iphonedroid

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for Madrid’s Light Railway System, which has 22 kilometers of track and 27 units that serve between 500,000-600,000 users per month. We focus on the operations and maintenance of both lines. I work on the ICT systems department, and I’m responsible for quality and environment management.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with iPhonedroid?

We’ve been working with them for a while now. We originally developed our first mobile app, which offered information services to the user. It showed times traveled, routes in the Madrid area, incidences, and related information.

For our second project, we hired iPhonedroid to integrate all of our web platforms with our contact form and application.

We are currently redesigning our user relations through channels like smartphones and social networks. We are working to find innovative ways of interacting with our users.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our web pages were built using .NET. The mobile applications were developed for Android and iOS, optimized for the iPad.

What is the team composition?

We met between 8-10 developers, designers, analysts, and managers.

How did you come to work with iPhonedroid?

We were not satisfied with our previous provider, and found iPhonedroid while searching through different channels. We were interested in their services, products, and proposals, and trusted them to develop this type of project.

How much have you invested in them?

Each of the three projects had a different cost. The first one cost around €40,000, the second cost €150,000, and the third cost €30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working for 6 years, since approximately 2010. They are currently maintaining, adding features and improvements to our websites.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have quantitative data available, but the fact that we trust them and do our maintenance with them is an important measure of their performance. They are our website and mobile application guru.

How did iPhonedroid perform from a project management standpoint?

We used Jira as a project management tool for the more technical communications, such as tickets and time processing. With them, we have also developed other types of planning through other channels and in person.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their knowledge of the mobile application, e-business, graphic and UX design, and social networking spaces is great. They have not only development skills, but also knowledge about the user’s perspective.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There are always areas for improvement, but nothing specific comes to mind.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there

I work for Tinsa and we do real estate valuations for all types of clients. The majority of our clients are banks. I am in charge of all software development projects for Tinsa.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with iPhonedroid?

Since we do real estate valuations, we have appraisers all over the country and we've developed a mobile app for them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We developed two native versions of the app, one for Android and one for iOS application. We basically developed the same application twice, one for each platform.

What is the team dynamic?

iPhonedroid assigned two developers for each platform. Two for iOS and two others for Android and one project manager.

How did you come to work with iPhonedroid?

They were recommended to us. We searched for various providers when we started the project and they came recommended from a previous experience the CTO had. After we compared them with the rest of the proposals, their price was reasonable and the recommendation stood out among others with the same price.

How much have you invested with iPhonedroid?

This is an ongoing project. We’ve had 5 versions since we launched the first app. The price varies depending on the content of each version. The first one had the most amount features so it was around €18,000 euros, but subsequent versions have been more affordable around €12,000 because these versions have less functionalities.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in April 2016 and the first version was delivered in June 2016. It’s an ongoing collaboration and we are starting the 6th version.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

What we were looking for was more immediacy and connecting with the appraisers in real time. We are achieving this goal. The appraisers receive requests quickly because they have access to their mobile at all times. Our business is based on quick responses and we’ve been able to achieve this. Entities want to be informed on the status of the requests. The appraiser is able to inform us on the status of their work quickly and we can use this information to inform our clients. The appraisers can get organized better too. We saw the value of the application and we increase its use and value with subsequent versions. Almost 100% of the network is using the application now.

How did Avra perform from a project management standpoint?

It’s been good. The first version took a bit more work and adjustments in the collaboration since it was the first phase. They’ve always been very open to changes, and they have responded fast to any mistakes or changes that we ask from them. Their project management has been very good. In new phases, it’s typical to have to adjust but during the new versions, there is no need to collaborate much. I define what we need and they know the functionalities and what has been done. Then we have testing and that part is also effective. For now, everything is going well from the project management standpoint.

What did you find most impressive about iPhonedroid?

I appreciate their flexibility. As an external provider, they have developed the apps, they keep us happy, and after wards, they talked about the pricing. It’s usually the other way around with other providers. Their mobile app development expertise has been great for us. Our staff is used to the old ways of doing things. They didn’t just deliver what we were asking for. They questioned everything from the mobile perspective. They were always focused on delivering something that provided value to our company from a mobile point of view.

Are there any areas iPhonedroid could improve?

They could’ve made an effort to know us a little bit better, but this is probably our fault too, and maybe setting up meetings to get to know our appraisers’ network. But nothing else comes to mind.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there

Calidad Pascual is a Spanish food and beverages company. We have 2,500 employees approximately. It has been working in the Spanish and international market. Our central offices are in Madrid and has 26 commercial delegations across the country.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with iphonedroid ?

We developed a new intranet for our employees. Our goal was to update our existing one and make it more flexible, modern, effective, etc. We took into account several companies and we ended up going with iPhonedroid because we liked them the most.

SOLUTION

What was the team dynamic?

The team was about 4-5 people. We had a functional developer who defined criteria and programmers who executed all of the development, a designer, and an account manager.

How did you come to work with iPhonedroid?

We initially started this project and one of our employees referred iPhonedroid. We contacted some other providers and we didn’t have any other relations with other firms. We did a contest and we liked iPhonedroid’s project the most, so we moved forward and defined a contract.

How much have you invested with iPhonedroid?

Our company invested €30,000 to €40,000 Euros on this development.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working in July 2016 and we finished the project in February 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have any specific analysis on metrics but the project was presented to the board of presidents of the company and feedback was positive. During the first phase of this project, we did workshops with the employees to validate their needs. Their impression was really good. A multidisciplinary team from Calidad Pascual made sure we were satisfied with the platform’s results. There weren’t many changes requested, problems to be solved or incidences. Adoption from our employees was positive.
 

How did iPhonedroid perform from a project management standpoint?

They established their work methodology, we set a calendar which was met as expected within deadlines except for one instance more related to internal issues and we did an initial analysis, design, development, validation, etc. Their rhythm and pace of work were in line with the project expectations and their timelines were seriously met. Everything worked really well since the beginning.

What did you find most impressive about iPhonedroid?

They have a complete team. The assigned people to our project were good, flexible, they were talented. There are many factors that need to be polished on this type of project and they met everything that was needed and were flexible to any requested changes. THey were very professional, serious and a good provider over all.

Are there any areas iPhonedroid could improve?

THere’s always space for improvement. From a technical perspective there weren’t any issues. I haven’t thought of any areas for improvement. There are certain details that we’re polishing and they help us. Their content manager was good. We’re very happy with results.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for Heineken in Spain, part of the multinational company. I work for the marketing department here.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with iPhonedroid?

We had to develop an application to improve sales of the commercial equipment to gather all basic information that was needed.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Not sure how many developers were assigned, but I estimate that iPhonedroid had a potent team. The developed tool wasn’t an easy project. It is a very broad tool.

How did you come to work with iPhonedroid?

I consulted another person from Heineken Spain that knows about many agencies and recommended iPhonedroid because they had worked together previously. From there, I called and briefed them on what we needed. Once iPhonedroid confirmed they could do it, we reviewed the briefing, and they started working.

How much have you invested in iPhonedroid?

Our investment is in the range of $10,000–$50,000.

What is the status of the engagement?

We started a year ago. The initial phase has been completed, but this project never ends. We will continue improving and changing the information with the updates. For this reason, we needed a support team to help us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have released the MVP [minimum viable product] at an international level a week ago. For the group based in Madrid, the comments we’ve received have been spectacular. All the information that they needed about the brand is centralized in this one application, and they can consult it at any time. We haven’t started with metrics or tools, but we’ll see how it turns out.

How did iPhonedroid perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate with iPhonedroid face to face, everyone does their job on their own, and that’s about it. iPhonedroid didn’t always deliver on time. It’s not easy because Heineken is a huge company. Understanding us is not easy. We always need approvals, we are varying, the project expands as we measure abilities, and this delays the project. In general, the iPhonedroid team is good, a little bit slow, but I don’t complain at all about the timelines.

What did you find most impressive about iPhonedroid?

iPhonedroid perfectly captured the Heineken company’s image and design in this very visual tool. This caused the wow effect since the beginning of our partnership. The usability and simplification of steps in order to search and reach the information within the application were a big part of their success.

Are there any areas iPhonedroid could improve?

Cost is an area for improvement. The project was a bit expensive, and it will be even more expensive when we decide to modify something, but this is an internal decision of the company.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with iPhonedroid?

iPhonedroid should take recommendations into consideration in order to deliver an extremely clear briefing and avoid corrections post-project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for Leroy Merlin, a home-improvement retail company that belongs to a global group. I’m responsible for client mobility in Spain.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with iPhonedroid? 

We have two applications until now: Android and iOS sales and retail applications. We were previously working with another provider that wasn’t delivering the quality we expected. We launched a contest and iPhonedroid won among the participants because we thought it was a leading company in the market that could help us with improving that application. We then did the same with another application for a bioenergy house, and also a mobile responsive web development. We didn’t have a mobile responsive website and we are currently working on it. This web has a similar business logic and we thought it would be a good idea to have the same company develop both the app and the mobile responsive website.

The objectives of the first sales/retail application are to expand the number of clients of our app and to engage our clients even more. In the case of the bioenergy house app, we wanted to provide a solution that can help the client improve their energy deficiencies at home. In the mobile responsive web project, we wanted to offer our clients an optimized visual and mobile strategy. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

For the retail app, we needed more than 3 developers, one was for the Android platform, another one for iOS, and a developer with experience on both platforms as a backup. In the bioenergy house case, the team is made up of two people, one for Android and another for iOS, with the same technologies described earlier. For the mobile responsive web app development, the developer needed to have experience in Java and PHP.

How much have you invested with iPhonedroid?

Around $20,000 more or less in one year. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The bioclimatic house application has been completed this month. They will upload the new version to the app stores next week. The mobile responsive web development will be delivered in February. The retail app is an ongoing project with no end. They are delivering every three weeks. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have Fabric, Google Analytics, and iOS analytics. Since working with iPhonedroid on two-week sprints, we've seen a 35% increase, and then crashes and bugs within the apps have decreased by 30-40%. 

How did iPhonedroid perform from a project management standpoint?

We use JIRA for project management, downloads, and sprints documentation, and we also use Slack as an internal management and communications tool. 

What did you find most impressive about iPhonedroid?

When we were conducting interviews, we found confidence in learning that they are focused solely on mobile. They are experts in mobile projects and they have won international prizes and hackathons for their work, which makes them prestigious.

Are there any areas iPhonedroid could improve? 

I wouldn't be able to answer this. They are really good and they know how to solve issues.