Tapptitude

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Varanidea has developed an application called KALiiN. We are an idea-conversion factory, finding ideas and bringing them to life. I am the chief executive officer of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tapptitude?

We had a complex concept to tackle. Our application has 5 components, which made it hard for most companies to tackle. Since every partner we approached in the US was outsourcing the work, we decided to outsource.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Tapptitude was awarded our primary iOS and Android application build. Our app is a deep machine-learning system with several moving parts. Tapptitude has done a tremendous job regarding UI/UX [user interface/user experience], as well as the complex backend elements.

The concept and was our own, and we had some wireframes laid-out. We visited Tapptitude's team, presenting a detailed plan around what we needed to do. We reached a conclusion around how the work would be done, put milestones in place, and started hacking away at the project in an Agile fashion.

How did you come to work with Tapptitude?

I searched around the world, settled on 5 companies in Romania, narrowed it down to 2, and started a partnership arrangement with Tapptitude. I found that they brought the best of Western culture and European creativeness, with a very good value segment. The team needed to understand some very specific and difficult technical issues. I had 4 interview questions, and Tapptitude passed all 4, providing good feedback around them and delivering a comprehensive suite of services necessary for delivering our app.

How much have you invested with Tapptitude?

The cost of Tapptitude's work has been above $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our first contact with Tapptitude was in July 2015. We started working with them in October 2016. We have since released and improved our product. The second release of our Android application was just today. The new iOS app is rolling out next week. It was delayed because of a bad decision on our part regarding an API [application programming interface].

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Tapptitude has done some wonderful work, which is visible in our apps. Tapptitude could figure out creative solutions involving complex math.

How did Tapptitude perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was our biggest challenge, because of the time difference and language barrier. By meeting Tapptitude's team and giving them some guidance, we obtained a good cadence. I would estimate that Tapptitude has reached the 90% mark, relative to established US project management standards. There are some things we'd still like them to do differently, but we're quite strict in this regard. I'm overall pleased with Tapptitude's approach. There are some language issues, which is why we rely on chat, but they're very responsive. Tapptitude made a good suggestion at the beginning of our collaboration, which could have saved us 2 months of build time. They became a part of our team, and we found that we needed to listen to Tapptitude's people; they're extremely smart and capable.

What did you find most impressive about Tapptitude?

Tapptitude has done what was promised. They're good and trustworthy people.

Are there any areas Tapptitude could improve?

Tapptitude has been weak on some project management aspects. I would still rate them a 9/10 in this regard, but I have high expectations. I have strived to help them improve, and I appreciate the fact that Tapptitude's team is teachable.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

‎FlyCleaners is a dry-cleaning pickup and delivery service for customers in New York City, particularly Manhattan and Brooklyn. I am the CTO and a founder of the company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Tapptitude?

We have a small team of developers in New York City, which would have taken approximately 2 years to develop an iOS and Android app. We needed to increase our speed.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Tapptitude was tasked with developing the front-end of our Android and iOS apps based on our internally-built APIs. The technologies used were Swift and Java. We were assigned teams of 3 people for each platform, which were reduced when we reached the end of the project. There was a QA person from Tapptitude's team involved in our work, and we also had a design resource available whenever we needed to make readjustments. We handled the final builds and store uploads ourselves.

How did you come to work with Tapptitude?

We put out an RFP [request for proposal] and reviewed around 15 responses. We chose Tapptitude because of their response time and level of interaction. Their pricing was also good, and we were able to develop a good relationship even before starting the work.

How much have you invested with Tapptitude?

The cost of Tapptitude's work was between $50,000 and $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The start date for the development was set for early-January, 2016. The project was supposed to end in April, but we kept making scope changes. Tapptitude finished the development in June, and they've been performing maintenance work for the apps since then. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're a startup, and this was our first major release to customers. Through it, we've been able to better-align to customer and business needs. The most beneficial part of working with Tapptitude was their flexibility. They were willing to work with us through very vague and undefined scopes. We were able to add features based solely on mockups, working through specs and documentation as we went. I've never worked with a shop that managed to satisfy that path-finding process.

We've received some positive comments on the apps' design. Because of the nature of our business, we tend to receive negative feedback; people tend to be sensitive about their clothes. As far as the work done by Tapptitude goes, the feedback has either been neutral or positive.

How did Tapptitude perform from a project management standpoint?

Tapptitude has been flexible and aligned to our way of working. The collaboration has been very nice.

We've had morning scrum meetings, and kept in touch through email and Slack, sending the necessary information for moving our project forward. At a high level, Tapptitude has assigned people who were technically and business-savvy enough to know how to talk to us, as a client. 

What did you find most impressive about Tapptitude?

Tapptitude is based in Romania, while we're in the US. They seemed to do the best they could to minimize the hassle of our daily communication.

Are there any areas Tapptitude could improve?

The one downside was caused by us not being able to provide the necessary specs to make Tapptitude grasp the complexity of our project. This has made initial estimates be a little off.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Product Manager of imobiliare.ro

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Real estate portal.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Tapptitude to accomplish?

• Mobile app development.

SOLUTION

How did you find Tapptitude?

Other

Why did you select Tapptitude over others?

Other

How many teammates from Tapptitude were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

They developed our Android and iOS mobile apps.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We developed an app that was stable for over 5 years (low crash rate), with a good playstore/appstore rating.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The response to our needs is thorough and timely. They constantly add proposals and leverage their expertise to help. On specific features development, they tend to keep to the deadlines. We have had some delays on larger projects (i.e. development of a full new app).

What was your primary form of communication with Tapptitude?

Email or Messaging App

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

Their flexibility to accommodate our needs in terms of volume (development hours) as well as complexity.

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

Estimates for large projects could be more accurate.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder of Xposure Music

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Xposure Music connects artists with top industry professionals for feedback and advice.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Tapptitude to accomplish?

• Build our product

SOLUTION

How did you find Tapptitude?

• Online Search
• Referral
• Clutch Site

Why did you select Tapptitude over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Tapptitude were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Tapptitude first went through product planning sessions to scope the project. Then chose the tech stack based on the requirements. Then started development in an agile process, it took about 4 months to develop the MVP to launch and then we went on to iterate the product, followed by new product feature launches.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

No downtime, successfully growing revenue, very high traffic and SEO increasing overtime.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Yes always delivered within the timeline. They shipped every 2 weeks.

What was your primary form of communication with Tapptitude?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their experience with other companies and that they grow with you and are not just a development shop.

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

Not that I could think of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a company that builds multiple technologies in the web and app space. I am Co-founder of the business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Tapptitude?

Taptitude provide all Development, design and project management services.

What were your goals for this project?

Initially it was to bring a single application to market in beta form. We have now allocated all ongoing development and maintenance to Taptitude across multiple products.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Word of Mouth. They were highly recommended.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Full suite app development from scratch to market. App maintenance, UX/UI design, Project management of all functionality.

What was the team composition?

• 3 developers
• 1 UX/UI
• 1 PM
• 1 x UK PM

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We now have a best in class app in the market which was delivered on time and on budget.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

It was arranged and managed from the UK with a very experienced PM. This was a game changer for us as most outsourced providers dont have this function and made the whole process alot smoother.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Firstly, communicating in-person with someone based in the UK was hugely useful. Secondly, their diligence and quality of work. Thirdly, their creativity in design which was much higher than I expected. Fourthly, Great team to work with.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No. They have done and continue to do a fantastic job.