Apposing Limited

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a technology platform for recruitment, and we create unique user experiences.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Apposing Limited?

We identified that recruitment can be a hellish experience for both the employer and prospective candidate. With this in mind, we wanted to create a platform that would enable people to browse jobs and consume career-related content freely, and ultimately allow businesses to connect with relevant talent quickly and inexpensively.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Apposing worked with us on a variety of different years of research in helping to define our recruitment platform’s requirements. We had a number of scoping sessions and looked at the possible design of the interface to understand what to deliver to the end-users. After that, we moved into the development of the product, which we then released. 

They continued to work with us to iteratively design, develop, and progress the product through user feedback. They got us to the point where we had started to monetize the platform.

Apposing also worked with us to develop a desktop-based experience for the employers. They provided front- and backend support, managed the database and infrastructure, and defined algorithms that match candidates to relevant jobs and content. This effectively makes us a marketplace as we’re using a variety of tags and algorithms to recommend jobs and content to job seekers.

The mobile app component of this project is compatible for both the iOS and Android platforms.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with a lot of people from Apposing. There was a product/user researcher, three designers, a product manager, and six developers.

How did you come to work with Apposing Limited?

We weren’t happy with our old provider, so I approached a number of different people. I’ve known Apposing for a while, and I know they do good quality work and come highly recommended. I decided to engage with them, and that’s how we took it forward.

How much have you invested with them?

I believe we spent about £350,000–£450,000 (approximately $470,800–$600,800 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from March 2018–May 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The biggest impact is the fact that we wouldn’t have had a product out in the marketplace if we didn’t work with them. They helped us move quite quickly, and our app store ratings have improved. We initially had a 3.8 rating and now we’re rated at 4.1.

How did Apposing Limited perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re pretty good. We’ve got a lot to work on so it must have been a very difficult project to manage but generally, they did really well. For project management, Slack and Trello were our two main ways of communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They go above and beyond. They never just stick to the scope and always deliver a bit more. The quality of their output was really good. Our product is robust, stable, and sustainable. So, in terms of the quality code, it was a really reasonable price, and they ticked a lot of our boxes. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would probably be unfair to suggest the need to improve anywhere. Perhaps they could improve the time and speed of delivery and action for change requests. These are things that are generally outside of the scope, so it’s fair to say that there are very few things for me to say what they can improve on. They’re a top-quality digital agency that understands UX and they deliver robust and stable tech.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would suggest that you break things down into manageable chunks so that you’re all clear on what needs to be delivered and don’t put too much into everything at once.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the head of product and design for a company called Car & Away. We are a peer-to-peer car rental business, so we help car owners rent their cars to other people in order to help renters have a better experience than at traditional rental companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Apposing Limited?

We are replatforming all of our backend as well as launching two new apps and our new website, and the scale of the work was such that we knew we couldn’t hire enough resources inhouse, so we brought them on to serve as an extension of our development team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They essentially integrated into our team, taking control of all the frontend elements of the new product, including the iOS and Android apps and then the web platform. We concentrated on building the interfaces from those components into our backend and then worked with their team to integrate the two elements together.

All the work they did on the site was in React, and the two apps are in native languages for the iOS and Android platforms. They actually didn’t have React developers originally, so they brought on resources to be able to complete the project for us.

What is the team composition?

Generally, we have six full-time developers and a project manager, comprised of two React developers, two in Android, and two in iOS as well. Emma (Product Manager) has overseen all that work for us.

How did you come to work with Apposing Limited?

Dave (Director) had a contact who used our system in Gatwick, and the current app is a pilot system, so it’s built for efficiency, but the experience isn’t great. He mentioned to Dave that he could really help us out, and they reached out to us through LinkedIn if we’d be interested at the same time that we were looking for development agency partners.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in September 2019 and are continuing to work together, although we are wrapping up at the moment.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their resilience and commitment to the project has been very impressive. They provide high-quality work, and anytime they run into challenges, they are great about finding solutions and overcoming them.

When we required the product to be built in React, rather than trying to convince us to do something not quite as good, they found the resources and built what we needed while barely even delaying the start of the project.

How did Apposing Limited perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve set strict milestones for payment schedules throughout the work and all of those milestones have been consistently met. Apposing Limited have handled that structure incredibly well, and we’ve typically found that any delays have been on our end in terms of making sure that we had our backend work in place for them to continue their components.

One of the main criteria we had for our partner was that they would work seamlessly with our team, so even though they’re not in our office, they’re using the same tools to make sure that we are constantly aligned and on the same page. We use Slack to communicate back and forth and there hasn’t been any friction in terms of their ability in that regard.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The whole team has been incredibly flexible and accommodating in order to help us discover solutions to problems we’ve never tackled before. Since we are building entirely new technologies, we’ve had to deviate from the plan, and they’ve worked incredibly hard to help us tackle those challenges as a team.

Even though we were using them exclusively as a development partner, they went out of their way to provide suggestions and assistance in the UX/UI and design components that they thought could work well. That was something we really appreciated.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I genuinely think it would be overcritical to say that there’s anything they need to improve. I’ve been totally satisfied with the service they are providing to us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Approach your project with a very detailed scope of work for what you need to get done and the milestones necessary to getting there. That will help both sides to understand what’s required and what needs to be done next at any point.