OpenArc, LLC.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and COO of Webbula, an IT company. We provide email hygiene service to marketers and we also provide data pens and data audiences to advertisers and brands to make their campaigns more successful.

What challenge were you trying to address with OpenArc LLC ?

We were creating a brand new user interface platform so that our customers can interact with our email hygiene services in a more user-friendly way. We did not have enough staff in house to complete the project, so we outsourced the project to OpenArc LLC.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The project was broken up into two phases. The first phase was more of an assessment type of phase, where OpenArc LLC went out and obtained users that would be in the market for our interface. They took our existing user base and did interviews with them, and had them go through our existing interface to determine where there were faults, problems, issues. They, in essence, did some pilot customer journey surveys for us.

They came back with a series of recommendations. The second phase was then to make the new user interface incorporate all of those fixes and suggestions that they discovered in the first phase. They built the desktop software using React as the principal software for the web application.

What is the team composition?

We worked with several people, including Mark (Lead Client Partner) and Nick (UX Designer), and Owen (Project Manager).

How did you come to work with OpenArc LLC ?

An organization that we both knew recommended them. They’re also in Pittsburgh, literally down the street from us, so we decided to go with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested roughly $140,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began in January 2020 and wrapped in September 2020.

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

We’re still preparing for launch, so I don’t have evidence yet. They were great to work with — they’re an excellent company.

How did OpenArc LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They were always very prompt. They excelled at communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their scheduling ability impressed. They were really great at keeping the schedule and deliverables for meetings.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They underestimated the project a little bit in the beginning. We also wound up having to pay them to fix mistakes they made which were frustrating. Those were minor points — we are very happy with the work they provided.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Engage with them. Also, have a QA person on their side to keep track of the quality control of code. It’ll make the project go faster and keep costs down.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an innovation lead with Helix Innovation Center, an innovation center within Emerson US, the electrical company. We have four different ecosystems in our incubator where we develop new ideas and opportunities for market expansion. After packing and structuring our ideas, we pitch them to the various business units in our company.  

What challenge were you trying to address with OpenArc, LLC.?

We needed to develop a UI that presents complex information coming from the technology and stakeholders in our environments. There deliverable would be architecture and organization for an app or website.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Because we don’t do the development in our incubator, OpenArc, LLC. helped us structure the data the solution will have to handle to be viable. They built a couple of different wireframes that represented possible approaches to an app or website structure.  

What is the team composition?

Mark (Director of Human-Centered Design) has been my contact for years, but there were a couple of project leaders too, as well as an overall business-client relationship leader.

How did you come to work with OpenArc, LLC.?

I’ve worked with Mark for years; we’re a natural fit. We prepared a brief, analyzed their proposal, and set up the work.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $150,000 with them.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March 2017 until June 2019.

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

We used their initial body of work to frame the opportunity we handed to our business opportunity units. They provided a skill set we don’t have internally, so it worked very well. They also helped with a second and third round of the UI and were very helpful in moving forward.

How did OpenArc, LLC. perform from a project management standpoint?

They were perfect, so I had no concerns. There were no distractions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m not sure I’ll be able to articulate them in comparison to other providers, but my experience with Mark has always been very positive. We worked together well because we understood how each other thinks. I have no hesitation to go back to OpenArc as our first choice.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were no specific flaws or gaps. Any issues were in the flow of work, but you learn as you go and adjust things. There weren’t any areas where we weren’t getting the support we needed. We didn’t have to go to anyone else for more work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d recommend starting with a design brief so you can articulate what you know about what you need and expect. This also helps the vendor deliver a clear proposal. It’s unfair to go in wanting them to figure out what you want. Throwing something over the wall and hoping they throw it back is a waste of time and money.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of a nonprofit agency that supports other agencies that assist people with intellectual disabilities. Our primary goal is to train people to support people safely around medical and behavioral topics. Our team consists of behavioral specialists and nurses in the human service field.

What challenge were you trying to address with OpenArc, LLC?

Many people with intellectual disabilities develop a swallowing disorder and pass away sooner than expected. In order to care for people with this disorder, their food needs to be prepared so that it’s easier to swallow. This includes pureeing and chopping so it goes down the esophagus rather than the trachea. We wanted to provide direct support to families, professionals, and caretakers so they can follow best meal-preparation practices.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created a virtual reality training for us. Our agency provided the content, but OpenArc, LLC created the experience and the details related to it. We believe this is the first VR program for our field, so we didn’t have anything to base it off of. They asked us a lot of questions and consulted us on the direction we wanted to go in. It lasts between 15–30 minutes and contains an hour’s worth of information.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 4–5 people.

How did you come to work with OpenArc, LLC?

We began by searching local companies, but also considered a few agencies from the UK and Australia. But when we sat down with OpenArc, LLC, we were really excited about their interest and how engaged they were with our project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

They began working on development in July and concluded in October 2019.

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

We are really pleased with their work and really think that the people we support are benefiting from the VR training. We are putting together a list of training topics we want to cover and projects we want to embark on with OpenArc, LLC in the future because it was such a positive experience.

We are currently in the process of doing some piloting related to the VR training—we plan to compare the effectiveness of the VR training in relation to traditional training. We’re going to provide benchmark testing prior to training, and then each agency will attend either the traditional or the  

How did OpenArc, LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

We had weekly phone calls and meetings where they could ask us questions and we could get progress updates. In fact, I took ideas from their organizational skills to incorporate into our organization.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was thrilled about their communication and organizational skills. I was beyond impressed by the amount of excitement they had for the project. They conducted external research, asked questions, and took time to learn exactly what we needed for this project. The amount they learned about our world was amazing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I really don't think that they could have improved upon anything. I don't know that I would ask for them to have done anything differently. I'm excited to work with them on our next project.