Chelsea Apps

Please describe your company and your position there.

Itsu is a British chain of East Asian-inspired fast food shops and restaurants and a grocery company. I was the Senior Group Digital Manager.

For what projects/services did your company hire Chelsea Apps?

We engaged Chelsea Apps in a design sprint, prototype and design of a new loyalty-based app.

What were your goals for this project?

We were aiming to launch a loyalty app that stood out from the crowded loyalty space (it needed a WOW factor). We also needed a new marketing vehicle to reach customers digitally: one that would not only engage our customers and improve the in-store experience, but would also allow us to build and deliver offers and comms based on individuals needs to drive visit frequency.

How did you select this vendor?

I searched online and within my network for a range of app developers and services - from established companies to startups and even out-of-the box solutions. I initially compiled a list of over 15 solutions and then shortlisted to 6 agencies whom I had a call with before meeting them face to face with some members of the senior leadership team. We chose Chelsea Apps based on their culture fit, experience, cost for value as well as their design process. The latter was the most important factor as we had a very particular way of working and also needed to move quite quickly.

Describe the project in detail.

We started with an intense 5-day sprint which involved the teams from Itsu and Chelsea Apps, working through a design process from understanding what we truly wanted to get out of this project through to developing a testable prototype to gather customer feedback. We came up with nearly 200 + ideas which we then narrowed down to a compelling offering to meet the initial goal that was set out. During the sprint, Chelsea Apps built two prototypes; one of those prototypes was a fully interactive Augmented Reality app (which gave the wow factor), and the other was a gamified loyalty app (which drives engagement and visit frequency).

What was the team composition?

We had a Project Manager, Creative lead, 2 Designers/UX, and a developer.

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

We ran through an intensive day of testing both major elements of the prototype in-store with real customers, including the Augmented Reality element which was extremely well received.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Chelsea Apps were very responsive throughout the whole process and always worked to ensure that deadlines were achieved. The intensive design sprint meant that we were very quickly working as one team and had real-time feedback on ideas and designs. You'd have to be very effective to go from ideation through to prototyping not one but two designs in the space of five days!

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was very impressed by the team as a whole - they're a great bunch! Chelsea apps were highly knowledgeable, nimble and collaborative. They were clearly experienced in app development, user experience and really wanted to help us build a solution that customers really love. Throughout the process, their user-centric ethos really shone through. The team always gave constructive challenges, working hard to get to the heart of the problem, not just delivering against what we think we want at the expense of the customer. Moreover, the prototypes which were delivered at the end of the five days were high quality and beautifully aligned to our brand. They were much higher than what you'd expect to be developed within this very short time frame. Our customers were really impressed with the result. I would definitely love the opportunity to work with the team again in the future.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We didn't progress to development due to an internal change in direction. However, I was very satisfied with their work throughout the whole process and we ended up with two beautiful prototypes. Chelsea Apps were great at project management, accommodating, thorough and also knew how to crack a few laughs which is always a bonus. Keep up the incredible work!

Please describe your company and your position there.

Human is a Customer Feedback specialist, that works behind the screens for some of the biggest consumer servicing businesses. I am the CTO

For what projects/services did your company hire Chelsea Apps?

Our clients have a demand for a 360 view on feedback from every customer touchpoint, one of the areas that we lacked a solution was within our customer's own application. We need an SDK that could be easily inserted into our customers own mobile app

What were your goals for this project?

The goal of the project was to give our customers a simple way to add our customer servicing feature sets into their own apps. Key to this was to build an SDK that other development teams could easily understand and feel comfortable to add into their own codebase.

How did you select this vendor?

We had a competitive pitch process that started with 6 agencies, at each stage, Chelsea Apps showed a deep technical understanding of our requirements, but more importantly, really challenged us to think about what we were delivering to our customers, that combined on their understanding that we needed to win over developers made the choice to select them much easier.

Describe the project in detail.

We wanted an SDK that could be embedded into iOS and Android apps. The app needed to be cooled via a single line that would pass the styles of the customer app, with the ID of the survey. The app needed to be as small as possible to prevent bloating client applications. Survey data would then be syncronised with our online services. Chelsea Apps were responsible for the technical architecture and creation of the SDK as well as comprehensive

What was the team composition?

We had a Project Manager, a technical lead architect, and 2 iOS and 2 Android developers

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

We're in the early days, but we've had 3 clients sign up to use the SDK and 2 of those clients are releasing updates to there own apps in the next month, so we're excited to see the user feedback, but the developer feedback so far has been great.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Super effective communication and workflow been both our teams, we used a slack channel for most instant coms and then a weekly stand up to deal with any bigger issues. Their dev team work well with our technical team and in general a pretty painless experience

What did you find most impressive about this company?

So many things with this team, from their clear coms, attention to detail and just sheer passion to build great products. Nice guys too.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Having worked with a lot of other agencies, I think Chelsea Apps gets it right.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a voice of the customer provider. Based in the UK and USA, We specialize in collecting feedback in the moment with on site feedback devices. I'm the CEO

For what projects/services did your company hire Chelsea Apps?

They led the re-write of our survey collection app on both IOS and Android. We had a version working but needed to update a number of things.

What were your goals for this project?

Delivering the project on time and within the quoted budget which they achieved.

How did you select this vendor?

Through recommendation and primarily due to their close proximity to our HQ.

Describe the project in detail.

We needed the app to support a number of new features for how questions were asked and the support of a v3 theme engine we'd internally built.

What was the team composition?

We met and conversed with the PM and lead developer when needed, both face to face and remotely.

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

Delivered ahead of time, to budget and handed over with suitable documentation to allow us to continue the software maintenance.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very simple and quick responses. From weekly meetings to ad-hoc requests as needed.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were very responsive to requests and had their own opinions on the project.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nope

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founder of a commercial leasing platform

For what projects/services did your company hire Chelsea Apps?

Full end to end app development

What were your goals for this project?

We needed a full service offering to assist us with everything from design sprints to alpha product

How did you select this vendor?

We picked them from a number of others and were impressed with their dedication creativity and ideas. They were also happy to challenge and develop our thinking

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Everything from design sprints all the way through project managing the app build process

What was the team composition?

A broad range of skill sets and all led by Duncan who has done a fantastic job of leading the team.

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

The project is ongoing but it has been successful so far.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Duncan led on PM. Their methods and workflows have been very effective.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The broad range of skill sets and combination of PM and challenging and developing our thinking

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founder and CEO of a new Digital First Retail company

For what projects/services did your company hire Chelsea Apps ?

To help research, develop and build the entire front end of our mobile-ready website from concept to completion, including full research sprints, market analysis, user testing, and the development, design and building of the front end functionality and machine learning capabilities

What were your goals for this project?

To produce a mobile ready website to re imagine and re engineer the way consumers think about their weekly grocery shop

How did you select this vendor?

Word of mouth after an extensive amount of research coupled with their (and their partner company's) backlog of disruptive and original technology builds. They were also engaged, insightful and very helpful from my very first meeting with them.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

To help with the full design and delivery of a new consumer concept to enable my company to try to disrupt the UK grocery market and change consumers ingrained habits when it came to their weekly shop. Chelsea Apps were heavily involved from day one, helping o conceptualize and and focus in on both the problem and the potential solutions as part of a 3 day research sprint, They were involved in the market research that lead to many of our insights and led the process in designing and building the front end solution including the initial AI capabilities.

What was the team composition?

Aside from our own team, Chelsea Apps had their full end to end team involved at every stage of the process ensuring everyone was aware of exactly what we were trying to achieve, from project leader, designer, researcher and developer. A very cohesive and therefore efficient process.

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

The have been at the center of our core asset, helping to turn the concept into a reality.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

It was very effective. A lead project manager from each side in constant communication with very clear targets and deliverables at every stage of the process outlined and delivered by Chelsea Apps

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Not just their professionalism, but their full engagement with the project. They believed in what we were trying to achieve, which helped enormously.

Are there any areas for improvement?

They are a relatively small outfit, but make up for it in energy, drive, and vision. Any improvements will come as a function of their deserved growth as a business.