ByteLion

Please describe your company and your position there.

I owned a mobile security firm that served the US Government and commercial clients.

For what projects/services did your company hire ByteLion?

ByteLion took on an extremely large, complex, and at the start, undefined contract to build US DOD healthcare mobile application. The mobile application was used by US DOD Medics in battle to collect medical information on wounded soldiers in battle.

The app had to be a system of apps, or more like a library, to which other app developers around the country could build additional and more specialized mobile applications.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to make DOD medics better able to save lives in battle. The library system created re-usable building blocks that could be used by any and all mobile app developers.

This was an extremely difficult government project with lots of stakeholders and lots of input from many constituents. ByteLion handled all these inputs adroitly all the while suggesting the best direction forward for the US DOD.

How did you select ByteLion?

We selected ByteLion through a recommendation from another client. Best decision we ever made. We would not have been able to do this contract without ByteLion.

Describe the project in detail.

When a solider is wounded in battle, information on the wound and the solider are critical. Collecting this data is done in real time on mobile devices in battle. Mobile Apps need to be easy to use for medics who are administering to a wounded soldier.

Designing the interfaces as well as all the backend systems is paramount. ByteLion had to not only built some apps, but more importantly, break these apps apart into distinct pieces, or building blocks, that created a library of reusable pieces.

Then these pieces could be reused by other mobile app developers for other medical apps needed by DOD in the future that may be more specialized.

What was the team composition?

The ByteLion Team was composed of project manager, developers, app testers, and technical documentation writers.

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

Customer was completely unaware of what mobile apps could do on mobile phones. ByteLion introduced the customer to a world of mobility that was previously unknown to the customers.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective daily standup meetings each morning - these were short and too the point. These were vital to keep an unwieldy project on course without any unnecessary scope creep.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

ByteLion's apps always worked. This is a rarity in mobile app development - code that actually works for the user. Specifically, no bugs, no crashes, the menus were intuitive and the user did not have to guess with bad interfaces.

This is so rare in software development - I have been in IT for 30 years, and almost all developers I have hired almost always have shoddy code to start - ByteLion's code always worked and if it did not during their rigorous testing? They took it very, very seriously to fix and work out bugs.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Size - ByteLion should be bigger - if they had 500 developers instead of 50, they could do bigger projects - but if they had 500 developers as good as what they have now?

It would defy the laws of gravity - they are that good.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a senior product manager and product owner for Mytonomy, which is a micro-learning platform for healthcare education. We work with providers and health systems and payers to provide education to patients throughout their entire journey.

What challenge were you trying to address with ByteLion?

We needed to revamp our SaaS platform.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially contracted ByteLion to help us with our website. Their designer was responsible for designing the low- and high-fidelity screens. Once we approved the screens, she handed them to one of their developers who set up the entire infrastructure.

ByteLion helped us design pages and transition from HTML to HubSpot. They used our original website as a guide for the informational architecture but completely redesigned the platform. Their team broke down our pages to be more dynamic. For example, they added more call-to-action buttons throughout the site.

As that project was successful, we decided to expand our partnership and to collaborate on redesigning our products from a UX perspective. They help us to revisit our products and think through how to design modern products that attract a wide range of patients.

What is the team composition?

Marc (Head of User Experience) is still my main point of contact. But for the website, we primarily worked with Emily (Head of Product).

How did you come to work with ByteLion?

An employee who previously used their services referred us to ByteLion.

How much have you invested with them?

To date, we’ve spent $120,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the website project around June 2020. The website’s done but our other project is ongoing.

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

One reason that we wanted to redesign the website was to support campaigns. We’ve been able to launch three campaigns, which we historically haven’t been able to do. The website’s modern and shares a vast amount of information without overwhelming our clients.

Another success is that we don’t have to contact our engineers to make changes, which we historically had to do. We’re now able to make live modifications.

How did ByteLion perform from a project management standpoint?

ByteLion sends us weekly emails that tell us what they completed during their latest sprint. I meet with Marc twice a week to discuss the product revamping.

This is a true collaboration, and we value ByteLion as an extension of our team.  They work as if they’re one team within the company. We value

What did you find most impressive about them?

They make us feel like they care about our success as much as we care about it. If we have urgencies or need to change course, they’re not frustrated with us. Their team understands and changes course to meet our business needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

ByteLion created the designs and then the engineer built exactly for the design. In the future, I would recommend that they ask about scalability before the hand-off. We had a lot of back and forth about increasing the website’s flexibility.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be honest and transparent with them. It’s always helpful to meet frequently, especially during the design process. It’s important to be involved in different iterations to see what you like or dislike. That ensures the team doesn’t waste their time moving in the wrong direction.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I currently work for the Allegis Group, a privately held international human capital management firm. I’ve been with them for 17 years as part of their innovation team, the Garage.

What challenge were you trying to address with ByteLion?

We needed a custom-built software product. I’ve been in this industry for almost 20 years, so I’ve seen a lot of competing products, and we were trying to establish something that did not yet exist in the marketplace. 

We were trying to be so much simpler so that we could reach a very non-technical audience. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

ByteLion produced a new custom-built software product: a personal website builder focusing on the multiple dimensional roles that people play beyond just their professional position. 

The product has two parts from a digital perspective: a marketing website that explains the service and a personal website builder. It’s a digital product that people can use, but perhaps in its later iterations, it may very well become a platform. I partnered with our internal architect, who then partnered with ByteLion’s architects to build the product. 

What is the team composition?

My primary points of contact were Terrance (CEO) and Matthew (Marketing Manager). There were probably 6–7 other people on the primary team, including Mark (Product Manager) and Bobby (UX Designer), Brian (Developer), and Joseph (Developer). 

How did you come to work with ByteLion?

I found ByteLion through a referral; they were recommended to a colleague of mine. 

We talked about the business problem we were trying to solve and ideas about how to solve it. It seemed they had a great deal of ambition and enthusiasm, and they were really open to talking about ideas and approaches. The team was also excited about the product.

I chose them over two other software development firms that I received bids from. One firm was quite parsimonious with their response, and it seemed what they would deliver wouldn’t have an appeal to even be played with. Then, I liked the other firm a great deal, but our architect felt their technology was somewhat limited. 

Meanwhile, ByteLion was really proactive, ambitious, enthusiastic, and personal; they were somebody I could not only trust but also collaborate well with. That was initially why I chose them, and all of that was consistent as we moved through the project. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started talking to them in March 2020 and went on a bit of hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We were able to restart in early August 2020 and delivered the first MVP in October 2020. 

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

I spoke to around 28 individuals internally at my company; all of them were, in one way or another, salespeople or integrators to major companies. After I demoed the product, 9 out of 10 of them thought the product had a unique approach. 

They felt the overall aesthetic, as well as UI, was very appealing. There was a differentiator in terms of the simplicity of the personal site’s build in comparison to other products in the market competing in that space, such as Squarespace, Wix, and WordPress. We wanted the product to have the right amount of simplicity to reach a non-technical audience, which we achieved. 

Our team might be looking at creating more iterations in the future. 

How did ByteLion perform from a project management standpoint?

They were excellent. Matthew was exceptional. We frequently communicated via Slack, and I felt I was part of their team — that was great. They used other tools such as JIRA and Confluence, to share documents. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were adaptive and really open to direct feedback. They didn’t take things personally and saw that it was a collaboration — we were on the team together. Even though I was on a different team per se, it never felt like that. 

Performance-wise, they had the talent and experience to answer the business problem beyond what I knew or had thought about. At the same time, they were open to my feedback and didn’t just humor me. They listened to my thoughts and integrated those with their ideas — it was something that mixed and intermixed very well. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

When we first talked to one another at the opening of the project, it was a little bit too geared towards tools as opposed to more free-form conversations. 

I brought that up during the project, and they took care of it; they responded to it immediately. We made changes in how we were going to work together. They also adjusted in the second project, and we recreated that point of entry.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Proceed with working with them. My advice for somebody working with them is to stay really open, and don’t be afraid to communicate directly. ByteLion has done something atypical in the industry and hasn’t closed themselves off, deciding that they know best. They’ve remained porous and adaptive — I think that’s incredibly important in the partnerships as we go forward.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the VP of Marketing at Winebow, a fine wine importer and distributor.

What challenge were you trying to address with Bytelion?

We have a very complex website and we had recently overhauled the CMS with another agency but it was unsuccessful. Since then, we’ve been struggling and having problems with it. It was very slow and very difficult to search for things on it. Our website has a lot of product information, so it’s very important that people can search for that information.

The CMS overhaul actually slowed everything down.  In order to resolve these issues, we work with Bytelion. We wanted to make it a lot easier and faster for people to find the information that they need.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Bytelion helped fix up our website and CRM. As with any other project, we started with a project brief. We outlined the problem with Bytelion, and they came back with a proposal on how they would approach it, as well as the cost. 

For this project, we made sure that we were very clear about the deliverables. Bytelion came out and very clearly outlined the approach, recommending that we use Algolia for the search. They also laid out our current performance in terms of the website’s speed.

Bytelion helped improve the speed of our website, they even went as far as saying that they would deliver by a specific date or provide us with a partial refund.

What is the team composition?

It’s a team of five people who get online, give us updates, and answer the questions that we have during our bi-weekly updates. Our main point of contact is Matthew (VP of Innovation, Bytelion). He understood our business, what we needed, but also understood and kept his team accountable from a technical standpoint. 

We also worked with Jake (Software Engineer), our project manager. Then, we worked with the quality manager, and a couple of the coders, whom I call the brains behind everything.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $140,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

This project started in August 2020, and we just completed it in October 2020.

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

Our team measured their progress against two metrics. We set a goal for our site speed in terms of seconds. Upon delivery, we tested the speed again, and it blew the numbers out of the water. We also receive external feedback on the website’s improved speed from customers.

We went from ten seconds to less than one in terms of the site’s speed — it’s just night and day. The team is incredibly generous, going as far as to offer a gesture of free will, saying “we will work as hard as we can to hit the numbers that we promised you.” In the end, they overdelivered.

On top of that, Bytelion is a pleasure to work with. 

Having just come off a frustrating experience with another vendor, it was incredibly refreshing to work with Bytelion. They were able to help us on multiple fronts. Jake, our project manager, was fantastic in terms of attention to detail, keeping the project going, and being very responsive.

How did Bytelion perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management was great, and it was handled methodically and systematically. They set up regular update meetings and walked us through the progress.  Everything was done very well and there were no surprises as we moved along.

They are transparent about their process every step of the way. Their transparency was a hallmark of this partnership; they very clearly showed that they had our best interest in mind and that they had a long term view on the partnership.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their transparency and their commitment to delivering excellent results impressed us. If they said they’re going to do something, I trusted that they will do it to the best of their ability. Bytelion is technically skilled, and this is apparent in the work that they’ve done.

They didn’t just want to get the project done and move on; they wanted to make sure that the project really added value to our business in order to be a partner, and for us to continue working together. We’ve been very pleased with them and since have worked with them on a couple more projects, with more to come.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s hard to say because, though we’ve worked on a couple of projects now, we’re still really beginning to work together with Bytelion. I would love the ability to look at things holistically from a digital ecosystem standpoint, and not just from a technical standpoint.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Regardless of who the engagement is with, make sure that you’re in it together.

A great partnership is when you’re really working hand-in-hand, they truly understand where you’re coming from, what your business challenges and objectives are, and making sure that they really understand. Ultimately, it’s about addressing business objectives and challenges.

This probably applies to a lot of digital agencies, but make sure that you have very clear deliverables and milestones along the way. Otherwise, you have to trust the agency to deliver.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry is internationally renowned as a leader in the field of psychiatry. The Adolescent Depression Awareness Program (ADAP) was developed in response to the emerged public health problem, suicide in adolescents. I am the administrative director for the Johns Hopkins Mood Disorders Center and am a supported of ADAP.

For what projects/services did your company hire Bytelion?

Bytelion was responsible for developing our architecture and learning management system, to educate high school teachers about mood disorders in adolescents, enabling the delivery of an evidence-based depression education curriculum to high school students.

Their expertise made the educational experience more streamlined and engaging for learners with incredible design elements. Through their vision and communication skills, they helped articulate a vision for the future, designed to meet our future needs and facilitated our growth

What were your goals for this project?

The goal was to build a custom software tool to allow us to increase the accessibility and sustainability of the Adolescent Depression Awareness Program (ADAP). With this learning management tool, we can now automate the educational process for teachers.

This allows greater dissemination of the program by improving accessibility and decreasing cost associated with in-person trainings and travel. This also allows for more efficient use of faculty and teachers' time without compromising quality.

How did you select this vendor?

We went through a competitive bid process. We issued an RFP where we evaluated several options to build this tool for us. After reviewing several applications and meeting with representatives, Bytelion had the strongest command of what we hoped to achieve, were the most effective communicators, and their offering was both competitively priced and provided the scope we were hoping to achieve.

Describe the project in detail.

The Bytelion team managed our project beautifully. At the onset, we met to review and confirm our understanding of the project and the scope of work. The Bytelion project team were exceptional in their communication and commitment to the project.

The team went through an agile design process to determine the features and functionality needed within the learning management system. Once that was finalized, low-fidelity and high-fidelity designs were created for both the marketing website and learning management system.

Those designs were then translated into the functional tools we now use to educate school-based professionals across the country. The project team maintained ongoing communication and met and exceeded our expectation.

What was the team composition?

Bytelion contributed to the project a project manager, designer, Ruby on Rails developer, web developer, and quality assurance engineer.

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

The learning management system has enabled us to reach more teachers, particularly those who are underserved or are in remote locations we normally would not be able to serve.

School administrators are sharing the tool amongst their peers and their educators, which is only increasing ADAP’s ability to enable more teachers to educate their students and parents on depression. The tool has also allowed us to promote the program and positions us to be better positioned to apply for grants that previously would have been cost prohibitive.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Excellent. Bytelion was exceptional. They communicated effectively at every stage of the process. They were responsive and masterful.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

By far Bytelion has been the best company with whom we have worked. Professional, approachable, conscientious, exacting. They consistently met deadlines and respond to concerns immediately. They produced a world-class product all while ensuring our needs and expectations were being met. Simply the best.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There were no areas for improvement identified. We had the most positive experience and will seek them out in the future when we have a need.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a non-profit committed to helping military and veteran families. I'm a product director.

What challenge were you trying to address with Bytelion?

We're developing a database of resources for military families. It allows users to look up services. We used Bytelion as a tech developers.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Based on feedback from military families and case managers, they built the platform out and added new features. They redesigned our entire site, and the features they created included a newsfeed and a suite of analytics that showed popular searches and demographics of our users.

They built our enterprise model from scratch, which helps us manage the large organizations that use our services. They also improved the mobile compatibility for the whole site. They worked on our old system, which was built on Java, and our current system is built using Ruby on Rails.

What is the team composition?

We normally work with a team of about four to six. Two other engineers came on whenever a regular team member was away or on vacation.

How did you come to work with Bytelion?

One of our board members worked with them on projects for his personal business. He recommended them to us. They were hired by my predecessor, so I'm not completely certain of the selection process. From what I can gather, they were willing to negotiate with us, and their owner is also a veteran. Our cause was close to his heart, and he knew exactly where we were coming from.

How much have you invested with them?

Our contract was for $575,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2019, and the project will wrap up at the end of December 2019.

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

On average, our monthly users have definitely increased, and the site is much easier to use and to navigate. Bytelion is always responsive and accommodating whenever we face emergencies or last-minute feature development.

How did Bytelion perform from a project management standpoint?

They're very flexible, and they are willing to add on extra hours when we need them. They manage the project well, and we never have any surprises. We work in an agile scrum framework, and billing is always on time. Updates are communicated through our Slack channel, so we can see everything is in real-time. I never have to worry about miscommunication, and the whole process is seamless.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Everyone on their staff is incredibly helpful, and their professionalism is great. They are easy to work with, even though I don't have a strong tech background. They never make me feel intimidated.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't have anything they should improve; they do a great job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take advantage of their services. They are an independent company, but they always brought me into conversations they felt I should have a say in. Engage with them, even if the technology goes over your head.

Please describe your company and your position there.

emVitals partners with employers and providers to transform the way behavioral healthcare is delivered. emVitals delivers a proactive emotional health solution that employees can access anytime, anywhere.

For what projects/services did your company hire Bytelion?

Company website. One-pager. Business cards.

What were your goals for this project?

As a new start-up, we had no marketing assets and needed to create a website and other materials to help us get out into the market that conveyed our mission and value.

How did you select this vendor?

Bytelion came highly recommended by trusted advisors and, when we began discussions, we were impressed with the skill and expertise of their team. We felt like they would be the right partner to help us bring our brand out into the world.

Describe the project in detail.

Bytelion created our company website. They also created a marketing one-pager to describe our value to potential partners. Finally, they designed our business cards.

What was the team composition?

We mainly worked closely with UX designer, Bobby Hough, around concept and design.

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

We've received a great deal of positive feedback from clients and partners on the website and the materials we created with Bytelion and have also been able to develop strong leads very soon after completing the project.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Working with Bobby was wonderful. She was a fantastic communicator, listening to our needs and guiding us to a great end result. It was easy to get in touch with her and get time with her, whether through email or telephone, and we were able to finalize our project in a relatively tight timeline. She was just as passionate about our mission as we are, and that came through in her high-quality work.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were just so happy with how smooth the process was from the very start and how skillfully Bytelion was able to get us to a great end result.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, we were incredibly satisfied with the process and the end result.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a SaaS company that helps customer facing teams to improve customer experience and increase sales. Our AI-powered coaching platform enables employees to practice company messaging and improve oral communication skills.

For what projects/services did your company hire Bytelion?

Mobile app development

What were your goals for this project?

Our mobile app enables users to get their audio recordings to our cloud-based service.

How did you select this vendor?

We interviewed 5 different app development companies and found that ByteLion offers the best communication and support and the highest caliber deliverables.

Describe the project in detail.

We needed to update our app built in Xamarin for both android and iphones. We were adding new features than entailed putting user audio recordings in groups and updating the UI to support it.

What was the team composition?

We interacted with the project manager and our developer was also able to interact directly with the app developer. This open communication enabled us to work quickly and efficiently, particularly since Bytelion was inheriting code that was written by someone else.

Bytelion took responsibility to not only test, but help me get the updated app deployed in the app stores. That was a huge help since I had some trouble navigating the apple developer site.

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

Our app worked very well after Bytelion made the needed updates.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was excellent. They were very well organized in tracking requirements and communicating progress. They also accommodated minor requests that came up along the way which weren't in the original requirements doc. I know that was a pain in the neck, but they still accommodated me which was very kind of them!

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are great people, I love the folks at Bytelion. Everyone I met was both super smart and nice. I can't say enough good things!

Are there any areas for improvement?

I was very impressed with Bytelion and wish I could hire them for every project!

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-founder and CEO of Everseat. We started this company in late 2013. Everseat is a software platform that facilitates patient self scheduling and digital waitlist management.  Our sector is healthcare - specifically focusing on medical practices, dental practices and large enterprise groups (such as hosptials and health systems).  The key benefit of our software is that patients can go to a website and schedule a visit with their dermatologist, dentist, pediatrician, etc.  Much like the travel and lodging industries - consumers often seek to self-serve and not have to speak on the phone to an agent.  As the CEO of a small startup, my position involves many roles including overall vision, product planning, business development, sales, customer support and fund raising.

For what projects/services did your company hire Bytelion?  

Everseat hired Bytelion for custom software development - for both web and mobile applications in the healthcare sector.   Everseat launched a dynamic scheduling and waitlist technology so that patients could schedule with medical and dental practices around the United States. 

The appointment scheduling occurs on the medical practice website as well as a proprietary mobile application.  In addition to the design and developent of the software and mobile app, Bytelion was responsible for two other critical components. 

The first element was API integrations with some of the country's leading electronic medical record (EMR) and practice management (PM) companies.  These bi-directional integrations are sophisiticated vehicles for passing information back and forth between the Everseat solution and the EMR in the medical office. 

The actual schedule and various appointment types reside within these EMR and PM systems.  There are over 100 EMRs in the US, and Bytelion handled integraiton with some of the leaders in this space. 

The second key element was overall security and data privacy.   Bytelion worked with Everseat to ensure that our software platform met the sophisticated secuirty and HIPAA standards that large entreprise healthcare clients require.  The healthcare space has some specific secuirty and privacy guidelines and we could not have navigated this arena without Bytelion's expertise.  

What were your goals for this project? 

When starting, our initial goal was to introduce a basic MVP (minimally viable product) tool that we could test with early clients and focus groups.  Bytelion did a fantastic job with this. 

Again, software development is key - but even more important for these early days was clear and consistent communication.  Once we were able to launch our first version - the goals became tied to growth, expansion, scalabiity, security and complex integrations.   We are very happy with the outcome.  

How did you select this vendor?

Baltimore has a number of software development shops.  We've interacted with all of them.  When making the decision about a key software partner, we looked at 5 key criteria.

1 - Experience and background

2 - Talent

3 - Attitude / Passion / Drive

4 - Communication Style

5 - Cost

Bytelion was the best fit for us because they had strength and depth across all of these factors.  We really took our time interviewing them - and we had multiple meetings with Bytelion and we also spoke to 4 of their existing or prior clients.

We found that software skills are really only one piece of the puzzle and that attitude and communication style are critical, especially when projects become complicated.  

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail. 

As noted in a different question above, the project included design and development of sophisticated scheduling software that must connect and communicate with installed medical software platforms (EMR and PM systems) around the United States.  

What was the team composition? 

The great thing about the team composition at Bytelion is that we could flex up & down as needed.  They were always in sync with our near-term goals, our budget and our client demands. 

We received direct CEO attention when it was appropriate, but we also regularly interacted with more than 10 software and IT professionals across the Bytelion team. 

Specifically - the team consisted of a project lead (project manager), two senior back-end software developers, two senior front-end developers, one QA person, one design person, one mobile expert and one integration and API expert.  

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The results were outstanding and we are definitely giving 5 stars on the rating.  Not only did Bytelion get our initial MVP live, but they positioned Everseat to scale and win some large and prestigious contracts. 

I can also share that Bytelion helped Everseat structure and implement its first "white label" project and this was done cleanly, efficiently.  A third party wanted to bring our software to market under a different brand within a different UI / UX. 

This could have been incredibly complex and messy - but Bytelion did a tremendous job.  This has huge value because it ultimately helped facilitate the sale of our company.  

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was great.  We used Jira for sprint management and we used Slack and daily scrum calls for communication.  The team at Bytelion was highly responsive and engaged in all parts of the development and support of the platform.  We a select number of Slack channles - we could reach key team members immediately and get almost instant feedback or support.  

What did you find most impressive about this company?

To me - there were two incredibly impressive items:

1) Bytelion becomes part of the team.  They act and feel like they are part of the company.  Like employees that are loyal, dedicated and really engaged.  They take a level of pride and commitment that was / is amazing.  

2) Response time:  Bytelion respondes to questions, problems and inquiries within minutes.  Once we submit a question - we get a response almost immediately.  

Are there any areas for improvement?

No.  No real areas for improvement.  Overall great team and great process.  

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of SameGrain, an app that matches people based on what they have in common. It helps people connect, not necessarily romantically, but for all types of reasons. 

The app has been used to help people make friends in a new city or new university. We’ve had use cases where people are facing new challenges in life and they want to connect with other people, but don’t feel comfortable using traditional social media to do so.

The typical user answers over 100 questions, and each question has multiple data points. So, each user could have 400 data points to match with the other users.

What challenge were you trying to address with Bytelion?

When we first engaged with Bytelion, we only had an app prototype (testing out early algorithms for matching people together), and we were looking to commercialize it into a mobile app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us with the mobile app UX, and also helped with backend infrastructure to support and manage all the data we were collecting. 

The app involves millions and millions of data points to match one user to another. There is a large amount of data aggregation and moving occurring. 

The UX includes ways to answer questions, view your own data, see how you connect with others, message others, and set up and join group chats.

It was an agile development process where we didn’t know all the requirements from the beginning. So, we started with an early design effort. Then, we moved into designing the app and supporting backend server features.

Later on, we hired a data scientist internally. We worked with that resource and Bytelion to develop large-scale services to support a matching analysis for thousands of people.

We used Heroku to support frontend features, and the bulk of the heavy lifting was done on AWS. Most of the backend was written in Python using the Django framework, and the machine learning component was written in R.

Since the app launched, they have provided periodic services just to update security certificates and patch different technologies.

What is the team composition?

On average, there were about five team members assigned to the project at any given time. We peaked at around 10 members.

We had a full-time project manager throughout the engagement, and then we had two user experience designers at certain times during the timeline.

The project manager was my main point of contact. Initially that was Tony (Former COO, Bytelion). Then, over the last year, we’ve worked with 2–3 other project managers.

How did you come to work with Bytelion?
 
We were introduced to the team through one of our early investors. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested over $1.1 million in their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We officially started working with them in October of 2013, and we finished up in June of 2016.

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

The app had 100,000 downloads from October through March. Everyone that reviewed the app gave it four or five stars. It continues to run flawlessly to this day. It’s been extremely stable considering we’ve put little technical investment into it since the partnership finished.

Also, we won two design awards for the app early on. SameGrain has a unique natural design, which is really interesting. It’s a complicated interface, but Bytelion made it simple to use by streamlining the UX.

How did Bytelion perform from a project management standpoint?

They had a phenomenal project management style. Early on, it was a complicated process with a lot of moving pieces (e.g. complex design and the backend machine learning algorithm). But, they did a great job. They were well-organized and knew the technology inside and out. 

We worked with people based in the US and some in South America, and they were all fantastic. We really enjoyed working with them. Everyone was extremely responsive with great communication skills. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The engagement was so rewarding because of the passion and excitement they brought to the project. They were fully invested in its success, not just in the hours that they could bill. 

It was great to see people putting in time over the weekends and evenings when we were doing a launch or customer demo. They were always available to put in an extra test, an extra day’s work, or an extra refinement to a graphical interface to really make it pop.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wouldn’t put this on Bytelion, but the current style of development keeps documentation to a minimum. You want just enough documentation so that you can proceed effectively and communicate well, but you don’t over-document things.

But, looking five years back, it would be nice to understand why we were doing some of the things we were doing. This would be useful in case we have to go back and re-work something.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Bytelion is very transparent. There is no separation between what the customer sees and doesn’t see. Overall, this really helps communication. But, a potential client needs to make sure they have the right resources available to manage the project effectively from the customers' point of view. 

Their team will try to keep moving forward as quickly as possible. In many cases, I was the bottleneck. So, future clients need to know what they’re doing in order to keep the bus rolling and keep the momentum going.