Build it right the first time
Haystack is a premier consulting firm for Mobile Apps, Custom Software, Web Development, or Software Integrations.
We have an office in Phoenix, AZ and Indianapolis, IN, with clients across the country. We're a collective of wildly passionate technologists and strategists who constantly seek to understand challenges from every angle and build solutions with positive impact.
OUR DEVELOPERS ARE CLIENT-FACING.
It may seem a small difference, but it encompasses everything we're about. We reject the model that says that a non- or semi-technical Account Manager or Project Manager needs to be your only point of contact. We subscribe to the idea that this Agency model results in uninformed advice, miscommunication, redundancy (that you're paying for, by the way), and a greater likelihood of misaligned requirements.
Our Consultants (AKA Client-Facing Developers) meet with you from the very beginning. They listen to your challenges and have the experience and foresight to recommend solutions that they are likely going to be the ones to build themselves. We hire technologists who have both the brains and the demeanor to walk with you through what can otherwise be a stressful experience. Haystack clients truly feel a partnership wherein our team is their team.
Our team commits to getting your solution right the first time, but we never settle for good enough. We keep learning, keep testing our assumptions, and keep improving your solution so it never grows stale, gets old, or stops meeting your needs.
Have a vision? Let’s make it a reality.
headquarters
other locations
Focus
Recommended Providers
Portfolio
Phat Scooters, Pomchies, MemberClicks
Phat Scooters: HD Golf Calculator
Overview
The Phat Scooters team approached Haystack with the idea to create a calculator that allows course managers to create a report, customized to the details of their course and pricing structure, that details the return on investment when switching to the innovative Phat Scooters HD Golf scooter. Understanding that course managers often work with other course stakeholders, Phat Scooters wanted to generate a custom one-sheeter that could be shared with decision-makers.
Solution
Partnering closely with Phat Scooters sales, marketing and design teams, Haystack created an interactive calculator that looks and functions well on both mobile devices and desktops. After a course manager enters their course information, the calculator quickly shows them statistics regarding their return on investment.
Behind the scenes, the course manager’s course information is added to Phat Scooters CRM to help Phat Scooters better serve them and better understand the state of the golf course industry. While that is happening, the system is simultaneously generating a personalized PDF using DocRaptor’s PDF generation service then triggering a custom email workflow to send the course manager their results. Built on AWS using Lambda functions and Amazon’s CloudFront CDN, the services that handle all this functionality can scale up and down quickly, keeping costs low by scaling based on demand.
Reviews
the project
Custom Mobile App Dev for Ophthalmology Company
“We’re completely happy with them.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the CEO of EyeConnect International, a secured platform of ophthalmologists. Our platform provides ophthalmology participants with opportunities to exchange their thoughts and ideas with regard to technologies, complications, and complication avoidance.
What challenge were you trying to address with Haystack?
We hired Haystack for their mobile app development services.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Our platform was initially established on vBulletin, but we found out over a period of time that the platform didn’t have the necessary flexibility we needed. Though we decided to stick with vBulletin, we’ve taken Haystack’s proposal to customize the platform.
At present, we’re adding all bells and whistles to make the platform more user-friendly and useful to our participants. The app can be used on both Android and iOS platforms. Overall, they’re dealing with an old platform, but we hope to change that in the next 60 days.
What is the team composition?
We work with five people from their team.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve invested about $30,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in May 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
The app has been up and running for about three months now. Our participants haven’t had any problem in terms of posting and using the platform. Overall, I’m satisfied with their work, and they’ve met our expectations.
How did Haystack perform from a project management standpoint?
Haystack’s project management participates in our board meetings, which take place twice per month or every two weeks. We use Zoom.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Their transparency is their strong point. They’re highly upfront with regard to what needs to be done. They also provide us with a good financial picture of what the tasks will cost.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, there aren’t any. We’re completely happy with them.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Contact Haystack’s CEO, who will assign the project to their team. Take look at their proposal — it’s detailed — and take it from there.
the project
Web Dev & Maintenance for Apparel Accessories Company
"They do their due diligence and they understand the company and its needs before starting anything."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
We're an accessories company that does everything from scrunchies to lanyards to bag tags to other products made out of a nylon spandex swimsuit fabric. I'm in marketing, sales, and customer relations. It's actually my mother's company and I help manage the business. We've been doing this for 18 years, small-scale home office.
In March, we transitioned to making facemasks for the COVID-19 pandemic. Our facemasks went viral in the south and we've been selling millions of them now. We had to increase production as couldn't even keep up and had a four week waiting time. Everyone loves our masks.
What challenge were you trying to address with Haystack?
We already had the website up and going. Previously, we had a family friend with a very small company helping us with the site. However, they were very slow and not easy to get in touch with. As orders increased, so did the number of issues with the site. We were looking for a new go-to web developer to help out with this.
We also had a very inefficient system where all of our orders would come through emails and blow up our inbox. We had to manually print each email, fill the order, and manually type out the shipping addresses, which was a big waste of time.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Haystack fully developed our website for us. They’re our go-to people now when we have things that need to be changed or modified on the website. They also helped create a new process for printing the orders and our shipping labels. We used OpenCart as the platform of choice.
What is the team composition?
We work with three members of the Haystack team.
How did you come to work with Haystack?
They were recommended by a family friend.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve invested around $3,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working with them in August 2020 and it is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
They were able to help us implement a system where we could get two day's work done in an hour. We are able to print out all the orders at once side by side with all of the correct shipping labels. All we have to do is stick the label on the package and send it out. Haystack really helped streamline our process.
How did Haystack perform from a project management standpoint?
It's nice that they're flexible in how I want to communicate with them. Haystack stays on top of things and is easy to communicate with. I have a lot going on so I don't like to sit and go back and forth on emails all day long.
A lot of our communication is through texting. It's much more convenient for me to take a picture of what's wrong or tell them what's wrong than to go back and forth over email or phone calls.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They're very friendly and actually want to help. In fact, they come by our office and say hello every once in a while. Haystack does their due diligence, understanding the company and its needs before starting anything. They try to get it right the first time. They always follow up with me and clearly work to understand the needs of the customer.
Are there any areas they could improve?
For the most part, it went pretty well. There's not much I can think of.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
If you have questions about anything you're skeptical about, bring it up to them. They're very open. I am always skeptical when signing a contract with new people who are going to have access to all of our information and our website.
I bug them a lot with questions, but they are always understanding. Feel free to ask as many questions as you want because they do want to help and they are good at responding.
the project
Design & Development for New Outdoor Oriented Mobile App
"Everyone who sees their work is astonished by the high-quality work they were able to accomplish in a short timeframe."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I'm the owner fo Riders United, a new outdoor-oriented mobile app
What challenge were you trying to address with Haystack?
I work with Haystack to develop envisioned products. They are our main developers.
What was the scope of their involvement?
They helped me envision my final masterpiece onto paper and conceptualize the digital side of things. They laid out how I would accomplish my goal.
We're working on the development part soon and I can't wait. I have a prototype and they're building the app now. They're handling all the design and development, as well as teaching me to understand the technical details. They're developing the app in iOS and Android, using Java.
What is the team composition?
I've primarily worked with three people, but I haven't met their entire team.
How did you come to work with Haystack?
I found them online and they seemed like a good fit. I called like five companies and didn't get good trustworthy feelings. With Haystack, they answered every question and broke down their answers so everything made sense.
How much have you invested with them?
Right now, it's below $15,000 but I expect to spend just under $100,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working in July 2020 and the work is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
They're really straightforward which helped a lot. Everyone who sees their work is astonished by the high-quality work they were able to accomplish in a short timeframe. They kept their timelines and did a great job going above and beyond to make sure every little detail I wanted was included. They have a professional touch.
How did Haystack perform from a project management standpoint?
They're very clear at project management. They're very helpful — a lot of the technology is new to me but they make it clear cut.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Overall, they're a great company and I can't wait to work with them in the future.
Are there any areas they could improve?
They should double down on what they're doing now. It's working very well for them.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Know every single detail of what you're trying to accomplish. It gives them a general idea of what you want and set your focal points.
The app has been launched, and end users haven’t had any problems with using it. As a result, the company is happy with Haystack’s work. The team is highly transparent about everything, informing the client about what needs to be done and what they cost. They also manage the project actively.