NotionTheory

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the vice president of IRIO, a custom SMS and MMS solutions provider. Essentially, our clients use the platform for 2 main purposes: marketing to target audiences and communicating with the existing customer base, all via text message.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with NotionTheory?

We were getting ready to develop an app for a new product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

NotionTheory developed an iOS and Android app for our company. Both versions were created in parallel and NotionTheory was in charge of the UI/UX design.

How did you come to work with NotionTheory?

I was reading a HubSpot blog and NotionTheory was listed as the go-to company for any app need. We looked at other candidates as well, but NotionTheory approached the project from a relationship-driven model versus a product-driven one.

How much have you invested with NotionTheory?

The total cost of NotionTheory's services was around $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2016. It was a 6-week timeframe and NotionTheory delivered in a responsive manner. We have engaged NotionTheory for additional proposals.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In terms of what NotionTheory delivered, the apps are ready to go. NotionTheory built everything that we asked for. The app itself has been put on hold due to some legal ramifications around the product. We plan to launch it in 2017.

How did NotionTheory perform from a project management standpoint?

Slack was our main communication and project management tool. NotionTheory is a very responsive group.  

What did you find most impressive about NotionTheory?

They obviously have coding and engineering skills, but NotionTheory's team also understands people. The ability to hit on all 3 of these cylinders is a very rare thing in our industry, from my point of view. They are very personable. From the start, NotionTheory wanted to know about us and our business. They found out what our goals were and spent time listening to us, rather than telling us about their processes and what they did as a developer. NotionTheory did everything possible to ensure that they'd deliver a superior product. Every interaction with NotionTheory was tailored to the business that they were working with at the time. In contrast, other companies usually have a cookie-cutter process.

Are there any areas NotionTheory could improve?

None that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a startup business developing a mobile app that provides a voice and awareness for citizens in the public spaces that they use on a daily basis. The voice part comes through the ability of users to report a problem in a public setting. Our aim is to allow people to do this in any space, anywhere. The information is passed along through issue reports that are delivered to the appropriate person at a local government or other public office for that space. An example of this would be the metro system. The office that monitors stations and facilities would receive reports from citizens about items that aren't fully functional, inconvenient, and so on. The office can then go and actually shift their eyes to that issue, managing it to resolution. Our mobile app also offers people block-by-block awareness. All issue reports are viewable based on location. We also provide metro-level awareness by allowing users to view all public and governmental Twitter feeds that are relevant to a specific area.

The web app is integrated directly with the mobile version and, together, they form the basis of our service for local governments. They can set location preferences according to their responsibilities and pick issue types. These two selections will allow them access to a maintenance queue based upon all information in our database. As an example, someone in a local government in Washington, D.C., working on local roads can select the D.C. area, plus streets and sidewalks, as a topic. All the data for open issues would be filtered into their queue and prioritized as either high or normal. The manager can navigate to specific locations and look at reported information.

What is your position?

I am the founder and chief executive officer of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with NotionTheory?

My developer at the time was both not performing well and was unable to predict timetables and costs. We could not afford to do this by ourselves, and we don't have the resources or time to find permanent developers. The next best option was to move to another provider. Moving to NotionTheory was a huge improvement for me.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

NotionTheory built a mobile application for both iOS and Android, integrating it with our issue management software that was already at-hand when we began the project. Both versions of the application were built in parallel as one code base, which was deployed through Adobe PhoneGap to each platform.

How did you come to work with NotionTheory?

I had some conversations in my local incubator complaining about the currently nonperforming developers that we were using. NotionTheory's business developer introduced himself to me and started a conversation. The key for selecting them was the fact that NotionTheory had references that loved working with them, were happy with how projects were completed, the defined timetable, and the costs of the development.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The total development cost has been between $25,000 and $35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first met NotionTheory in November 2015 and spent one month documenting the statement of work. Coding the application was started in January 2016. Our app is currently live in the app stores, so the original project has concluded. I've recently talked to NotionTheory about follow-up work. I am happy enough in order to use them again.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The people who have seen my solution have loved the idea. We currently have no users for the app. I need to convince local governments to adopt the platform. Both applications have been live for only three weeks, so we're building a cadre of research partners to subscribe to my service.

How did NotionTheory perform from a project management standpoint?

NotionTheory delivered the work within budget. They were great in terms of matching features to costs and to a defined timetable. I asked NotionTheory to do this because I was running on a tight budget at the beginning of the project, which I thought would be alleviated later on during development. As boxes were checked for some of the features, the timetables for the additional functionalities were added on, as well as particular refinements of edge cases. NotionTheory was close enough to the schedule as to only take little additional time for refinements. I've gotten everything I wanted from the project and, cost-wise, I knew exactly what I was paying. The schedule was within the range of expectation as well, so I'm totally happy.

What distinguishes NotionTheory from other providers?

NotionTheory was very responsive to my needs. We had full conversations, which is something that I like. I also appreciated that NotionTheory was a local company. I could meet with them all the time. They were overall easy to work with and very confident. I enjoyed working with NotionTheory.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We're a startup company developing mobile situation awareness tools for police, fire units, and emergency medical services.

What is your position?

I am a co-founder and the Chief Executive Officer of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with NotionTheory?

We specialize in backend and front-end web development, but don't have a lot of experience in mobile development.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

NotionTheory developed a prototype application for Android and iOS for us. It was developed on the PhoneGap platform and published on both operating systems, so there was only one code base. We already had the requirements fleshed-out, but they helped us with the design and in terms of choosing colors and how icons should look.

We handled most of the quality testing in-house. NotionTheory made sure that the app was functional on the mobile side. We tested the backend as well as the mobile elements, once we had access to them.

NotionTheory was in charge of the entire publishing process for our app.

How did you come to work with NotionTheory?

We met them at a startup weekend and came to really like their founder. They employed the same type of lean methodology as ourselves, and their business model fit well with our goal. We talked to several other mobile companies, but NotionTheory seemed to be the best fit.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The initial prototype cost around $14,000. The total cost so far has been around $20,000-25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The initial phase was aimed at a two-week field-test for Homeland security. It was completed in June, 2015. We've had two or three small upgrades since then. The app was launched on both OS stores in February, 2016. Prior to this, we were using TestFlight and sending APKs to people.

The application is currently in its beta phase. It's available on both Google Play and the Apple App Store, but it's not usable unless the specific enterprise is signed up for our solution. If the New York Police Department signed up for example, our administrators would send them login information. We continue to use NotionTheory for any feature upgrades. We work on the web and backend elements, while they provide the mobile side.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We occasionally find bugs within the app, but they are fixed fairly quickly. NotionTheory did a very good job of keeping us engaged with their progress. There is a web portal where we can submit bugs and track how they're solved. The process was easy and fast.

We regarded the outsourcing process as a potential problem as the launch deadline was approaching. We can work until 5 in the morning if something needs to be done, but weren't sure about their team. NotionTheory was by our side for the whole time, working late nights in order to get things done. They knocked out the work quickly. It's a stable build with no bugs within its core features.

How did NotionTheory perform from a project management standpoint?

They've been able to hit all our deadlines in due time. We've referred them to five or six other companies because of how easy it was to work with them and the fact that their process was very well thought-out. They brought us on board for planning and made exact estimates for each task, split out by number of days. It's been very helpful to us.

We used Slack and Google Hangouts during our collaboration. They also provided us with some web platform through which we can schedule meetings and a platform that allows us to track bugs.  

What distinguishes NotionTheory from other providers?

We considered four or five other companies. NotionTheory stood out by how well structured their work process is defined. They gave us precise schedules on what work we would be doing in order to guarantee that the product would be delivered within four weeks. It was something we didn't see with other providers.

Their transparency would be very valuable to any prospecting customer. NotionTheory is constantly online. We can instantly chat with them via Slack or Google Hangouts. We can set good expectations on when to expect our scope defined, or when the user experience or the backend will be completed. They recommended a lot of the services we're currently using, like Firebase, which is a backend services company. NotionTheory's knowledge of backend and third-party tools has helped us reduce the amount of code we had to write. It was very valuable to us.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Watercooled Media is an app development company. We have developed a fiscal planning app with a focus on events and general social planning. Our company consists of myself, my cofounder, as well as other investors. We're still very much a startup.

What is your position?

I am one of the founders of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with NotionTheory?

Getting our company to our current point was a four-year process. We initially worked with an individual developer who didn't produce the solution we requested. The app was launched but, when it came to fixing bugs, he was nowhere to be found. We began to accrue a critical mass of bugs, and we couldn't turn around resolutions quick enough. We were ultimately left with an unfinished product and no developer.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

We retained 0 percent of our previous app. The work with NotionTheory began completely from scratch. During our process, we went through a trademark dispute that led to us abandoning our old app name, so we chose a new name as well, starting completely fresh. The app was built for iOS and Android in parallel, using PhoneGap. In this way, the same code could be launched on multiple operating systems.

The biggest feature we wanted was being able to use previously existing contacts instead of relying on Facebook syncing or anything similar. Users should be able to pull their list directly from their phones. The challenge was that, if a contact didn't have our app, they wouldn't receive our invite. It was thus necessary to send out text messages with a download link for our app. People can invite every single contact in their list if they want to. Users who already have the app get a push notification while those without it get a text message.

How did you come to work with NotionTheory?

Kristian Bouw, their CEO, was offering free consultations for mobile companies on a message board that we visited frequently. He talked to us in order to see where we were headed and what our company's needs were. We told him our story and asked how he thought we should continue. We had a limited budget but, since he was building his company, NotionTheory, at the time, we found a good position to work together. We met again, finalized everything, and gave him a green light to proceed. We lucked into our collaboration with NotionTheory. They pitched the exact solution we were looking for, so we decided to work with them.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The original budget for the app was $12,000 for four weeks of development. After that period, we added more features, so the price went up accordingly. NotionTheory gave us a scope each time, detailing how much each aspect would take and how much it would add to the budget. We were never surprised during the process.

What is the status of this engagement?

The timeline for our original proposal, before making any change requests, was four weeks just for development, not including bug fixes. We've been working on it for about a year, so far. We've requested six or seven new features and changed the layout. My co-owner and I are perfectionists so, even if the app looked good on paper, if the final product didn't have the right feel, we'd go back to discussions. The timeframe was less important than having the app look right in the end. 

The app has been live on the App Store as of 11 o'clock last night [April 2015] – fully updated. We are planning to have a marketing push within a week or two. It has been in beta for a long time, and we've had users for our previous version.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We had around 100 users before making logo and interface changes. Approximately 80 percent of them were people whom we knew. All of the feedback from them was positive. They loved the layout, how easy it was to navigate through, and so on. The only negative feedback came from a couple of our investors, who didn't care for the logo. They tend to be a little older and don't look at products in the same way as an 18 to 25-year-old would. The people within our target market love the logo, layout, and general idea of the app, though.

How did NotionTheory perform from a project management standpoint?

We've had no issues at all. The developer with whom we worked has been a godsend. There were times in which we had ideas or needed to deal with issues from Apple at 12 o'clock at night. He responded immediately to us and broke the issues down.

What distinguishes NotionTheory from other providers?

The timeline and price were faster and cheaper than anyone else we came across by a lot. We were almost afraid to choose NotionTheory because they were so inexpensive when compared to other companies we under consideration. It turned out that they were able to build our solution for that little money, and the process was amazing. Kristian has always given us great feedback. He has a good understanding of the market and what people are looking for. He can give us answers, whether they're related specifically to our app or not. He's very good at what he does. I like to describe NotionTheory as our stand-in chief technology officer. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

ShowUp is a Netflix-like site for web series shows.

What is your position?

I am the founder and CEO of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with NotionTheory?

I was looking for a thought partner as much as for a production studio for my concept. There were developers who would willingly take my UX [user experience] designs and work on them to the letter, without giving any creative feedback. Other developers, even though they were willing to give inputs on the work, weren’t very familiar with the startup world and creating a minimum viable product. I needed a good marriage between these two facets.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

NotionTheory built a responsive web application for me, which works well on mobile devices. I have considered the possibility of building an app in the future.

The most important functionality in the site was a video player that worked well. I didn’t want to have a YouTube embed site. I initially picked a video service called vzaar, based on pricing. It turned out that their technical support was not very good, and they weren’t responsive to requests for API [application programming interface] information and so on. We switched to a company called Brightcove. NotionTheory helped me through this process, finding the most viable video player within my price range.

Beyond having a video player, I wanted users to be able to give ratings and browse efficiently. Even though I had a small collection of content, I wanted to make it seem as though it wasn’t a small collection. A general sleek design was also important.

I mostly worked with a single developer, but the process of refining the ideas was done through an entire team.

How did you come to work with NotionTheory?

In looking for a developer, I had a few different options, including outsourcing the work to individuals through oDesk [now Upwork]. I was looking for a group, which would have experience within the startup market that could help me refine my ideas and would see the project as more than a source of income. NotionTheory fit all of the criteria.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The total development cost was $22,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The development process took six weeks. Delivery took a few days more than estimated, but it was successful. The site has been launched in October 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

General feedback has been good regarding the site’s usability and simplicity of design. The negative comments that I’ve received regarded the design implementation of the landing page.

How did NotionTheory perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a native project management platform through which I can sign in and see the tasks that are worked on within the total roadmap of items we set out to complete. I appreciated being able to see this information.

What distinguishes NotionTheory from other providers?

They were not only willing to build that I wanted, but also helped me narrow my vision down to the best implementation possible for getting it out into the world. No first step is ever perfect, but NotionTheory know how to whittle down a larger idea into an effective point. They’re very much suited to working with startups in creating minimum viable products, especially in the case of companies lacking a technical founder.

Is there anything NotionTheory could have improved or done differently?

I’m very happy with their customer support, communication and the execution of the ideas we’ve gone through. There wasn’t anything within my list of tasks that NotionTheory couldn’t do or failed to communicate. Whenever there were any glitches, they were addressed beforehand to my satisfaction.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Reading Gauge is an education technology company that uses real-time student interactions to help teachers visualize how students are reading. We're a type of assessment company, letting students interact with texts and giving teachers the ability to monitor what their students are doing as they read those texts. We're based in Seymour, Indiana.

What is your position?

I am a cofounder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with NotionTheory?

My cofounder, Clay Schepman, and I had an idea of writing professional development books for teachers. We found out that that was very difficult to do. We were looking for specific types of student reading data that wasn't available. We decided that, since the information wasn't there, we should generate it.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

NotionTheory built a minimal viable product for us using Heroku and a number of real-time messaging technologies.

The main challenge was implementing real-time messaging. NotionTheory had never worked within the education space before, but they were very intuitive about what it was that we, as well as the teachers, needed. We don't have technical backgrounds, so this level of intuition on their end with regard to our vision was essential. NotionTheory did a fantastic job of bringing to life what was in our heads.

During development, we had two to three phone conversations with their team each week. They did everything to ensure that everything was done right, sending us wireframes and giving feedback.

We'd often call or email them on 11 o'clock on a Friday and get immediate responses. The amount of customer service NotionTheory has provided us has been extraordinary.

How did you come to work with NotionTheory?

We went through a couple of firms and received quotes of between $100,000 to $400,000 for building our platform. That was not feasible on two teachers' salaries, with six combined kids. We decided to go to Startup Weekend in Washington, D.C. Kristian Bouw, NotionTheory's founder, happened to be one of the participants. He sat down with us and we had a few talks during the event, getting to understand what NotionTheory did and what the idea of a minimal viable product was. When we came back from Startup Weekend, we had a better understanding of what it was that we wanted to do, but still didn't have a company to build it for us. My partner remembered that we'd spoken to Kristian, we reached out, and their team developed our minimally viable product, which was the jump-start we needed in order to get into classrooms and provide something better than a PowerPoint presentation.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

We were one of their first customers and, as such, were under a different pricing and timeframe model. Their initial quoted price was around $9,000 for three weeks of development in order to reach a minimum viable product.

What is the status of this engagement?

At this point, the solution is available strictly through web browsers. It has been optimized for tablets, Chromebooks, PCs, and so on. We've been in discussions with them about a new round of development for an app. We're completely confident that NotionTheory can provide this for us as well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We piloted the platform in three classrooms. We've also given access to the application to a special education institution. We've caught the attention of a few possible strategic partners that we hadn't thought we'd be working with. It's a testament to NotionTheory's effort.

The recurring feedback we received from our users was that the application is clean in terms of design. Often, student apps will be overloaded with features because of perceived small attention spans. With our solution, even the students commented on the level of focus they could get through it.

Because it's open-ended and has been designed so well, teachers have used it in ways that we had not even though of. When an adaptable tool is put in the hands of good teachers, great things can happen. This is what NotionTheory have created.

We didn't complete the app until September [2015], which is a month after most schools' billing cycles. We missed this year's funding cycle. As such, we don't have a great user base. Many people have enjoyed the app when we presented it at conferences, but we're ultimately looking to branch out and get some money out of it.

We're planning to attend a conference in San Diego, for which NotionTheory have offered to be our technical leads. They will help us be prepared for it. Even though we don't have the users we wanted, we've gained traction as a company and are being invited to different events.

How did NotionTheory perform from a project management standpoint?

We've worked on a few different rounds with them, from building our minimal viable product to adding extra features, that we didn't get to implement the first time. We went through a week of debugging. Even though some of the change requests were more preferential things on our end, NotionTheory have been very receptive to any demand. They have simple and efficient solutions to all our needs.

There were some drawbacks that were outside of everyone's control, but they still hit their deadline, doing everything that they were supposed to do and then some. NotionTheory did everything that needed to be done for us to become a viable company.

What distinguishes NotionTheory from other providers?

Whenever we meet on a Google Hangout, we'll typically work for 40 out of 50 minutes, and for the rest of the time we'd just chat casually. Being from a smaller town, this is the kind of work relationship I want to have. NotionTheory is personable and nice to be around. We met them at their office and interacted with them just as with any other people we'd known for a long time. This says something about NotionTheory's level of commitment to their clients. The fact that they're experts at what they do is a given, but I'm more impressed with who they are as people.

There were moments in which we came to NotionTheory with ideas for our application, which they advised us against. We'd have been pulling it in two different ways, losing our focus on the actual product.