MindSea

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a product design company for software products and, most recently, apps for mobile devices primarily iPhones, iPads, and the iOS ecosystem.

What is your position?

I founded the company. It's just me, but I pull in people as I need them. I outsource the majority of my development work to MindSea.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with MindSea Development?

I'm a software developer by training, when the first iPhone came out I was super excited about it as a programming platform. I kept telling myself I need to go learn Objective C and code up some apps. The first app I had on my list was a photo booth app, which simulates an old school photo booth on the iPhone. I knew I wouldn't get it done by the time the new phone came out. I was nervous that outsourcing part of the project would make me feel less ownership of it. 

SOLUTION

How did you come to work with MindSea Development?

I decided to loosen my grip on full control of the project. I searched the Internet, and there were a couple of big players in the market. In my search, I came across MindSea and sent them a note. I got an email back quickly from the founder. I think for a lot of reasons I was put at ease with MindSea. I was one of their first clients. They didn't have a track record, which was nerve-wracking for me, but I felt good about their founder, Bill Wilson. I interviewed five companies and felt the best about MindSea. Even though they didn't have the track record piece, I was willing to take the risk based on the personal connection I felt. It felt like it was going to be a collaborative experience. The other companies didn't feel that way. 

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative?

The fact that I'm still partnering with MindSea Development today is a testament to the strength of the service they provide and the type of work they do. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What distinguishes MindSea Development from other providers?

One thing I think that's useful is that their founder comes from a software background. A couple of the companies I talked to it was clear that I was talking to a sales guy. Bill Wilson understood the development cycle and understands the pitfalls of software development. He understands the complexity of the code. He gets his hands dirty with the development. I think Bill is unique in the sense that he's very conversationally and relationally adept. He's a good communicator. When there's conflicts, it's helpful to have someone who's willing to speak clearly and walk through those things.

In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve, or things you might do differently?

Not really. They've grown quite a bit since I started using them. I think they've managed it well, but that road in any business is a difficult row to hoe. Making sure they maintain the quality of the new hires and remain responsive will be important.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We're the provincial newspaper in Nova Scotia, Canada.

What is your position?

I'm the director of audience development. I work on business development and new products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with MindSea Development?

We needed to adapt to the digital age. Traditionally, newspapers are printed products, but over time, we've evolved to deliver our content to multiple platforms. 

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

MindSea provided app development and integration with our enterprise systems, which was a big part of our project and something we sought out in a partner. They also provided a lot of leadership and guidance around the app technologies that people were using – a lot of analytical background. 

In our company, we have a lot of traditional print employees and staff and MindSea really helped provide us with insight and intelligence on what was happening in the mobile space and what was happening at other similar organizations. They've also helped us with some Web development and some research. We recently engaged them on a research project for a new product, and they've been facilitating wireframes and have worked with focus groups to provide us with feedback on the direction we should be heading in terms of the content, look, and feel for the platform.

How did you come to work with MindSea Development?

We reached out to a few other firms. MindSea is a local company, and they approached us with a very sophisticated and great-looking solution, so we were impressed with their ability to identify our needs and work with our team to understand those needs. MindSea came back with something that was undeniably what we were looking for and in line with some of the international caliber newspaper and media companies.

What is the status of this engagement?

I think we launched our first version of our iOS app in 2012. We have a monthly contract with MindSea Development so we constantly evolve and upgrade our products. We're in touch with them on a regular basis. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We've been partners with MindSea since we entered the space. I think any growth and all growth can be attributed to that partnership. I think, from a higher-level perspective, they've added a lot of value to our organization as a whole – helping us understand a different space – Web space, different user and audience consumption habits, and things like that. They've worked internally to help various departments understand that. I think one of the ways they help us is they attend a lot of events and network quite a bit, and they've been able to bring some of that intelligence back to our organization. They speak with journalists and help them understand what's happening in the journalism space and the content delivery space. They have a major impact on changing the mind frame here.

What distinguishes MindSea Development from other providers?

I think the caliber of MindSea Development's skill set and their delivery is outstanding. They've had a major impact on us as far as project management skills. I work with 7–10 vendors and, hands down, they are the easiest to work with. They are just exceptionally organized. Their project management skills are off the charts. There are small things like after every meeting, their notes are succinct. Within an hour of the meeting, we have follow ups. They also meet deadlines. They're very proactive. It's changed our internal processes so we've adopted some of their processes because we saw first hand how well they worked and how efficient those practices were. 

In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve, or things you might do differently?

There's really nothing. Any small issues or concerns that we've had have been addressed immediately. We have a very open relationship and, if we felt there was any confusion around deliverables or anything, we simply addressed them. We've encountered no major issues. They've been very responsive.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization. What is your position?

We are a newspaper publishing company in Canada. We are the largest publisher of English news in Canada for print, Web, and mobile apps. I'm the product director for mobile.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with MindSea Development?

We weren't in mobile, and we needed to be. We had been working with a local app developer for an iPad app, but we weren't thrilled with the work, so we brought MindSea in for a consulting perspective to look at what was going on and provide an assessment on the work that was being done. We moved our iPad product to them for development and built on that for launching an iPhone app. We also moved our Android development to the MindSea team.

SOLUTION

How did you come to work with MindSea Development?

We're based in Toronto and MindSea is based in Halifax. The company we were working with previously was based in Toronto. We looked at two other Toronto firms, and then MindSea had come recommended from one of our media partners in Nova Scotia. We did a review of each of the company's capabilities and ended up going with MindSea because of their focus on user experience. We have lots of expertise in Web user experience, but none in mobile. That lack of experience we found was affecting our mobile presence. We wanted someone who could bring in that expertise.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms? What is the status of this engagement?

We started with working with MindSea more than four years ago and, at this point, our partnership has reached $200,000 plus.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We have developed a number of different apps with MindSea. One that was launched three or four years ago was a very specific product for a community that we built around hockey in Montreal. It was featured and was a five-star app. In terms of the audience, we are keeping pace with the market.

What distinguishes MindSea Development from other providers?

We worked with a local Android developer in Toronto. We worked with another iOS development prior to MindSea, so we've worked with three different app developers. MindSea almost acts as an extension of my own team. They're extremely consultative and collaborative. It's not a factory. They operate the way I need them to. In other words if I say to them what we want to do, they're not just going to do it. They're going to think about it, provide their expertise, and come back to me if they think that there's a way to make it better. My experience with the other two developers was statement of work, business requirements, and they executed it. Working with MindSea has been much more of a partnership.

In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve, or things you might do differently?

It would be great if we were in the same city. Other than that, I have nothing bad to say about them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My company develops and publishes consumer photo apps for the iOS platform.

What is your position?

I'm the owner, and I do the core research, product development, branding, marketing, and most of the development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with MindSea Development?

I'm a one-man company, but I hire help when needed. I first started working with MindSea after I published an app that had become very popular. The popularity upped the stakes for quality. I approached MindSea in order to maintain the app with a level of quality that I couldn't bring to it.

SOLUTION

How did you come to work with MindSea Development?

At some point, I had met another app developer that had a great app by MindSea. After talking to the MindSea team it seemed like their team brought everything that I was looking for. They had experience in the exact same market that I was in and was familiar with the technology and publishing.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative?

In total, it's mid-six figures. I've been using MindSea for other work throughout the years. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We've done business together since 2011.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What distinguishes MindSea Development from other providers?

MindSea Development brings the full picture to the development process. They have an understanding of the marketing factors of the business. They can go deeper in areas where I can't. They can dive deeper in the area of graphics, UI [user interface], and the level of optimization. 

In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve, or things you might do differently?

MindSea has been very flexible and brought a consistent level of quality to my work through the years. It's all been great.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Manager, Digital Products and Experience of an education company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We provide Nova Scotians with inclusive and flexible access to education and training.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Design, prototype and validate new website functionality

SOLUTION

How did you find MindSea?

• Online Search

Why did you select MindSea over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit
• Human-centred design

How many teammates from MindSea were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

MindSea refreshed our web templates to ensure they are responsive for a range of modern screen sizes (large desktop, undocked laptop, tablet, mobile).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Discovery and design completed within original timeframe. This can be attributed to the quick turnaround and minimal need for amends/changes.

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

The MindSea team turned work around quickly and were responsive.

What was your primary form of communication with MindSea?

• Virtual Meeting

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

What attracted us to MindSea was their emphasis on human-centred design. We wanted a partner with expertise in user experience design who would help us iterate, challenge our thinking, and also be comfortable applying our brand guidelines.

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

Working with MindSea has been a great experience.