Appomate

Please describe your company and your position there.

The national peak industry body for the heavy construction materials industry.

For what projects/services did your company hire Appomate?

We needed to reach the 80,000+ concrete placer market to improve their education about concrete and thereby reduce defects in the industry and costs.

What were your goals for this project?

To establish a simplified concrete placement tool that processed complex weather and location data in real time to provide concrete placement guidance. We also wanted to build a data base of concrete placers to up-sell other education products.

How did you select this vendor?

We established a design / project brief and undertook a competitive tender process to the market for providers.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The core of the project was an algorithm that converted location and weather data in real time to determine the evaporation rate. This becomes critical for placement and curing of concrete and its ultimate quality. We provided the technical knowledge and guidance and scope for the app.

What was the team composition?

The team had a lead, key contact and development team in India. Appomate provided a client liaison locally and strategic support with the development team located overseas. The team changed size over the life of the project to manage the work.

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

The app has had very strong uptake from concrete placers given its simplicity and value in predicting concrete placement weather conditions. It has enabled placers to improve the quality of their work and manage their staff resources more efficiently.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was effective with a gantt chart detailing key milestones and deliverable. While there were some delays and set backs through the development process, these were quickly resolved with face-to-face support.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The high quality engagement and regular feedback ensured this complex project delivered some great outcomes. The team was always professional and proactive in the way they worked with us to deliver the best outcome possible.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The liaison with the overseas development team could be improved to ensure clarity of purpose and outcome. With the team based in a different time zone this sometimes caused delays. The need for a forward maintenance contract and the structure of that could have been better explained and integrated into the development proposal.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Im the Director & Creator of My Cheer Tribe; we're developing an App that helps make the running of Cheerleading & Dance businesses much more simple, easy & enjoyable. It assists with Admin, Registration, Communication, scheduling and more.

For what projects/services did your company hire Appomate?

We hired Appomate for the Development of the App. They are the technical team that writes the code and helps to create the product. The problem we had was that the business we were in had very inefficient systems and we couldn't' find a system anywhere that solved any of our problems in an efficient way, so we hired Appomate to help us create that system.

What were your goals for this project?

To create a beautiful, simple, easy to use App & Web system that serves customers. We wanted it to be intuitive, and enjoyable to use, as lots of Apps/Admin web systems were very plain & bare, and being in our industry, aesthetics, and attention to detail are very much appreciated, so we wanted to deliver a product that had the experience be a central part of the product, rather than just the specific technical issues it solved.

How did you select this vendor?

We had spoken to a few vendors regarding this but we chose Appomate because they seemed to be much more invested in the whole experience of creating an App, and the business as a whole, rather than just specifically doing app development and nothing else. I felt that the holistic approach that Appomate took to creating an App really suited what I was after. I wanted someone who would be able to support me through the process as I had never done anything like this before, and the Appomate team was very helpful in so many ways, that supported me in being able to turn this into a great business.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They helped design, develop & put together our App & Web System, which first involved coming up with the list of items to be included. Then they developed a 'see before you build' set of wireframes of what the product would look like, with some basic UI design.

From there we build a 'front end only' prototype so we could navigate around to see how it would function. Once we finalized the details of what was important after that stage we then moved to the development of the functioning App & Web System. That was when the back end began to be integrated & a lot more complexity in the features was developed.

What was the team composition?

The project team had different numbers of people at different times depending on our budget and requirements at the time. There were lots of different stages but we always had a project manager, and then a tech team comprised of who was needed at the time. We used an agile approach which allowed us to release a few features at a time and continue to evolve them as we went so that they could best suit the needs of our target market.

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

Our solution has been a much bigger project than was anticipated, as the needs kept evolving over time, however it has become a much more extensive & effective platform than we initially imagined. The simplicity with which it can be used, and the effectiveness of the way information is shared through the platform means that it will reduce Admin work in a medium-size club by at least 3-4 hours per week on average. Already it is allowing us to remove a huge number of admin errors that were occurring without this platform.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

To communicate we used Skype, What's App & Jira. The project management kept improving consistently over time, with the team working to improve their communication & effectiveness on an ongoing basis. Because this was my first project of this kind I learned a lot working with my team about how to improve in the Project Management side of things and manage timelines and expectations etc.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their willingness to continue to listen, evolve, work with us, and improve, and also to communicate to continue to fix any problems that come up. Its been a big learning experience for me, and they've been great in assisting me to become better at guiding them also. They've been extremely helpful in ideas about how to make the App & Web System as effective and intuitive as possible because of their experience with other apps, so I've really enjoyed getting to know more about the whole process. They also are really enthusiastic about our App. They are genuinely helpful in so many areas besides just the actual development.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The only thing I could think of is that initially, I had very little idea about the processes and the whole concept of building an App so I have learned a lot along the way. The main thing would just be when working with people newer to apps, just to write down a lot more of the stories in detail, and make sure the features are clearly understood.

We're in a great swing of things now, but in the beginning, it took a little while for our 'everyday' language and the 'tech' type language to be understood by each other. So its not really a criticism, more just something that I learned along the way, that in the beginning to take a bit more time to discuss the concepts and make sure to understand the concepts in even more detail than you might initially think is required.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the managing director of ShareTree.

What challenge were you trying to address with Appomate?

We needed to build a global application for English-speaking countries.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The core function of our app is to cultivate a mindset of gratitude. It prompts the user to send daily acknowledgments to those in their team that has inspired them. The app collates those in a group live feed so that the team can see the collective responses of the group and start describing the character and culture of that group. It then links to rich reporting about culture and to stimulate reporting around team culture.

We wanted a native build across all platforms. It was a complete build from the ground up and with sophisticated, multi-level functions. We provided Appomate with concepts that we had drawn up, and they took those concepts through discussions and workshops. They used a fantastic process that allowed us to see what they would build before they actually made it. We created all the wireframes together. After designing most of the screens, we built an MVP. We are now developing additional features.

What is the team composition?

We have a technical and strategic support person as well as a backend team of seven developers that build and maintain the application.

How did you come to work with Appomate?

We went to the market for several different suppliers. An acquaintance of mine had an application built by Appomate which they delivered very cost-effectively and in a short time cycle. We explored the relationship and ultimately chose Appomate because of our connection, a sense of quality service, and their understanding the customer need. The team seemed very dedicated to serving the customer. We also felt aligned in our purpose for what we wanted to do with the app and what we wanted to be as a business.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent around $350,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in March 2017, and the project is ongoing.

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

The app has launched, but we are continually turning out new features. It is a large application, but it has low-volume functions and high-impact interactions through a social purpose network. We’ve received positive feedback from customers, but the reliability could still be improved.

We check the metrics of our sprints. We’re looking at improving each sprint’s duration, the volume of work, and the number of bug-free deliverables at every cycle.

How did Appomate perform from a project management standpoint?

Appomate checks in with us regularly. If there are any concerns, they respond quickly, take action to move forward, and fix the issue. We use Jira and the Microsoft Office Suite of tools to manage the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team understands the cycle of customer service. The integrity and purpose of Appomate are second to none.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’d like to see more performance reporting on sprint cycles from Appomate’s team instead of from us. We also appreciate a more proactive approach in continuous improvement education for their team; we hope they would constantly improve their skills through structured learning as opposed to self-development.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear on the deliverables. Make sure they demonstrate how they can report on the app development speed and quality.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the director of Positive Penguins. We offer a fun and educational iOS app that helps children understand their feelings and challenge their negative thinking.

For what projects/services did your company hire Appomate?

My daughter came up with a great concept for a mobile app, and we engaged Appomate to storyboard her idea and bring it to life.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to create a fun, user-friendly education app that would be used by children, teachers, and parents.

How did you select this vendor?

One of my colleagues who had a great experience with Appomate referred me. We chose them because they understood our vision and would be able to hold in-person meetings.

Describe the project in detail.

We initiated the project with a PowerPoint presentation that outlined our idea. Their team worked with us to design the visual components of the app, which they eventually implemented in the final product. The app has launched for download on iOS devices.

What was the team composition?

Barath (Founder, Appomate) was our main point of contact, and we frequently spoke with Kevin (App Consultant, Appomate) as well. We also communicated directly with several developers and creators.

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

The app has over 30,000 downloads, many of which are from educational institutions who receive a discount. We’ve been able to limit the number of updates, and we are still seeing new downloads over seven years after launch.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication was seamless, and they were always transparent about the progress of the project. We spoke with them often, both in-person and over the phone, and occasionally liaised with their developers via Skype. They used a project management tool to help us review timelines and deliverables.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were impressed by their ability to quickly recognize what we wanted and build our idea into a functional app. Within several months, they were able to take a simple PowerPoint and use it to create a successful education product. Their customer service was also excellent.

Are there any areas for improvement?

They could’ve done a better job of explaining the level of financial investment that was needed.