Blue Whale Apps

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a mobile medical device developer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Blue Whale Apps?

We worked with them on two projects. Both were for iOS and needed to be HIPAA compliant.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided wireframes and all the information for them, and they helped us develop two medical devices that met script standards. We had some very complicated requirements, but they fulfilled all of them and enhanced some beyond our initial requests.

The strict standards we needed to meet revolved around acoustic measurements and could not be deviated from. They accomplished all of our goals and made sure we were compliant.

What is the team composition?

I had two or three primary contacts, but I’m not sure of the exact extent of the other resources they used.

How did you come to work with Blue Whale Apps?

A colleague recommended them.

How much have you invested with them?

We worked on two projects with them. Each cost a little over $60,000, so our total spend was around $120,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in late spring 2018 and completed the app around December 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our outcomes had to comply with ANSI standards, which they did. Without that compliance, we wouldn’t have moved forward with the FDA or other regulatory entities. They interacted with us through conference calls each week, and everyone on our side stayed updated and satisfied with the results.

How did Blue Whale Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

They were excellent project managers and very well organized. We primarily communicated via phone and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I initially had reservations about whether they could achieve the acoustic measurements we needed, but we were pleasantly surprised by how well they did as an unknown entity in a specialized market.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We don’t have any specific improvements for them. This is an ongoing project, and there will likely be future enhancements, updates, and spinoff products.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear scope of what you want to do so Blue Whale can give you accurate time and cost estimates.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of SpiderDoor LLC. Our mobile apps allow self-storage owners to open a gate, rent a unit, pay bills, and report issues. After finishing the first version two years ago, we presented it to the industry last year.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Blue Whale Apps?

We needed to build a mobile app as part of our service offerings. Since we lacked mobile development resources in-house, we hired Blue Whale.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Blue Whale completed the end-to-end build of our app. They laid out options for templates of the look and feel. From that point on, they comprehensively managed the development and implementation processes. We try to account for the fact that each client runs their storage business a bit differently. Our internal backend and APIs and those of our customers all differ, and they connect the frontend app accordingly. They deftly navigate new challenges to keep our app running smoothly.

The team built native apps for both iOS and Android. Although web-based apps are cheaper, I’d discovered they run slowly. They coded the system using Ruby on Rails, the best programming language. They recently integrated a Sailor keypad and Bluetooth padlocks. Our company manages numerous customers at a rapidly growing pace, so we’re always adding new features. Technical errors are inevitable, which is why even Microsoft and Apple regularly offer updates.

What is the team composition?

Blue Whale assigned us a team of five developers and a project manager. One engineer is a full stack developer. Each resource has a specialized area of expertise, like backend, iOS, and Android, or testing, respectively.

How did you come to work with Blue Whale Apps?

I reached out to 20 vendors I found through online research. After soliciting quotes and assessing each team, we choose Blue Whale. They were never pushy about working together. After researching their work and talking to their past clients, I felt genuinely comfortable hiring them. They met with me in person before I invested in their services

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent well over $500,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first started working together in July 2016. One resource works on our backend system with us five days a week. He consistently adds and incorporates new features. The team performs ongoing troubleshooting and maintenance.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I honestly couldn't run my company without Blue Whale to develop and maintain our app. Their deliverable has been integral to the success of my business. Today, over 300 locations use our product. We've had over 20,000 downloads in the past two months. Over the last 30 days, customers have made over 2,600 payments in excess of $250,000. We currently partner with four of the 10-12 potential clients in the self-storage industry. In light of these metrics, infrequent complaints about account creation seem minor.

A client with 51 locations was blown away that I gave his whole staff my personal cell number. He said this was unheard of. Bugs are so rare that even as the owner, I can easily manage our entire customer service line personally. I prefer to be the first person notified of problems. User errors sometimes occur when customers select the wrong branch. Since some companies have 50 locations, this is bound to happen.

How did Blue Whale Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

Basecamp is our primary method of collaborating, track live updates, and sharing files. It makes it easy to change the graphics to include different clients' logos. Our project manager liaises with the developers to maintain an efficient workflow. He sends me a weekly agenda of pending tasks. We spend 15-20 minutes discussing prioritization and necessary adjustments.

The programmers are geniuses but shouldn’t be distracted by organizational concerns. I speak with them on occasion, but not to the same degree as my internal staff. We use Slack for daily contact and send emails about more substantial concerns. I've fostered a strong rapport with their whole team, so we text frequently.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team is highly professional and wonderful to work with. They produced a flawlessly functional deliverable and excel at communication. They rapidly resolve both internal challenges and ones topical to our clients.

I always feel comfortable texting the owner, who personally responds within 5-10 minutes. Even if I’m panicked and stressed, Pathik (Managing Director, Blue Whale Apps) stays calm and collected while quickly solving any problem. I wouldn't have chosen a different vendor, nor will I do so in the future.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As my first venture into the development space, I expected impossible 24-hour turnaround times. With my expanded perspective, I now realize how efficient they are in their field. They take the appropriate amount of time to build the best possible product before we launch it to thousands of customers.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My company is a startup focused on providing ways to be safer in the outdoors. One of the first concepts that I wanted to develop was the concept of a blaze orange effect using a smartphone. We named this concept Brother's Keeper, and that's what Blue Whale did for us.

What is your position?

I'm the founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

As far as the development for the smartphone, is the app available on iOS, Android, both, or even on the web?

It's available on iOS right now, and the plan is ultimately to develop it for Android, but we haven't done that yet.

SOLUTION

How did you come to work with Blue Whale Apps?

It's a tricky process, if you have an idea for an app, you don't want to give it away. Ultimately, I did a lot of online research and came up with a list of probably 10 companies and started reaching out to them. Some of those that were overseas I didn't feel comfortable with because I didn't know how to protect my idea when dealing with somebody overseas. Even when signing nondisclosure agreements, I wasn't sure how I would enforce them. I decided to deal only with domestic groups. Ultimately, it came down to a gut feeling in talking with Blue Whale. I received some cost comparisons with the ideas, and they were about the same. I have been very happy with my choice.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

I believe it was about $45,000 to develop the app initially.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The app has been released and, unfortunately, from a marketing standpoint, I don't think we were quite ready. The focus again is really for hunters, although it could be used for anybody. We chose hunting as our focus. After development finished it got late into the hunting season. Now, hunting season is almost over, but I have actually used the app in practice, and it works very well.

What distinguishes Blue Whale Apps from other providers?

I think the best thing is just that Blue Whale Apps is very responsive with any question or need that I have. Sometimes, you deal with folks who are hard to get a hold of and hard to get responses from, but they've always been "Johnny on the spot" with every request that I've had. I've been very happy with that.

Is there anything Blue Whale Apps could have improved or done differently?

Not really.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We're a software development company and we build web-hosted apps, primarily for the oilfield service industry. We have 12 apps currently on the market. They touch every aspect of field service work and it creates a workflow for field service companies. It's usually used alongside an ERP [Enterprise Resource Planning] system, such as SAP or QuickBooks.

What is your position?

My role is Head of Development and Operations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Blue Whale?

We only do .NET-based development. We wanted to extend our platform to the iOS platform and that's where we use Blue Whale Apps.

SOLUTION

Did they provide anything else other than iOS development?

iOS development was really it. The Blue Whale Apps project manager has been real helpful in the design and workflow more than I expected. We haven't had anything on the iOS platform, so when it comes to different screen sizes, and making them fit into a screen flow on the iPhone, they’ve been very supportive.

There' have been times where I've said “This screen will never fit a phone; it's impossible.” Their team comes back with some screenshots and it's broken up where it looks really nice. That's a big value add for me.

How did you come to work with Blue Whale Apps?

It's kind of interesting. We only tried one other app development agency. We're located in Central Tennessee and I actually have an office in Houston, Texas as well. I tried a local developer there in Houston and had a terrible experience. Then I went to Google and just searched for the number one app developer or companies, and Blue Whale Apps came up at the top of the list. We did one small pilot project with them and haven't looked back.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

It's going to be $10,000 to $50,000.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Not to date. After this version gets published, I would be willing to bet that we're going to have some nice numbers. I've intentionally kept it to just my beta customers so far.

What distinguishes Blue Whale Apps from other providers?

Blue Whale Apps' insight into the iOS platform and how to adapt programs to the platform has been really helpful.

Is there anything Blue Whale Apps could have improved or done differently?

If anything, I would say it would be in the data gathering process upfront. In the first pilot project that we did with Blue Whale Apps, we had some issues that came about after development had begun and it was a combination of us not being familiar with the iOS platform, and Blue Whale taking for granted some things that we already knew, but not having developed on that platform before, we weren't aware of. Especially with first timers on the iOS platform, Blue Whale apps could gather a little more detail in their data collection upfront. That being said, after our first project, I came to know their expectations and we're good.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Soundprint is an app that measures the noise decibel levels of one's environment and creates a noise database where a user can find a quiet, medium, or loud venue, such as restaurant, bar, or coffee shop.

What role do you play there?

I'm the CEO and creator of the app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Blue Whale Apps?  

Having no experience with any app and being deficient with various technologies, I needed help in designing and developing the vision I had for the app.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Blue Whale Apps designed the logo, app, and website. They also developed the app for the iOS platform.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

For all the services combined, this was a $10,000 to $50,000 project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What distinguishes Blue Whale Apps from other providers?

I wanted a team that would challenge my thoughts and offer suggestions on how to create a better app than the one I was envisioning, and Blue Whale Apps certainly met that challenge.

In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve, or things you might do differently?

Blue Whale Apps did a good job of recommending simplicity with the app development, and I thank them for that. I probably would have even it even simpler than I went forward with. There were some minor communication issues, but I think that had much to do with the fact that I had never done this type of work before and could have communicated certain things better.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Lapis Sphere Technologies develops mobile apps. We've been through a couple iterations. We started with one app development company, and it didn't work out. Our current iteration is with Blue Whale Apps. 

What is your position?

I'm the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Blue Whale Apps?

My background is not in programming. Some people can develop something themselves. I had a great idea, but I needed other resources that could help me accomplish my dream. You can look at those who are freelancers that will do the programming for you. You can pick a company like Blue Whale Apps, people who have the expertise, knowledge, and expert programmers of different skill levels. They help you create your dream.

Partnering with someone like Blue Whale helped us align with what we should do especially because we weren't experienced in creating apps. They helped us drive a phenomenal product. I think aligning with someone that has more of a strategic focus is more cost-efficient. 

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Blue Whale Apps has only worked with us on this single product – a social app for iPhone.

How did you come to work with Blue Whale Apps?

The first company I had was local, and they were terrible. If you're doing this for the first time, you don't know what price points to expect. You can get taken advantage of. We did a nationwide search and restricted it to the East Coast. We started sampling companies, and Blue Whale Apps stood out because of their attention to detail. They looked at and downloaded our previous app, and they saw what we were doing. They asked so many questions which I loved, they wanted to know what our initial app was all about and what we wanted to accomplish. They showed us what they had done in the past, and it showed that knew what they were doing. Once they showed us their price point, we knew Blue Whale Apps was the way to go.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The partnership so far lands between $50,000 and $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Before Blue Whale Apps, we took the first app our team developed to South by Southwest and got horrible feedback from users. "It wasn't programmed right. It wasn't aesthetically pleasing." Once we had our beta round, we had such negative reviews so we knew we had to rethink our technology and work it a different way. We started working with Blue Whale and, when we launched our new app, the results right out of the gate were great. People said it was the real deal. They couldn't believe that it came from the same company that delivered our first app. 

What distinguishes Blue Whale Apps from other providers?

Blue Whale Apps has a specific project management process. Right out of the gate, they assign a project manager and use some great project management tools. They use a tool called BaseCamp. The communication pathway through them is so easy because everything that's talked about is in a very easy database to access that we interface with every day. I'm stationed in upstate New York and they're in Florida. Having seamless communication across the nation is priceless. It's almost like they're right down the road. For them to give us that level of care where we have very quick turnaround was great. 

I got taken advantage of with my first app developer, but Blue Whale Apps has made everything better. They're awesome.

Is there anything Blue Whale Apps could have improved or done differently?

Not at this moment. I think they're good. I'm sticking with them for the long haul with the results that they have been producing.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

Our company is [a] New York City-[based] training school that’s been in business for more than 20 years. We offer a weekend-long course for nurse anesthetists preparing to take a certifying exam to make them certified and registered as a nurse anesthetist.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I do IT [information technology] work for the parent company that owns [our company]. I have an IT, project management, and project development background. I was the point person working directly with Blue Whale. All communications flowed through me, and I was responsible for the data.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Blue Whale Apps?

We have about a dozen weekend-long courses that we offer around the United States. We add some study trials that we sell as well. Our main resource is Memory Master, which is a question-and-answer format, which comes in a printed book form, like a traditional flashcard. A couple of years ago, we rolled out the app version of the Memory Master. It's a collection of more than 4,000 questions and answers in a lot of categories identified by the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists. We adhere to their standards.

We have a lengthy database in place that we use to maintain the content and to output it to preproduction and design tools. We went live about two years ago with version 1 of an app, which was HTML5 implementation, it was clunky looking and got us out the door and into the app space.

We're trying to expand our digital offerings, and the app was the first thing we did.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

I was in New York City at the time, and Blue Whale came up. We put feelers out to three companies, and two of them talked to us quickly. Blue Whale got back to us the same day, and we started talking to them about the project. We scoped out a project that would not only rebuild the app from scratch and make it iOS 7 compliant, but also allow us to move the back end database onto another platform and make it an integral part of the app. Before, there was a disconnect between our database and the app.

What we got from Blue Whale was not only a great-looking app, but the back end to maintain it and push out updates as frequently as we want to. We also got administrative capabilities to help support the print production side of this product.

What was your process for selecting Blue Whale Apps with which to work?

Two years into the work, we worked with a small, single-shop guy who produced a flashcard format app with different content. We leveraged what he had done before. We weren’t able to update it well, and it was clunky. We mutually agreed to part ways with that developer at the end of 2013.

We contracted with Blue Whale in March of 2014, and they put together a structured and well-defined process. We gave them some milestones along the way, and they hit every one of those milestones and then some. They were very proactive in communicating status, which was a serious problem that I had with the old developer.

In some ways, it's a fuzzy spec because there is a lot of old content that we’ve been dragging forward. I gave them the source files from our original system with an explanation, and they ran with it. They definitely hit it out of the park as far as not only creating a beautiful app, but also giving us a functioning back end that works.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

The budget was between $60,000 to $70,000.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

The feedback along the way from our group was that Blue Whale produced the smoothest IT project we’ve ever done here. We’ve had some expensive projects that ended badly. We’ve been trying to improve on that. Part of it involved personnel and picking the right partner. Blue Whale hit a home run for us.

Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

I was very impressed with everyone that I dealt with there, including the developer, designer, and project manager. The whole model and how they structured the project and produced an app along the way was outstanding.

We had some ill will with some customers of the previous app because it was so clunky and looked bad. They really cared about the content at the end of the day, so they were willing to overlook things like the fact that it wasn’t a native app, but once we went live with Blue Whale's app, our biggest complainers were thrilled with it. It's an important resource for them to pass this test, which allows them to double their income. It's a high-stakes, high-pressure test, so they look for every advantage that they can get to pass the exam. We want to be the people that provide that. Blue Whale did that and a whole lot more for us. We're going to continue to use them for updates to the app and some other app projects in the future. I would go back to them.

We didn’t want it to be a one-off project. It's an expensive app that you have to be able to update instead of rewriting from scratch every couple of years. We feel good about picking the right partner for this project, and they did a great job for us. We couldn’t be happier.

Updates on the project were frequent and we had regular communication. They did that by default. We were an integral part of the process, too, so when they needed collateral or other materials from us, they kept their eye on everything. When they needed to engage us, they did. When we took an issue to them, they did everything possible to address it. It would be hard to improve on the process that we had, especially knowing what I know now about the data that I handed to them. They made sense out of all of it and produced what we had imagined. The steps were sequential iterative, flowed well, and at certain points in the process, we knew what we were signing off on to move to the next step. Everything was clearly articulated and documented along the way.

We're a small company and don’t have unlimited resources like a large corporation with a big IT department. We have to make sure we have the right vendors and technology partners to help us. It's a big investment for us. The app will eventually pay for itself within a year or so through app sales, plus it gives us a platform going forward that we didn’t have before.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

No.

BACKGROUND

Could you provide a brief description of your company?

I am the chair of the music department at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenges you were trying to address?

My research area as a faculty member is online music courses. I needed a way to interact with my students in a way that I could not interact with email and cellphones. I needed to give immediate feedback to the students in a very challenging activity, which is to write their own song. I envisioned this app. I didn’t know how to build it, so I had to call Gregg [Weiss, CEO and founder] at Blue Whale. He helped me wireframe, tell the story, and work out all the interaction with the students so that they came out successful every single time using this app to write the song and perform it as well. It records the song and sends me a copy of the song so that I can give the student a grade. It’s a very slick program, wonderfully done. 

SOLUTION

Were they responsible for delivering the full solution?

I floundered a little bit, trying to figure out how to write the code myself before I gave up. That’s where I contacted Blue Whale Apps and asked them if it was even possible. Gregg said it was totally possible. It’s going to be a little innovative, so we’re going to have to do some trial and error testing to figure out if this could work because we were trying to play a sound file as we were simultaneously recording. So, I knew the way I wanted it to lay out. The staff there were quite helpful in making that come true in a way that I was happy as a teacher. In fact, it came out better than what I had expected, so they did a great job.

What type of application is it?

It is an iPad only app. I hope to go back to Blue Whale soon and have it developed to the iPhone, which would require several more screens added, just so the user experience is as good of quality as the iPad is right now.

How long did the project take?

We were doing it over the summer with all kinds of financial year-end things here at the university, so it was a nightmare trying to get things done with my schedule. They probably could have had it done in 90 days. We ended up stretching it out to nearly six months, but they were very good about it.

I have to say that after we launched the app in December, we found a glitch that we didn’t catch in beta testing. It was a minor glitch, but it was something we needed to address right away. It was addressed and fixed in the iTunes store within days. It was just fabulous, the support I’ve gotten when I’ve had the problem with the app. I call them, and they re-create the crash or the problem, and fix it. Within a couple of days, it’s fresh in the iTunes store. It’s great.

Why did you choose them with which to work?

They didn’t have the lowest bid. The thing that attracted me to Blue Whale is that they came back with an exceptionally well-detailed outline, timelines, and everything. I said those are the people I want to work with. They’re professional, they’re organized, and they appear to have a process that they follow. People all along the way are specialists in each step of the process. I knew those were the people I needed to design this project, not just the lowest bidder on the totem pole, but somebody with definite experience and an idea of how to make this work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of the work they’ve delivered?

It is working wonderfully for my students using the app. I can assess my students easily now, using the results from this app. I am actually going to be doing a study on how much better the students are doing because of this app compared to the old way we used to do it. So, this is wonderful, and I can’t tell you how pleased I am with the product.

How would you describe Blue Whale Apps’ performance?

Their performance is wonderful. The delay in the timeline was my fault on our end. I had to record all the sound bites we needed for the app and send it them. They were great. They showed me how to use Dropbox to transfer the files. It was the slickest thing. They were so good, so handy, and so easy to work with, because they knew what they needed and they found a way to get it from me in the easiest process possible. That was a great thing.

When working them, is there anything you’d consider unique or special about them that distinguishes them from other vendors you’ve used?

I have not worked with any other software company, so this is new to me. I felt like they did a great job. They were prepared. They were experienced with the project. What I really liked from the beginning was that they had a process, and they had a professional at each step of the process. Then I had my go-to person in the entire way. It was always a great and seamless project, just because they had such good, professional staff working with me.

Is there any area that they could improve on or that you would do differently?

I was at a convention done by Blue Whale when I was in Florida, around November, near the end of the project. I actually went and saw them face to face. It was awesome. I loved working with them face to face, even more so than from West Texas to the East Coast to Florida. It’s so hard to tell somebody that’s not really a musician how to do something virtually. They had quite the task trying to decipher what I was trying to get them to understand. When I met with them face to face, we met in a nice conference room. I really had a great experience there, too. I felt really good all along the way.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your firm and your role.

We’re a fantasy sports content and event management company. There are two parts of the business. We run very high-end premium fantasy sports drafts that attempt to simulate for fantasy sports leagues the actual audience experience that they see on ESPN with the NFL draft at Radio City Music Hall. It’s very high-end venues with great technology and premium food.

On the content side, which is where Blue Whale comes in, we’re producing the first direct personalized fantasy sports content app where a fantasy sports player can be in contact with one of our national experts. These are people that know their fantasy sports.

We have a network of national experts that range from print journalists to radio show hosts to prominent bloggers [who] also compete in professional fantasy sports leagues. They’re our network so a novice can connect through our app and ask an expert a question. We connect them with a nationally renowned fantasy sports expert through the app to give them answers to their questions.

I am the founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for the work with Blue Whale Apps?

We’re right now on the one-yard line with Apple waiting for approval from them on the app. Blue Whale has developed it right from the get-go.

SOLUTION

Can you describe the scope of work in more detail?

App development was the main service, but they have also provided ideas relative to the business that we’ve implemented. It isn’t just app development. They understand the concept, the product, what our mission goal is. They’re pretty good within the confines and constructs of the app, very effective at coming up with ideas to make the app even better, which, of course,enhances the content.

I like that. No ego there. They’re a nice outfit.

How did you find and select them for the project?

One of our staff members found them, we gave her an assignment to put together a list of some good mobile app developers, particularly strong in iOS. We got a list and it came back to three names. It was recommended that we go with Blue Whale.

Can you give a sense of the size of that initiative with either a general cost range or just the amount of hours it took them to complete?

It’s been a six-month process. There were a lot of different iterations; going back to the drawing board and then moving along. It started from wireframes. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Are you satisfied with their work?

They’re easy to get a hold of. They stay on top of timeline management. They seem to communicate well with each other as an organization. The right hand knows what the left hand is doing there. There are no holes in their game, from their CEO to the point person that we’ve been dealing with and the designers. They’re a good outfit. It’s a little premature to put a ribbon on it but, at this point in time, I’d give them five stars.

Is there anything else unique or special about them that stands out for you as different from other developers?

They’re well integrated. Like I said, their design team knows what the programmers are doing. Management knows what the data programmers are doing or the developers are doing. I like the ubiquity of it.

Looking back on the work, is there anything that you think they could improve upon or something you might do differently?

Early on in the process, there were minor issues with the contract. We know the contract is never perfect in any relationship so we understand the disconnect. There was one element we were developing for the iPad, the issue was whether it would be in landscape mode or not. I had an assumption that it would not. The way it was designed was the opposite of what I thought it was going to be. I didn’t ask and they didn’t offer in the upfront contract negotiation to change.

I could be just as much as at fault as them, but I think from a vendor’s perspective, they might want to be a little more specific in some of the finer points. This isn't a criticism, but something I would change.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

I started doing Internet marketing, and then I moved into mobile app development.

What is your role and responsibilities?

I’m the only employee right now. I'm the founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with Blue Whale Apps?

Blue Whale calls me a few times a week. If I have any questions, they usually get back to me the same day. They were a good fit for my vision of the app. When you first start out, you think about the overarching vision. I worked with Blue Whale and communicated what I wanted, and how things should work in reality because I don’t know the app space.

Over several months, we chiseled it down with ongoing development toward the end goal. We had clear communication, and I learned a lot. The development is still ongoing. I’m starting to market the app now, but there are always new things that I think of that I want, and they’re always happy to accommodate me.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

Their main work is mobile application development, but it also pairs with a desktop site. The desktop site is fairly basic right now because I’m having them focus on the mobile app development. They are part of the future progress when we build out the desktop site.

The app is ready to go. I need to market it with my Internet marketing company. I expect to launch it by the end of July of 2014. I don’t see a plan to stop, since there will always be updates and new features to make it better. You never want to stop development because then you fall behind.

What was your process for selecting Blue Whale Apps with which to work?

I did a Google search for a lot of different companies and got a lot of quotes for the same proposals. Blue Whale ended up being the best fit and experience for me, and I started working with them. Instead of hiring developers to do that, Blue Whale is the perfect contractor for me right now.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

So far, the cost has been close to $100,000. They put about 400 to 500 hours into the project. They did the initial proposal, and I signed up for a certain number of hours per month. If they don’t complete those hours, they roll over to the next month.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

It is too early to track metrics.

Are you satisfied with Blue Whale Apps' performance?

Yes. I am very pleased. It's exactly what I wanted. It's a social app, so you can share photos that go on a slide show. Blue Whale figured out the logistics that I needed since I hadn’t planned that part.

I’m very satisfied. It's exactly what I had in mind. The app has a great design and great colors. I gave them the idea for the design, and they just knocked it out of the park. They created the app, and if there are any bugs, they use all the latest tools like Bug Tracker, Flurry, and have all the analytics. I didn’t know anything about those, so they got those going for me. The end product is very smooth and easy to use. I'm very pleased with it.

Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

I haven’t worked with other developers, but Blue Whale is very accessible. They always make time. Other developers put you into a queue, working you around other big projects. Blue Whale is always easy to access. They get back to me the same day, even on weekends. I can Skype with them whenever I need to. They always complete the projects on time. I’ve never had an issue.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

The only thing I could think of is if they were a bigger company, they could get things done faster. I don’t know if that's even possible because they had a few people working on it. I talked to some big companies, and they had the same timeline that Blue Whale had. They get their developments out within a week. They have some of the best programmers I’ve worked with. I can't think of anything actually.