Me & My Friends

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

North Food Polska SA is a fast developing organization that runs a chain of restaurants. The company was founded by Michał S. in 2002. North Food currently manages 46 restaurants in the Quick Service Restaurants and Casual Dining Restaurants segments, in three formats: North Fish, JOHN BURG, and Veggie Hub.

North Fish is a chain of restaurants specializing in fish and seafood. They are located in the largest shopping centers in Poland, eg. in Warsaw, Cracow, Poznan, Wroclaw. North Fish offers fish and seafood dishes to its guests. Our restaurants serve fresh and prime quality dishes.

The JOHN BURG brand consists of restaurants serving excellent quality burgers and steaks from certified Black Angus beef.

I'm responsible for IT strategy and assuring effective IT delivery for multiple business domains. As an IT manager, I'm in charge of multiple IT projects which are at different stages of development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Me & My Friends?

We needed loyalty mobile application that presented the restaurant's menu and allowed the customers to see information about the North Fish brand. Loyalty program allows consumers to collect and exchange points for products, as well as in-kind and virtual rewards.

What were your goals for this project?

Firstly, to deliver for business complete mobile application with loyalty program on time.

Secondly, to keep the budget set for the project.  

Thirdly, to reach 100k new users by the end of 2018. 

SOLUTION

How did you select Me & My Friends?

We did some research on the market and chose a provider who had rich experience in developing mobile software and offered an acceptable quotation.  Me & My Friends is also a well-known brand in the world market.

Describe the project in detail.

This project started from scratch. We followed with a plan.

Selection of the software house.

A workshop that involved three teams.

Preview of graphics, mockups, document HDL (High-Level Design).

User Acceptance Tests.

Go Live.

We chose the most efficient path to achieve goals.

Me & My Friends implemented a mechanism that allows users to collect points for buying North Fish dishes. Users would exchange points for rewards e.g. discounts for fish and seafood dishes, free North Fish gadgets. The mobile app has other feature, that allows our users buying selected dishes at lower prices.

The client activates coupons in the application and scans a unique app code at the till. POS system automatically connects to the mobile application server and gives a discount for dishes.

The crucial part of the project was implementing communication between the points of sale and the mobile application environment. The application presents also a North Fish menu with options, information about the brand, list of the nearest restaurant.

What was the team composition?

Team Me & My Friends

A total of 12 people were involved in the project including PM, backend developer, frontend developer, Android developer, iOS developer, creative specialist, UX designer, GFX designer, and tester).

Team North Food

IT manager was a first-contact person to Me & My Friends' Project Manager.

Communications manager was responsible for implementing the marketing strategy.

IT coordinator serves as a tester.

Team FoodSoft.pl

Backend developer, frontend developer were developing API interface between restaurant’s software and mobile application. FoodSoft.pl deliver POS system software for all our brands.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In just the first four months, almost 63,000 registrations were made, with over 90,000 users of the mobile application. From the very beginning, there were over 21,000 active accounts a day!

From September to early January, almost 22 million points were awarded in the loyalty program for products purchased in restaurants - points are directly spent in PLN by customers who identify themselves at the checkout with a unique code in the application, where PLN 1 is 10 points in the program.

At the same time, almost 5.5 million points were exchanged for prizes (their own products and non-cash prizes).

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was very difficult to reach effective communication among three teams, but were very successful and managed to keep the schedule of the project and to meet the deadline. Project Manager Me & My Friends supervised the project effectively.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We think that Me & My Friends company is a very professional software house. They hire employees with amazing skills and build a strong team. The most impressive is thinking out of the box.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I didn’t find any areas for improvement.

BACKGROUND

I am the CEO of The International Football Association Board, Football's law-making body. We govern the Laws of the Game of association football worldwide and for any level of the game, from grassroots and the kids game to the FIFA World Cup Final.

One of our main outputs are the Laws of the Game, the rules of how the game is played, which are amended annually. The IFAB's mission is also to promote the understanding the Laws, increase their understanding and accessibility.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

So far, referees, other match officials and anyone interested in the Laws had to rely on digitally available or printed versions. And accessing these online was not always convenient. The users also could never be quite sure if the version they found was correct and most importantly up-to-date. The print-outs could be unreliable, outdated in form for use and study, and not forgetting being eco-unfriendly.

That is why The IFAB decided, as part of it's 5-year strategy, to move away from yearly printing 100k copies of a 220 page book, to an app, where users have tools available which makes the use of the digital "book" equally possible. In addition, the mobile app needed to be accessible in multiple languages, namely the four official football administration languages English, French, German and Spanish.

Of course, the application needed to be of current technology standards and available on the main mobile platforms (iOS and Android).

What were your goals for this project?

To setup an app, user-friendly, for all age groups and in different languages. The app needed to reflect the structure of the Laws of the Game book and all functions/tools to make it useable like the book (making notes, highlighting etc.). The main goal for 2019 was to release version 1, on 1 June, when the new Laws become binding.

For 2020, an update was needed to be aligned with the recently updated corporate identity/look&feel. This opportunity did also allow to incorporate some ideas from frequent users. The ongoing goal is to develop e-learning functions in the app, linked to an e-learning platform developed by My & My Friends (MAMF) in parallel to this project.

SOLUTION

How did you select Me & My Friends?

MAMF has been a long-term service provider for our organisation and was initially selected to build our website; the tender for that project included also other ideas, including the app. And since MAMF have shown highest performance in project management, platform and digital tool development, customer service, at a competitive price, the selection was almost "natural".

Describe the project in detail.

After analysing and understanding the hassle of using printouts on the field of play, together with MAMF, we planned the implementation of the first official Laws of the Game app. Our common task was to design, develop and launch digitalised Laws. It had to be always up-to-date, available to everyone using Android and iOS devices, and in a multi-language format.

It was to give quick and easy access to the Laws, most importantly to the referees, both on- and offline. It had to present all the recent changes against the previous edition, and to make the amendments easy to follow, study and explain.

What was the team composition?

The team on our side was composed of Law experts and referees, myself and a project manager. On MAMFs side, many people were working on the app, from creative to development, all coordiated by an experienced PM.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app has been download by more than 250'000 users (mainly referees) worldwide in the first 15 months. The feedback was and is almost exculsively postitive, confirming the ideas developed by MAMF and The IFAB are being appreciated.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

MAMF's workflow and PM in general are flawless. The development process was a continuous cooperation with very good communication and sticking to realistic timelines. Delays were solely caused by us, rather than MAMF.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Speed of development, on-time delivery, very good communications/information flow, very good PM and top quality. Plus, is it very easy and much more pleasant to work with kind, forthcoming and service-oriented people.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Almost none. In some areas, I would hope for some more creativity in solving issues/tackling a challenge and/or slightly better/easier UX.