Mobile App Design & Development for Health & Well-Being Co
Featured Review- Mobile App Development UX/UI Design
- $200,000 to $999,999
- Jan. 2022 - Jan. 2023
- Quality
- 5.0
- Schedule
- 5.0
- Cost
- 5.0
- Willing to Refer
- 5.0
“I had never worked with a partner that put this much effort into documenting their interpretations of what I wanted.”
- Consulting
- Watford, England
- 51-200 Employees
- Phone Interview
- Verified
The Distance App Developers designed and built an iOS and Android mobile app for a health and well-being company. They delivered a feature document, created wireframes, and adjusted the design to user feedback.
The Distance App Developers delivered 100% of the app’s must-have features, which all passed the client’s UAT. The team was timely, transparent, collaborative through Basecamp, and communicative through weekly meetings. Their thorough and detailed documentation was a highlight.
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
BACKGROUND
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the CPO at GoodShape, a health and well-being company. We help improve staff wellness in order to increase productivity and performance at work. Our company has organizations in the UK and will soon be international.
OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE
What challenge were you trying to address with The Distance App Developers?
Our company has existed for 16 years, and the only way people could access our services was via phone calls to a call center. This limited access to our service; for example, sometimes, the nature of a person’s illness might mean it isn’t convenient for them to speak on the phone.
In addition to improving our UX’s accessibility, we wanted to grow as a company. We wanted digital and telephone platforms to help us spread our services to more people.
SOLUTION
What was the scope of their involvement?
The Distance provided us with mobile app development; they designed and built our app from scratch. We had requirements and a brief we had created internally, which included the app’s features. The Distance started with a discovery phase with several sessions to review our brief. They delivered a 140-page feature document.
For the design, the brief included concept illustrations. The Distance agreed to a set of brand guidelines on our part. From there, they designed the wireframes and UX journeys to show us how the app would look and how users would navigate it. They provided us with 2–3 alternatives for almost every major feature, which enabled us to survey our users to see which option they liked best.
We shared the wireframes with a selection of early-access customers to whom we gave confidential access to the early-stage design. The customers shared their feedback, which we gave to The Distance. The team factored the comments into the second version of the design, which included colors and artwork. After our stakeholders approved the design, The Distance developed the app for iOS and Android.
What is the team composition?
We consistently worked with 6–7 teammates from The Distance throughout the project. Thomas (Senior Account Manager) was responsible for ensuring the team met requirements, and Gemma (Head of Operations) was our project manager and key point of contact. Meanwhile, Jodie (UI/UX Designer) created the artwork and UX design, and James (Digital Product Designer) created the wireframes.
Additionally, we worked with Ellie (Business Analyst), who produced the feature document, and Anthony (Founder) was also involved in our project in a leadership role. We also had a team of backend developers, though I only spoke to two of them.
How did you come to work with The Distance App Developers?
We assigned part of our team to search for reputable app development agencies in the UK through Google. Since we were small, we didn’t want a massive agency; we didn’t want to risk choosing an agency to whom we didn’t feel like a big deal. Therefore, we searched for mid-sized development companies with good track records, pedigree, and experience building health and well-being apps.
We shared our brief with four app development agencies and invited them to pitch how they would meet our requirements. The Distance scored highest among the candidates. They previously built an app for people with Down Syndrome to help them better understand food and manage their diet. The app was very compelling, and The Distance used it as a case study and sent us a video of it as part of their sales materials.
How much have you invested in them?
The initial investment for the app was £220,000–£240,000 (approximately $272,000–$296,000 USD). We’ll spend a similar amount of money on the app’s second version.
What is the status of this engagement?
We signed the contract in January 2022 and released the app in January 2023. We’ve already signed an agreement for The Distance to build versions 2–4 of the app in the future.
RESULTS & FEEDBACK
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Since the app has only been live for a day, we don’t have user feedback yet. We used the MoSCoW method to determine what must, should, or could be on the app and used that to measure The Distance’s success. In total, we requested 117 must-have features, 21 should-have features, and a handful of nice-to-have features. The Distance delivered 100% of our must-have features, all of which passed our user acceptance testing (UAT).
The team was very good at giving us options and didn’t try and railroad us into just one way of doing things. They showed us many similar existing apps to show us examples of good and bad practices, helping us make decisions. Overall, The Distance was really helpful throughout the whole process.
They also met our January 2023 release deadline. We had promised our customers we’d release the app by a specific date, so the on-time delivery was a big success marketing-wise. We were so happy with The Distance’s work that we chose them to build versions 2–4 of the app based on our roadmap.
How did The Distance App Developers perform from a project management standpoint?
They did very well regarding project management. The Distance had a collaborative approach, so we were a very happy customer.
We only made three change requests during development, and The Distance gave us cost estimates for all three. They were very transparent throughout the process, and we had no issues with invoicing or payment. Moreover, they handled appropriate escalations for unforeseen issues, and the managing director joined the calls in those cases. As a result, we resolved the issues effectively and moved on.
They set up Basecamp and gave accounts to all our teammates. We used the tool as our central repository for documentation and as our space for chats and discussions. We had a weekly call with Gemma every Monday to go through the project plan, risks, next actions, and other items. For day-to-day communication, we used Slack; for calls, we used Google Meet and Microsoft Teams.
What did you find most impressive about them?
I was most impressed with The Distance’s documentation, which was head and shoulders above everything else. I can’t overstate how comprehensive and detailed their feature document was — it gave us confidence. They delivered 140 pages in the finest detail imaginable; it included every piece of text on every screen of the app.
Ultimately, the feature document made everything easier for both sides because it served as a reference document for our agreement. We were taken aback by how much effort they put into this; I had never worked with a partner that put this much effort into documenting their interpretations of what I wanted.
Overall, The Distance gave us a fantastic team. Anthony took a lot of interest in our work because he was really passionate about health and well-being. I’ve worked with many service providers in our company’s 16 years, and The Distance was the best supplier we’ve worked with — they were fantastic.
Are there any areas they could improve?
The design phase and the wireframing lasted longer than we expected. I didn’t realize how many months this phase would last. However, now I understand why that is. Still, it would have been good to know how long the design would take earlier.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
I would 100% recommend The Distance; they’ll be a partner, make a huge effort, and deliver a good service.
RATINGS
-
Quality
5.0Service & Deliverables
-
Schedule
5.0On time / deadlines
-
Cost
5.0Value / within estimates
-
Willing to Refer
5.0NPS
