Atomic Object

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm an engineering lead for a global automotive and aerospace supplier. I manage a small team of developers that provide internal applications and tools for other engineers in the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Atomic Object, and what were your goals?

We have a critical legacy application that is used by lots of engineers internally. It was written in C++ and suffers from problems with usability, deployment of updates, and inability to easily add new features. We hired Atomic Object to help us convert this tool into a browser based web application.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We had hired Atomic Object several years prior to work on a database design and to temporarily augment our staff for a new product we were developing. They had provided quality personnel and expertise at that time, so we did not hesitate to want to hire them again.

We gave them our requirements and they sent back a project proposal that was thorough and within our budget.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Atomic Object was hired to provide a ready made tech stack and to train our developers in the practice of web development. They worked well with our developers and were able to successfully integrate into our existing DevOps infrastructure.

The teach stack consisted of git, Node, npm with Yarn , React, Redux, Redis caching, Apollo GraphQL, Docker on Linux, and Visual Studio Code.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

There were a total of 5 consultants. A lead architect and system designer, a lead UI/UX designer, two web developers, and a project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We accomplished the main goals of the engagement, which were to design a web based user interface to the existing tool, and to train our developers on how to continue to develop that tool after the engagement was over. We worked in two weeks sprints and successfully maintained project velocity and merged PR's on time according to our project plan.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Atomic provided a project manager that oversaw the team on the Atomic side and interfaced with our project manager at a high level. They used Pivotal Tracker. We had daily standups, end of week reviews, and sprint planning sessions every Monday. We also constantly communicated using tools like Discord.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

We were impressed with the quality of the codebase and the expertise of the developers that worked on our project. They were thorough, professional, and up to date on the latest trends and technologies. We also appreciated their approach to user interface design, called Human Centric Design.

Their designer met with our internal customers to get direct input on what they wanted to see in the redesign effort. This was invaluable, as it provided a direct window into the usability problems of our customers. So far the feedback on the new design is extremely positive.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Budget constraints on our end forced us to have to remove a dedicated tester from the project in order to extend the time available to the software devs. As a result, there are a few places where unit tests are missing or need to be improved, but so far we have not found any serious bugs or design flaws that a full time tester would have caught.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Senior Project Manager at Fremont Insurance.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Atomic Object, and what were your goals?

Our Policy Dashboard supports our Independent Agents with functionality to view, edit, and report on policies, claims, billing, payments. It needed transformation into a Web Services platform with improved information security.

SOLUTION

How did you select Atomic Object and what were the deciding factors?

Atomic Object was selected for their expertise in Web Services, industry knowledge and experience, and to support our local businesses and economy.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We started with project discovery and brainstorming meetings to drive out project scope. Then a team of BA's, Designers, Developers were assembled from Atomic Object and Fremont Insurance. The project was co-managed by a PM from each company. The site was delivered in an Agile methodology, and deployed to our Agent workforce using Amazon AWS.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Atomic Object provided two project managers, one web designer, and four web developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

From the user experience perspective, the site has been well received. There were some bugs to work our after deployment, and Atomic Object resources were vital to the quick turnaround of these bugs.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

The Atomic Object project management team used an Agile approach to the project deliverables. The primary means of communication involved Slack and Pivotal Tracker was used for the project information.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Atomic Object was very willing to augment the project team with additional resources as needed. One of the challenges they assisted with was providing web developers during a time when we had no web developers on the project due to higher priorities for our developers to work on.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of human-centered design at a multi-national, international power management company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atomic Object?

We needed to deliver a new mobile and web app experience for one of our product lines as quickly as possible. We also had a specific budget we needed to fall within.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, they helped us identify our issues, risks, and challenges. Next, we covered architecture and development in iOS and Android. We also did web app development. Then, we did code reviews and design work as necessary. The team was able to chip in and add resources on an ad-hoc basis for different phases of our project. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with one delivery lead, and three other contacts.

How did you come to work with Atomic Object?

We decided to work with them because their quality was extremely high. Some of our other vendors had lower costs, but had different impacts to schedule. We were willing to try a higher quality vendor to see if we could get a better product delivered in less time.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $125,000–$175,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2018, and we wrapped up in August 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their timing was impeccable. It was one of the faster projects we’ve ever completed. The amount of re-work that needed to be done was far less than in other projects.

How did Atomic Object perform from a project management standpoint?

They were really strong. During our two-week sprints, they were either on time or early. The team gave us weekly updates on the hours and the investments, risks, and accomplishments to be very clear and transparent. Overall, they were on top of the ball.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication really stands out. The team is able to project what’s going to happen accurately is invaluable. Their developers are much better quality than others I’ve come across, too.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their cost is a bit high, but you get what you pay for.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to make sure you have a plan in place to hand off the work that they accomplished into your organization. They’ll have high-quality work, but you’re going to need someone to implement it on your side. It’ll make the process a lot smoother.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an engineer at a commercial vehicle product firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atomic Object?

We had a customer request for a sensor system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided embedded software and application development services. They used C for all app development and also supplied some frontend work.

What is the team composition?

There were initially two people assigned to the work, then we rolled it down to one person.

How did you come to work with Atomic Object?

I knew of the company from old classmates and acquaintances who worked there. They are highly regarded.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work began in June 2019 and ended in April 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We didn’t have many metrics, but anecdotally they were flexible and willing to adapt to changing circumstances.

How did Atomic Object perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication and ability to meet deadlines were good. They used JIRA for tracking and Basecamp for collaboration.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their quality of work is very high. I was happy with what they did.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to be honest and open in communications. Be good at being flexible so you can get value through transparency and honesty. You don’t need to spend so much time writing specific instructions because they’re good at understanding what you’re trying to accomplish.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and CPO of Find MeTime. We’re a family and childcare tech company. We connect parents to short term, hourly childcare services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atomic Object?

We’d worked with a freelance developer to launch our MVP. After being live for a couple of months and gaining users, we realized we needed to make some adjustments based on our customers’ needs and habits. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We engaged Atomic Object to help us release version 1.2 of our app. The team helped us build several new features, including increasing our search flexibility. The initial product, which is exclusively a web app, was created in PHP, using the Laravel framework. 

Along the way, the team collaborated with us on ways to expand the architecture and plan for long term growth and the updates that will come with it. The advice they offered extended past appropriate future technologies to even include strategies on how to recruit and interview an in-house engineer. 

What is the team composition?

We worked three people in total: two full-time developers and a delivery lead who was available as needed.

How did you come to work with Atomic Object?

Atomic Object was a partner of a company I previously worked at. Though I hadn’t worked with them personally, I knew they were a team who could deliver fast, quality work, which was exactly what we needed.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent a little under $70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project took place from January–March 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app is live, but it’s difficult to track metrics right now, as social distancing has limited childcare services greatly. However, we’ve presented the app to some of our investors and strategic collaborators, and they all love it. The increased functionality has had a great impact on the user experience of the app overall. 

How did Atomic Object perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management style was the best part of working with them. As a designer myself, I was heavily involved in the project, and we collaborated directly throughout the project. Atomic Object set up criteria and procurement tools early on, which allowed us to have an effective workflow. We used Basecamp for communication and Pivotal Tracker for task management. 

Though the team didn’t come into the engagement with an extensive background in Laravel, they picked it up very quickly, asking the right questions of our freelance developer who built our initial MVP. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their natural ability to talk to us in a language we could understand and guide us through decisions was phenomenal. I always felt included in the conversation, and despite their expertise, they never patronized me. Atomic Object provided our organization with so many educational moments without it ever feeling like they were doing so. It was always a seamless part of their communication.

Further, when I give a development team my vision for the frontend, it’s often a long time before I can see it come to life. Atomic Object stood out in that they were always able to develop a high-quality product, while balancing our need to be scrappy as a startup.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not at all. They’re doing everything right.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Figure out what you want your role to be in the engagement. You can maximize what you get out of the relationship with Atomic Object depending on what you put in.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a state education department. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atomic Object?

We needed help with designing a platform to support our schools. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Atomic Object first created focus groups to develop a series of user personas. From there they begin to build the platform with a series of wireframes, starting from scratch. That took six months. They also provided development support to help the dev team take what was in coding in the design process and translate it into the platform. 

What is the team composition?

We had a main point of contact on the team as well as a couple of programmers and developers.

How did you come to work with Atomic Object?

We’d partnered with an educational organization made up of intermediate school districts to develop platforms and applications to support the field. Together, we worked to develop an application to support our schools and provide teachers with up-to-date, accurate data. Atomic Object helped design the look and feel of the platform. When we had another, bigger platform to develop, we brought on Atomic Object again.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $70,000–$80,000

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in August 2019 and ended in January 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Atomic Object produced the product on time when we agreed. They were responsive as we were doing an agile method of development, which involves a lot of give-and-take. One of the advantages of having a company like Atomic Object is that they have the vision of what technology use looks like and in the future. They’d give advice about what my suggestions would feel like to the user, but left us to make the ultimate decision 

How did Atomic Object perform from a project management standpoint?

They hit deadlines perfectly, and the communication was constant. There were very few times where I had to wait more than an hour for a response via phone call, text, or email. We also had access to Zeplin and another project management tool in order to see the work being done.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve never worked with another provider. However, what made me very confident about Atomic Object was that, like a good contractor, they made me feel like we’re the only customer they had. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The time they took to make user personas was just way too long. I feel that time could have been cut in half.

Any advice for potential customers?

Have someone who is 100% dedicated to the project and available to answer questions. That helps keep the processing going.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Root is a strategy enablement and change leadership consulting company, and I lead our learning media and development teams. When an organization is initiating change, we help make sure that change is understandable and accessible to the broad base of employees by providing learning resources and strategy discussions that engage everyone in the process.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atomic Object?

Atomic Object is helping us build a suite of digital tools that will help companies sustain their change once they start it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a pretty clear understanding of the need and a less clear understanding of what we wanted to do about it. Atomic Object was able to take us through a design and technical scoping process to figure out a really clear workable prototype and a clear path forward for what would eventually become the first release of all the tools we wanted.

What is the team composition?

There were between 2–4 people from their side working with us at any given time.

How did you come to work with Atomic Object?

They had actually been on our radar for years and we had a few chances to get to know them through networking and scoping out a couple of potential ideas. They’re also very close to where we work, so when we decided to go ahead with this project, they were an easy first choice.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2019 and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have any direct client measurables yet since we haven’t produced the project, but they were above every milestone in all of the work that they completed for us. They delivered everything in advance on their end, and when we had some internal shifts, they were incredibly agile and did a great job of keeping the project on track.

How did Atomic Object perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication skills are excellent. We never felt like we weren’t on the same page with them at any point in the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They run really clear, well-organized projects. A lot of times you end up with vendors who champion their own opinion or sit back and don’t offer any input. Atomic does a great job of bringing a ton of experience to the work but making it feel like you are owning the project with them.

They’re not afraid to bring their opinion and recommendations, and then also iterate with you and let their opinions shift as requirements might clarify or move in one particular direction or another.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind at all.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t hesitate to rely on them for elements of the project that you might not know how to approach off the top of your head. They do a really good job in all of their work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the chief product officer at a small technology company. We make hydrogen fuel cell-powered electrical generators—small devices that produce electricity from chemical energy.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atomic Object?

We had to do a lot of software development in a short amount of time and needed additional bandwidth to meet a deadline.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a certain amount of software that needed to be cleaned up and transferred from an existing application to a new application. We relied on Atomic Object to help us with the remaining software porting effort for this embedded system.

Specifically, we have a microcontroller that reads a variety of sensor inputs and then executes our control algorithm and sets outputs appropriately to control, maintain, and operate the device. We do basically all of our development in C, and we used Jira and Bitbucket as our primary development tools.

What is the team composition?

At any given time, we worked with a maximum of four people. But some members rotated on and off, so we were exposed to quite a few people from their team.

How did you come to work with Atomic Object?

We reviewed firms across the country that had the best combination of talents, quality, and price, and we ultimately chose Atomic Object. We found them to be very well-qualified and have the necessary technical experience. Their familiarity working with embedded systems distinguished them from other options. We also liked their agile approach and test-driven development methods. It was not a preference or a goal to work with a remote team, but it certainly worked out very well.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from August 2018–March 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We found the work to be very high quality. They did everything the way we had hoped for them to do it.

How did Atomic Object perform from a project management standpoint?

They were well-organized and methodical. I found them to be very customer-oriented. I could tell that their approach was intended to give us the best experience. Their methods were quite polished in that regard.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have an influential internal company culture. They groom the developers into certain practices and procedures that make the experience very seamless. Very few other firms will operate in that same way.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They were hyper-focused on the process, which can be a good thing but also sometimes limiting to the overall flexibility of the engagement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You can’t go wrong based on their approach. Their meticulous attention to detail and their onboarding process will more than likely give you a great experience.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a biotechnology company that makes software and apps for circadian rhythm purposes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atomic Object?

I was working on a circadian rhythm application for a government agency; the iOS solution was for cancer patients. I hired Atomic Object to do the design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Atomic Object interviewed current patients and other people that fit personas. The team then drew up the flow from a UX perspective and did styling. They designed the app from scratch based on my guidelines and also provided backend consulting services.

What is the team composition?

I worked with one designer. There was another resource for backend consulting.

How did you come to work with Atomic Object?

I had discussed other products with the team, but this was the first opportunity I had to work with them. Their past app designs had impressed me; I wanted a similar look for my solution.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project occurred in January 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everyone is impressed with the designs.

How did Atomic Object perform from a project management standpoint?

The team was transparent and delivered on their promises.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They checked in repeatedly to ensure everything was on track and budget. I felt comfortable providing both positive and negative feedback.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I was pleased with the engagement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clients should be as responsive as Atomic Object. Efficient lines of communication make the partnership easy.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an assistant superintendent for the Ottawa Area Intermediate School District (OAISD). We’re an educational services agency that runs various services supporting other K-12 school districts. For example, we manage a fiber optic network and have a full enterprise technology services department. We're the tech department for several districts. I’m in charge of innovation, technology, information, and security.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Atomic Object?

We’ve worked on several projects with them, the first being an online system for testing and assessments. We did a review of various systems that were available, but we didn’t find anything we liked. Therefore, we decided to go the custom development route.

We’d done development work in the past as a department, but it’d primarily involved report-writing or scripts, along with a bit of SQL; custom work was out of our depth. In addition to developing the project, we wanted a partner who could teach us agile development and grow our team so we could eventually take over maintenance.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Atomic Object worked on a project called inQwizIT that delivers and manages assessments. We gave them some of our specifications, they offered us a quote, and then we designed the app; it still uses the same system today. Though it started as a math-specific assessment tool, it was designed as a universal assessment engine and is now being used in science, social studies, and other subjects.

It’s a web-based software whose front- and backend were originally developed with Ruby on Rails. It’s always been cloud-based, but we moved to AWS after launch. We still use Ruby on the backend (though we’ve made some code upgrades) but we’ve transitioned Ember.js on the frontend. Ember.js allows us to alter code more rapidly, while also maintaining all the backend pieces on Ruby.

We’ve done multiple other projects with Atomic as well. One was a speculative design project to identify a concept we could show to prospective donors. Although the timing wasn’t right, we still plan on using it. Recently, we did a UX/UI project requiring them to build wireframes and other components.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three people for the original project, though we brought the designer’s hours down as we went forward. We’ve worked with other people on various projects since then but there’s been some carryover from team to team. 

How did you come to work with Atomic Object?

I knew I wanted to do something in the agile world and looked at all sorts of app developers. I tapped the network of a friend who works at a large IT firm and he provided a couple of recommendations, including Atomic.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent close to $700,000. That doesn’t include the recent UX/UI project, as that was funded by another source.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from May 2011 until July 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

People love inQwizIT, largely because it’s the first time many of them have worked with software designed with them in mind, which is part of Atomic’s process. The software is easy for everyone to use (our client and their users), so it’s gotten positive reviews.

How did Atomic Object perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re as good as any software development company I’ve worked with. Everyone struggles with projecting development accurately; that being said, Atomic does it very well. They’re only 30 km away from us, so it’s always easy to connect with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re committed to not just developing software but to building software that’s impactful and unique. They took ownership of the app as if it were their own project and adjusted well to our change requests.

While they’ve expanded their expertise regarding development and design trends, they also respected us as domain, content, usability and customer experts. Other vendors assume we’ll have to go through a bunch of exercises to learn those things. Atomic does that to a certain extent, but they also understand we know what we’re talking about. This is nice for me, as I’m paying the bill.

Atomic has all the services to be a one-stop shop (initial concept, design, programming) but they’ve partnered with us in different ways as needed. Rather than always use a single approach, they’ve been flexible.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s room for improvement in any project, but they always take our feedback and make the appropriate changes. In our first project, there were some things I knew would come up later, regarding how we’d model the data, but I was more than willing to go with the flow. They decided to tackle the problem when they came to it instead of accounting for it in the original design. I think they learned how valuable it is to keep the end-result in mind while working on quick iterations.