AppCraft

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CEO of Mytreats, a free mobile marketing SaaS and mobile app. We connect people and local business through targeted mobile promotions and rewards.

For what projects/services did your company hire AppCraft?

We needed someone to redesign our iOS app.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed our app redesigned according to our requirements.

How did you select this vendor?

I researched and contacted several vendors, and AppCraft offered great quality and fair pricing.

Describe the project in detail.

We provided AppCraft with Photoshop files of our UI/UX designs and they worked on our source code to implement them. They also fixed any bugs that existed previously.

What was the team composition?

We had a project manager throughout the project who was also our main contact person. The communication with her was perfect and she did a great job passing our scope of work on to AppCraft's development team, who, in turn, delivered great work.

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

We get very positive feedback from our customers with regard to the new design.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was effective and friendly and communication was perfect. I received daily updates on their progress, and any questions I had along the way were answered thoughtfully. I was happy to be asked smart questions, which showed me that the team put thought into the project and really wanted to deliver high quality work.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was impressed by the very effective communication and the great quality of the work that was delivered. I had the feeling that the team was motivated throughout the entire project. I felt like I was in very good hands.

Are there any areas for improvement?

AppCraft was exact in delivering what we required; the designs we provided were coded exactly according to our guidelines. AppCraft has great UI/UX design expertise, so I would’ve welcomed a little more initiative, like proposals if they believed that our designs could’ve been further improved.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the project manager of Happy Realtor. We’re a small company that started a year ago.

What challenge were you trying to address with AppCraft?

We were in need of another way to market our business and stand out from the crowd because there are many competitors and sales are slow. We needed some new inspiration and some fresh decision made. We know that apps are popular right now and decided to focus on a new solution of a mobile application. We understand that it will mostly be for a younger generation.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The main idea for the application was to show a listing of available apartments and rooms. We wanted to make our database more dynamic so we could easily update it using SQL. In addition, it needed some chat features so people could easily contact us if they are interested in an apartment. It gives them multiple ways for them to contact us.

There’s also a short description about the company, what we do, who we are, and some general information. We were looking for a first phase only and some major features which we need now. Moving forward, we’ll probably ask for more in the future.

What is the team dynamic?

We worked with a single point of contact and based on our conversations he assigned tasks to our developers — I’m not sure how many there were. They also have a QA team.

How did you come to work with AppCraft?

It was important that we had local developers. We wanted face-to-face correspondence to deliver our requirements and discuss them in person. I also have friends who already used them and recommended them because they were fast and not that expensive. We researched other companies and the timeframe was much longer by 4 or 5 months, with higher prices. We couldn’t afford a really expensive solution because we had a limited budget.

We made an appointment and talked about our requirements. We didn't have any visuals or mobile mockups. It was just an idea. They had experience creating several apps for rental companies so they knew how to do that. We took their advice and added some new features.

How much have you invested with them?

$8,000. It will probably increase slightly because want to review before the final launch and add some minor modifications. We had a tight budget and made it clear upfront. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started worked together from September 2016 until October 2016. It was fast because they had already created apps like ours.

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

We’re really happy with the progress. The app isn’t released yet, but we’re close. I’m currently working on my Apple and Google Play license, which is sometimes time consuming. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks, we’ll be able to submit it and wait for approval.

We delivered the APK [Android Package Kit] file to our employees so they could test it out. We also installed it on other devices and asked a couple of customers to check it out. They were quite happy. AppCraft’s QA team used some automated and manual tests on performance and troubleshooting and found the app to be stable. I can’t blame them for any issues because it’s up and running. I’m sure it will work fine moving forward.

How did AppCraft perform from a project management standpoint?

The process was straightforward, fast, and pleasant. We met a couple of times in the office and had some Skype conversations in the evening because my day is often busy. They were open and we could stay after hours and discuss some specific options in the app. They were really proactive and responsive. I’m quite happy.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re really responsive. I was interested in getting the app as soon as possible. We want to release it before a new year to have some time for testing and marketing our app. We were looking for a budget solution and a strict timeframe. These parameters were important to us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I would add more work experience on their website so people could easily see what they have done in the past. The website can make it hard to understand what they’re doing. They should add more visual materials especially for people who aren’t tech savvy. It’s hard to understand what the final product will be if you aren’t seeing any mockups or visual effects.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the owner of a small flower shop with 15 employees.

What challenge were you trying to address with AppCraft?

The world has gone mobile, and having a responsive website is not enough anymore—people want apps, and use them for everything. I decided to enter this niche.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I intended to build two apps: an admin one for myself, and another one for customers to make orders. AppCraft combined my ideas into one application. They built iOS and Android versions. They are integrated with social channels, allowing users to login using Facebook or Google credentials, giving us more details in the process. The app is also integrated with a calendar.

What is the team dynamic?

I worked with a dedicated project manager who helped us design mockups. We used email and Skype for communication.

How did you come to work with AppCraft?

I found them online and looked at several of their past apps. I decided to give them a try.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent less than $10,000 on the project and finished within budget.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with AppCraft in June of 2017 and finished in September. We haven’t launched the apps yet, since our marketing department needs some time to prepare the mobile site, and create some links. We plan to do this soon.

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

I am not an IT person, so I completely relied on their help. I am very happy with the results. We will be running search engine ads upon launch, and expect to increase our customer database and sales through the mobile app.

We have shared the app with our team, who were able to install the .APK and .IPA files on their devices. We have run and tested the app thoroughly, and heard great feedback. Everyone has loved it, so we should see fruitful results upon launch.

How did AppCraft perform from a project management standpoint?

I am very satisfied with the collaboration; they were responsive and provided good communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I am impressed with their stability. AppCraft has been present in this industry for a few years, and they’ve created many apps which we downloaded and reviewed ourselves, finding them to be stable. We didn’t want to spent too much money on the app, and couldn’t go above our $10,000 budget. It was great to remain within budget.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. Everything was great.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I think that it’s important to get along with modern technologies and face the fact that they are not nice-to-haves, but must-haves. It’s also important to find a developer who can understand the client’s needs and the needs of that particular business since each one is different.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a project manager in an IT company and also a private consultant for IT project managers.

For what reason(s) did your company hire AppCraft?

We needed a project management mobile app for our internal use.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to improve internal communication between departments.

How did you select this vendor?

I found them online.

What was the team composition?

I’m only in contact with the project manager; we’ve had a few calls and Skype chats.

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

The team follows our needs pretty well. We’re almost finished and the app is being tested by our team at the moment.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our interaction has been positive. We’ve mainly used phone and Skype to communicate, as well as some online sharing tools.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They do things quickly and understand the key points fast.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I hope there are, but not in our case.