some people, it's also helpful to talk to a person, and it’s sometimes easier to work through issues when you're on the phone. It takes a five-minute phone call versus having to go back and forth in an app. 

I wasn't sure if that was something that their team was open to or if they try to keep everything within a portal. Sometimes I felt like I was behind on work or that the communication was choppy, and it would've been good to regroup once a weak.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My biggest piece of advice would be to get your team to understand what you’re trying to accomplish and have everyone provide their input.

When you're building a product, you need buy-in from everyone in order for the product to function holistically and be the best version of itself for whoever is using it. That includes clients and the team, so it's crucial that everyone understands exactly what it's being used for.

Because people are in different positions and functions in the company, everyone will have different pieces of feedback that one person working in a silo may not have considered when they were working with AirDev to build this.

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

They did a really good job. In a sense, we didn't identify upfront what those clear success metrics were, but there needed to be clear communication on testing and QA, responsiveness, and clean code that works. I wanted to have a very good platform in place that would allow us to communicate over the distance between us. If I found a bug, I needed to be able to report it so that they could identify, replicate, and fix the bug, and then retest to ensure there were no regression bugs lingering. 

The platform they used created a tremendous amount of success for our project. In my opinion, software lives and dies in being able to produce a clean product, and so that was the success that I measured. The need was to execute on our idea, and they had a very good system in place to make that happen.

How did AirDev perform from a project management standpoint?

They did very well. On a scale of 1–10, where 1 is terrible and 10 is perfect, they were a 9. We used their portal for project management. The team was very good and precise in their communication. Precision is everything when it comes to designing and developing software that needs to do what it's supposed to do. There was a really healthy line of communication with them, and they were very responsive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was nervous ahead of time about their technical capabilities and whether we’d have good and clear communication, but they did a phenomenal job in all of those categories.

Are there any areas they could improve?

To find something, I’d have to dig pretty deep. Off the top of my head, I’d have to say no. I was pleasantly surprised by their responsiveness and ability to deliver clean code.

Any advice for potential customers?

I would say to trust the process and trust them. They have a very good process in place. I love the portal that they use and the way they do things. The team I worked with did exactly what I’d hoped they would do.

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

They did more than I expected them to do. It’s a great website with really nice design. We’re doing a little bit of tweaks right now, but so far, so good. I’m really happy with them and am going to stay with them. There’s still a lot of functionality I want to add.

They designed the website for me better than I thought I wanted it. They’ve been very patient in making a lot of changes that I wanted. I asked them to change the colors a few times. They’ve had to change the images and the fonts for me several times. I wanted an extra page for the client and they were patient with that. Their work was better than I expected. I’ve been to two gatherings and I only received positive comments from an international group of people. They think the website is really nice and really easy to use.

How did AirDev perform from a project management standpoint?

Lucien was very kind and patient. I didn’t know where to start. They created a great strategy and brought my idea to life. It’s been really great working with him. I wasn’t a very technical person and it’s really important that someone who’s going to work with me is as patient as Lucien.

Project management is excellent. They’re very quick to reply. They’re very professional. Since I had a budget due to COVID-19, a lot of the resources I was able to get on my own, they provided it free for me to find without me having to pay extra. I would have never known those resources had they not provided it for me. It’s better than I expected. They’re really great.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re professional and are able to patiently work with various clientele. A lot of technical people cannot relate to non-technical people, but they can. They don’t make me feel discriminated against as a woman and somebody who isn’t very technical. They performed better than I expected. I’m pleased with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m happy with the results. I have nothing negative to say about them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know exactly what you want to do so you don’t waste a lot of time with them because they’re very busy. Had I been extremely precise at the beginning, it wouldn’t have taken so much of their time making changes.

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

They built a piece of technology that paid for itself in time and cost savings within the first couple of months following its launch. They built the product in less than a month. Our previous contractor couldn’t finish the product in six months.

How did AirDev perform from a project management standpoint?

AirDev was responsive, even over the weekend. They used their own system to keep track of features and communicate with us. The system included a chat room that organized all of their different tasks. It was easy to use. We knew exactly where tasks were.

Their team communicated a timeline and stuck to it, so they met deadlines. Their team was amazingly organized, which made it easy to work with them. They asked all of the right questions. I’m a full stack developer, so I know when a development firm that I’ve hired goes off the rails. AirDev was efficient.

What did you find most impressive about them?

AirDev was able to build an application efficiently. We were able to take advantage of pre-built solutions. The core integrations already existed, so we didn’t have to pay AirDev to build them from scratch. This made the project less expensive and more efficient. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

When you build software, there will always be bugs. They didn’t get all of the requirements 100% during the first build. But they fixed bugs quickly and were good about testing.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be as clear as possible about what you want upfront. They’re a great partner. If you give vague ideas, it’ll be hard to get a good end result. That’s general advice for anyone who’s hiring an agency to build software.