Blueprint Apps

Please describe your company and your position there.

I was the CTO/project manager for the seed stage startup Designated Hitter during the timeframe of this project.

For what projects/services did your company hire Blueprint Apps, and what were your goals?

Our startup needed a prototype for 2 purposes: * demo for potential investors and customers * figuring out how to implement a novel, patentable software concept

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

Neil B. was already known and trusted by the spouse of the principle based on a prior work experience. Given that he was trusted to be technically creative and cost effective, we felt no need to consider alternatives given the relatively low cost for developing a prototype.

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

A Swift iOS app was developed using Realm DB and real-time synchronization between devices achieved using the Realm Object Server. The unique aspect of this baseball scorekeeping app was how it paired together home and away scorekeepers for a given game, with a cleverly implemented method for real-time synchronization and error-correction. I provided UI design direction with app screenshot wireframes but Neil and Rob made all implementation decisions as well as feedback about the UI flow and the artistic/presentation decisions on how to turn the wireframes into beautiful app screens.

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

Neil was the person in charge of all client communication, but he delegated most of the development work to a very talented developer, Rob R. The two of them collaborated on architectural decisions.

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

The project was completed in the expected time and budget. The most impressive part was how clever and inventive Neil and Rob were in figuring out how to turn the new and complex software process invention into a reality, despite this process not being fully specified at the start of the project. For a cost most would consider within a typical range for a prototype, Neil and Rob went above and beyond by overcoming all the challenges related to the software process invention.

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

Neil's communication skills were top notch, especially considering that part of the project involved inventing a new software process. When inventing something complex, more back and forth is required than a typical project during the design, implementation, and especially testing phases. Good use was made of a shared board for tracking progress on features and bugs.

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

Neil was an excellent communicator and chose the perfect developer to match with the project. More impressive than anything was how he (and Rob) managed to figure out how to implement an incompletely specified complex software process invention that nobody had ever done before.

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

The very talented developer Neil used was not available for our project full time, which we understood going in. Nevertheless, the first 80% of the project was developed very swiftly, but . . . Rob's availability then became more limited which caused the last 20% of the project to be completed at a slower rate. Other than that, everything about the project was top notch.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the co-founders of PushPress and we build gym management software.

What challenge were you trying to address with Blueprint Apps?

We wanted to build a workout timer app so Blueprint Apps helped us develop a mobile app for iOS and watchOS.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Blueprint Apps did some mobile development work for us. Like any outsourced agency, the better the specs that you give, the better the outcome and less of the back and forth. For us, we made sure that they understood what the scope of the work was. It’s pretty straightforward as our app isn’t anything complicated. But at the same time, we’re very picky about how things work from the UI/UX perspective.

They come up with the product feature sets, and then I work with Neil (Founder) and his team to come up with the timelines on when they could deliver on those product features. Then we have the testing phase, which is really more of us nitpicking about things, and then it's hands-off once we give them the specifications. 

From there, it’s really about wrapping up the testing and giving the approval for app releases or any other enhancements.

How did you come to work with Blueprint Apps?

I’ve known Neil for a while and have worked with him before he started Blueprint. After I started PushPress, I thought of him again because of the work he previously did for us. He’s actually worked on a few iterations of the project, doing some enhancements for it. All in all, we’ve probably done 2–3 different engagements with him.

How much have you invested with them?

Over the course of the project, we’ve invested over $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in December 2019, and we’re still working together.

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

For us, it’s the app’s stability. Because it’s a workout timer, we don’t want this thing crashing in the middle of somebody’s workout. And based on the feedback we get from our user base, we’ve had no issues. It’s been good.

From a code perspective, it’s hard to say because we didn’t look into the codebase. But part of the work is actually refactoring from a previous developer that had worked on the app. When the team looked at the blueprint and our app, they gave us suggestions on how we could improve things, especially since Apple has kind of changed the way they do things on the phone and iOS side. We at least got the app more modernized.

And from a testing perspective, I think there were lots of things that we could have done better from our project specifications. We didn’t pull out documentations or state diagrams, I think if we had those, testing would’ve gone a little smoother but overall, the output and product seem to be fine. I can’t really complain about that.

How did Blueprint Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

It’s hard to say from a project management perspective because we work on hard deadlines. We have so many things going on that we’re very flexible with like this timer application. It’s not really a revenue generator for us; it’s more of brand awareness of the product.

And so we’ve always given them estimates and they’ve been really conservative about those estimates, understanding what needs to be accomplished and what other workloads they have.

We communicate through Slack and email each other for the quotes.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their native iOS development is particularly impressive because that’s what they specialize in. That was our need and that’s exactly what we’re getting.

It’s hard to say from a project management perspective because we work on hard deadlines. We have so many things going on that we’re very flexible with like this timer application. It’s not really a revenue generator for us; it’s more of brand awareness of the product.

And so we’ve always given them estimates and they’ve been really conservative about those estimates, understanding what needs to be accomplished and what other workloads they have. I think it all comes down to their technical expertise. Plus, having Neil as an onshore, US-based project manager, developer, and owner definitely helps.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s hard because the success of any project is really going to be on both parties. A lot of it is actually going to be on our end because, if we don’t give the correct specs, no developer is going to be able to build the app that you want. I’m a developer myself, and I run our development team. I don’t expect our engineers to read minds. 

I think if anything, maybe it’s one of those things where we’re going over the project, and their team would dive deeper if we gave them shallow product documentation. I mean they’re the experts in what is the latest and greatest in regards to development practices in iOS. And they’re pretty good at giving us suggestions of what we need to do. 

But if there’s anything I can critique on, it would be that they should be okay with giving us push back on things that we haven’t properly defined. Because I know that there are parts of the project that we had a different idea in mind but we never put it down on paper.

And when the output came out, obviously we can’t expect them to know what we wanted because we didn’t put it down on paper. That was kind of like mud on our faces more than anything else.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice would be to know exactly what you want and be able to verbalize and document it. This is not just for Blueprint — it really comes down to if you’re hiring somebody else. There wasn’t anything in particular or quirky about the way Blueprint worked. It’s all about having clear communications and expectations. Both parties should put that out there and talk about it beforehand.

I don’t think there should be an issue. That’s why I don’t think we have any real issues with Blueprint. We’ve always been very clear about what our expectations are.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My organization is Affirmation Addict and I am the CEO and founder.

What challenge were you trying to address with Blueprint Apps?

Basically, my business is all about positive affirmations, and I wanted to deliver those in a really easy and accessible approach. That’s a really big component of our business. So, Blueprint helped me create and develop an affirmations app for iOS from start to finish.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Blueprint helped develop some of the functions of the app. It’s a pretty simple app with a lot of default affirmations. Users can set reminders, add their own, change pictures, listen to audio clips of affirmations and meditations, and even watch videos. Those are the types of functionalities that we have, and it’s really just a strong resource for users. They can even have a little gratitude journey, which they can freely do whenever they want.

What is the team composition?

I believe there are four people from their team working with me. I work with three developers who are in charge of iOS, Android, and API development and Neil (Project Manager) who is my main source of communication.

How did you come to work with Blueprint Apps?

I’ve known the founder of Blueprint Apps for a while now. That’s actually how I started working with them.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve invested around $50,000–$60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The ongoing collaboration started in March 2018.

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

We don’t have full analytics, however, I measure the success through my subscription base and seeing if I’m getting a return on that investment.

So far, the results from this specific state have had a great response. I think everything is going really well in the dynamic and it’s all about getting a flow and setting expectations together. ow that I think that’s in progress, it has been a much better working relationship.

How did Blueprint Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is pretty good, but I think there’s room for improvement on meeting some deadlines. However, I know that sometimes it has something to do with availability and hours — that was more so in the beginning. Now, they’re getting much better at project management and are always improving.

We don’t have set meetings unless there’s a lot of questions. We’d have one big team meeting to identify everything that needs resolving and to make sure we’re all on the same page. We probably check in every two weeks to make sure everything is on track or if there are any deliverables that need assessing. Our communication style is either Slack-based or video-based, but it’s very open, responsive, and on the table, which is great in that sense.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What I love about working with Blueprint Apps is they are really good at getting the job done and being organized. We really have an open stream of communication, so we’re always in the loop, which is really helpful. They work with me a lot to make sure I make smart business decisions or if there are unnecessary things to get rid of. I think it’s a very team-oriented effort, which I really like.

The quality of their work is very high. If we’re clear on what needs to get done, that’s great. If I think there are any hiccups, it’s only because there’s a lack of clarity about what the actual goal is. One thing that would be helpful is if they could help with the QA check and testing. But other than that, they do a really good job of fixing bugs that are in certain specific cases.

I know that they do an internal check to make sure the app is working properly, and they’re really easy to communicate with and are very helpful. If I don’t understand how to test something, they’ll take the time to explain it to me.

Are there any areas they could improve?

My biggest point of improvement would be their project management. I know they’re still figuring it out and I absolutely respect that. But I would suggest finding a good system that works for them and their team so that their clients feel satisfied. 

My only other area of improvement is estimating the hours can sometimes be a little bit tough. I’m aware that this is the nature of apps and development, but I’m more budget-restricted, so I’m obviously more strict on my hours.

Certain things take much longer or shorter than expected, and I don’t know how that can really be improved, if at all. It would be interesting to see if there were a way to properly estimate hours or have an assurance policy like, if the project goes over more than ten hours, some discount rates would apply or something like that.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My honest advice would just be to use them as great resources and work with them. I think it’s really important to have a more team-based approach. Working with them is a fun journey and they’re a super awesome team that’s really helpful. One other important thing is to take the time to actually understand what the nature of coding is because it can be really overwhelming. Be okay with asking questions.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of a student-athlete media company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Blueprint Apps?

We needed help creating an app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created an iOS app that shows athletes how to organize a profile online so they can be identified by college coaches for recruitment.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 2–3 people from their team.

How did you come to work with Blueprint Apps?

We found them via an online search. Once we met with them, we were comfortable with how capable they’d be to complete the app.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $10,000–$15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2018, and we wrapped up in November 2018.

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

They met the requirements in terms of functionality. The quality was great and overall it was a good experience.

How did Blueprint Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

They were responsive, solutions-oriented, and flexible. We met in person and via phone 1–2 times a week. They were always able to meet deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They understood our team and our goals really well. The team did a great job of understanding our market to build it. They didn’t just deliver a cookie-cutter solution.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to build a relationship. They’ll be a great partner in building the product you’re looking for.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO and founder of Re/Tell, which is a real estate booking platform.

What challenge were you trying to address with Blueprint Apps?

We brought them on to build on the UX for our app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Blueprint Apps worked on the user flow and UX of our app. They took care of every part of the function for us to be able to test it with our users. Right now, we are in the beta phase to be able to share the prototype with our users. We will probably start with iOS and then expand.

How did you come to work with Blueprint Apps?

It was a referral through a friend. I chose them because of their knowledge of backend systems, as well as their ability to work fluidly in different stages and prioritize the key focus for prototyping to new users.

How much have you invested in them?

We have invested around $35,000–$40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I began working with them around the fall of 2019, and I’m still working with them.

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

Our key milestone was getting the prototype in front of users to test the flow, get reactions, and get them to sign up and share with us the usability of the app. Testing is going really well. I would say that the demand is there and that is what we have been looking for.

How did Blueprint Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is absolutely great, and we are in constant communication with them. As we grow and as more teams get involved, we will probably do a reboot on our scope to ensure that we have a little bit more of a roadmap in place. It was more of an outline rather than a strict two-week roadmap.

What did you find most impressive about them?

As a founder, you always want to look at budgetary restraints but then have the knowledge base to understand how to pull the trigger. Blueprint Apps is great at doing so and sharing different options to keep the project within budget but still ensure that milestones are hit.

The number one thing is their sheer transparency. They give optionality in terms of the direction to go to stay within budget and give us the flexibility to work within those constraints. The team is easygoing, focused, and knowledgeable. The key differentiator is the knowledge they have, as well as the overall experience.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We are talking about growing our scope right now, and the feedback I have shared with them is that I would like to be able to map out the scope so that I can see the potential. Being able to understand how working with them long-term would benefit us would be useful. 

Maybe an intro to the team, in the beginning, would be good as well. I know who works there now but being able to understand their backgrounds and expertise and who they work with would be great.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a conversation with them about key milestones to start. There are so many moving pieces and parts to starting a business and a company, and sometimes people lead with products while others lead with sales. 

We engaged in this pretty early on and they were able to be flexible with me, but I think for any business, you end up saving a lot more time and money by understanding the key milestones to hit. 

Understand the business plan based on product and sales and how they integrate together, and that will give you really clear timing in terms of strategy moving forward with both the team and the individuals involved.