MobileFirst Applications

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am COO of a healthcare company that deals with health analytics and wellness awareness.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire MobileFirst?

Facing a tight timeline, we contacted MobileFirst to clone our existing Android application to iOS.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a cloned version with slight modifications to our existing app. We needed to go to market in the App Store in one month’s time.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We contacted and compared around 5-6 vendors. We sent out designs to each vendor. We requested an approximate timeline as well as a cost breakdown. We had several calls to clarify functionality expectations, clean up designs, and talk about scheduling constraints. MobileFirst was very responsive and clear in communications. Overall, we assessed MobileFirst based on communications, time zone, past projects, price, timeline, and client references.

Describe the project in detail.

The team cloned our Android app and published the iOS version in the App Store.

What was the team composition?

MobileFirst assigned one lead developer and a project manager. The latter coordinated with our team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within the month, we had a functional iOS app. MobileFirst provided the necessary support and guidance to publish the solution on time. The core functionality was there; the team completed minor improvements in the weeks following the launch.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

MobileFirst integrated with our team and communicated in a direct manner. They readily asked insightful questions to align expectations and clarify specifications.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The level of personal service and follow-up distinguished the team. They were ready to discuss and help resolve all our of concerns.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Moving forward, we would integrate closer to them and have a closer working relationship. That would ease handover and avoid minor bumps along the way.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a social networking company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MobileFirst?

I needed them to develop an iOS–accessible app as an MVP to help build my user base.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Based on design framework I provided, MobileFirst created a mobile app for iOS devices from scratch. Core features of the app are that users can create a profile, log in, talk to people within their state using the iOS location abilities, see a timeline of posts, and search for trending topics.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with MobileFirst’s co–founder and he would then talk to his team, which I believe was made of three people.

How did you come to work with MobileFirst?

I found them through my research on Y Combinator and began working with them after speaking with the co–founder, who said they would be willing to develop the app.

What is the status of this engagement?

My work with MobileFirst began February 2018 and ended April 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t received user feedback yet since we released the app just a few days ago, but I can say the code quality is very reliable and stable. MobileFirst provided me with everything I needed.

How did MobileFirst perform from a project management standpoint?

Most of our communication was over email and they were always available when I had a question, whether that was by email or phone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were ready to work as soon as I spoke with them and always on top of things, which is impressive because I haven’t found many companies that are willing to do that for an MVP.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not especially. There were a few bugs at the beginning of the project but I think that’s expected in mobile app development, and they responded to the issues quickly.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you have a solid idea of what you want and bring initial designs, the project will go very smoothly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Play It Now. We essentially have an app for partygoers that helps them make requests to DJ’s. They place a tip or a bid, and if the DJ accepts the song request, they get to pocket that tip or bid. It’s a way for partygoers to start engaging with DJ’s over their phone.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MobileFirst?

The challenge was to get the app built. We only had an MVP [minimum viable product]. I got in touch with MobileFirst to see if they were going to be a good fit, and it turned out that they were.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The MVP was a mobile web app. We realized that the concept had legs, and a lot of people started using it. We quickly started developing a mobile app for iOS and Android. MobileFirst did the design with very little feedback from me. I would say that 60–70% of their work was developing the actual app. I believe that there were three developers assigned to the project. MobileFirst handled getting the app submitted to the app stores as well.

The biggest feature is the ability for folks to log in to a specific venue, and then look up a song they want to request. MobileFirst integrated the iTunes API for that. The users can make tip requests by selecting from multiple buttons of amounts. There’s also a toggle button to change the amount. After that, a push notification goes to the DJ saying that a song has been requested. When the DJ plays the song, the user gets a notification that it’s been accepted.

How did you come to work with MobileFirst?

I met them through a common friend. We had a couple of on-boarding calls, and then we were ready to go. I did consider other companies, but I realized that the MobileFirst team understood the idea. It resonated with them, and they’re somewhat passionate about what I was trying to get into. That was important to me.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began around October or November 2015. The bulk of the work was completed around August 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of the work is fantastic. You’re bound to face bugs, and we had a few, but it’s been pretty flawless other than that. I’d probably rank the reliability and stability at 98 out of 100. Users are very satisfied with the design and flow of the app. We’re still working with them, so we’re able to come out with new features very quickly, and that’s what users love to see.

How did MobileFirst perform from a project management standpoint?

I was lucky enough to work directly with some of their top guys. I don’t know if we got prioritized, but it was great. The communication was pretty clear. We used email, Slack, and JIRA for communication. With any tech project, deadlines can be difficult to hit. For the most part, they did a good job.

What did you find most impressive about MobileFirst?

Most developers are just there to do the work, bang it out, and get paid. MobileFirst actually put in a lot of passion on this project. They do their own research, put in their own thoughts, and take part in the discussion, versus just handing out the work. I guess the kind of approach depends on the type of business you have. For us, it worked out great.

Are there any areas MobileFirst could improve?

Nothing off the top of my head. We’re still working with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Team Laser Beam.com is a creative agency that works with entrepreneurs and startups to deliver additional products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MobileFirst?

MobileFirst reached out in June for technical partnership projects. At that time, I was tasked with a consulting role as a project that led into technical development for a mobile app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

MobileFirst helped me deliver an iOS and Android mobile app platform for t-shirt printing and custom on-demand apparel design and printing fulfillment. They helped with ideation, strategy, design and coding. They also developed the backend services to be able to support both of the apps. The app lets users customize the t-shirt they want. The design is placed into an order and transferred to the backend service to be fulfilled by the production facility and they get shipped out. I did the wireframes and designs. They helped me when necessary but they took the plans and wireframing and delivered on the product with daily input. MobileFirst provided a project manager, one iOS developer, one Android developer and one backend developer.

We also moved into another project that was a healthcare platform which was accepted and published to the App Store today. The healthcare platform enables users to make a request for a specific medical provider to come to their home to provide medical services. The user can provide a rating and feedback on the service that was provided. MobileFirst provided a project manager, one iOS developer and one backend developer. We are now focusing on marketing and launch strategy.

How did you come to work with MobileFirst?

They reached out by cold email and that led to some discussions. They were also in the area and the account manager and I got together to have a beer. We discussed their background and what we’d like to do and decided they were the right fit for us.

How much have you invested with MobileFirst?

Each project cost between $15,000 and $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The first project started in June 2016 and was completed in October 2016. The second project began in January 2017 and was completed in April 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One thing that I measured was number of Git commits in terms of code delivery. That was on par because every other day I got code delivered. Another metric I kept track of was project management. We use Trello as a project management tool and we were able to keep track of tasks and prioritize them. When we’re done, we close out tasks. Throughout the process, I had a goal to clear out a certain number of tasks. We didn’t have a clear measurement of that but we did show progress because we were able to clear out those particular elements every week. We don’t have feedback from the end user yet. The MobileFirst team has been working closely with us in the whole process. I have faith that whatever challenge we face, they’ll make an effort to solve it with me.

How did MobileFirst perform from a project management standpoint?

I had daily contact with our project manager who had a clear understanding of our expectations. I also had contact with the developers every other day but their communication wasn’t as good as the project manager. It was a great experience working with MobileFirst because I had someone I was in contact with and the ability to know what was going on at any given time.

What did you find most impressive about MobileFirst?

One of the most important things their team had was tenacity and commitment to deliver results. MobileFirst was really on top of things and always provided solutions. They went above and beyond to help me solve technical problems. Every other Saturday, MobileFirst has staff that works to provide an extra day of support. That provides time for things that are missed or extra time to catch up on projects without charging for their time. That was a good testament to how committed they are to ensuring success of my projects. IT projects have a lot of risks because a lot of things could go bad if things aren’t thought through.

Are there any areas MobileFirst could improve?

With IT projects, a lot of software tends to be similar. One of the things we would’ve liked was to have more replicable processes in place. Both of the projects start off as brand new projects. There were a couple times where, if there were repeatable processes or documented processes, we could’ve jump-started much faster because we could’ve reused existing processes, components, and tools. Going forward, I’m working with them to document more of the startup processes and components so that any new projects will speed ahead of the basic stuff and focus more on the high level or more advanced coding that’s required.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are developing an app with the mission and vision of helping people improve their lives and making them more productive. The app is aimed at groups, specifically busy parents, who have many things going on with work, as well as their children’s school, travel, and other activities. I am the CEO and founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MobileFirst?

The primary need was to develop our app based on an existing mockup. We were aiming to help people simplify their lives. Instead of scrolling through different papers, messaging services, emails, and so on, our app would bring everything together so that people could coordinate their lives efficiently. We, of course, want as many people as possible to like what we are doing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

MobileFirst developed our iOS app. We are also working on a web version. We were developing an Android app as well, but have paused the work while determining our direction.

It is a feature-rich product, similar to Microsoft Outlook. It centers on groups, allowing users to create as many as they like. Each group can contain from 2–50 people. All of them have a shared calendar, shared lists, and documents, and they all receive instant feeds for any change. If a user adds a new event, the others receive invitations to discuss it. For any calendar entry, there are associated task lists and documents around which users can have chats.

Development has been the major part of MobileFirst’s services, but they’ve also provided thorough testing and business advice around where we could find marketing resources, video production help, and so on.

How did you come to work with MobileFirst?

MobileFirst was discovered by one of my colleagues one year ago. Since we had a mockup, we knew what we wanted to accomplish. We had also been working with another company in Singapore since January 2016 to develop our calendar. That other party was more expensive, so we gave our set of tasks to MobileFirst. They came up with a nice solution quickly, and we proceeded with the mobile part of our project.

How much have you invested with MobileFirst?

The cost of MobileFirst’s work has been $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with MobileFirst in March 2016. The iOS version is 80–90% complete.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have no statistics yet. We are working on a very complicated application, providing more than typical calendars like the ones from Google or Apple. We are able to integrate with third-party calendars but also offer separate group ones. For each one, users can add events, task lists, documents, and notes. It is a unique service in this sense, and it is functional.

I have been using the app along with my wife for the last five months. It does have a few bugs, but it has been working very well, generally.

How did MobileFirst perform from a project management standpoint?

Software development is two steps forward, one step backward. Despite this, I think that MobileFirst has done a wonderful job and I’m very happy with their work. There will always be bugs, but we are able to discuss them during scrum meetings. We use Asana for the collaboration and input any detected bugs there.

Having a proper project management roadmap would be an improvement for MobileFirst. I have been in charge of the project management part myself. MobileFirst’s team is definitely professional in terms of communication. I work with their project manager, the CEO, and our developer directly. For the Android part, I also worked directly with a developer. There is no hierarchy or any other obstacle like internal politics, so the relationship has worked quite well for me. I have been the CEO of manufacturing companies before and used to have 1,500 employees under me, so I know that anything can happen. I have not seen any agendas on MobileFirst’s part, which I appreciate.

What did you find most impressive about MobileFirst?

MobileFirst has very good developers. I used to work in the heavy manufacturing industry, and don’t know a lot about software development. MobileFirst is the first company of this kind I’ve used, but I found them to be humble, which is a very good trait to have. MobileFirst’s team listened to me whenever I requested a change in direction, and provided good ideas.

Are there any areas MobileFirst could improve?

In software development, there are many times when we simply have a plan and keep going. Sometimes though, there will be a difficulty in figuring out how we can execute a change. These are cases when we do need to approach the work at a higher level, think about it more, and only then start the development. MobileFirst’s people are very good at executing and they have the ability, but when it comes to scoping, they could improve.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the manager of applications and support at Morro Data. I handle the technical aspects of marketing, some support, and some project management on app development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MobileFirst?

Our product is a hardware/software solution for cloud storage. Although our management system is based on the cloud, we needed to build a desktop application for Mac and Windows, which is why we approached MobileFirst.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We needed a cross-platform application, so we required someone who had expertise in developing in both environments. We were building an application that manages your network shares. It needed to interface with our cloud backend management system, and then be able to make those local resources available on a network. Our cloud-based storage uses a cached cloud gateway, and a gateway is a local device. So, when you need to talk to it, you communicate over your local network. The application managed all the aspects of that; authenticating the users, seeing what shares were available to them, and then making it easier. It’s complicated to create shares that will mount all the time on a Mac, so this made it easier for users to do that.

Our team was focused on our core application, so we needed a team to augment and expand our resources. We didn’t have anyone with that expertise in-house. For the application side, MobileFirst had to build that on their own, from scratch, but we provided the API for the backend.

Their team consisted of one developer and a project manager. The technologies used in the development include XCode and Objective-C. We had a user interface design for them to work from, and we gave them a functional spec, but there wasn’t a lot of detailed guidance. They were very good about working with us to flesh out some of the things we didn’t think about ahead of time.

How did you come to work with MobileFirst?

I had worked with MobileFirst through a previous employer. I considered other vendors, but I approached them first because things went very well with the last project. I wanted to use them for this one as well.

How much have you invested with MobileFirst?

We invested about $2,000 with MobileFirst.

What is the status of this engagement?

This project began in November of 2016, and the work was complete in March of 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re still in the process of launching the application, so there’s no user feedback on it yet. We got through the QA testing relatively quickly. MobileFirst turned it around pretty fast. The app does what we wanted it to do. MobileFirst met the expectations. There were issues we didn’t think about, which came up after the project completed, and they were good about fixing those as well. I think it met the functional requirements that we put forward to them.

How did MobileFirst perform from a project management standpoint?

MobileFirst was really good about the communication. The engineers were very good about going above and beyond. We hired them as a consulting firm, and after we had wrapped up, the engineer still made herself available to us. She made time to deal with any issues that came up. They were very good about the whole thing.

We primarily used email and Skype for communication, as well as Zoom for screen sharing,

What did you find most impressive about MobileFirst?

MobileFirst is very good about taking on difficult challenges, and then putting a lot of effort into getting those done. This project posed some issues for them, as they didn’t have access to our network and the device. They had to code it blindly based on our requirements, and they did a very good job with that.

Are there any areas MobileFirst could improve?

I think it’s important to have a very clear plan going forward. MobileFirst was very generous with their time and effort, but I think it would have been better if they were more restrictive in that space, to make sure we stayed on top of things.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the CTO of an advertising & marketing company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We're focused on revolutionizing digital advertising by building the first cross application recommendation network to address the shortcomings of current ad networks.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire FintegrationFS | MobileFirst Applications to accomplish?

• Develop multiple mobile SDKs for crypto wallet appications

SOLUTION

How did you find FintegrationFS | MobileFirst Applications?

Online Search

Why did you select FintegrationFS | MobileFirst Applications over others?

Pricing fit our budget

How many teammates from FintegrationFS | MobileFirst Applications were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

MobileFirst was tasked with building out SDKs in Swift, Kotlin, and JavaScript for use in iOS and Android crypto wallet applications.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

MobileFirst was provided requirements that described user stories and the expected functionality of the SDKs. Implementation and completion of these requirements marked milestones in how the project was progressing.

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

They did an excellent job of managing the project and ultimately delivered ahead of the anticipated timeline. Initially the project was scoped for a single version of the SDK for iOS but was eventually expanded to include Android and cross-application development using React Native. MobileFirst quickly accommodated this expanded scope and provided additional development resources to support the project.

What was your primary form of communication with FintegrationFS | MobileFirst Applications?

Virtual Meeting

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

Working with MobileFirst, I was impressed by the short ramp up period required to begin development and their efficiency in onboarding additional developers as the project scope expanded.

Are there any areas for improvement or something FintegrationFS | MobileFirst Applications could have done differently?

None at all

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Technical Team Lead, AI of Glide

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Build a data-driven app for work without writing a line of code.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire FintegrationFS | MobileFirst Applications to accomplish?

• I am the CTO of a small tech company that needed to develop a mobile app for our customers. We were on a tight budget and a short deadline, but FintegrationFS was able to meet our needs.

SOLUTION

How did you find FintegrationFS | MobileFirst Applications?

Referral

Why did you select FintegrationFS | MobileFirst Applications over others?

• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

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

FintegrationFS is a team of experts in mobile app development help us to start from scratch and take us to a better place 1.They made the app in away that will be easy to use 2. They help us to add short tutorial for new users

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our mobile app has been a huge success. It has been downloaded by thousands of users and has received rave reviews.

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

We are satisfaction with their work satisfaction

What was your primary form of communication with FintegrationFS | MobileFirst Applications?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They had a deep understanding of the latest technologies and trends. They are also very creative and able to come up with innovative solutions to problems.

Are there any areas for improvement or something FintegrationFS | MobileFirst Applications could have done differently?

No at the moment they are good to go