Inmost

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the inventor of a dynamic method of measuring visual clarity.

For what projects/services did your company hire Inmost?

Inmost is taking a PC and iPad developed vision testing concept and making it available on the cloud for all electronic visual formats regardless of physical separation of the subject and test-giver.

How did you seleInmost and what were the deciding factors?

They had excellent familiarity with cloud-based testing software.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

First they had to emulate the unique bracketing algorithm for the sequence of the segmented Dyop rings which efficiently reflect the level of acuity of the test subject. Second they had to create a format for the test subject to register their basic information, properly calibrate their monitor for viewing the test images, and calculate the test viewing distance from their monitor.

Thirdly, they had to create the patient information file for the doctor (or test examiner) which will send a unique six-digit test code to the subject/patient. When the subject enters the code, the test is ready to begin. At the moment only the Adult test (two centrally located Dyops) is functional. Shortly, a Child test (two peripherally located Dyops) and an Infant test (only one peripheral Dyop which changes as to its peripheral location) will be added as options.

Fourth, the patient/subject views the test (typically with their right eye with the left eye closed or covered) and responds as to their ability to see which of the Dyop rings is spinning. When the bracketing algorithm has the Dyop at a sub-acuity diameter, the subject cannot detect the direction of the spinning Dyop. The examiner then increases the Dyop diameter to the smallest size where the direction of spinning is detected to determine the acuity endpoint.

This is the Adult test with two centrally located identical diameter Dyops of which only one is spinning. The objective is to determine both which Dyop is spinning and detect the direction of spin. Fifth, that acuity endpoint is recorded and the examiner then tests the acuity of the subjects left eye (with the right eye closed or covered).

Sixth, the acuity report is then displayed to the examiner and the patient with the data displayed as the acuity end-point in arc minutes and either Snellen Feet (e.g., 20/20) or Meters (6/6) or Decimal (1.0) values.

Seventh, additional test options for the Child test and the Infant test will be added. Eighth, also added will be functionality as to controlling and/or viewing the test from a smartphone (both iOS and Android), as well as for an individual to to their own testing as both the subject and the examiner.

Ninth, a metric will be added for the examiner to pay for the use of the test on either a pay-per-use basis or on a subscription basis.

How many resources from the Inmost team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We had two primary contacts and they had a team of about 20 programmers.

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

We currently are about half-way through the development, but have had two presentations to possible integrators of the concept who will expect/hope will become investors.

Those integrators are familiar with our PC application but want to have a more universal program and format to be able to integrate the Dyop test into their current software.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Inmost has been very responsive to our suggestions and needs including solving some inherent conflicts between PC and SmartPhone integration.

We also have had several cosmetic and procedural discoveries which were only apparent AFTER that stage of development, and Inmost is responsive as to making those changes and suggesting enhancements to us.

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

They were rapidly able to make cosmetic changes to the appearance of the software so that the look and feel of the program complimented the patented and unique technology.

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

That is hard to determine since they were developing a Cloud application for a unique vision test and concept with little prior applications by anyone else for comparison.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My organization is called Cellar Ventures, and I’m the CEO.

What challenge were you trying to address with Inmost?

We set out to work with Inmost from the beginning, to develop a mobile app for our new wine business, because we want to connect consumers directly to consumer wine sales.

What was the scope of their involvement?

What we’re having them do is design and build the entire app. This isn’t a revamp or reskin project, this is completely done from the ground up. We want this app to have the ability for users to track their wine, inventory, and items they want to put into a wishlist — they can also view their items by producer, by vintage, or by region. 

The second part of the project is to connect cellar owners directly, and give them the ability to buy and trade from other cellar owners. At the current time, the app also gives cellar owners the ability to migrate their data over from other platforms — using an API that allows them to easily import their wines from other sites. Right now, we’re rolling out a complete trading platform that allows cellar owners to transact with each other.

Additionally, we’ve incorporated further functionality with INTELEtrack, and through that, we do identity and age verifications. The app is only available for iOS, and we’re not going to Android any time soon, since we’ve got far too many features to work in.

They’ve been an active partner, and we’re getting ready to roll out a redesign and relaunch of our website, which they’re also managing for us.

What is the team composition?

We’ve probably been working with at least half a dozen people, depending on the functionality we’re working on. My main point of contact is Dmytro (Founder).

How did you come to work with Inmost?

I had interviewed a number of different mobile app firms, looking at their portfolios and the work they’ve done — but, I was also trying to find a firm that had an aesthetic design approach that I thought would be compatible with us — and that’s what I saw with Inmost. I highly anticipated that we were probably going to have to change firms at some point because we might either outgrow them, or perhaps they wouldn’t be able to see our vision.

However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Inmost had been a great partner. They get our vision, they’re committed to it, and I’ve been working with them since we started developing the app.

How much have you invested with them?

For the app development, I would say we’re probably approaching close to $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the actual development in January 2020, and it’s still ongoing.

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

From a metrics perspective, we’ve been working together quite efficiently. We keep our sprints on the shorter side, but sometimes we’ll have sprints that’ll last anywhere from 2–3 weeks, so we keep a high degree of communication. As soon as we finish the sprint, testing, and review, we move on to the next one.

Where the company has been effective is in the stability of their own team. We haven’t had a lot of turnover on most of the staff that’s been working on the project, because Inmost does a lot to recruit, train, and motivate their team. We’ve seen that from the folks who continue to be committed and engaged in our projects.

How did Inmost perform from a project management standpoint?

We have a day-to-day communication via email, and a stand-up call once per week where we discuss any open items, questions, future sprints, and challenges related to integrating different platforms into the app.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed with the stability of the Inmost team — it’s been a big success factor. There are always situations where people move for new opportunities, but we’ve had great stability with the team, and that has played a role in continuing development where we don’t have to retrain, or bring anybody up to speed.

The other part of that is their team composition. I found that they have a very well-rounded and complete team, that is able to support us in the front- and backend, the project management, and QA. it’s not just the project manager who communicates our views and feedback to the team, we’ll actually have the developers on the call with us. Having the developer engage with the customer makes the messaging clearer.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s always room for improvement, but I believe that Inmost has been one of our more effective partners over the last 18 months, so I don’t really have any criticism — they’ve been very complete with their execution and delivery.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

What I would say to any firm that’s looking to engage with Inmost, is that you have to be very clear about what you want, and what your endgame is. You need to know exactly where you’re headed so that you can guide your partner appropriately. Define your path when working in app development, or else you’re just going to end up burning cash resources.