Provectus

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director of technical support and system integration at Anelto, Inc., a healthcare-focused entity. We manufacture and maintain hardware, software, and services for the mobile emergency services and/or telehealth services within the health industry. I provide all of the technical support and manage our interactions with external vendors like Reinvently.

What challenge were you trying to address with Reinvently?

Our app has been on the market for about 4–5 years, and we wanted to add a health feature that was architected by one of the biggest rideshare companies. They leverage the existing driver pool and add special ride configurations and feature sets whereby people can hail rides on behalf of a third party. This was designed around healthcare institutions, like doctor’s offices and rehab clinics. When people don’t show up for their follow-up visits, their health deteriorates, and then the healthcare industry pays a lot of money on ambulance rides. Being able to call rides for patients allows them to get to their appointments and intervene on any health issues.

We wanted to leverage this platform and spec the implementation into our iOS app so that our customer base could schedule rides on behalf of third parties through our app. Rather than the caretaker or caregiver having to take time off from work to drive to the doctor, they would be able to order a ride from our app. We planned to limit the integration to our iOS version to see how well the effort went before moving to Android. Our organization is small and fairly resource-constrained, so we needed to augment our software development team to integrate this feature within our mobile apps.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had an existing API that we use with all of our third parties; we consume our own APIs to build our UIs, and then we expose various pieces of our APIs to third parties or web/app development efforts. We also built out a few more specific APIs so that we managed all ride record and credit card transactions. My team provided Reinvently with all of the technical documentation for the API consumption, behavior, architecture, and process flow. 

Reinvently used our API and leveraged our existing codebase for iOS to build their proposed implementation and facilitate some of the things we did on the backend. We iterated on that and came to a common ground on the final implementation. They did all of the UI/UX design. We went through a design iteration process and then integrated the various components for the rideshare health implementation. 

We implemented Stripe as our credit card authorization interface. We also integrated text-to-speech and automated audio notifications that let patients know a ride is scheduled, what the license plate number is, who their driver is, etc. It’s a bit more of an augmented version of the current rideshare experience.

How did you come to work with Reinvently?

When we originally designed the app, we knew an individual who had worked with Reinvently. We reached out to him, and he provided them as a reference. We engaged and had a very pleasant experience. 

How much have you invested with them?

My company spent $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from April–July 2019.

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

I’ve been doing this for a long time, and this was by far one of my best experiences with an offshore company. 

How did Reinvently perform from a project management standpoint?

You’d expect the time difference to be a downside, but their engineers were always available. I would start at 7:00 a.m., and at least one of their engineers would be available until 11:00–12:00 to answer my questions.

I was very impressed by their project management capabilities and their ability to deliver. Working with them was easy, and it was a very good experience overall. We used Slack to communicate. When we came across errors, we sent them via Slack or email. The scope of the project wasn’t huge, so it was easy to manage without having to use any very sophisticated tools or systems. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

What stood out, just in particular reference to this project, was that Reinvently’s iOS technical competence was extremely high. They knew how to solve problems and design. There were very little, if any, issues with the delivered product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I can think of. Again, I’ve done several of these projects, and they hit all of the high points. They were very proactive. There are things that I typically expect with time differences and language barriers, but their English was extremely good. They wrote and spoke in English. The experience was very good.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Supreme Lending is a top 25 US residential mortgage banker. I am the product manager for the new digital mortgage point of sale system.

For what projects/services did your company hire Reinvently?

We needed UI/UX assistance with our new mobile and web based application.

What were your goals for this project?

Develop an adaptive and responsive user experience for loan officers, borrowers, and realtors can be used from any device.

How did you select this vendor?

After an initial search we selected a couple of vendors to create and present their proposals. Reinvently was selected based on their professionalism, quality of content, and cost effectiveness of their proposal.

Describe the project in detail.

The Reinvently team provided remote UI/UX designs for the project. The local team produced rough sketches/wireframes that the Reinvently team would enhance into professional designs using modern tools such as Sketch, Invision, and Zeplin. The Reinvently designers would work directly with developers to address any questions and concerns.

What was the team composition?

Client product manager, product analyst, and 5 developers plus Reinvently account manager and 2 designers.

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

Reinvently completed all project deliverables on time.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The remote setup worked very well for us. The local project team collected requirements and produced rough sketches of the desired experience and send to the remote Reinvently team.

Most of the time the Reinvently team would have a finished design available for review by the next or following business day, which reduced the typical lag time.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Reinvently was very professional and easy to work with; we never had an issue come up during the project.

Are there any areas for improvement?

none at this time

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of a digital healthcare platform. We provide our clients with mobile apps to support their employees or members’ various health conditions.

What challenge were you trying to address with Reinvently?

Our app had been around for seven years and needed a full redesign. We didn’t just want to reskin the existing app; we had new functionalities to develop, and we needed feedback on the design and UX.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Reinvently provides UX and visual design support for our app revamp project. Our side comes up with what we want to build here in San Francisco. We then send our requirements and wireframes to Reinvently to turn into development-ready designs. They format the files and use programs to precisely place and size images so that our developers—who are also offshore—can code the final deliverables more efficiently.

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager and a primary designer. Our original designer went on parental leave and was replaced by another. Both of those designers have been excellent to work with. We also had a designer for side projects, but they weren’t as great as we had hoped. We even have met the founder in person—twice at the project's start and once more at a six-month check-in.

How did you come to work with Reinvently?

We searched for highly-rated design agencies, and Reinvently came up a few times. We considered a few other agencies both in the US and abroad. Reinvently fit our needs best. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $60,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in August 2018 and is ongoing.

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

We’re still rolling out the new UI and features with our clients, so it’s too early to collect metrics. However, the general sentiment across our internal teams—from product to direct sales—has been positive.

Reinvently doesn’t just excel from a design perspective. They also respond quickly to sudden deadlines that our clients give us. Very rarely have they missed a shortened timeline. The team also suggests expert ideas to improve our processes and designs. We don’t always go with their suggestions, but their recommendations are always helpful and well-thought-out.

How did Reinvently perform from a project management standpoint?

We don’t keep in touch with the project manager unless we need her. For example, when we ran into issues with the side project designer, the project manager handled it. She also alerts us to our principal designer’s days off and asks us if taking off a week during a specific month worked for our schedule. The project manager is always there if we need her, but we haven’t needed her often because the team is excellent.

The Reinvently team suggested that we use Sketch to transfer mockups to each other. We use Basecamp to manage the project and Zeplin as our repository for our design files. These tools work well with our workflow.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Reinvently takes the initiative to communicate directly with our offshore developers. They’ve taken the time to learn our product and be comfortable with it. As a result, they don’t have to wait to run things by us in San Francisco or insist that we be the middleman for all interactions. Both sides talk to each other to work out any problems that may come up. Luckily, the teams share a time zone and a language, making communication even more straightforward.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only issue that came up was with the side project designer, who was not very responsive. That was quickly resolved, however, and we haven’t had any issues since.

Any advice for potential customers?

Don’t just assign Reinvently and leave them to fulfill your requests as-is. Help them deeply understand your goals and your product. Their team can then provide valuable insights that go beyond what you ask for.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the creator of Grunt Sack, which is a mobile app for electric utility workers.

For what projects/services did your company hire Reinvently?

I engaged them to create a prototype for my application as well as a pitch deck for use in presentations.

What were your goals for this project?

In this project, I wanted to figure out the feasibility of my product and develop a working prototype.

How did you select this vendor?

I found them through a web advertisement. After reading reviews of their work other customers had left, I decided to hire them.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Reinvently consulted with me about my ideas for the product. From there, they went on to create an app prototype. The team excelled at working collaboratively with me. They helped refine my concept and turn it into a real product that I can market to investors.

What was the team composition?

The team included a designer, project manager, and product consultant. All of them worked part-time on my project. Reinvently was very careful about staying on schedule and within the budget. 

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The prototype Reinvently developed was of great quality. They provided very useful information that helped me learn how to fully develop my product.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Reinvently was very skilled at product management. It was great, and I couldn’t have asked for better.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The team’s management style was outstanding, and the designer was highly skilled. During the first phase of the project, they did a great job of helping me finalize my original idea. 

Having a better concept established has helped me understand what will be needed for the future development of my product.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I have no complaints. Reinvently was great!

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of The Sports Aux, an app for hockey players that will expand to other professional and amateur athletes. The application allows athletes to anonymously rate and review their past and current coaches and agents once they’ve been verified within our system.

What challenge were you trying to address with Reinvently?

I’m not familiar with app development and coding, so I hired Reinvently to build my vision.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I gave Reinvently templates, drawings, and what functionalities I wanted. Their team developed the app for iOS. The application pulls from a hockey database. We’ve linked player profiles from that database and helped players gain the ability to gain access to those pages and their own personal pages. It was complex in the sense that we’re pulling an API from other sites and integrating their information with ours to add it to different profiles.

What is the team composition?

I think we work with about six or seven different people with various specialties. We have an overall project manager that oversees everything and has more than one company. Below him, there is a coordinator that manages everything, and I’m in constant contact with her. Some developers work with the UX/UI and backend, but I don’t have a lot of contact with them.

How did you come to work with Reinvently?

I was in the Silicon Valley playing hockey, so I researched companies in the area to see their thoughts on my idea and receive a few quotes. I found Reinvently on a website where they had positive ratings. After doing a few interviews with different companies, I ended up connecting with their team in Silicon Valley.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost about $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement began in May 2018.

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

While the app was released at the end of January, I’m still trying to generate the user base and figuring out what aspects of the app are working. Right now, I’m in a phase with Reinvently where we’re collecting user insights and having progress updates and meetings. While we’re still gathering data, all feedback has been positive. The app has 900 players and over 2,200 unique users. A lot of people are leaving reviews. It is helping users find information about different players and personnel.

How did Reinvently perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management style was excellent. Reinvently is detail-oriented. Their team meets deadlines and are always in contact with me about anything they need or questions they have. Working with Reinvently has been a transparent process. I’ve been impressed with everything that goes on behind the scenes like the status meetings that I’ve been part of.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their transparency is impressive. I appreciate their on-time delivery. They always ask questions to make sure they’re not going down the wrong path. Saying that, I haven’t worked with another app development company, but I’d recommend using Reinvently because they’re easy to work with. Their team delivers detailed work with everything their clients’ request.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t compare them to other app companies because I haven’t worked with any others, but Reinvently is pretty good. I’m not sure if this is the industry, but they could improve on accurately estimating the cost for certain parts of app development. I don’t know how it all works, but forecasting the accuracy of the outline price-wise could be something they could sharpen their details on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Before I went to them, I had my entire app, including sketches and profiles, mapped out. The process was straightforward in that sense and made it easier for them because it saves a lot of time. But if someone is on the outside looking in, they probably won’t have an idea of how they want their app to look or function. I would suggest to potential customers to think about that because a lot goes into app development. Having an idea in mind will make it easier for everyone involved.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of product development at Profusa, a medical device and digital health company. We make injectable biosensors that detect different biomarkers, like tissue, oxygen, and glucose. Results are transmitted from a wearable device to an application, allowing users to make actionable decisions.

What challenge were you trying to address with Reinvently?

My company already had a wired version of our wearable device and a GUI, and we wanted to develop a wireless version. My team does not have extensive UI/UX capabilities, so we needed to outsource the mobile app’s design. We had a list of basic functionalities, such as how data is displayed and shown to the user, what information the wearable device reads from the sensor, etc.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We presented Reinvently with our requirements, including what we want the app to look like when we commercialize it in Europe later this year. Reinvently designed the iOS app’s frontend. Their primary focus was on UI/UX.

They recently completed the first version of the app. Currently, they’re continuing to develop the software and are working on the app’s next versions, adding additional features and functionalities.

What is the team composition?

Their company configuration is unique. My team works directly with the CEO, who is based at Reinvently’s offices in the Bay Area. He has a small team there. Reinvently’s parent company is in Ukraine, where they have a larger team of developers and designers. My team works with six Ukrainian team members.

How did you come to work with Reinvently?

There are many UI/UX firms in Silicon Valley, and I narrowed our selection down to three. We chose Reinvently based on their product design experience and their capacity to accommodate our hard deadline and tight budget.

How much have you invested with them?

The first phase cost $65,000, and the second phase will be around the same amount. The first two versions of the product, or six months of work, will equate to about $120,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in January 2019 and is ongoing.

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

We haven’t made a regulatory submission or commercialized the app yet. However, we’ve had people who use our wired system and similar devices try out the app. These users have been very impressed with the app, reporting that it is intuitive and easy to use. The app meets all of our technical and medical requirements.

How did Reinvently perform from a project management standpoint?

I was initially skeptical about working with a team that is halfway around the world, but the CEO is close by and very responsive. He often comes to our office to present design samples, whiteboard ideas, and discuss the project. The different time zones have actually worked out better than expected; our different business hours mean that one of our teams is always working on the app, allowing for a very iterative process.

We needed the app’s first version to be completed quickly so that it could go through a verification validation process for an upcoming regulatory submission, and Reinvently met this deadline. We had weekly meetings with the Ukrainian team, and they were receptive to our feedback.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their level of creativity and ability to problem-solve are notable. Reinvently proposed great ideas, even though I don’t think they’d worked on such a technical software project before. They not only met functionality but also made a slick app and a nice commercial product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think I have anything to offer here. I’m still pleased to be working with them.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be willing to work with a team that is not on this side of the world. You must be flexible to different time zones; you’re not going to get instantaneous communication.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the senior resource manager for DYNAMIT. We’re a digital agency that blends marketing and IT services to guide our clients toward solutions for their complex problems.

For what projects/services did your company hire Reinvently?

We were building the same functions into our client’s applications time and time again, so we wanted a way to speed up the process and reduce costs for customers. Examples of this repetitive work include coding account login and authentification, bill paying, notifications, usage history, and messaging functions for several clients.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to build a robust set of APIs that allow us to reuse our code multiple times. We hired Reinvently to let our team scale quickly and have development support. We wanted these APIs to be both cost- and time-efficient.

How did you select this vendor?

We followed a recommendation from someone in the industry and hired Reinvently.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Our team created the strategy for the application to begin the project. We gave the requirements to Reinvently and they developed the product. They continue to build this solution for our clients and support our development team.

What was the team composition?

Reinvently provides a group of developers who pair with our team of developers, architects, project managers, and quality assurance personnel.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Their support in creating this solution has helped us achieve success much quicker and more efficiently for our clients. We’re able to move faster and continue with other work for our customers because they’ve allowed us to scale. They produce high-quality work and provide valuable resources to our team.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We delegate the work to the Reinvently team and they work well with minimal project management. Whenever there are questions, they reach out to us and communicate effectively. They’ve been vocal about issues and we’re always able to tweak our team dynamic for a more effective workflow.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their ability to work at a high level is admirable—they’re knowledge and flexible throughout the process. We appreciate that they can effectively shift their priorities while maintaining their commitment to producing strong solutions. Additionally, we had an extremely quick onboarding process and they set a great standard for communication.

Are there any areas for improvement?

It’d be helpful to receive feedback from their team on areas of concern so we can continue to grow and succeed. Their input is valuable to us, so we’d liked to hear more about their progress and plans throughout the project.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CTO at an AR firm. We have a platform that makes it easier for brands and marketers to create and publish augmented reality (AR) content.

What challenge were you trying to address with Reinvently?

We wanted to be able to deliver and render AR experiences on mobile devices. We needed help to build a mobile SDK, which enables AR content in mobile apps.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Reinvently built our mobile application prototype from scratch. They used Apple’s ARKit and SceneKit and Android’s ARCore and Sceneform. They also helped us with UI and UX.

Unfortunately, due to a shift in business priorities, we had to stop our engagement with them after we built the prototype.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager as well as developers and a UI person.

How did you come to work with Reinvently?

I believe they were referred to someone on our executive team who had experience working with them at another company working.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $100,000 and $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together early in 2018 and ended the project in December that year.

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

They performed well both on the technical side and the project management side. Unfortunately, we had to end the project as company priorities had shifted.

How did Reinvently perform from a project management standpoint?

They always met deliverables and deadlines. They were very good partners.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were strong communicators, which can be challenging with a foreign, remote office. Beyond their general technical ability, their communication was strong, as were contract management and organization.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think so. The reason we had to end the project was our company’s change in direction. It wasn’t in their control. I was extremely happy with their work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear up front on deliverables. That's one of the things that I didn't anticipate. They dealt well, though, with the lack of clear requirements, which was a big relief. The more you can define up front, the better off you will be especially dealing with a remote team because the back-and-forth can be costly.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the founder of PhotoOp, a company seeking to turn the images in your smartphone into currency. We do this with a platform based on AI and Blockchain technologies.

For what projects/services did your company hire Reinvently?

We hired them to help us build a proof-of-concept tool to help us gain traction as we seek seed funding, enabling the public to try our platform in an MVP fashion.

What were your goals for this project?

We mainly wanted to develop a tool that demonstrated our product to our target market and to capture a minimum of data on users.

How did you select this vendor?

They were recommended by a colleague. We met with a few different firms and found that Reinvently's expertise in adjacent areas to our business proposition made them an ideal choice for us.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Our project was small and basically consisted of developing a tool that works well without having to go back often to make bug fixes. The project was outlined and approved before starting the work. Then the design work began with a few minor revisions, followed by the actual development.

What was the team composition?

They assigned a project manager, a developer, and a UI designer to our project.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Not yet. We’re scheduled to have two to three consumer tests with Reinvently in the next three weeks, and from there, we will synthesize the data and continue developing a more sophisticated tool based on what we learn. Their team has done an excellent job so far! They’ve been straightforward about the process, have not overpromised, and have been very responsive to our needs, especially considering our small development budget.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

All project management was handled through the project manager they assigned, who’s knowledgeable and has communicated project progress regularly, making sure that we understand where we are in the process. He’s also effective at getting us to provide information to the team to keep the project moving forward without delay.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They never sleep. Most of the development is done in Ukraine, but as a U.S.-based client, I received nearly instant responses to all my questions and concerns even though it was in the middle of the night for them. Their team is very dedicated to its customers.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No. I've been very pleased with Reinvently and would recommend them to others seeking design and development for mobile and digital business ventures.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO at a company focused on electric bike transportation systems.

What challenge were you trying to address with Reinvently?

We had no software backend. We needed someone to build us an on-demand engine and a mobile application server to manage our inventory reservations and real-time diagnostics.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Reinvently walked us through the whole process of mobile app development. Because we started with just a concept, they used storyboards to go through the specification development process. They completed the UI and UX and built small prototypes to show us how the flow would look in the mobile app.

Then, they started working on the real-time, on-demand engine, which connects electric bikes to the backend system. We put trackers, GPS, and mobile phone modules on electric bikes and in charging stations, and they built the engine to tie everything together.

The app was developed for both iOS and Android. We've gone live on pilot test programs and we’ve been troubleshooting, performing QA, and fixing bugs. We're currently starting to engage customers on our product. We hope to engage Reinvently to do data analysis as well.

What is the team composition?

We have interacted with at least a dozen people. We've had several project managers for the different phases of development. We worked with a UI/UX developer, a graphic designer, a Java coder, a team of QA/QC people, a couple mobile app developers, and several backend QC people. Some of their sales team also advised us on the direction and what resources to use.

How did you come to work with Reinvently?

We did a web search for mobile app designers and backend programmers. They had a local sales office in the San Francisco Bay Area so we made a cold call. We were impressed that they’d worked with similar infrastructures required for our projects. They’d done some development on a similar backend and on-demand engine for other projects. Using those building blocks saved us some time.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2016 and the engagement is ongoing.

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

We went from having nothing to having two apps and a functional backend. We're about to launch with one of our first real customers. In addition, we've met all our milestones; they've been pretty much right on schedule. They stay on budget, and they've made us aware in advance if we're in danger of running into any budgetary issue.

We started off doing a few things without specifications. We've had to do several design fix cycles on some of those, but in general, the quality of work has been good. The solutions they’ve implemented are thorough, well-tested, and high quality.

How did Reinvently perform from a project management standpoint?

They follow an agile process. They're always available to talk on short notice, and we use Jira, Basecamp, and Skype as primary communication tools. Jira and Basecamp were really valuable, especially in the early days of UI/UX development.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're a really high-touch service provider. They're always able to address things on short notice. They've been very supportive of our projects. Not only are they promoting the work they've done for us, but they're helping promote our company as well. We think of them as part of the team as opposed to just a contractor.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Keep building the capability to be high-touch for their customers. It's the main attribute that's kept us engaged. Put more resources there to keep that level of service.