What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We are tracking metrics on mobile adoption across our associates. Aside from just adopting the app, we’re also tracking statistics on jobs offered, jobs accepted out of the possible jobs, and the results of the assignments that were created via the app. The ability to offer jobs and have them accepted has been proven in the pilot, and we look forward to seeing how they compete with non-mobile app assignments going forward. We just haven’t had enough time to execute those assignments to see enough results.
I think the mobile app adoption has exceeded expectations. For example, the ratings and focus groups show that everyone uniformly loves it. Our associates’ favorite feature is the ability to see prior activities and pay notifications. Meanwhile, our internal recruiters’ top feature is the ability to offer a job to multiple candidates simultaneously, which saves a tremendous amount of time.
It’s going to be a game changer internally, and we are seeing positive productivity metrics just because we can now communicate to multiple people at once. They respond immediately through the app, and those responses give us the information to move on to the next step. We can quickly create those assignments and dispatch them, or log the reason they declined the assignment and move on.
How did ArcTouch perform from a project management standpoint?
Their performance is great. I adopted the Agile method about five years ago, and we typically used a five-week Agile sprint cycle for our CRMs and front office software. With ArcTouch’s involvement, there’s a much tighter cycle than what we were used to. Because of the two-week mobile app sprint cycle, their project management had to be very strict and diligent. They did a good job at trimming the backlog, making sure that we were prepared for any changes, and staying on schedule.
The best thing you can say about the project management of ArcTouch is that we did not miss a single date throughout the whole project. Of the features set list for version 1, only one feature was put on the backlog for future sprints. It was very impressive to get a product that almost exactly matches the one that we envisioned.
I don’t want to say there were no issues, but they handled those issues well. Life happens, and they were able to adjust accordingly. We appreciated the honesty and transparency that they bring to their project management style.
We used Atlassian Confluence quite a bit as well as Smartsheets. Since we’re a Microsoft Office 365 shop, we use Skype and the OneDrive a lot.
What did you find most impressive about them?
I’m impressed with the history of ArcTouch. They’ve been a mobile app company since 2007—that’s all they do, and that focus is the differentiator that won us.
Are there any areas they could improve?
The only negative is they tend to be a bit rigid on their requirements definitions. It really protects them, and I can see why they do it. However, it does take a little more time and effort to document all of the requirements and the user stories up front. It’s both good and bad since you end up exactly with what you want. There’s not a lot of things coming out of QA [quality assurance]. However, I wouldn’t want them to do that differently.
Do you have any advice for potential clients?
It’s best to prepare and communicate expectations before you get started. There are costs on both sides to go through that much preparation, but it pays for itself in the end. From our experience, you don’t have as much to rework and you end up with a good quality product.
They’re not going to be your budget partner, so if you’re not serious about building a world-class app with enterprise-level quality, then ArcTouch might not be for you. But if you are willing to invest in that, then I would definitely recommend them. If you’re just dabbling, you’re probably not going to have a good engagement because of the level of quality that they demand.
ArcTouch created a mobile platform that provides an intricate curriculum to users that wouldn’t have access to it otherwise. They implemented an elegant interface that both students and teachers enjoy. The app is used as an education tool by schools and customized programs from around the world.