ArcTouch

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

We’re measuring the success of the designs based on the reaction from our CEO, who is delighted with what we’ve produced. The biggest metric, in this case, is receiving approval on the designs— we can now move forward with developing an app that we’re all proud of. We’ve tested the designs internally, and are confident we can perform user testing once development begins.

How did ArcTouch perform from a project management standpoint?

They stick to the deadlines we create, even when I have to change dates because of my chaotic schedule. I am appreciative of their flexibility. We primarily communicate over email, as it's been a short design sprint. This is the perfect setup for me because if I have multiple projects happening at once, a simple email from them keeps me on track.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication skills are especially valuable to us—they are proactive and willing to put in the effort to keep us informed. Unlike other companies, ArcTouch listens to criticism and welcomes any form of feedback. It’s always been a pleasant experience communicating with them, and every back-and-forth we’ve had has been positive. We also appreciate the industry research they performed, because they were able to intelligently use our lingo. Overall, they are friendly people who want to have productive conversations that help the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything for them to improve on—my team could learn even more from ArcTouch’s design process. The way they operate is an inspiration for our in-house designers.

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

We receive feedback from parents, teachers, and students that indicates they enjoy using the app. Several schools have adopted the app as a way of working with their students and preparing them for IEP meetings. Also, a teacher recently traveled around Europe to instruct other education professionals on how to approach students with learning disabilities. Our app plays a significant role in that program. Arc Touch’s work has provided us with an accessible product that we use as a call-to-action tool when making media appearances. After considering the app’s success, we’re planning on releasing an Android version as well.

How did ArcTouch perform from a project management standpoint?

It was a big project, but they performed wonderfully and were patient with us. I’m an educator by trade, but transferring a curriculum we’ve developed over 12 years into a mobile app was challenging. They guided us through the process and delivered on every front. We used various project management tools, but I can’t recall the specifics as I was more involved with the creative aspect of the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They dove into the project and took the time to understand our brand and what we’re trying to accomplish as an organization. They’ve become advocates of our work, which we appreciate. This effort ultimately saved a lot of development time as we were able to establish a mutual trust at the start of the engagement. Our team’s set out on the same mission and that contributed to a successful final product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

More improvements could be made our end. It was a learning process for us to devote the amount of time and resources required by the workload. If anything, I’d like to see ArcTouch provide more materials that outline the development process.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Work with them to establish a relationship from the beginning. We felt they allocated too many resources during the project’s early stages, but that process proved worthwhile and even expedited development.

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.