Polymorph

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a marketing assistant at STBB, a South African law firm specialising in all business and personal matters.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

STBB hired Polymorph to develop a mobile app solution that offers their clients, property owners and real estate practitioners a streamlined, online platform for property transactions as well as a secure repository for storage and use of legal and compliance documentation.

SOLUTION

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

Philip, Director and Partner at STBB introduced Polymorph to the company as a result of their unparalleled service and expertise.

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

Polymorph was involved in every step of the development process from strategy and concept design to software/app development and design. Prior to launch, Polymorph conducted thorough market research using analysts to strike a balance between what will enhance the day-to-day performance of estate agents in the market and what clients require.

The team started by identifying the challenges that would need to be overcome to deliver a solution that would not only satisfy the business process requirements of STBB, but more importantly, address the primary needs of the key stakeholder – the app user. This was closely followed by how this information should be displayed and presented.

Following an agile development process starting with a ‘sticky-board’ approach, the information was collated, all the while taking into account how, what, and where the information will be displayed. This, combined with the graphic component, comprised phase 1. The following phase involved launching the app into the market where it was well-received. However, one of the main challenges was managing and improving the quality of the information provided by the end-user.

This is a critical factor as the quality of the output is solely dependent on the quality of the input. Therefore, the requirement to conduct an audit resulted in the improved functionality with each update over the preceding two years. A significant advantage to STBB from the first release was high brand visibility as well as superb user experience. The entire process from inception to launching the STBB DirectApp took 13 months while developing the eVault functionality required approximately another 18 months.

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

STBB had access to the expertise of the entire Polymorph team across UX specialists, business analysts, software developers and more. We were also assigned a product manager to oversee the entire project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Gave us a solution that makes the process and workflow visible and creates a great customer experience while reducing internal costs

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

Following an agile development process, the Polymorph team was professional, communicative, and always responsive and complied with the agreed-upon timeline, budget, and app specifications.

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

Polymorph’s thorough market research, using analysts, to strike a balance between what will enhance the day-to-day performance of estate agents in the market and what clients require was very impressive. The team started by identifying the challenges that would need to be overcome to deliver a solution that would not only satisfy the business process requirements of STBB, but more importantly, address the primary needs of the key stakeholder – the app user.

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

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of Open Learning Technology (OLTech), a company delivering technology as a powerful tool to supplement and enhance education.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

OLTech hired Polymorph to help deliver a concept design to upgrade and realign eVision, a student administration system, with the needs of our current user base and primary stakeholders.

SOLUTION

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

Polymorph was approached by Kagiso Capital, and introduced to Rian Breed, the CEO of OLTech. Both Polymorph and OLTech are subsidiaries of Kagiso Capital.

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

Polymorph started a 6-week process to develop the concept design, taking into account the technological, functional, and aesthetic form of the end product. Two key outcomes were required: a product strategy and a plan on how to make it happen. This entailed a consideration of OLTech’s competitive positioning within their target market and product design that addresses the needs within this niche. They worked in close collaboration with the team at OLTech.

Polymorph’s UX team conducted user research, interviewed individuals and tested how they interacted with the existing eVision platform. Through these processes, they were able to determine what worked and what were the key frustrations resulting in a thorough understanding of the underserved needs of the target users. It was critical to understand the new market and where eVision fits into the overall educational software market.

This necessitated situating eVision as a student information system (SIS) rather than a learning management system (LMS) as it serves a very specific target customer namely, DHET-registered institutions that provide accredited qualifications. A further underserved need, which the concept design aimed to address, was annual regulatory compliance, more specifically, compliance without compromising on operational efficiency.

During the concept design, Polymorph had to conduct an independent review of the market opportunity and considered factors such as the market in which OLTech currently operates as well as the market they want to enter. They further considered various aspects around UX and the underlying technologies that will be capable of being rapidly deployed.

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

OLTech had access to the expertise of the entire Polymorph team across UX specialists, business analysts, software developers and more. We were also assigned a product manager to oversee the entire project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After evaluating the concept design and proposed plan to build the new student information system and take it to market, the Board decided to move to the development phase. This includes developing a high-level reporting suite using intelligent dashboards and offering an agile solution that can adapt to expand into the market.

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

The Polymorph team is professional, communicative, and always responsive and complied with the agreed-upon timeline, budget, and app specifications.

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

The Polymorph team displayed an impressive willingness to gain a deeper understanding of our business and it was clear that they are experts at what they do, particularly around progressive web applications.

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

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the product owner of upnup, a Bitcoin micro-investment app based in Cape Town, South Africa.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We wanted to develop a mobile app that allowed users to link the app to their bank account, pull their transaction history, and investing into Bitcoin based on their spending habits. We chose Polymorph because they had a good track record for developing FinTech apps and their initial discovery process was extremely thorough and interactive.

SOLUTION

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

We reviewed proposals from 4 separate development agencies, we evaluated their quote, timelines, experience and discovery process. Polymorph was found to be the most realistic about the constraints facing us and their discovery process was the most interactive. This left us feeling confident that they were the right team for the job.

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

We needed to build:

1. A digital wallet solution, which allowed users to store fiat and cryptocurrency
2. A banking integration which allowed for the requisition of funds and data from the users bank account
3. A cryptocurrency exchange integration which facilitated trading liquidity and custody of private keys. We made use of 3rd party API's for all three of these key systems, brought together in the upnup app. The app front end has been built in Flutter.

Key deliverables:

• 4 months to MVP launch
• Android App
• iOS App
• 6 months to Beta Launch
• 12 months to V2.0

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

A project manager was assigned to oversee the project, and worked closely with myself as the product owner. Additionally Polymorph assigned: 1x backend engineer 1x fullstack engineer 2x front end engineers 2x UX/UI designers 3x Quality Analysts

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within 4 months our MVP was launched, and to date we have achieved over 10k downloads and have the app available on both iOS and Android.

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

The project manager is an absolute dream to work with. We have daily progress meetings (every morning) and her communication is clear and relevant, even when it comes to delivering bad news. She is always on time, makes good use of relevant tools such as DevOps and Slack for comms and project updates. Bi-weekly feedback sessions with the entire project team are also standard, allowing the team to speak openly to the client about concerns, feedback etc. All in all, Polymorph is a dream to work with.

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

The management of Polymorph will always go the extra mile to ensure that their client is well looked after, that the quality of their product is always top tier, and that their staff are well looked after. There are some things they are unwilling to compromise on, such as employee well being. This means that they always get the best out of their staff. We have had some incidents where the wrong person was brought onto the project (it happens) and this was quickly rectified, and at no cost to us as the client. Their ability to find the best people for the job and get the best out of them is very impressive. It means that the client can rest assured that they are well taken care of.

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

We could have build some more fat into the timelines on MVP development. However, the pressure from us as the client was very high and it is understandable that they slightly underestimated timelines. As a client, it is your responsibility to be conservative with timelines.