Lean Apps

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Company profile - BodyTime is a science-based company and creates healthy work environments by connecting the working life to the individual body clock of employees using genetic analysis. Dr. Prateek mahalwar is responsible for Product and business development

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Lean Apps?

For developing the end to end product development including UX, UI, product development, and deployment.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal is to create a secure and GDPR compliant web app that is accessible to shift workers, lab assistants, admin, and sleep experts.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Selected via an RFP process. Lean Apps stood different from others with the experience in Healthcare background with knowledge on HIPPA, GDPR, and other regulations

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

(a) Onboard users with a secure registration (b) Allow users to enter the health questionnaire data and visualize the sleep pattern result via a dashboard (c) Connect user with sleep experts for consultation (d) Dashboard for admin and other stakeholders (e) Structure for Health data storage in the EU

What was the team composition?

One UX, two developers, one scrum master, and one DevOps

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We were able to onboard the pilot client on short notice. Besides, it helped us to test the product and iterate it in smaller sprint cycles.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management which very structured. We management on Jira with user stories and backlog refinement. Day to day communication was with slack, zoom, and Telegram.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The project manager was very prompt in responding to the request. Short sprint cycles were very helpful. Besides that knowledge of data storage and development for healthcare product help the project a lot.

Are there any areas for improvement?

German-speaking UX designer would be helpful in the future for a better understanding of the users and designing the content part of the product.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of IT-Labs GmbH. We’re developing a software platform to help manage patients with chronic illnesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lean Apps?

We were developing an additional training function. Our customers wanted to train their employees and oversee their progress using our software. We did not have not enough developers to make it happen, so we brought in Lean Apps.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We first defined an MVP. We wrote user stories and acceptance criteria before having a call with Lean Apps to describe our requirements and tech stack. After the briefing, Lean Apps provided us with developers and a project manager. They then started developing our solution.

We didn’t much time to define all the criteria, functionalities, and UI descriptions we wanted in advance. As a result, Lean Apps had to sort many features and design details out themselves lacking the full context. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with two developers and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Lean Apps?

I asked within my network, and someone recommended me Lean Apps. In our briefing, Lean Apps invited the senior developer and a junior developer to join. While we told them our requirements, we checked their background to make sure their skills met our needs. We also looked into their communication skills to ensure that they can clearly describe any problems they have and deliver what they promised. The team met our standards, so we brought them on for this project. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between €30,000–€35,000 (approximately $33,000—$39,000 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March–July 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Lean Apps delivered an excellent product and came up with top-notch solutions to fill in for our more generalized requirements. We’re happy with their work.

How did Lean Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

Lean Apps used two-week scrums to complete work. We started each sprint by defining a plan and ended with reviewing their work. In between, we communicated with the developers daily via Slack. The team responded within minutes to any message of ours. They adapted quickly when we changed priorities and requested skills outside the initial scope. We appreciated their flexibility and understanding.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Lean Apps produced code and documentation that met our internal coding standards without being prompted. We didn’t provide our guidelines, but their team’s work achieved the level of detail and smoothness we expect of our own developers. The senior developer especially showed high-level technical skills. That differentiated Lean Apps from past developers we’ve worked with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The junior developer occasionally got lost and produced work of lower quality than the senior developer. We expected the senior to check over the junior’s code from time to time to adjust for that quality difference.

Any advice for potential customers?

Have clear deadlines if you need work by a specific date. We sometimes had expectations for timelines that we failed to communicate with Lean Apps, resulting in problems.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the head of delivery and product management at Infinia Retail, a SAAS company for B2B retail and food and beverage business. Our aim is to enhance customer shopping and buying experience in store and online.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Lean Apps?

Our team was looking to build a warehouse app for retailers to speed up product delivery from the warehouse to customer locations.

What were your goals for this project?

Our main goal was to build an MVP quickly to test and validate the problem we were trying to solve.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

After evaluating other vendors, Lean Apps understood our problem the best and proposed a one-week design sprint to test and validate the idea before building our actual app.

Describe the project in detail.

Lean Apps team developed and launched the MVP in a three-month timeframe. The solution managed deliveries from the warehouse and automated the “Goods in, Goods out” process.

What was the team composition?

The team comprised a UX designer, one frontend developer, one backend developer, one DevOps manager, and one scrum master.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We successfully gathered early feedback from the users and iterated the app based on those comments.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Although we had issues at the start of the project, the overall communication improved after two sprints. Lean Apps used Jira, Slack, and RealtimeBoard for effective communication between teams. Retrospectively, the process was very transparent and impactful. They made sure to collect feedback after every sprint from our team and focused on improvising their services.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were highly impressed with Lean Apps’ retail domain knowledge. The team was very effective in understanding the end goal of the app and customer pain points.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No. Lean Apps helped us saved our time and money that we could have wasted in building the app at the initial stage.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am CIO at Snapbac LLC. We design and sell sportswear.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Lean Apps?

We engaged Lean Apps to help create an integrated Amazon Connect solution.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a solution that can connect customers with different team members based on each member’s availability, skill set, and office hours. The solution needed to fall within a limited budget and be flexible based on company growth.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our web development partners recommended Lean Apps to us. After interviewing their team, we felt that they were subject matter experts and excelled at explaining their work approach. We began with a proof-of-concept project with them; based on the results, we hired them to build the full solution. 

Describe the project in detail.

We first held a series of discovery sessions to define the requirements. Lean Apps then shared the development roadmap with us; it included timelines and expectations on our end. Their team created the solution following an agile development process. We regularly provided feedback throughout this stage. After that, we tested different AWS call conditions, and Lean Apps integrated our Shopify platform with the solution.

What was the team composition?

We worked with a project manager and a developer. The CEO also joined us regularly in discussions and offered different ways to solve problems.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We deployed the solution within four weeks. Our customer satisfaction rates soared as a result; we could address most questions through an automated system and then direct the remainder to the appropriate team members.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Lean Apps excelled at communicating from start to finish. They gave us sufficient notice about any delays and delivered all products on time.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Lean Apps provided high-quality software development work in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I only wish that the team had more office locations in the US.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I was the DGM of IT billing and operations for InfoTel – Digivive, an over-the-top media provider. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Lean Apps?

We engaged Lean Apps to revamp a mobile application to provide OTT content.

What were your goals for this project?

We want to improve the app’s user experience and simplify its navigation. We were hoping to improve our customer ratings on app stores as well as make it easier to administer and maintain.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We circulated our requirements to a handful of firms selected after careful online research. Based on the initial responses, we shortlisted five vendors. A series of discussions with each team to understand their work approach led to two finalists. Lean Apps won the project by having a top-notch portfolio and commercial proposal. 

Describe the project in detail.

The first phase involved a study and discovery period. Lean Apps helped us create user stories and mind maps to lay out the lap. Their team then developed wireframes and mockups. They also made the architecture for the application and infrastructure. After building the app for both iOS and Android devices, Lean Apps led a testing phase using test cases and acceptance testing. We then rolled out the application and made tweaks based on customer feedback.

What was the team composition?

We worked with a project manager, a part-time system analyst, a part-time solution architect, a scrum master, a designer, two frontend developers, two backend developers, a QA expert, and a trainer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The mobile app received over 10,000 positive reviews with three days of its launch. Our ranking also improved from 3 to 4.5 within three months.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Lean Apps was one of the most enjoyable companies to work with. Their team was proactive and transparent in their approach. We never experienced a single surprise as a customer.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Lean Apps found solutions for every requirement through an open process from start to finish.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, I can’t think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Data Couch. We provide consulting and training services on emerging technologies, including AI, chatbots, etc.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Lean Apps?

We hired Lean App for development support. We were creating a product to help patients interact with hospital customer services’ teams more easily, so we needed to create a chatbot and other functionalities.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to create a solution for all customer services-related issues patients endure through a streamlined app. Our goal was to use Lean Apps to build the product quickly so we could begin testing with our audience.

SOLUTION

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Lean Apps built a fully functional MVP for us. They handled the UX design and developed both the front- and backend. It is a cross-platform React app, and they used Dialogflow for the chatbot integration. Their team incorporated all necessary features for in-app payments, user reviews, etc.

What was the team composition?

They provided a product owner, UX designer, frontend developer, backend developer, a scrum master, and DevOps teammate.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Partially because of Lean Apps’ expertise in developing the platform, we acquired one of the top hospital networks in the US. Customers are highly satisfied with the app.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

After our first sprint, any issues we had from location differences were solved. They gathered feedback after each sprint and everything was delivered on time.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were transparent and straighforward—I valued their honesty. They felt comfortable making decisions and were an agile team to work with.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is nothing they could do to improve— they continually worked to better their customer service.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

EverStore develops POS and store inventory management systems for mobile retail platforms. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Lean Apps?

Lean Apps is helping us build a POS system for FlixBus ticket shops. 

What were your goals for this project?

The goal was to develop the system to run in one custom code base on any mobile device or frontend with several separate backend code bases. 

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Lean Apps is our long-time exclusive partner for outsourced software development.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

The scope was to build a fully functional MVP that facilitated the sale, exchange, and cancellation of bus tickets while fulfilling all fiscal requirements. Lean Apps completed the UX design, developed a React cross-platform frontend, and provided full Scrum master services. 

What was the team composition?

The team consisted of a UX designer, a frontend designer, and a Scrum master. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

With the combination of our retail competence and Lean Apps’ technological expertise, this solution has impressed one of the best new companies in Europe. Our customer is very satisfied with the FlixBus product, which was delivered on time, within budget, and according to the scope. 

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The collaboration has been perfect. 

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Lean Apps provides high quality, standardized software development at a fair price.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

No. We actually omitted all Scrum retrospectives and lessons learned to focus more time on product progression. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and CEO of Dressandfriends GmbH, a marketing and sales agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lean Apps?

We hired Lean Apps to build a social media mobile application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Lean Apps worked with our internal team to develop our app on native iOS and Android platforms. Initially, their scrum master went through our processes to create stories, and their CEO provided business development support. They now continue to provide customer support for the apps, and we're currently planning other projects.

What is the team composition?

Narjeet (CEO, Lean Apps) is our primary contact. His team consists of a scrum master as well as iOS and Android development leads. They work directly with our in-house scrum master and project manager.

How did you come to work with Lean Apps?

A mutual acquaintance introduced us to Narjeet when he was living in Nuremberg. Based on the recommendation, I decided to talk to Lean Apps and compare their services to other vendors. Their business development support distinguished them from other agencies with more limited services.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent €150,000 ($172,127 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2016, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We consider the app successful because it has earned approximately 150,000 downloads. Our ongoing relationship with Lean Apps is good for us as a team.

How did Lean Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

In the beginning, we struggled to set up teams effectively because we had different visions for how to build the product. However, the last six months have been great. Narjeet provides helpful insight for our internal app development resources. Likewise, their scrum master ensures the best quality results. We use Trello, Jira, and Skype to organize the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Lean Apps has scaled their team by onboarding skilled resources for app and business development. The team has seamlessly adapted to app functionality changes that we’ve made in response to market demands. They're always available and have a fair pricing model.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We wish they had more offices across Germany. The team primarily communicates in English, which is typical for the IT sector. However, this can deter collaborations with clients that don’t speak the language.

Any advice for potential customers?

Don't plan too much before working with them. If clients are worried, they should talk to Lean Apps directly. Be transparent about your idea during early stages because that will allow them to produce the best results.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and CEO of the Academy for Corporate Entrepreneurship. We help Fortune 500 companies design and implement entrepreneurship programs to help their teams develop innovative ideas and launch new ventures.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lean Apps?

One thing we offer is a prototype fund. Our teams sometimes need to develop MVPs to test if their ideas have any merit in the marketplace. We needed a partner to apply design thinking in the lean startup methodology to find out if customers are interested in these solutions.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Lean Apps supplies us with designers, developers, online marketers, and project managers to help us do a number of different kinds of prototypes. We have a lot of different projects where we’re an intermediary, so we pass their services on to our clients.

With one client, for example, we may offer the prototype fund to 5–20 teams going through our corporate entrepreneurship program. They get to tap into Lean Apps for a wide variety of projects. These may include creating a logo; setting up an email domain and web page; launching customer surveys; designing flyers, posters, and brochures; building storyboards, or designing interactive websites and landing pages. Lean Apps also produces videos and design prototypes of clickable apps where the teams can capture interest from potential customers for the solution that they're testing.

For other projects, Lean Apps helps teams going through our incubation phase to build a solution. We offer those team a sprint mentoring approach, coupled with an agile development approach from Lean Apps. They provide front- and backend developers, as well as UX personnel and designers. They work intensively for about six months developing the solution over 12–18 sprints.

Most of these projects are mobile applications that Lean Apps builds using an agile method. They put the app in front of customers to gather feedback, then come back and iterate on the required features. The Lean Apps team is involved more on a daily basis during this phase.

What is the team composition?

My main point of communications is typically the assigned project manager. I also interact with their founder and CEO as well.

How did you come to work with Lean Apps?

We assessed quite a few different vendors from India and across Eastern Europe. After talking to them about our needs, we felt Lean Apps best understood the entrepreneurial mindset. They also had the most agile capabilities and flexibility, which allows for the lean startup process to be applied by the teams in our program.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent €500,000–€1,000,000 (approximately $585,000–$1,170,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work together began in February 2016, and the engagement is ramping up.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Using this methodology, teams can put solutions or new product ideas into the marketplace 2–4 times faster than what would generally be possible, and at a significantly lower cost.

How did Lean Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team is excellent. We’re in close communication on almost a weekly basis. Mainly, we interact through Slack or WhatsApp groups. They also communicate directly with our corporate teams so that they’re in charge of developing the idea from the client point of view. It's a collaborative effort, and they're quite open and flexible.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They do a great job of encompassing the lean startup methodology and agile methods. That's important in terms of overall speed and flexibility.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing major that I would highlight. The only suggestion would be to offer more languages. Currently, everything is in English. It would be advantageous if they were able to provide the same services in Spanish, French, and German.

Any advice for potential customers?

Have an open channel of communication. Things can change quickly, so don't rely just on the initial project plan. Be willing to change the approach based on new information that Lean Apps is learning about the solutions. They contribute value by bringing back learnings from their past work.

As a client, you have to be open to accept their feedback and potentially change direction. If you're only interested in sticking to your original plan, you probably shouldn't be working with an agile supplier. There's a big difference between the traditional waterfall method of developing new products and solutions versus the agile, lean startup method. Their value proposition is very much on their lean startup expertise.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of Evivecare. We are a startup in the digital health space. Our goal is to help people with speaking disorders regain their speech faster.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lean Apps?

We were creating a digital training solution to help people practice at home and regain their speech at a faster pace.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Lean Apps took on the entire production of all software elements for our solution. Our project manager, Narjeet, is located in Berlin, as well, and he collaborated with our India-based development team. We set the requirements for each two-week sprint. Narjeet organized the workflow and documentation for the project.

What is the team composition?

In addition to Narjeet, we worked with a scrum master in India, who managed our eight-person development team.

How did you come to work with Lean Apps?

In addition to being a co-founder of Lean Apps, Narjeet is also a co-founder at Evivecare. We discussed the project at a time when we had not yet founded the company. He is experienced as a scrum master and a software developer, so it was a relatively easy decision to team up.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent more than €150,000 ($175,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from May 2016 - September 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We developed a functional prototype of the product to communicate our vision to our partners.

How did Lean Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

We made quick progress in implementing our ideas into the project. Through the iterative process, we were able to see immediate results. Unlike normal development processes, we were able to have short-term goals and make changes that could be implemented into the next sprint. We experienced some time zone considerations and inherent communication challenges because of them, but both sides were patient and flexible.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We had the luxury of having Narjeet available in our office, and that allowed us to have fluid communication with the India team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I understand the intent of keeping the developers in an undisturbed environment, but we would have welcomed some in-sprint communication with that team. On the business end of the team, there was some friction because we could not access the developers.

Any advice for potential customers?

The key to any successful outsourced engagement is strong communication.