Clearbridge Mobile

Please describe your company and your position there.

The Cardiac Arrhythmia Network of Canada (CANet) is a Pan-Canadian multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral research and development network consisting of physicians, clinical and academic investigators, industry and government partners, and most importantly, patients. CANet focuses on arrhythmia research, technology development and commercialization, including virtual care initiatives through its VIRTUES platform.

VIRTUES stands for: Virtual, Integrated, Reliable, Transformative, User-driven, E-health System. VIRTUES, envisioned and designed by patients and physicians, delivers the most efficient, effective, and accessible healthcare, on-demand, and tailored to the specific needs of each patient. I am the Director of Research and Training at CANet.

For what projects/services did your company hire Clearbridge Mobile, and what were your goals?

VIRTUES was initially designed to provide virtual care and remote monitoring for patients with cardiac implantable electrical devices (i.e. pacemakers, and ICDs - implantable cardioverter-defibrillator), atrial fibrillation and other heart rhythm disorders.

In rising to the challenge of developing novel technologies to fight COVID-19 across Canada, CANet was in a unique position to adapt the current VIRTUES platform for COVID-19 remote monitoring. CANet worked with Clearbridge to create VIRTUES-COVID-19. We were able to work collaboratively to achieve this goal in approximately 7 weeks.

How did you select Clearbridge Mobile and what were the deciding factors?

CANet reached out to several application/web development companies in Toronto and the surrounding area. After reviewing expertise, experience, and budgetary considerations, CANet chose to work with Clearbridge Mobile for this initiative.

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

Due to the rapid onset of COVID-19, the goal of CANet was to adapt the existing VIRTUES platform functionality to meet the deployment needs of COVID-19 virtual care in a short period of time. Clearbridge Mobile was able to rapidly assemble and mobilize a design and development team that was able to work with CANet to rapidly adapt and develop VIRTUES-COVID-19 and achieve this deliverable in approximately 7 weeks.

As COVID-19 symptom severity varies from patient to patient, VIRTUES-COVID-19 helps to alleviate anxiety for patients who are isolated at home by providing the on-going connection to a health care team during their recovery. VIRTUES-COVID-19 also improves the efficiency and safety of our essential health care teams by prioritizing necessary treatment and intervention during this critical time. The project started in April 2020, and the MVP was completed early June 2020. App feature additions are on-going as needed.

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

Several people from the Clearbridge Mobile team worked with the CANet team including project/account managers, UI/UX designers, and front-end and back-end software developers.

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

We were able to meet our goals on time and within the planned budget. The Clearbridge Mobile team was adaptive and able to accommodate our requirements or suggest suitable or better alternatives when needed.

The app is now being used to help manage patients with COVID-19 across Ontario with plans to expand to other provinces. Overall, the project was a great success.

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

The Clearbridge Mobile team handled project management well. They communicated their progress clearly and anticipated potential issues to help us make informed decisions quickly.

The teams used Slack to communicate and tracked tickets through Jira for UI/bug fixes. Clearbridge also conducted daily stand-ups using Google Hangouts with the CANet team throughout the entire design and development process.

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

Clearbridge Mobile was able to work effectively and efficiently with CANet while understanding the urgency and importance of rapidly adapting and developing an app for COVID-19 virtual care during the pandemic. We were able to work collaboratively to achieve this outcome in approximately 7 weeks.

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

Due to the quick timeline of the project, the Clearbridge Mobile team stumbled slightly with implementing some agreed upon changes which confused both teams at times. It is important to note that these changes were successfully implemented in the final product without issue. The Clearbridge Mobile team was always available and receptive to suggestions and comments including conducting an after-project discussion to help them improve for future projects.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Product Director at public media company based in Toronto. Groupe Média TFO is an essential destination for audiences seeking innovative educational and cultural content in French, at the forefront of digital learning. We serve two million students and 30,000 teachers in Ontario and in Canada.

For what projects/services did your company hire Clearbridge Mobile?

We wanted to expand the reach of our current educational website that was mainly used in school, by creating a mobile application that would contribute to the continuity of learning at home for students.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to make IDÉLLO an essential tool for learning at home and provide a new mobile experience for parents wishing to support their children’s learning.

How did you select Clearbridge Mobile?

Clearbridge was awarded the contract after winning our procurement process (RFP).

Describe the project in detail.

Due to a very tight deadline, we project was designed and developed as a minimum viable product (MVP) with the following top Features: Mobile search experience, Frictionless content discovery, Compelling video experience, IDÉLLO Family accounts access levels. The app was developed natively for both iOS and Android.

What was the team composition?

We were assigned a product manager, a product owner, a solution architect, a UX/UI designer, 2 mobile developers, a QA specialist. Due to the aggressive timeline, the project was also closely monitored by 2 directors.

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

We were able to meet our aggressive deadline and release the mobile app just before the beginning of the school year, with a flawless MVP version.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Clearbridge's Design Thinking approach was essential to the success of this project. We managed to accomplish a lot within the first week, through intensive sessions that were part of the Design and Discovery phase.

The development phase went smoothly and was quite productive. We used JIRA to manage the sprints/stories and slack for real-time communication.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Clearbridge's ability to deliver a quality mobile app in under 2 months.

Are there any areas for improvement?

As a Franco-Ontarian organization, we would like them to expand their services in French.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a manager at a healthcare provider in Canada. I oversee our digital patient programs.

What challenge were you trying to address with Clearbridge Mobile?

We hired Clearbridge Mobile to develop our mobile app. We wanted to move our existing program to a mobile platform to help patients manage and monitor their diseases and conditions.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Clearbridge Mobile developed the app based on the value proposition and technical documentation that we created together. They assessed our user stories and looked at the various materials during the design and discovery process. Their team built the app for both iOS and Android. 

What is the team composition?

About five people from their team worked on the project, including product owners, technical team members, integration specialists, and UX designers. 

How did you come to work with Clearbridge Mobile?

We went through a long and rigorous evaluation of mobile app developers in Canada because we wanted to find the one that was the best fit for the role. We felt that Clearbridge Mobile was the best option. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2019 and our engagement is ongoing. We launched the app in November 2019, but there’s a lot of work left for us to do together. 

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

We set up a number of KPIs and outcomes that we’re tracking, including the improvements patients report about their quality of life, and we’re happy so far. We’ve been really satisfied and excited by our engagement. 

How did Clearbridge Mobile perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve performed really well. Their team collaborates with us on issues. As with any project, there are always things to improve on but they’ve really worked with us on anything that comes up. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Something that is very important to our organization is their willingness to work through the issues we face together. They also take a human approach to their design and a thorough approach to their technical discovery.

I’ve worked on a number of initiatives, so I really value the level of knowledge and expertise Clearbridge Mobile brings to the table with respect to solving complex problems in a digital way. They have a broad suite of skills that makes our product something special and valuable for the community. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s a number of ways for app developers in general to improve, but none of it is specific to Clearbridge Mobile. We’re really happy with our experience, but bringing a stronger understanding of patients and tracking health digitally would always be a good thing for any project. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s important to have a vision and a plan for what you want to deliver and the problem you want to solve. Let them know who your key audience is since the community can be vast and large.

We really understood our value proposition for every group, so I encourage other organizations to do the same and lay out your vision because it will help during the development process.  

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a product manager for a sports media company and lead product initiatives on our native mobile apps.

What challenge were you trying to address with Clearbridge Mobile?

We were interested in expanding our consumer video streaming app on connected TV platforms. In particular, Apple TV has been an area of interest due to user demand. 

We were looking for a vendor to not only help us with technical implementation but also with other duties like project management, design, QA, etc.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were the implementation partner for us to develop a native tvOS app. They helped build the app (alongside our in-house team of developers) and are providing maintenance for the first year after launch.

What is the team composition?

They have a developer fully allocated to our project. We also have a product manager, designer, and QA team member on their side, who are all partially allocated to our project. Lastly, we have an account manager. 

How did you come to work with Clearbridge Mobile?

I found Clearbridge through a Google search and was impressed by their reviews on Clutch. We also heard a positive review from another company that had worked with them, so that validated them as a potential partner.

After going through discussions and working through the pricing, we felt confident in their execution ability and also that the budget we had allocated could meet our goals. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2019 and the engagement is ongoing.

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

We’ve met our goals on time and within budget, and Clearbridge Mobile has proven very capable. They’re a small enough team to adapt to any needs that come up. When you're launching something from the beginning, there's a lot of unforeseeable challenges and issues that might arise, and they've been very good at adapting along the way. In terms of the initial requirements that were set out, they were all met. The outcome was successful in that regard.

How did Clearbridge Mobile perform from a project management standpoint?

They were pretty good on the project management side. They communicated clearly and informed us about any issues that came up. We tracked tickets through Jira and used Slack to communicate more informally. We also had daily stand-ups when we were launching the product, and that was done through Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We had a solid developer who was willing to solve problems in a creative way, and also bring up any issues that he sees. Clearbridge Mobile was willing to understand our needs and adapt, which are traits of a very good partner. They weren’t thinking about how to add to the project’s scope, but rather how they could best meet our needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’d like more visibility into the number of hours that were used on a weekly basis, just because we have a certain number of hours allocated every quarter.

On the design side, there's room for improvement as we had to provide more input and tweaks than expected, but the most important part is the technical implementation. That exceeded our expectations.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It's really not about the agency but more about the individuals who you will be working with on a day to day basis, and also the account support person who is involved in structuring the agreement so that you can meet your needs. I think those are probably the two most important factors to evaluate. 
 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

ParticipACTION is Canada's premier physical activity non-profit, and I'm the vice president of marketing and communications.

What challenge were you trying to address with Clearbridge Mobile?

Our company wanted to create a mobile app that would motivate and encourage Canadians to be more active in their everyday lives. We didn't want to develop another fitness tracker but instead create a content-based app that provided a personalized experience for each user, incenting behavioral change.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Clearbridge Mobile went through a rigorous discovery phase to properly identify what needed to be developed. They have built the app using as many native functionalities as possible, such as device health kits and wearables. They developed the app and worked with partners to customize the loyalty engine.

Having launched a few releases and the MVP, Clearbridge Mobile is working on the next development sprint. They are also modifying and enhancing features based on user feedback and analytics.

What is the team composition?

We have worked with a large team of strategic account executives, project managers, business analysts, and UI/UX designers. Even Clearbridge Mobile’s CTO has been directly engaged.

How did you come to work with Clearbridge Mobile?

We put out an RFP that multiple app development agencies responded to. After meeting with several of them, my team chose to work with Clearbridge Mobile.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in October 2018, and we just launched the MVP in February 2019. The app build is ongoing.

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

The app has been downloaded over 60,000 times since its launch in Google Play and the App Store.  In the health and fitness category, this constitutes a very quick-trending free app. It has garnered positive user feedback about the ease of usability and navigation. Overall, users seem to be enjoying it.

How did Clearbridge Mobile perform from a project management standpoint?

Clearbridge Mobile is attentive and dedicated to understanding our requirements. If an issue arises, the team addresses it quickly. They go the extra mile to update and educate our team at every step of the development process. As an organization without much tech experience and that has never developed an app before, this guidance has been invaluable.

A third-party vendor is assisting with data science aspects of the project, and Clearbridge Mobile helps to manage this relationship.

What did you find most impressive about them?

So far, Clearbridge Mobile has built the app from the ground up while adhering to a very strict timeline. What distinguishes Clearbridge Mobile is how they’re more of a partner than a vendor. They have become an extension of our company. The team genuinely understands and appreciates what we are trying to accomplish.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There is always room for improvement, but I can’t think of anything at the moment.

Any advice for potential customers?

Make sure Clearbridge Mobile understands the vision of the project and the organization. With this knowledge, they can deliver the best product possible and be a valuable partner.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Dr. Christine Wekerle: I have a PhD in clinical psychology, and I’m an associate professor of pediatrics at McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. I’m also a member of the Offord Centre for Child Studies.

Savanah Smith: I’m Dr. Wekerle’s research coordinator and I’ve been working on the JoyPop project with her and Clearbridge Mobile.

What challenge were you trying to address with Clearbridge Mobile?

CW: We had research evidence and rough templates underlying the concept of resilience, and how to improve it in people who’ve experienced adversity or are in stressful situations, but we needed a way to bring those features together in a mobile app with a good UX.

SS: From a business perspective, Clearbridge streamlined our ideas. They helped us find a clear vision and determined what was doable for our budget.

What was the scope of their involvement?

CW: We started with a one-week, intensive discovery process at their office where we fleshed out how our theory of resilience would be translated into an app, what the user journey would be, and what some useful activities to include in the app might be. Their knowledge of what features users find appealing helped us refine the user journey. We decided to introduce a game-like quality to the app to focus peoples’ attention.

Originally, we wanted to develop the app for both iOS and Android, but in looking at our budget and desired features with Clearbridge we realized we should focus on iOS. Additionally, our target population – rural and semi-rural people, indigenous reserve populations, and university populations – were mostly iPhone users.

We developed features based on our initial concepts in 2–3-week sprints, which gave Clearbridge time to incorporate our feedback. One important feature is a set of breathing exercises with accompanying cues and diagrams. While we designed the flow chart of cues, Clearbridge implemented a color pallet and an animation that showed the technique we wanted people to use.

The app is available to download, and Clearbridge is supporting us by collecting data via cloud storage. They continue to make updates based on iOS changes.

What is the team composition?

CW: Team members come on and off as their roles become important. We worked actively with a creative design person during the discovery phase and with programmers when the project became more technical. A point person organizes everything and is in charge of onboarding and offboarding people. They also handle the sales part and all the contract matters. Further, we’ve worked with both a gaming lead and the head of the company, to ensure we’d be a good fit.

How did you come to work with Clearbridge Mobile?

SS: I searched online after we decided to take our app idea forward with a professional company. We were impressed by the work Clearbridge had done and their downloadable design template, which has information necessary for their app consultations. After I got an email from one of their account executives, we decided to set up a discovery session.

How much have you invested with them?

CW: We’ve spent more than $200,000 so far. Our study and work are funded by federal grants to design, develop, test, and evaluate intervention methods.

What is the status of this engagement?

CW: We’ve been working together since April 2018.

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

CW: Individuals who’ve designed other kinds of trauma intervention solutions and worked one on one with youth have been impressed with our app’s look, flow between features, and safety measures. The youth who’ve seen the app are very interested in it, and everyone thinks the game aspect grabs peoples’ attention. It provides both distraction and learning regarding cognitive organizing, depending on which the user needs in a specific moment.

When I give presentations at conferences and workshops, the international community (and especially the students) wants to talk more about the app. Clearbridge connected us with their marketing person, and they sat in on a conference call with a group in the UK to provide input. They ensure we’re on the same page when we talk to high school youth.

How did Clearbridge Mobile perform from a project management standpoint?

SS: Their customer experience manager keeps us updated on everything going on with our project—the progress of the app, and what’s needed from us in the next steps. The project manager is responsible for connecting us with whom we need to speak to or have a meeting with and letting us know how things are coming along. We provided them with access to our original Google Docs, which we’ve updated based on their needs. We’ve also had a lot of Zoom calls and shared many relevant documents.

What did you find most impressive about them?

CW: For me, it was their wide range of clientele. They don’t specialize in mental health, but they quickly took up concepts we were discussing and enthusiastically moved us along in creating new features. They even read some academic articles on the subject matter. They’ve maintained their enthusiasm, and I’m pleased with the level to which they delivered what we wanted: a simple, intuitive, engaging product.

SS: They did a good job of looking at the app from our perspective, of looking at the population we were targeting.

CW: Fleshing out all the concepts in the beginning was extremely helpful when it came to developing specific features.

Are there any areas they could improve?

CW: No, there aren’t. Their model of running a discovery phase and following it up with sprints keeps the client engaged and at ease with the progress.

SS: They do a great job of keeping their employees engaged and on-task with special activities.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the chief marketing officer of AQB Gaming. I oversee all of our branding, designs, UX/UI, customer service, and any other marketing operations.

What challenge were you trying to address with Clearbridge Mobile?

We were trying to build a sports gaming app from scratch that integrated real-time gaming alongside football games.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Clearbridge Mobile first conducted a discovery phase to understand our requirements, what designs we wanted, and how the UX should be in relation to our brand. They helped us plan what we wanted to accomplish in the short term and long term. Their team developed a user journey map, which mapped our app flow from registration, setting up a profile, entering into a game, utilizing leagues or groups, earning points, earning prizes, showcasing leaderboards, to security and verifications. They identified the digital space we needed and planned out the design elements we needed.

Using this map and our branding material, they developed the front- and backend designs for iOS and Android using InVision. We provided feedback on their rough drafts, and they made the necessary changes.

What is the team composition?

We worked with five to six of their employees. We worked with a project manager, a designer, a UX/UI specialist, a developer, and their CEO.

How did you come to work with Clearbridge Mobile?

We were looking online for vendors with a set list of requirements. We saw that they worked with a top-tier television company and decided to contact them.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested $45,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in March 2018 and ended in June 2018.

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

We don’t have any metrics yet. However, their work was tremendously high-quality. They were extremely organized and thorough, and always worked with us to identify what we needed.

How did Clearbridge Mobile perform from a project management standpoint?

We called them at least every other day and used Slack to communicate quickly. We also used texts and email for anything urgent. They were always attentive, easy to get a hold of, responsive. Their team’s ability to stick to strict timelines and deliver on time was exceptional. We easily cleaned out any bugs or errors through direct conversations with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were impressed by their attentiveness and excellent resources. Whether we need them or not, they were always on standby to help troubleshoot or spot problems that might come up during development. They were insightful and foresaw any issues before it came up. They’re an excellent partner, and I hope to hire them again someday.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Respondent 1: I am a collaboration specialist for a utility company. We have approximately 1 million customers in the Greater Golden Horseshoe area. Our service area extends from St. Catharines in the southwest to the shores of Georgian Bay in the north.

Respondent 2: I am the communications advisor of Alectra Utilities, which is the result of a recent merger of four local distribution companies in southern Ontario. We are now the second-largest municipal-owned utility company in North America.

What challenge were you trying to address with Clearbridge Mobile?

Respondent 2: We were looking for a simple, easy-to-operate app that would direct customers to the correct website or telephone number for their service area. Our overarching website looks seamless to customers but involves juggling a lot of elements in the backend. Due to our recent merger, we have four customer care and billing systems, four outage maps, and four sets of self-service forms.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Respondent 2: They developed an app for iOS and Android.

Respondent 1: These apps are native.

Respondent 2: The app focuses on the six most common tasks requested by customers and directs them to four web pages or telephone numbers. Initially, Clearbridge created a network diagram that showed the app’s functions and our goals. They also had a very good understanding of our new brand guidelines.

Initially, I wanted to use location services for customers, but this became challenging because our service area is not contiguous across southern Ontario. Originally, the app directed a user to the nearest Alectra Utilities office, which was not necessarily their original service provider. However, it didn’t work as I had hoped it might. Since we were trying to keep it simple, we went back to selecting the service area. The app stays in the service area unless the user changes the option.

What is the team composition?

Respondent 2: We worked with six people throughout the project, including the sales team and app developers.

How did you come to work with Clearbridge Mobile?

Respondent 2: They were pretty much the first result that came up when we googled “software developers.” As we reviewed the requests for proposal, Clearbridge was far ahead of the other two companies we were looking at. Since they are based in Ontario, they were one of our customers, which is always a plus.

How much have you invested with them?

Respondent 2: The total cost has been less than $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Respondent 2: We started working on a master service agreement in the spring of 2017, while the actual app development started in December 2017. We’ve launched the app, but we are still in contact with Clearbridge in case we run into any challenges. For example, they did some follow-up work in March 2018 when we had a small glitch with one type of device.

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

Respondent 2: We would prefer to wait before sharing metrics. People don’t come to us unless they need to, so we get more followers on Twitter during storms and other such events. We tracked downloads for the app during a recent ice storm and saw 500–600 downloads over the course of the storm. Hopefully, they’ll keep the app.

We haven’t received specific user feedback, but we have seen positive comments about the app on social media during the storm: “Hey, we never knew you had this. Great idea!” I certainly haven’t seen any negative feedback.

How did Clearbridge Mobile perform from a project management standpoint?

Respondent 2: Since it was a small project, we let them handle project management. They created a project plan, held weekly meetings to keep us on track, and followed up afterward. It was a straightforward process.

Respondent 1: They were pretty good at addressing our concerns, especially when we had an issue with the app rollout. They were responsive and came up with a solution for making it work.

Respondent 2: The app release was a couple of weeks late, but that was on our side, not theirs. At one point, I was willing to accept that we wouldn’t be able to release the app, but Clearbridge persevered and delivered exactly what we were looking for.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Respondent 2: Clearbridge compares favorably against other vendors we’ve worked with. We were quite happy with their services.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Respondent 2: Since I did not understand exactly how the app should work, my initial expectations would have added to our costs. Clearbridge should recognize that not everyone is technical and manage expectations better.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a product manager for a telecommunications company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Clearbridge Mobile?

We were looking to launch an iOS and Android app that would provide self-service for users in place of our customer service phone lines.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They proposed an app using a screen-scraping technology. Once we approved the solution, they began creating the wireframe and developing the code from scratch. 

We used an agile development methodology for this project, launching it in four sprints. Our internal QA team handled the validation testing, and their QA team dealt with the technical bugs on the app’s backend. We’d log them and correct them before the next release.

Some of the app’s key features include pop-up capabilities, usage monitoring, credit card payments, and billing statement access for users.

What is the team composition? 

We worked with about six members of their team, including UI, developers, a QA team, the chief technology officer and a project manager. Our project manager was our primary point of contact.

How did you come to work with Clearbridge Mobile?

We first heard about Clearbridge through another company’s CEO who’s a business contact of mine. He was consulting with them and suggested I take a look at their portfolio. We also had an internal team member who recommended them as the best mobile app development firm to work with. After evaluating several other vendors, we decided to go with Clearbridge because they had the most experience with the technology we were looking to build and the best price for our budget.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with each other in October 2017, and we just launched the app in January 2018. We’ll likely continue working with them for support and maintenance of the app.

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

Because the app is Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard compliant, we ran the app through extensive digital compliance testing, from code scans to penetration testing. Clearbridge came back best in class and set a new standard for other teams to achieve.

How did Clearbridge Mobile perform from a project management standpoint?

They did an excellent job. They set up a project schedule when we first began partnering and managed to deliver on time against an evolving production system. We communicated primarily through face-to-face meetings, email, and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We found their can-do attitude most impressive. They went above-and-beyond, displaying ingenuity to identify potential solutions. I couldn’t ask for a better vendor.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. They’ve impressed multiple departments and teams within our organization. They’ve set a new standard for us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re on the pricier side, but they’re the best for what you pay for.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a technical implementation specialist for a financial services firm.  

What challenge were you trying to address with Clearbridge Mobile?

We needed a mobile app built to connect to our clients in every technology possible. We provide a service through the web or with API connection, but we saw a gap with our offline clients to provide an online connection. Since we don’t have any developers on staff, we needed to find a firm to help us.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built the app for both iOS and Android. Xamarin was one of the technologies they used, which is a testing pilot on the cloud for all apps. Clearbridge had to connect and design the user experience for API connections. We handled security and logins, and they provided us everything we needed to get the ball rolling and build the foundation of our app. We required two specific items for this phase of the app, which are Spot Trade and Market Orders and used by the majority of our clients. We also asked Clearbridge to develop a few user-friendly menus to accompany the experience.

What Clearbridge brought to the table was speed and efficacy. They knew how to understand the business before developing the app, and that’s what I like most about their team. They provided us a concept of what we wanted to do and quickly acted on it. Clearbridge’s team consisted of an account manager, senior product owner, a team lead, one UX designer, three to four developers, and three QA aggression testers. Now that we’ve seen what can be developed, we want to add more value features to include online and potential clients, which includes discussions with Clearbridge for future phases.

How did you come to work with Clearbridge Mobile?

A partnership agreement was made prior to when I joined the team.

How much have you invested with Clearbridge Mobile?

We have spent over $200,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2016, and the work is ongoing. I started working with them in October 2016 when I joined the team. They provided a prototype for one of our major events that we went to last year. The relationship just kept building from there.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The app has only been deployed internally. In terms of revenue metrics, we did do a pilot with the app. We’ve onboarded six clients, and there was a revenue stream of just under $5,000 in a month’s time. They delivered the pilot app on time to ensure our goal, and our path for the app is needed in the industry. That’s what we use it for. When we launch to our clientele within the next couple of weeks, we will be able to do some measurements. The functionality is top-notch. We’ve done the aggression testing to make as many possible situations with Clearbridge. They took it upon themselves to make sure it’s stable in a live environment. We don’t have any issues as we speak.

How did Clearbridge Mobile perform from a project management standpoint?

They delivered on time. When we asked for things to be done on a specific date, they got it done a day or two early because they prioritized things quite well. They made sure they aligned their schedule with ours. They have their own schedules to meet as well but at the same time, they prioritize so that it goes through the rigorous tests and QA and deployment. I was ecstatic to hear their Agile process is on point with what we’re doing. We have our own development team that does Agile development as well, so it aligned perfectly. We used Slack to communicate individually and as a group. They’re very responsive. We also do a daily stand-up call to go through what’s been done that day or the day before and to discuss what needs to be done next. Everyone was committed to the project and we’re grateful. We used JIRA to track tickets and keep track of story writing. I can view that at any point.

Clearbridge easily adapted to certain things that we needed that weren’t on the project list. They put that on their timeline according to timeframes and made sure everybody was on board with it. There was a lot of discussions and team-based work, but they get us involved as much as we get them involved. We just leave them to do their thing because they’re experts at development. They understand us, and we understand what we need to provide them. The key was top-notch communication, which helped them understand our business before developing the app. Their customer service was exactly what we were looking for. They met our expectations on a daily and weekly basis, and that’s why we enjoyed working with them.

What did you find most impressive about Clearbridge Mobile?

I don’t have experience with other teams, but I was impressed by their communication, the quality of their team, and how they understood our needs. They were knowledgeable about designing and creating an app. They had the expertise to start with something on a board and end with something technology-based, using a seamless and transparent process. They’re all there to listen and provide feedback throughout the project.  

Are there any areas Clearbridge Mobile could improve?

No, I don’t have anything negative to say about them. There were bumps in the road, but we worked well together.