MindSea

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of SmartLabels

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

SmartLabels helps customers catalog and find their stuff in storage around the home, self-storage facilities and/or manage inventory for their small business via the SmartLabels app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Update an out-of-date app to make it more professional
• Manage ongoing customer service development requests
• Design and build new features for the app

SOLUTION

How did you find MindSea?

Clutch Site

Why did you select MindSea over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

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.

Our initial project was an app refresh where we built out an entire new skin for the app and included usability upgrades to make the app easier and more strait forward to use. We also upgraded backend capabilities to facilitate future growth. There was an understanding that we would likely continue working together for maintaince related development requests on a month to month basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The measurable outcomes were:

1. A modernized look and feel for the app. 
2. User flows designed to make the app easier to use. 
3. Enhanced speed for data transfer.
4. A platform that would facillitate massive user growth which the old platform could not facilitate.

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

Mindsea worked with me to come up with a more cost effective way to handle project management. I have background in coding and working with development teams on project prioritization so we decided to share the project management responsibilities over having a dedicated project manager. 
This led to a development process that was faster, more cost effective and cut out much of the missinterpretation that can come with having a middle person between the client and the people doing the actual work. We are like a bullet train working together, however, I will say that our working relationship relies on two way trust which we built quickly and with solid communication.

MindSea is so quick to respond to my needs. That coupled with our trust in each other has meant I can focus on the rest of the business knowing that my engineering and UX needs are humming along without needing my attention. Honestly, Mindsea feels much more like a direct part of my team than a vendor I work with.

What was your primary form of communication with MindSea?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

I have worked with a lot of 3rd party developers. A LOT. Never have I worked with a 3rd party development company where I could trust that they would be working on my project without me nagging them constantly, where I know I can get a hold of someone really quickly who can actually help me solve something just by messaging the team and where that company has the level of integrety that Mindsea has in EVERY role at the company I have interacted with. Oh, and their developers and UX team rock on top of that so you get all that good stuff and good code. So yeah. Kind of a diamond in the rough. 

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

Just one and that is the cost. As a smaller business that doesn't have a huge budget I have found it difficult to get as much done as I would like to because I run out of development budget too early in the month. I tried one time to use a different developer because of this but ended up coming right back because again, the trust, speed and quality of MindSea is so good.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the CEO & Co-Founder of a Health Data Analytics Company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a behavioural health data analytics and technology company and its main product is a prosocial wellbeing companion application that helps individuals improve their wellbeing through their existing social support and communities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Supporting our overall Product Development velocity through their Design Services

SOLUTION

How did you find MindSea?

Referral

Why did you select MindSea over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fits our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

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 delivered on design work as a fully integrated part of the team. They ran our design practice end to end and helped us deliver features at scale, quickly. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

1. Ready for development designs that were componetized the way our developers needed them to be
2. Speed of iteration on the designs met or exceed our overall sprint objectives
3. Helped us deliver the next iteration of our application changing it from a primarily single player app to a multiplayer experience

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

They delivered on time and were able to add resources when speed was a priority and deliver with more constrained resources when budget was the priority. They also were able to deliver outside of the project scope as requested and needed, helping with website design and other non-product related design work. 

What was your primary form of communication with MindSea?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

• Very simple pricing structure was appreciated
• Kind and added to the culture while they delivered on our needs
• They are great communicators.
• They acted like full-time team members in their ownership of their work

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

The only area of improvement would be on the size of their team. Everyone is sort of at the same level (which is senior). At times, it would have been helpful to have a team with more hierarchy so that we could leverage cheaper resources for simpler work and more expensive resources for more complex work as required. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Betterwise, an educational software company that develops content for high school students to prepare for adult life. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MindSea?

We hired MindSea for UX/UI design and mobile app development. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

MindSea initially helped us build a blueprint for our project, which will be available for iOS and Android. We spent several months working through the conceptual framework to determine the offerings and what architecture needed to be implemented to satisfy its functionality. MindSea also conducted iterative interviews with potential users. 

After that, we began with development; MindSea has been responsible for all the front- and backend development and design. The whole site is built with React Native, and we use a Java-based framework on the backend. The initial design work was created with Figma. 

The app is primarily made up of short videos arranged into lessons around topics; when a user logs in, they can see all of the videos. One of the challenges that we’ve had to overcome with MindSea is a way to seamlessly present those educational videos and ask users questions about the videos they’ve just watched. MindSea has also developed a web-based administrative tool on the backend where we can design videos and quizzes and upload them. We are currently conducting iterative user testing. 

What is the team composition?

We work with a senior architect, a frontend developer, a designer, a site reliability engineer, and a project manager. 

How did you come to work with MindSea?

We found them through a referral; we knew other entrepreneurs that had used their services and were very pleased with MindSea. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested more than $1 million. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2021, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The application we’re building has already attracted over 1,300 trial users and we have more than 800 pieces of content already in the application. We’ve been able to create a very high-quality product in a short amount of time due to their assistance. The work is incredibly complex, but they’ve been able to churn out an offering that we’ve been very happy with.

They’re giving our customers a seamless, stable experience with no downtime, which we consider a success. 

How did MindSea perform from a project management standpoint?

They deliver on time, within budget, and are always true to their word. We communicate with their team daily and use Trello and Basecamp for project management and Slack for communication. 

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

We’d like to shout out Dennis (Director of Product Management). He’s done a fantastic job collaborating with us and ensuring everything is delivered on time. He’s also built new QA systems and has done an excellent job supporting us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

MindSea is ethical and never over-promises; they treat us like a partner and are highly transparent. They’re accommodating, and they care about the project. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing that we can come up with. We have a good relationship with their team and communicate about everything. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Invest in the blueprint process and take your time building the design elements. Take advantage of MindSea’s willingness to have open communication. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director, Innovations and Solutions of an agriculture company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We provide services to dairy cattle breeders across the country.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Build a mobile application to offer services.

SOLUTION

How did you find MindSea?

Online Search

Why did you select MindSea over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

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 led the project management and mobile development of our application. We followed an agile approach, and an iterative design and development process. MindSea had a dedicated team approach to designing, developing, testing and delivering our project components which included: a mobile app accessible on both iOS & Android using a React Native Framework and working together with our technical team on APIs, and backend support.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We launched our application within reasonable allowances for budget and timeline. The success of the application is being measured by engagement, solicited reviews and interaction among our membership.

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

An agile approach, weekly standup meetings, items delivered on track and well communicated when scope changes would influence timelines.

What was your primary form of communication with MindSea?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

It is a very engaged team, friendly and very easy to work with. They integrated well with our own team and were excellent at communicating and giving us visibility in to their progress and what they were working on through tools like Slack, Figma and Trello.

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

No major complaints.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at an economic development organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MindSea?

We were trying to increase the attachment of recent local and international grads to the local labor market through an app — we were already working with 33 communities across Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, and the US, but we wanted to grow that reach. We wanted to allow candidates to learn about their industry and hopefully build a professional network to find a carrier in their field.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

MindSea is doing mobile app development for iOS and Android, taking over the work other providers left behind. They’re creating a face-to-face platform that allows newcomers to build a professional network by connecting them with a volunteer connector from the business community within the sector they wish to work. Consequently, the user and the connector meet so the ladder can forward the grad to three of their business referrals in that industry.

What is the team composition?

We’ve been working with Reuben (CEO), a project manager, and their development team.

How did you come to work with MindSea?

We were already working with another provider but were unsatisfied with their work, so we submitted an RFP and decided to go with MindSea.

How much money have you invested in this partnership?

So far, we’ve spent $500,000 CAD (approximately $364,000 USD) with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2019, and the engagement is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their team has been very knowledgeable and has taken the time to know our company and our goals.

How did MindSea perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is excellent; they meet deadlines and stay within budget. Regarding tools, we use Trello, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and weekly phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve been communicative and keep us updated on everything, which has helped us stay within budget. We have no surprises on their end because they give us costs before doing anything.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve experienced a turnover in program managers, but we know this is common with every industry because the market is tight.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Before reaching out to them, try to have a general knowledge of the task you’re giving them to make this easier.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at an economic development organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MindSea?

We were trying to increase the attachment of recent local and international grads to the local labor market through an app — we were already working with 33 communities across Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, and the US, but we wanted to grow that reach. We wanted to allow candidates to learn about their industry and hopefully build a professional network to find a carrier in their field.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

MindSea is doing mobile app development for iOS and Android, taking over the work other providers left behind. They’re creating a face-to-face platform that allows newcomers to build a professional network by connecting them with a volunteer connector from the business community within the sector they wish to work. Consequently, the user and the connector meet so the ladder can forward the grad to three of their business referrals in that industry.

What is the team composition?

We’ve been working with Reuben (CEO), a project manager, and their development team.

How did you come to work with MindSea?

We were already working with another provider but were unsatisfied with their work, so we submitted an RFP and decided to go with MindSea.

How much money have you invested in this partnership?

So far, we’ve spent $500,000 CAD (approximately $364,000 USD) with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2019, and the engagement is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their team has been very knowledgeable, has taken the time to know our company and our goals.

How did MindSea perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is excellent; they meet deadlines and stay within budget. Regarding tools, we use Trello, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and weekly phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve been communicative and keep us updated on everything, which has helped us stay within budget. We have no surprises on their end because they give us costs before doing anything.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve experienced a turnover in program managers, but we know this is common with every industry because the market is tight.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Before reaching out to them, try to have a general knowledge of the task you’re giving them to make this easier.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the VPE of a Series A startup. Our company provides a platform that we describe as the Operating System for DE &I.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire MindSea?

We needed staff augmentation very early on in our journey towards where we are right now. Specifically, we need backend developers (Elixir) and Frontend Developers as well (React). Mindsea was not only able to provide us with the developers for those roles, they subsequently provided us with Designers as well.

SOLUTION

How did you select this agency and what were the deciding factors?

Our Engineering leadership had some familiarity with Mindsea and so the introductions were made to get discussions started. We went through the project description phase, requirement gathering phase, estimation phase, and then an alignment on the kind of resources that we needed for the project. The Mindsea team was very professional through it all and very flexible in terms of adjusting to changes in requirements along the way.

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

The backend developer they provided was instrumental in the initial architecture of the platform. Additionally, he was the main developer in helping to get the project off the ground. Likewise, the frontend developers helped shape the development of the UI for our main project. The main project was successfully completed late last year and they stayed on to help us in our next phase of the platform development work.

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

We trusted Mindsea's internal recruiting process in identifying and selecting candidates. After that, we reviewed resumes that they submitted and picked from them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to release our first DE & I platform thanks to the support from the Mindsea team. The Mindsea team formed the bulk of our development team throughout that project and worked really well with our in-house developers to take that project to successful completion.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

At Mathison, we pride ourselves on creating a highly collaborative and inclusive environment. The Mathison team was right at home with this philosophy and fit in really well with our in-house team. They operated not as an extension of the team, but rather as part of the cross-functional teams that they worked on.

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

They provided us with high-skilled developers who showed time again that they could be trusted to handle critical assignments and complete them with high quality.

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

We were overall very satisfied with the Mindsea team and thoroughly enjoyed working with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in biomedical engineering at the University of Toronto. I also work in the Orthopedics Biomechanics Laboratory and Research Institute, which is part of the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. I focus on machine learning for the healthcare industry, specifically analytics physiotherapy with inertial sensors in smartwatches. Additionally, I help manage the studies going on in our lab, as well as hundreds of patients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MindSea?

We were taking a new study off the ground. Previously, we had validated our technology using commercial smartwatches to pull in data and analyze it using machine learning to predict when patients were doing physiotherapy. However, that wasn’t providing any feedback to the patients or physiotherapists, so we needed an app that could present feedback about how well and accurately patients were doing their physiotherapy at home.

We also wanted this app to show the feedback in real-time to patients and physiotherapists as patients were doing the exercises using the app. That way, when patients return to the clinic, physiotherapists would be able to provide them with advice and support as needed. We needed an external company to help us develop this app, so we hired MindSea.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

MindSea helped us develop our app for Android devices, although we might create an iOS version in the future. We actually purchased Andriod tablets to be used for a study for both patients and physiotherapists using this app.

One of our requirements was using data from the hospital, but we had to adhere to strict regulatory guidelines. One of the solutions that we came up with was implementing a separate database to store our patients’ data, which was previously only accessible to Sunnybrook’s staff. MindSea helped us create this separate database to store patients' data and walked us through accessing it and interpreting it. Now, any debugging can be done using this database, which is accessible to MindSea.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with up to half a dozen people from MindSea at a given time, depending on the part of the project we’re working on. The project manager has been our main point of contact throughout this project.

How did you come to work with MindSea?

Someone from our lab was in charge of the initial development, and he came up with the idea for the underlying machine-learning technology for physiotherapy analysis. He identified various companies and interviewed them.

After interviewing MindSea, he got feedback from people who had worked with them previously. Ultimately, he chose them based on the interactions he had with them and their proposal.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $200,000 CAD (approximately $157,000 USD). Our initial contract was for $176,000 CAD (approximately $138,000 USD), but we’ve had a couple of additions along the way.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2020, and our partnership is ongoing. However, it is on pause. After MindSea developed the app and the database, it was our turn to do all the work on the hospital side to get the permits and recruit patients to kickstart the study. We will have patients and physiotherapists using the app for the next 4–5 months, and based on their feedback, we will go back to MindSea and ask them to implement changes to the app as needed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The fact that we now have patients using the app in the clinic and have had great feedback from them so far is evidence that what MindSea did works. The app is very intuitive to use, at least for the first few patients and the physiotherapists, although we will tend to have some older patients using it who may need help. Still, the fact that we’re actively conducting the study is proof that MindSea was able to deliver what we needed based on the project’s requirements.

How did MindSea perform from a project management standpoint?

MindSea’s project management is very good. Based on previous experience, I was really impressed when they spent an entire day with us mapping out our exact needs so that they could have a thorough understanding of our project. They also helped us have a thorough understanding of what we were looking for regarding the app design. This was a very useful activity.

MindSea is also very responsive and has quick turnaround times. We identified 1–2 minor bugs along the way, but they rapidly corrected them and didn’t interfere with the patient data collection.

Additionally, they’re very good at communicating and giving feedback along the way to ensure that we know at which stage of the project we are. For example, we’ve used different applications like Trello to see what they’re working on. They also created a Slack channel for us so that we could get instant feedback. In addition to that, we communicate via email, and we’ve had weekly meetings at certain points of the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

MindSea’s project management distinguishes them from other providers; they’ve done a very good job in that regard. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of something that MindSea could improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make full use of the initial engagement meeting and come prepared, being willing to input your own thoughts about what you want. However, keep in mind that MindSea is also very capable of helping you walk along this process and determine your project’s needs.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We're a full-service marketing agency for the digital health industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire MindSea, and what were your goals?

We've completed marketing work on behalf of MindSea, but we've also taken on comarketing initiatives with our agency and MindSea.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

MindSea is a team of incredibly talented and collaborative people. It was a no-brainer for us to work with them and recommend that others do, should they have the opportunity to do so.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Marketing automation, website building, content development, messaging, strategizing around the digital health industry, podcast production (Moving Digital Health), business reporting, and more.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Four. CEO, Head of Sales, Head of Creative, and Product Manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We have succeeded with MindSea in:

• Understanding key needs and developing solutions for the digital health industry.
• Supporting website development and copywriting
• Building a valuable co-marketing relationship
• Developing communications about why MindSea is the best at developing applications for the digital health industry

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Adjectives that come to mind about MindSea's style include:

• Detailed
• Creative
• Collaborative
• Kind
• Ambitious
• Thoughtful

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

I've worked with a number of designer and developers over the last decade. MindSea has some of the most talented designers and developers I've encountered. AND- typically when you come across such talent in this space, it's paired with strong egos. The MindSea team exhibits such professional humility.

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

I wouldn't be comfortable talking about areas for improvement for MindSea without sharing how that relates to the shortcomings my team has brought to the partnership, and this doesn't feel like the correct forum to do so.

The MindSea team truly was professional and expert. While there are always areas for improvement, they truly exhibited excellence with their work.