Subvisual

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of OncoStats, a company that builds software for oncology. We deal with structuring and restoring clinical information from doctors and nurses. Our systems analyze that information to better provide frequent decisions for a variety of patients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Subvisual?

I needed to find a company that could help us develop the initial version of our software.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In the beginning, we built the initial prototypes and then iterated a version that was interactive. Then, we built a demo version of the product, which we could present to medical staff who would use the software and give us feedback on their user experience. We use only web-based technologies. We mostly work on Java or Ruby-based languages. Subvisual allocated 1–3 developers and a lead designer. They scaled up and down as the project changed.

How did you come to work with Subvisual?

We were looking for a local company. Subvisual was a small team with a few years of experience. They had a good reputation for building something with an amount of care that isn’t what you usually see from a software development team. We came to them through a personal contact and started discussing what our company needed. They thought they could give us a good product. Subvisual currently holds part of OncoStats, so they are a partner in the company.

How much have you invested with Subvisual?

We have spent €100,000 over the course of our relationship.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them at the end of 2014, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re starting to install our software in a couple of hospitals in Portugal. Most of the feedback is from doctors that have been using our software. The feedback has been tremendously good

How did Subvisual perform from a project management standpoint?

We used Slack to communicate and Trello for project management.

What did you find most impressive about Subvisual?

They have a good work method that is based on evidence. These evidence-based methods are used by other successful companies, like Google design sprints and OPR. They’re a relatively small team in a work environment that is very familiar, so it’s very easy to communicate. I was able to give feedback directly to the designer, which is only possible when you work with a small team.

Are there any areas Subvisual could improve?

We’re dealing with a complex subject matter. A software company like Subvisual will not have much experience building software for healthcare.  Subvisual wasn’t familiar with a lot of the vocabulary that we used. They improved in that as the project progressed, but it could still be better.