Ingenious

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the VP of product and co-founder of an electronic learning (e-learning) company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ingenious?

We needed staff augmentation services for engineering tasks. We had an internal software development team and were looking to hire, onboard, and train software developers quicker than we could locally to compete with bigger companies in our market. We were seeking a partner who could help us scale up our engineering efforts and offer a technical leadership perspective to help guide our decision-making and planning to work with our local team. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, Ingenious gave us a few profiles of candidates who could be good candidates for our team. We reviewed the provided profiles and selected one developer to join our team. We've onboarded the selected team member, and our local team has handed over documentation and completed the onboarding and training process. Since this was our first time working with non-local developers, we've established new procedures and practices for our teams to collaborate. 

We've requested full stack engineers to contribute across the entire platform who have experience in Ruby on Rails, Angular, React, Elasticsearch, and Android and iOS development. 

What is the team composition?

We currently work with two engineers full-time. We also have part-time support as needed from a DevOps engineer, a designer, and a project manager. 

How did you come to work with Ingenious?

We met an Ingenious representative at a technology conference and contacted them a few months later.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Ingenious in April 2019, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Ingenious' team helps us save money because they're more affordable than engineering resources from the US, roughly saving 25% of our costs. We measure productivity using story points, a common metric in Scrum software development environments, and Ingenious has increased the number of story points delivered by 39% in the past year. Ingenious' work quality meets my expectations.

How did Ingenious perform from a project management standpoint?

Ingenious delivers work on time and on budget. We use Wrike for project management, Slack and Google Meet for communication, and Notion and Google Docs for documentation.
Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

Marcelo (Software Engineer IV, Team Lead) is our engineering team lead and has been an extremely good partner for me in planning our roadmap and developing practices and structure for the team. He's very patient and a good communicator, being great to work with. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had some issues at the beginning of the project, and Ingenious addressed them very well. We haven't had another problem in the past three years. 

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I suggest inviting Ingenious' expertise and leadership into your team and trusting them to help you make decisions. Trust the team to lead and make decisions for your projects because they do it very well. Sometimes, companies that work with outsourced development providers can be hesitant to give over control, but Ingenious will bring more value when you invite them into the decision-making process. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at Steritas LLC, a healthcare and scientific research company. Our company has created a first-in-class instrument to quantify and track steroid toxicity in patients worldwide and clinical research.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ingenious?

We needed staff augmentation services to build a software stack that digitized our offering.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Ingenious has created a web application. They’ve done all the design and development for the digital project. The backend is Python and FastAPI, the web app is React, and the cloud solution uses Bitbucket, GitHub, Docker, AWS, EC2, and RDS. Additionally, they’ve worked on project management and proxy product ownership.

The team continues building the functionality for the brand-new digital backbone they’ve created for us. Ingenious has launched new methods of integration and efficiency. The project is stateless, and the new capabilities have supported our customers and business needs.

Moreover, the tools they’ve created work well with academic, industry, and commercial applications. Ingenious has focused on making the entire suite of digital instruments more accessible and easy to use.

What is the team composition?

We’ve had 4–6 teammates at a time. Ingenious is very flexible because sometimes we need them all, and sometimes we back off and need a partial team when we’re in maintenance mode. We generally have a full stack engineer, a DevOps engineer, a product owner, a QA person, a product manager, and a designer. 

How did you come to work with Ingenious?

An industry professional we worked with referred them to me; he was highly regarded among our team and industry. Ingenious did an unbelievable work for him and his project; they built an app for him in healthcare.

We vetted several vendors but weren’t finding the right fit. Thankfully, we found Ingenious in the end.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $200,000–$1 million so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in September 2022, and our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Ingenious did the first project we wanted to do, and then we opened the floodgates and gave them all of our other business. They’ve maintained all the statistics, which is really impressive. Everything we’ve asked for has been completed on time and within budget. We’ve launched on time and even earlier a couple of times, since we have various milestones.

How did Ingenious perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re incredibly responsive. The team always lets us know what they’re working on. They know we’re the customers, and it’s like having an assistant right in the office next door. Ingenious’ team researches thoroughly and comes back to us with multiple solutions.

Moreover, their communication has been spectacular, even better than ours. We use email and Slack to communicate immediately, but we also have regular sprint meetings via Google Meet and constant contact with the proxy product owner.

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

We work more closely with Nahuel (Sr. Software Engineer) and Iwen (Product Owner). Everyone is impressive, so I don’t mean to diminish the others by highlighting those two.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Ingenious knows our business and understands what we’re trying to accomplish. They’re genuinely devoted to healthcare solutions. When we were looking for a service provider, everyone had engineers, but nobody understood our business. Suppliers told us what they could do, but nobody asked what we wanted except Ingenious. That was the sign of a partner, not a supplier or contractor.

Another thing that really impresses me is that they constantly track and measure their own improvement and success. Even if we have nothing to complain about, they prompt us to give feedback, which is pretty astonishing. If we don’t respond in time, they want to ensure it’s not because there’s a problem. Everyone from the president to my team is aware of our work.

Overall, they’re just a superb augmentation of our staff.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Everyone has room for improvement, but we don’t wait six months to figure it out; we do it weekly. We’re so integrated that we fix things as we go, so I’m a bit blank regarding room for improvement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The team is very modest; they don’t brag and tell the world how great they are. Anyone working with Ingenious, especially from the US, may think they aren’t powerful because they’re so low-key. However, they’re incredibly powerful and accomplished; they just never oversell themselves. Sometimes they even undersell themselves, so everyone working with them should know that modesty is part of their culture.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Co-Founder of PAES Scan

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Educational Curriculum for Students with Special Needs

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Ingenious to accomplish?

• Rescue an existing Mobile App development project
• Deploy a Mobile App
• Deploy a Web App

SOLUTION

How did you find Ingenious?

Referral

Why did you select Ingenious over others?

• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

What was the size of Ingenious’s team?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Ingenious rescued a mobile and web app development project, after we had started with a large US firm and then migrated to an individual developer. Ingenious did a great job of merging branches and organizing the project in an effective way. We were able to launch our Mobile and Web Applications in a timely manner.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Mobile App Deployment
• Web App Deployment

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Project management was very smooth and organized.

What was your primary form of communication with Ingenious?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email
• Messaging App

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

Good value, good talent, good organization.

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

Ingenious provides a great service and has a small business feeling. People are very easy to work with. Given the frequency with that our team meets, we have also developed a great personal bond. My only wish for Ingenious is that their billing department adopts this type of personal connection.

They rely on computer-generated reminders that don't really reflect the personal culture we've found at Ingenious. A personal touch in that department would push them over the edge of absolutely amazing.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CIO of 180 MSK. We provide virtual solutions to transition patients in and out of virtual environments for physical therapy and orthopedic clinics. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ingenious?

We hired Ingenious for their mobile app development services. When we started this project, one of our biggest challenges was the fact that we were an early-stage company. As such, we needed plenty of flexibility and a dynamic environment. We hired another development team before Ingenious, but that team didn’t seem to truly understand our needs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We needed Ingenious to design an app that would make it easier for patients to go back and forth between virtual environments. The team initially did a gap analysis to know what we already had versus what we still needed to do to be successful in our production environment. The gap was sizable because our past development team didn’t fully understand our business and use cases. 

Meanwhile, Ingenious dove deep not only into the app itself but also into how it would reflect our business model. From there, we started developing the product. During this process, they built everything from camera integrations to electronic medical records (EMR). They also considered our brick-and-mortar facilities. 

At present, we’re still developing the product. The team is continuing production in a post-launch environment. They provide us with maintenance and continuous support services. The app currently has features for recording injury recovery protocols. The end users can also record ongoing exercises, nutrition, and wellness information. The product also has video-capture and results-tracking capabilities. Virtual meetings with clinicians are also doable. It’s available on desktop, iOS, and Android devices.

Apart from development, Ingenious has also been involved in graphic design and marketing. We have our own logo and branding as an early-stage company, but they’ve also provided us with resources for marketing and design. They help us have a ubiquitous presence across all of our social media platforms and marketing campaigns. That way, we have one brand voice and brand promise. 

What is the team composition?

The team composition has fluctuated over time. We’ve started off with two key stakeholders and then ramped it up to 9–12 developers. The members also include project managers, their CTO, and UI/UX designers. 

How did you come to work with Ingenious?

A colleague of ours introduced us to Ingenious. I happened to be venting about our previous development team, and he told me about Ingenious. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $200,000. By the end of the year, we expect to have invested north of $500,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2021, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have no downloads or app store ratings yet — it’s a bit too early for those — but we’ll probably have these in the next couple of months. As far as the development is concerned, our sprints have been ahead of schedule; we’ve wrapped up each sprint before every deadline. For general feedback, many people think our app is intuitive. Its design is also similar to other apps in the market, so people find it easy to navigate. Overall, everybody thinks the product is cool and new; it’s a brand new take on what they’ve been doing.

Meanwhile, there have been bugs along the way, but they’re not because of Ingenious’ work. The bugs are just part of the challenges we have to figure out as we transition patients in and out of virtual environments and brick-and-mortar facilities. 

Moreover, Ingenious hasn’t only fixed bugs; they’ve also come with a creative mindset. Since they understand our business model, they’ve helped us a lot in terms of critical thinking. The experience has been enlightening. As people that don’t exactly work in the medical industry, their knowledge is way ahead of other teams.

How did Ingenious perform from a project management standpoint?

Ingenious’ project management has been fantastic. They’ve met our budget expectations. To communicate, we’ve used Slack and Basecamp. We also have recurring video meetings and phone calls with them. Overall, we’ve had an open communication process.

We have two standup meetings with them every week; one is a high-level meeting, while the other is where we set an outline for our next sprint. They make sure that we’re tracking things in the right direction. During such meetings, our teams spend a lot of time iterating and ideating what we need to do and change. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication style is their first biggest strength. The second one is their ability to outline realistic expectations. Many people want to create apps, but they don’t have any idea how much time or money is needed to do it. Luckily, Ingenious is great at outlining what you can expect from the project in the right way. They’re also honest about it. 

Finally, they take the time to understand our business — this has made the biggest difference in everything they do. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. It’s been a great engagement. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take the time to meet the Ingenious team and understand how their thought processes work. If you let their creativity and processes match your own, your engagement will be extremely successful. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a fintech solution company that provides wealth management, cryptocurrency, and fiat exchange capabilities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ingenious?

I hired Ingenious to help me develop my app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I provided Ingenious with transactional flows and user personas and directed them through the wireframes. They’ve developed the UI/UX prototype using Figma, and we’re now developing the app.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with a project manager and three developers.

How did you come to work with Ingenious?

A previous employee had worked with Ingenious on a contract — he has built a good relationship with them and recommended them to complete our project.

What is the status of this engagement?

I began my partnership with Ingenious in August 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We developed the prototype in three weeks. We spent week four making edits, fixing grammatical errors, etc. I provided them with a lot of documentation upfront, including transaction flows, so we were able to move very effectively and efficiently in our two–week sprint while developing the prototype. 

How did Ingenious perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re managing this project using a mix of Kanban and agile. Ingenious has done a great job of wrangling all necessary data upfront so they can complete sprints. I’d say about 70% of their quick turnaround is due to the initial conversations we had to gather information and requirements. Within each agile sprint, they’ve gone above and beyond to complete every task that was negotiated upfront. We hold weekly or biweekly check-ins so they can update me on the project’s status and what work they’ve completed.

We coordinate via Figma, Slack, and Basecamp. Even when they’re waiting on me, they send reminders that they’re waiting to get their work done.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The level of their skill is what sets Ingenious apart. Their company is based on behavioral design, so the aesthetics they implement based on behavioral composites is a little more effective than their competitors. They think about the psychological process and composite details that are necessary for the natural eye, right down to the colors and intuitive navigation.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t see any areas where they could’ve improved — I didn’t notice any blocks.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I knew what to bring to the table because of my area of expertise, but if you don’t have those materials, their project management will walk you step by step through the process and get you to a very good start. They’ll make sure you understand the logic for why they’re deciding to build the stacks based on scope. Don’t hesitate to ask them questions if you’re not educated in these areas, because they can educate you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a healthcare technology startup that’s creating a product for doctors who work in a specialized area of medicine.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ingenious?

We’re developing a software application to address challenges that doctors face, helping them provide the best care and treatment results for patients. Our goal is to enable doctors to have better information and make better decisions.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided very high-level documentation and met frequently with Ingenious, and Ingenious developed the UI/UX prototype from scratch. We'll develop the software program next, beta test it for the rest of the year, and launch the product for users in early 2023.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with three people from Ingenious so far: one behavioral science and strategy expert plus two UI/UX designers.

How did you come to work with Ingenious?

We found Ingenious through a referral. We’d been looking at many different options for developing our application. In the end, we chose Ingenious because they had amazing prior experience in healthcare, fair pricing, and great customer service. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $15,000 with Ingenious.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began this ongoing engagement in December 2021. Ingenious has completed the scope of work that we set out for the prototype. In phase two, we’ll begin to develop the software program.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

There were no scope changes, and the prototype is complete.

How did Ingenious perform from a project management standpoint?

Ingenious delivered the prototype within budget and deadline, and their response times were unbelievable. They were very good in the discovery phase. Their process was intensive, and we probably had 18–25 meetings — but not a second of those meetings was wasted. They really personalized their service and went out of their way to accommodate our needs. 

They're very process-oriented, with fundamental ideas about how to scope out a project like this and understand the objectives using models and frameworks. We use Basecamp for project management. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Ingenious is equal parts strategic and detail-oriented. They’re by far the best third-party agency I’ve ever worked with — it’s not even close. Their levels of expertise, customer service, and attention to detail are all incredible. They’re truly service-oriented.

They have very fair pricing; they’re not overpriced or underpriced. At the level of service they provide, there are probably about 10 firms in the world with their combination of strengths. They’re also fluent in both English and Spanish, which is important to us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have no suggestions for areas where Ingenious could improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

In order for a project like this to be successful, you need to go all-in as a client. They’ll help guide you, and they’re good about asking you questions to find out what you’re looking for, but you need to be committed and available.

Some people may get impatient with how many questions Ingenious asks. As a client, you need to understand that they’re going so deep because they need to get a granular understanding of your project and put themselves in the shoes of a potential user.

Getting the full benefit from their strategy and their attention to detail will take time. Prepare well for your meetings with Ingenious — you should have zero distractions. Have at least two people on your own team to split up the workload, and have an internal project manager who can work with theirs. That’s how you have a 10-out-of-10 experience and get the most from your partnership with Ingenious.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of the Inspire franchise. We offer weight-loss franchises in the US.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ingenious?

We wanted to be able to monitor our clients’ progress on a daily basis in order to offer additional services. For this, we needed to develop a mobile app as well as a health coach portal.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We didn’t have any in-depth technical knowledge, so we leaned on Ingenious’s expertise and recommendations for what would be best for our company. We supplied them with broad information about our vision and our brand. They captured other additional details and developed the app and portal from scratch. 

For the app, we asked them to incorporate the five basic metrics that we use to keep track of our clients: daily weigh-in, food eaten, number of hours of sleep, water intake, and bowel movements. They created an algorithm that could calculate the average for each client so that we could see if they were within the healthy range. 

What is the team composition?

There were probably more people working behind the scenes, but we regularly met with three people. We also worked with the designer during the initial discovery phases. 

How did you come to work with Ingenious?

My husband and I are in the healthtech space; we own a healthcare software company. He came to know of Ingenious through a potential project that they were going to work on together. When I started searching for developers, he put me in touch with Ingenious.

I found them really easy to talk to. Instead of rejecting our ideas as unattainable for our budget, they walked us through our entire list of what we wanted to achieve and helped us work out the best possible solutions and alternatives for the budget that we had. They also provided us with a timeline that made sense, so we decided that we wanted to work with them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $46,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership lasted from August–November 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Ingenious delivered the final product two weeks ahead of schedule. This allowed us more than enough time to notice a couple of bugs, which Ingenious also handled well. They took care of the issue very quickly. 

We were able to launch the app with success. The algorithm that they created has saved us from having to do manual calculations, and it has really helped us take better care of the 40–50 clients that are now using the app.

How did Ingenious perform from a project management standpoint?

Ingenious was really great at picking apart our ideas and creating what we needed while sticking to our vision. They always treated our questions and requests with respect and made suggestions based on their expertise. We didn’t know much of the technical lingo but they always made an effort to understand where we were coming from. 

We communicated through Basecamp, and we were always able to reach them at any time of the day. When needed, we jumped into quick video calls. They were very accessible and transparent, and their customer service was really great. They also gave us access to the software that they were using to create the designs. We were able to review their output and leave our comments on it. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive thing about Ingenious was their transparency, accessibility, and how relatable they were. They’re not stuffy people who don’t have a sense of humor, and this allowed us to have a great relationship where we could all talk freely. It was as though we were all on the same team. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The payment system that they have in place takes a while to send the money from us to them, but that’s more their issue than mine. I don’t have any complaints about how they worked. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to set realistic goals and be mindful of your budget. It would be good to rank your wishlist in order of importance so that Ingenious could find a way to execute it while staying within your budget.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an associate professor at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, but at the time of my engagement with Ingenious, I had just transitioned jobs. I was previously at Weill Cornell Medical College. In both institutions, though, I am a research faculty member.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ingenious?

I was developing a web-based application that could help patients with advanced illnesses plan their end-of-life care arrangements and connect with their loved ones. I hired Ingenious to help me with the development. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Ingenious built out the entire platform in terms of the design elements and the interactive prototype functionality. I equipped them with all the materials that would be on the web-based app, including animated video content which are educational in nature. 

There is a feature within the app that is sort of like a guided decision aid tool. I had all of the questions, answers, choices, and responses designed specifically to autofill PDF versions of legal documents that patients would need to have in hand. It was also designed in a way that a document could be accomplished by a healthcare proxy or a legal decision-maker for a patient. 

What is the team composition?

I interacted with the CEO of Ingenious to scope out the work and to address higher-level issues. My most frequent points of contact, however, were two individuals. There were about five people, all in all, who were working on the project, and this included a graphic designer, web developers, and a project lead. 

How did you come to work with Ingenious?

A colleague of mine from the University of Colorado Medical School referred Ingenious because they had a positive experience working with them. I saw that they had partnered on a similar project and that Ingenious had experience working in an academic medical setting, creating patient-facing tools under grant-funded and highly regulated environments, so I decided to work with them. 

I also liked that Ingenious had a guided and standardized development process that would be beneficial to someone who’s new to it. That, along with their competitive pricing, was also a driving force behind my decision.

How much have you invested with them?

Thus far, we’ve spent $55,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began the project in September 2020 and it is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are still in the development phase so we haven’t had the chance to utilize the product with patients. I have very limited quantitative feedback, but I will say that Ingenious is carrying out a good timeline. Everything is being done very thoroughly and the team is very responsive to my feedback. The main metrics I have right now are simply with the infrastructure and prototype being in place. 

How did Ingenious perform from a project management standpoint?

We don’t use a ton of specialized tools; we simply have a Slack channel in place that we use occasionally. We also touch base biweekly through video conferencing, and it is extraordinarily helpful and consistent. They’re able to gather the whole team for these meetings, which are our primary form of communication. Between that time, we exchange emails or, if there’s a need to have something handled quickly, hop on a brief phone call. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most distinguishing aspect of Ingenious’s services is their helpful creative input. There were times when I wasn’t certain what design or functionality features to introduce into the app, but they were thoughtful enough to recommend options that I hadn’t even thought of.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The biggest point of improvement could be on the communication. There was one instance when certain aspects of the design were miscommunicated and we ended up with a final product that missed some key elements that were outlined in the original proposal. I learned a lot from the experience as well and to their credit, Ingenious still found a workaround. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t hesitate to push back with the recommended changes that Ingenious will present. They’re very open-minded and quick to have a collaborative brainstorming session to accommodate your recommendations or concerns.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the project director for a public health school.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ingenious?

We needed someone to develop a mobile app to help us conduct a research study.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Ingenious created a mobile app for iOS and Android. The app was aimed at preventing alcohol-exposed pregnancy among indigenous women in the US. It contained the curriculum that we designed for our study. Users can log in to access the modules, watch related videos, ask questions, and so on.

What is the team composition?

I regularly interacted with the project manager and another teammate. Kevin (Business Development Manager) was also instrumental in some project phases.

How did you come to work with Ingenious?

A faculty member who previously worked with Ingenious highly recommended them.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost $85,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from January–August 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Ingenious delivered a good quality app, and we had no complaints about their work. We’re still working on some things, so we haven’t launched it yet. Even though the engagement is finished, they’ve continued to respond to us and resolved numerous issues for us.

How did Ingenious perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed well and were highly responsive. We had biweekly Zoom meetings and communicated via Slack. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Ingenious went above and beyond to please us. Every teammate I encountered was helpful and receptive to our concerns and needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be fruitful for them to keep in mind that their clients may not have an extensive understanding of technology, app design, and so on. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Let them know if you have a limited understanding of technology and app development.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a pediatric gastroenterologist and clinical researcher at a children's hospital. My work involves doing clinical research, health services research, and more.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Ingenious?

I hired Ingenious to develop a mobile health app in order to improve the way teenagers take their medications.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

My work with Ingenious will benefit liver transplant recipients. I’ve chosen to pursue building such an app because if teenagers don’t take their daily medicines for their liver transplant, they’re at risk of losing it. In addition, they can experience a lot of complications or even death. 

As a physical and health services researcher, I’m focused on treatment adherence. There’s a lot of research into why teenagers don’t take their medicines, but not a lot of effective interventions to solve the problem.

The team has been involved since the pre-planning phases of our mobile health app. They’ve helped us identify what can be best for our external stakeholders. Currently, they’ve completed our basic app and we’ve tested it as a research group. We also have a manuscript published because of that. On top of that, we plan to test it with patients soon.

What is the team composition?

We’ve had two main points of contact from Ingenious during the pre-planning phases. Then, there are at least 4–5 people who are part of the development phase, including their chief innovation officer.

How did you come to work with Ingenious?

I found Ingenious through my work with the university. Their team worked with multiple health services researchers before. Since my work focused on the psychosocial aspects of taking medicine, I knew that they were the right fit because they had worked for the same industry before.

How much have you invested with them?

We received a grant to develop the app from a liver disease association. I’m not sure how much money has been paid to Ingenious, but we’ve probably spent $50,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2018, and our collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The biggest metric that we can have is whether our work has been published in a medical journal. In connection with that, we’ve recently published our work in a medical journal. However, we haven’t released it for public use yet because we have ongoing work.

How did Ingenious perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate through email and video meetings. Ingenious has been great, and they’ve been responsive. On top of that, they’re open to feedback and have been very savvy in working with the medical community. Overall, we have a good partnership.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve done a lot of work in the medical arena which makes them capable of understanding the digital healthcare nuances.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’ve been very timely. I don’t really have much to say about areas they can improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very open to sharing your knowledge during the engagement. If you’re talking to a medical provider or a health services researcher, they can understand a lot of medical lingos that you’ll share. However, if you’re working with a development company, that may not be the case.