The BHW Group

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a drilling dynamics adviser at Gordon Technologies, an oil and gas technology company. We provide downhole tools and measuring equipment for operators such as Shell and Exxon. I collect and analyze data from our tools and provide optimization services for our customers.   

What challenge were you trying to address with The BHW Group?

We needed help creating a web-based app that allows our customers to view and analyze the high-frequency and high-density data that they record with our tools.

What was the scope of their involvement?

During our initial call with BHW, we explained to them our business hurdle. We provided them with a file that contained 24 hours of recorded data with 13 channels and each recorded at 100 hertz. 

As a test, we asked BHW to create a quick graph based on the data we provided where we could zoom in and out, change axes, and plot multiple channels easily and quickly. After a few weeks, they had a proof of concept that met our goals. From there, we decided to move forward to a bigger project.

BHW created a web-based app that contained tabs and sectors, and each tab displayed a specialized graph that would be the best for our customers. We went through an iterative process to refine the site, which involved making changes, fixing designs, improving displays, fixing bugs, and more. Once everything was finalized, we deployed the site into production.

We showed the app to some of our customers to obtain some feedback. We made a few more tweaks before finally rolling out the product and using it as a standalone system. 

The app was hosted on AWS and built using WordPress and other technologies. Beyond the development, BHW also provided design work on the platform. They chose its color palettes based on our logo and what’s appealing to the eye. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager, a designer, and two developers.

How did you come to work with The BHW Group?

One of our employees had previously worked with BHW and recommended them to us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $50,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement lasted from February–July 2020. 

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

Our customers had been telling us that BHW’s app was one of the reasons we’d been getting their business. The app had set us apart from our competitors. We had gotten some new customers because of it.

Overall, our customers said the app was easy to use and quick; BHW did an excellent job on its design. They guided us away from what we initially wanted, but they led us to a better path. 

How did The BHW Group perform from a project management standpoint?

BHW was great at project management. We had weekly meetings where they rolled out functionalities for us to check out. Their project manager was always available whenever we had questions. 

BHW kept us up to date with timelines, and they made sure to meet their deadlines and targets. The final product was delivered on time. We’re delighted with their professionalism throughout the process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

BHW’s team was very easy to work with. They were very understanding of our challenges, and they accommodated how we want to approach the project. 

The other vendors we spoke with had been very rigid with what they want to do. Meanwhile, BHW was very open to stepping outside of the box and doing things differently. Ultimately, that resulted in an excellent end product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. From start to finish, they had been very responsive.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open about your wants. If you’re not vocal about your preferences, they will do what they think is best, which may go against your vision. Having open communication is the most important thing.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our company’s called Hatchways. It’s a coworking space that's integrated with a full-service café that's open to the public based in Dallas Texas. My job leading to the launch of Hatchways was to manage the development of a custom web platform as well as a native tablet application to integrate the food and beverage services with the broader coworking space.

What challenge were you trying to address with The BHW Group?

We saw that there was an opportunity to make coworking more hospitable if it were supported with excellent hospitality. We needed to build a custom solution to give workspace users the full food and beverage service experience, which would be an innovation in the coworking industry. We didn’t want users to feel that there was a difference between our coworking space and our café. We wanted users of the coworking space to feel completely capable of using the café in addition to the traditional coworking functions such as booking meeting spaces.

What was the scope of their involvement?

When we engaged them, we had our functional goals already scoped out but their team conceptualized the specifications. From scratch, The BHW Group built a web platform that’s integrated with the POS system in our café. Their team also built a tablet app, which lives on tablets in each space when users book a conference room. They used Go and React to develop the database. The app enables users to order à la carte from the café, extend their meeting times, and ping the front desk when needed.

We had wireframes to begin, but our offering to users evolved as development was underway and some wireframes were thrown out the window. That evolution was part of what made their team an excellent partner as they helped to shape our business goals around our technology goals and vice versa. We worked with them to hone our technology vision as we figured out our business plan.

What is the team composition?

We engaged with the three partners of the group: Paul (Partner, The BHW Group), Clayton (Partner, The BHW Group), and Randall (Design Director, The BHW Group). I worked with the three of them directly but there were other developers on their team who touched the code.

How did you come to work with The BHW Group?

I searched Google and found them. The BHW Group’s based in Austin and we’re based in Dallas, which was important to us. They’re a boutique shop, so they touch every single piece of code from the database to the UI/UX. That was valuable too. Additionally, they had experience working with POS systems in the hospitality as well as food and beverage industries. We reach out to Paul and it took us over a year to figure out our scope of work exactly, so their team stuck with us.

How much have you invested with them?

Up until this point, we’ve invested $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We reached out to them in the summer of 2017 and began development in August of 2018. Our engagement’s ongoing as we’ve made modifications to the platform. We’ll continue to work with them on the development of our entire technology ecosystem.

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

Their willingness to be evolutionary in their approach was impactful. The system's beautifully aligned with the physical space because their team pushes themselves in all things UI/UX, branding, and design. It’s amazing how if you’re sitting in one of our conference rooms, using our web or tablet platform feels in line with our space. That was successful. Additionally, we emphasized user-friendliness from the beginning. We had the less digital native user in mind during the design phase to make the platform fool-proof. Thy brought ease, simplicity, and delight into the way that people order food. The revenue from food and beverage doubled, which we credit to The BHW Group’s design efforts. Their team proved the concept and had an enormous impact on the business. They’re pricier than off-shore service providers but we’re glad that we made the investment to take a fully custom approach and have a hands-on high-touch partner for development.

How did The BHW Group perform from a project management standpoint?

We’re old school, so we communicate by phone and e-mail. We felt as engaged in the process as we needed to be and their team was helpful in explaining the concepts, which I appreciated as a non-technical person. Their team was great in helping us to understand what was feasible and what wasn’t without being condescending.

Our business model evolved as they developed the platforms. We weren't familiar with the development process, so the way we set it up wasn’t iterative, which would've been more efficient given our business model’s evolution.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were impressed with their team overall. Members of The BHW Group team seem to love working there. They spend a lot of time recruiting and nurturing a team culture that’s meritocratic and transparent. We had a super positive experience and we’re really glad to work with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could be more proactive in discussing the implications for our approach to development. For example, they could’ve been more assertive in their communication about the implications of approaches in terms of delays and provide alternatives. Their team could've been more creative about more efficient and less expensive ways to get to our desired outcome. That’s because we’re non-technical people.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Honestly, they’re great. They’re awesome to work with, so I recommend them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CIO for The Habit Burger Grill. We run about 275 fast casual restaurant locations in 13 states and internationally.

What challenge were you trying to address with The BHW Group?

To address the convenience economy, we hired The BHW Group to build our company a mobile app for on-the-go ordering. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

The BHW Group first developed a proprietary app in React Native for Android and iOS devices. By using React Native, we had one basic codebase that The BHW Group could tweak to the two platforms. 

The app allows users to order whenever and wherever they want and includes an estimated time for an order to be ready. However, we weren’t prepared to offer a loyalty program right away. The BHW Group brainstormed with us ways to encourage users to try and keep using the app. We settled on making it easy for guests to customize their orders and make a repeat order in fewer than three clicks. We also hoped to use the app to track food readiness for guests.

The BHW Group also worked closely with our marketing team to test different offers in different locations based on users’ IP addresses. They helped us with placement and organizing information on the App Store and Google Play store.

We built the mobile app with scalability in mind. We knew we wanted to add more features and functionalities as time went on. The scope of the collaboration has since expanded to include a kiosk, a new backend infrastructure, web ordering, and integration with third-party delivery companies like Postmates, DoorDash, and UberEats. What started as a mobile app development project has grown into a digital transformation.

What is the team composition?

We primarily work with their head of product, head of engineering, and head of UI. They also have another 6–8 people working behind the scenes. 

How did you come to work with The BHW Group?

We did an RFP and reached out to 10 companies that we found through recommendations or our research. After an initial phone screening, we met with four teams in person. We could tell from phone screening that The BHW Group was thoughtful and collaborative. They were somebody we really wanted to work with.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in February 2018 and is ongoing.

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

Since we’re a publicly-traded company, we can’t share numbers publicly. Our average app store rating is 4.8 out of 5 stars, and our repeat business is over 30%—both are excellent signs for our industry. The app’s UI is thoughtfully designed to upsell customers and encourage them to opt into our email marketing program and location tracking. As a result, the app’s opt-in rate is higher than on any other platform we use. We continue to work with The BHW Group to expand on our current projects. 

How did The BHW Group perform from a project management standpoint?

The BHW Group has integrated well alongside our app development team—they took on the mobile app and UI design work while our side built a lot of the backend. Since the systems need to communicate, our process has to be collaborative. 

We work together over Slack channels, toolsets, Trello boards, and daily and weekly update calls depending on the project’s phase. The BHW Group’s team works well not only with technical folks but also with our marketing team when I can’t be a liaison. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The BHW Group’s sense of collaboration and thoughtfulness really stand out to me. They’re extremely talented, but they always listen to us and fulfill our requests. They don’t insist on their way of doing things or try to convince us out of ideas unless they really think it would be unproductive to carry out. As the scope has grown massively, they also have done a great job in building in scalability from the get-go. We don’t have to rebuild from the ground up to add new functionalities and integrations.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The BHW Group had little to no experience in the restaurant industry before going in. However, that turned out to be a plus for us—they weren’t bogged down by the traditional way of doing things. After a little early education, we worked together smoothly. I don't have anything negative to say about them. 

Any advice for potential customers?

Reach out to The BHW Group for a conversation—you'll see for yourself very quickly whether they're the right fit for you. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of Nomad Innovations, LLC, an app company.

What challenge were you trying to address with The BHW Group?

I hired the team to produce a professional app from scratch that would run smoothly on both Apple and Android platforms. The app would be aesthetically pleasing with clean operations and an intuitive user interface. I also had a heavy list of feature requirements for the app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I gave them basic ideas and drawings of what I had in mind, and the project evolved from there. They built a cross-platform app for an audience of law enforcement, the military, and long-range shooters.

Throughout the development, the team helped us beta test it to ensure it would be functional before we launched it. They found and resolved a few small errors. They also provided training on how to post the app to the App Store and Google Play.

What is the team composition?

I worked with no more than three team members. I had contact with one specialist who performed the majority of the development, and I was also connected with the project leader.

How did you come to work with The BHW Group?

My friend owns an excellent app with a great UX in the same industry. I talked with him about my goals, and he recommended The BHW Group.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $15,000 for the initial launch. After the app launched, we paid them to perform updates.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began development in September of 2018, and we launched the app in January of 2019. They provide ongoing support. 

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

We’ve received an incredible response from users. The solution exceeded our initial goals.

How did The BHW Group perform from a project management standpoint?

I collaborated with developers and the project manager via email or text. They maintained efficient, casual methods of connecting with stakeholders.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciated their excellent communication style. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I had a very smooth experience with my project.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Future clients should clearly outline their goals, including the timeline and budget. When I did this, it allowed The BHW Group to understand my expectations. There were a few minor miscommunication issues, but the team resolved them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of Veritas Advantage. We offer a supply chain solution that helps hospitals reduce the amount they spend on medical devices.

What challenge were you trying to address with The BHW Group?

We were looking to build an app that could take purchase history data from hospitals and map it back to the FDA’s Global Unique Device Identification Database. Users would be able to see cost averages for medical devices, and then negotiate prices based on that data. The app would also provide a platform for hospitals to communicate with medical device representatives in real time.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We began the project with some initial meetings to explain the context of our business challenge. Their team was able to apply this information quickly, partly due to their experience with health care technology.

My partner and I designed and outlined the app, and The BHW Group built out features based on our designs. Their team also implemented useful plug-ins for the platform, including a barcode reader. The app is available for download on iOS and Android devices, and we’re currently working on moving it to a cloud-based infrastructure.

Aside from development work, The BHW Group also provides technical support and customer service to our users.

What is the team composition?

Their team consists of several developers and designers, and Paul (Partner, The BHW Group) serves as our primary point of contact.  

How did you come to work with The BHW Group?

We researched and interviewed development companies in Texas, and ended up speaking with The BHW Group as part of this process. We chose them because of their ability to understand and absorb information, which was evident from the first phone call.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $300,000 on this project.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in June 2018, and the project is ongoing.

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

We’ve conducted field tests with our app, and so far, it has performed flawlessly. We’ve also received positive feedback from colleagues regarding the product.

How did The BHW Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been very flexible and understanding, especially in regards to our requirements. Overall, their ability to complete tasks on time has been outstanding.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re excellent problem-solvers, and they’ve approached every phase of the project in a very proactive manner. They’ve also been very patient in their communication with our team. I’ve been particularly impressed with their ability to retain industry-specific details about our project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any suggestions in terms of changes they should be making. I’ve been completely satisfied with our partnership. We have a very close working relationship with their team.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s essential, especially for people in non-technical roles, to clearly articulate their goals and vision for a project. This will make any development process run efficiently.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the director of marketing at McCarthy Tire Service. We offer commercial tires and tire services, mechanical services, and roadside assistance for commercial trucks; tire sales and services for earthmover and industrial vehicles; and complete automotive services for passenger cars and light trucks. We are the sixth largest commercial tire dealer in the US.

For what projects/services did your company hire The BHW Group?

We hired The BHW Group to develop a mobile application that would replace our existing one, which was several years old and no longer functioned properly with current mobile devices.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a new mobile app that would allow our customers to find our service locations, learn more about our services, view current specials, and quickly visit our website.

How did you select this vendor?

Early in 2017, we conducted an extensive search for mobile application developers. That search was not successful. In August 2017, we renewed the search and found Clutch.co., which provided a comprehensive list of firms to review. We narrowed our preferred agencies to a group of five after looking through case studies of projects for apps with similar functionality. We invited each firm to submit a summary of qualifications and a proposal for the project. We selected The BHW Group because they gave a very professional proposal that addressed our project scope. The price quote was within our budgetary constraints, and we felt comfortable working with them. Our CFO made the final decision.

Describe the project in detail.

I provided an initial scope of work and outlined the deliverables for the project. Our project manager and I held some initial discovery meetings. The statement of work was fairly straightforward. According to the timeframe, their team produced initial wireframes that we later discussed during a phone meeting. Based on my input, they adjusted the design and moved to the next phase. Our company and our ad agency provided graphic guidelines and imagery for the BHW team to use. We reviewed first and second proofs, and The BHW Group eventually sent us a test app for review. Our team, including our ownership and executive management team, all reviewed the app. I forwarded their suggestions to The BHW Group for other changes. Once the app went live, the BHW team was readily available for any of our questions. They also trained us on the use of the dashboard for the app. They developed the app for iOS and Android.

What was the team composition?

We worked directly with Paul (Partner, The BHW Group). However, a full team of developers also worked on the project.

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

Our new app is excellent. We are impressed with the functionality. Our management team uses the Find Your Store mapping function on a daily basis. The graphic design fits perfectly into our overall brand strategy.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The BHW Group was great to work with, notably Paul. Our communication was always hassle-free and timely. We received regular updates, and he was always available to answer any question.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are professional and easy to work with. They provided their initial proposal promptly, and they followed through on all of their tasks according to the statement of work schedule. This experience was our first time working with a mobile app developer. Their team gave us tremendous support and technical assistance throughout the project. They were committed to the success of the project. The app's prospective launch came during a busy time for our organization, which slowed down our review of the app. The BHW Group was understanding and flexible, which gave us the time to vet the app before it went live.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, it was a smooth project from beginning to end. We highly recommend The BHW Group.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Leaf is a tech company that specializes in agronomic software. As the product manager, my responsibilities are to drive development and to discover and resolve customer issues.

What challenge were you trying to address with The BHW Group?

Some of our projects require a larger development team than we have in-house, so we searched for a company that could operate as an extension of our team to assist with projects we can't handle ourselves.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Most of our projects with BHW involve frontend and backend development, but they also review our wireframes and provide general design consultancy. One of our first collaborations entailed implementing React on the frontend to initialize accounts and manage assets. From the end user’s perspective, farm and personnel assets appear categorically on the app. They developed the app's backend with Go. We plan to build a similar Android app within the next month.

What is the team composition?

Their two partners act as our main points of contact.

How did you come to work with The BHW Group?

Our head of engineering met one of their partners at a networking event and was thoroughly impressed by their confidence and expertise in software development. Their positive interaction influenced our decision to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent nearly $100,000 working on various projects with BHW.

What is the status of this engagement?

We established our ongoing partnership with BHW in April 2017.

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

We developed a GPS-dependent app that requires users to store their devices inside tractors for extended periods of time. Exposure to extreme temperatures and high energy usage overheats the devices, so we asked BHW to make the app more energy-efficient without sacrificing its functionality. They're still testing the app, but energy usage has already decreased by 30% while in use; energy usage dropped by 60% while on standby mode.

How did BHW Group perform from a project management standpoint?

I act as the project manager, so we only expect them to provide the hours their engineers are available. Slack, Jira and Google Hangout are our primary methods of communication, but we make an effort to meet in-person at least once a month.

What did you find most impressive about them?

BHW is confident their team members, which is incredibly comforting for us. If their junior developers are experiencing issues, their senior staff members are intimately involved with the project and can jump in if necessary. Agencies that I've worked with in the past oversold the quality of their services, but BHW consistently follows through on their promises.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their proximity to our office is outside of their control, but it would be nice to meet with them in-person more often.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Plan well and articulate your expectations at the beginning of the project to avoid confusion later in the project. Put everything in writing, and they will follow your instructions word for word.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a medical management platform. We’re developing a software-suite of applications that function as convenience tools for medical patients.

What challenge were you trying to address with The BHW Group?

We needed to engage a mobile app development firm to help create our software.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired BHW to design and develop various aspects of our software. They were willing to work with us and take our initial wireframes to the next level. Their open mindset and valuable input allowed us to further refine our app’s mock-ups. Then, they designed our logo. With a more defined vision, we continued to partner with BHW and develop the mobile apps for iOS and Android. The apps are live on The App Store and we’re currently in the early rollout phrase.

The main app enables medical patients to organize their health care provider information, set appointment reminders, and take notes to keep themselves organized. The patient app is free, but they also helped us a build a subscription-based app that targets healthcare providers. This app allows providers to broadcast their live wait times to mitigate patient frustrations and drive client satisfaction. The app also supports a web-portal admin system so providers can access information that way.

We also utilize a subscription model to sell an iPad-only version of the app to hospital. This system communicates with the free patient build so that surgical teams can provide real-time updates to patient’s families during lengthy procedures.

What is the team composition?

We often work directly with a project manager, a lead designer, and a lead developer. Beyond that, a team of designers and developers work on the project and we speak with them intermittently.

How did you come to work with The BHW Group?

We worked with several international companies in the past, but they didn’t meet our standards. We considered both local firms and companies from other areas. Eventually, we decided BHW would be the best fit.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2016. The project is complete, but they’ll be providing ongoing developments.

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

I don't have exact statistics at this time, but the user base is growing daily. We only recently launched and started marketing the product. The reception from patient and physician communities has been overwhelming. The app generally receives positive feedback.

How did The BHW Group perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve met with BHW in person, but primarily communicate through email and keep an open dialogue. We used InVision to work on designs together. They stay organized throughout the various stages of development.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their level of communication is tremendous. They're very prompt when answering any questions. We established a close relationship with them, so working together is easy. We're fairly detail-oriented customers, but they never act like we’re overburdening them in any way.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have suggestions regarding our specific project. It’d be great if they grow bigger, thus creating more development resources.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the co-founder and product manager of Visit Widget, a software and service provider for tourism and destination marketing organizations. We provide an interactive mapping experience for clients to embed directly on their websites, bundled with branded apps. This enables a cross-device experience for their customers, from planning a trip from their desktop to utilizing an app upon arrival at their destination.

What challenge were you trying to address with The BHW Group?

Our existing mobile app technology stack was built on Cordova, which lacked the data and functionality in the performance we required for end users, including quick loading times. It also didn't provide useful, detailed analytics.

We initially engaged BHW to rewrite and adjust the design of the user experience for the apps we provided our clients, using a new technology stack: React Native.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially provided their team with an overview of the existing functionality of our app service within Cordova. Their technical team discussed requirements of the project and put together a fixed fee estimate to deliver the statement of work (SoW), which we iterated on until it met our exact needs.

From there, we had an in-person kickoff meeting to go over API specifications and how our teams would collaborate on the process moving forward. BHW setup a timeline, including benchmarks, and got started on app development using React Native.

Their team provided feedback and collaborated with our team on the overall design components, including a location-based messaging feature that triggered relevant content when a user is nearby a point of interest to encourage discoverability of certain attractions.

What is the team composition?

Clayton Anderson (Partner, The BHW Group) acted as our project manager and senior developer, managing two additional resources who completed the majority of coding. He reviewed their code before presenting each iteration to us.

How did you come to work with The BHW Group?

I had been searching for candidates through Google for quite some time. We chose to interview a handful of vendors based on their search results performance.

BHW's team exceeded the competition by far, despite being one of the slightly more expensive options. It was very apparent that their team had a high-level of expertise in React Native. We also interviewed some of BHW's previous clients who provided great feedback.

How much have you invested with them?

The initial project was about $75,000. We've since set up an arrangement to allocate a set number of hours each month for $10,000-$15,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our initial project started in September 2017 and was delivered on time in late December 2017. We continue to work with them on a monthly basis.

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

BHW's work has dramatically improved the performance of our previous mobile app offering. App loading times that previously took over eight seconds now take less than two seconds. 

The new iteration has brought engagement up from an average of three minutes to five minutes, and increased page views from eight to about twelve per session. We attribute increased performance and engagement to faster loading times that encourage users to return to the app and spend more time using it.

Furthermore, the flexibility and scalability of their team as allowed us to forego plans to hire an internal full-time developer.

How did The BHW Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Their work is streamlined and highly organized. Although we have direct access to their team through Slack, the majority of communication goes through Clayton.

They've been responsive and in touch with us on a daily basis through instant messaging and weekly meetings to go through any feedback we may have on deliverables. They've been great about getting us feedback on our API and letting us know how to make adjustments to ensure performance optimization.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're thought leaders and experts when it comes to the React Native space. They've done a great job providing their own feedback to improve user experience design components.

I've worked in software development for over 10 years, so I've worked with a handful of vendors who exceed production costs up to twice the agreed upon price. That wasn't the case with BHW; their team was transparent about changes made to the scope. They delivered at only 5% above the original price, but notified us prior to implementing any changes and iterations we had requested, so it wasn't a surprise.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. We've been very pleased overall. Coming in slightly over the project estimate isn't ideal, but due to the number of changes we requested, it was perfectly reasonable.

They've handled difficult feature requests and provided great feedback on features they didn't think were necessary. They've been great to work with, which is why we've extended the relationship.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Having a well-defined scope for our project made the process much easier. If possible, provide the most detailed mockups for their team. They also offer design services and are great about providing feedback to get you to a more effective end product.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work in the food service industry as a lean consultant to improve the elimination of waste at our support center as well as in our restaurants.

What challenge were you trying to address with The BHW Group?

We wanted to create a platform where restaurant owner-operators and their employees could share ideas, best practices, and resources on how to adopt and apply lean principles to their business. We decided a native app would best allow the sharing of those ideas.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We gave them the concept and a very rough version of a wireframe, which was basically just some drawings on a whiteboard. BHW coded and developed iOS and Android versions of the app, and worked with us to make sure it incorporated all of the details that we wanted.

The two main features of the app are a sharing function and a gamification piece. The app allows users to quickly and easily share or post an idea. A leaderboard and a point system were created based not just on the number of ideas shared but whether an idea was liked or shared by other users.

We had an existing platform that didn't allow us to sort items, so the app also gave us the opportunity to sort ideas faster and more strategically. Not part of the scope of work, but BHW also provided us some really nice images that we could use to present the app to other departments in our team.

What is the team composition?

I primarily worked with two partners at BHW. Three team members came out to our office for the initial visit and I met with at least four team members when I visited their Austin location. They definitely provided the necessary resources to help us.

How did you come to work with The BHW Group?

I started with a Google search and called several companies that had good reviews. BHW came out to our office along with other vendors. They explained their services, timeline, cost, and scope of work. We ultimately selected BHW based on their customer service, the ability to tailor the scope of work to our needs, and a low price.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The initial conversation was in late 2016 and work began in early 2017. They delivered a fully-functioning app 45 days after work began, with some ongoing work needed for minor changes or modifications.

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

The app was never moved onto our platform due to issues outside of BHW's control, so we don't really have any tangible results or metrics. However, we hope to build off of the platform that they provided once we get approval from our IT department.

Everyone at the office has been impressed by the quality of their work and that they created something that I could actually play around with in just 45 days. I've suggested that BHW would be a good fit as an outside partner to another department.

How did The BHW Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very communicative and made sure we could reach them at any time. I got several emails from them over the weekends or in late hours of the night when they were working on the project. Probably 75% of work was done over email and 25% by phone call or text.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I know it's not true, but BHW gave me the feeling that my project was the only one that they were working on. The team is professional and dedicated, and they were always available to discuss the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure the scope of work is extremely detailed and that the estimate lists out several line items. This helps avoid hidden costs. Some of the other vendors didn’t do that but BHW is very transparent. Also, leverage your IT department during the information gathering phase.