Topflight Apps

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and CEO of a babysitting and pet care tech startup.

What challenge were you trying to address with TopFlight?

I was looking for a local, creative development company that could help us build our app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

TopFlight designed and developed a cross platform mobile app, using React Native. They incorporated features that allow users to find and trade certain care needs with other users, and provide creative input for ways to improve the app throughout the process.

What is the team composition?

I work with a few designers and about four developers.

How did you come to work with TopFlight?

I'd been asking around and searching online through sites like UpWork. I believe they reached out to me after seeing my project posted and I ultimately decided to work with them because they could provide local support and I liked the quality of their previous work.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested about $33,000 in their services thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together since September 2017.

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

TopFlight provides exceptional UX designs and high-quality development work. It's been refreshing to work with a similarly entrepreneurial company that genuinely cares about the product. They continue to exceed our expectations, providing valuable and creative input on ways we can improve our app.

How did TopFlight perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team's project management has some room for improvement. They could've been more organized in the beginning and mapped out the scope of work better. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their designers and developers are incredibly creative in regards to coming up with strategies and utilizing the latest technologies available. They're willing to tackle anything I throw their way.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would help if they could employ better management of the design process when taking over existing designs.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder of RocketMath. We produce various curricula to help students learn basic math, facts, and information. We have a couple of apps, as well as paper-and-pencil programs that homeschoolers and teachers can access.

What challenge were you trying to address with Topflight Apps?

We wanted to produce an online game that students could play on various devices in order to practice at school and at home. Further, we wanted to give teachers and parents the ability to monitor progress.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We based the design of the web app off of our existing iOS app. We held several sessions for discussing features, and they helped refine the scope of the project into something that I was able to afford. We gave parents and teachers the ability to track progress, and we added multiple learning tracks—which included more challenging assignments than the basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

What is the team composition?

We worked closely with their group of developers, but the founder was involved in the beginning stages and later on as necessary.

How did you come to work with Topflight Apps?

They responded to my RFP, and they were clear and responsive. They didn’t try to upsell me on anything. They sought to provide me only with what I needed.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in January 2017, and the web app was completed in July 2018.

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

The web app has been live for about a month, and we are finding that people and schools want to buy it and use it. The fact that it exists and it works and people are buying it is promising.

How did Topflight Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

They provided regular updates, and they were willing to clarify all actions during the development stage. We worked mostly with the developers, but the founder was always available.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were allowed to work directly with the developers so that the project progressed quickly.

Any advice for potential customers?

They provide good value for the money. They are reasonable and do not promise anything over-the-top that your project doesn’t need.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the COO of a healthcare startup.

What challenge were you trying to address with Topflight Apps?

We needed a prototype of our web application, both as a proof of concept but also as a tool to demonstrate our capabilities to customers and investors.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided the design of the UX and UI. They developed the code base and implemented it. I provided some specifications of wireframes, but they were able to create mockups and work with it end-to-end. The platform is based on Laravel and uses PHP. It allows doctors and their staff to review patient information and provide feedback on the status of patients and what kind of care they may need.

What is the team composition?

I worked with two developers and a designer. Topflight’s CEO was involved as well but to a lesser extent.

How did you come to work with Topflight Apps?

A colleague of mine connected with them on Upwork or a similar platform. He collected all provider options, and I managed the selection process. They stood out because they are a full-service shop and had a demonstrated emphasis on design and implementation. They also had a familiarity and background with healthcare technology.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $25,000 and $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2018, and the product was delivered in April. The prototype is being used as a training tool to onboard our clients to our systems. We also use it for customer demos and in discussions with investors. The full and functional version is still in development with our in-house team.

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

In part due to the quality of the prototype, we’ve had between 10–15 customers advance to the contracting phase of our onboarding process.

How did Topflight Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

Across the board, they were on time. Both developers were talented in terms of content production and quality feature development, but one was a better project manager and communicator than the other. We usually used Google Documents and email to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have very talented in-house designers. That was clear in the selection process, and they delivered on their potential.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In terms of the technology stack they used for our project, Laravel/PHP, it’s considered a little outmoded – but this was in part due to budget considerations, and I appreciated them being mindful that our tech spend is limited since we are a small company.

Any advice for potential customers?

It’s best to pay close attention to striking the right balance of how much you put on yourself versus how much you put on them. At the outset, I would do the wireframes, really map them out, out of concern that they wouldn’t deliver what I wanted if I wasn’t specific. But they were talented and often filled in the gaps I didn’t know where there. Eventually, I gave them more white space to work in. I had to realize that UX is not what I do, it’s what they do, so it’s best to trust them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director and founder of TMJ Sleep Therapy Center of San Francisco.

What challenge were you trying to address with Topflight?

I wanted to develop an app that would facilitate patient data extraction and help patients connect with their doctors.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Many of my patients desperately needed a way to keep a daily log of their symptoms and connect with their doctors. The chronically ill patients especially feel like society has left them, or that they are a burden, and the app allows them to communicate with a doctor and not be brushed off or pushed around.

Topflight helped me create an iOS and Android app where patients could keep a daily log of their symptoms to substantiate how severe their symptoms are and how much they are progressing. This produces more accurate data and reduces the subjective quality in diagnosis and treatment.

Users receive a daily push notification on their phones at 7:00 pm and input how their treatment is going and the severity of their symptoms on a scale of 0–10. The app keeps an accurate log of how patients are feeling, as opposed to them trying to think back and remember their symptoms from weeks ago. With the information the app collects, we can also collect and compare treatment data from different centers to identify the most effective approaches for certain symptoms.

What is the team composition?

There were quite a few engineers and developers working behind the scenes. Our main point of contact was the frontend developer, who we spoke with on a weekly basis.

How did you come to work with Topflight?

One of my patients worked with Topflight for his own business. He had a great experience and recommended them to me. This patient actually helped me on the project. I explained to him what I wanted, he wrote a proposal, and he used his existing business relationship to meet with them and help me achieve my business goals.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $25,000–$30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Topflight September 2017, launched the app on Google Play and the Apple app store a few weeks ago, and have an ongoing relationship for updating the app and adding more features as needed.

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

Overall, we’ve gotten positive responses and feedback. Even though we launched a few weeks ago, patients have already started downloading and using the app and commenting on how self-explanatory it is; Topflight made it simple and easy for anyone to understand. Our patients that have downloaded the app now use it as their primary form of communication with the office, which has reduced the workload in terms of phone and email.

How did Topflight perform from a project management standpoint?

I have dealt with many contractors in my business career, and Topflight is by far the most professional and responsive I have worked with. They’re prompt, give regular updates, answer emails—our main form of communication—within an hour if not right away, and work incredibly hard to fix any problems.

We had an issue where the app was sending out four push notifications instead of one. I noticed this on Saturday, and by Monday morning they had it back to normal.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They spelled everything out at the beginning, fulfilled every promise, and were honest about the cost. In every other working experience I’ve had with contractors, I’ve been hit with hidden or additional charges. With Topflight, I paid exactly what had been agreed upon.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I would tell them to keep doing exactly what they’re doing. I was very lucky to find them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know what you want, put it in writing, make sure you communicate clearly, and don’t second-guess yourself. Topflight is professional and will give you whatever you ask, as long as you’re clear on your needs. Clear communication from the beginning will save a lot of trouble.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the EVP of Engagement for a branding firm.

What challenge were you trying to address with Topflight Apps?

We were working on a global rebrand for one of our clients, and we needed help with the web design element of our deliverables. We were already working on a new identity, logo, and look and feel, so we decided to reach out for the website design piece.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us with the UX and UI of a new website, for both mobile and desktop. We briefed them on the project, and they immersed themselves in a lot of information, in terms of the brand identity we’d already created. We started out agreeing on what the UX was going to be, going over a couple of different design ideas, and then narrowing it down based on client feedback. They didn’t do any content creation, but that handled all of the visuals for the site.

What is the team composition?

We mainly dealt with the project lead and a designer.

How did you come to work with Topflight Apps?

I’d known them for about a year, and I was looking for the right project to engage them on. I really liked and connected with the owner, and I wanted to see them in action. This project had a great-sized scope and was in our core competencies, so we went with them. Originally though, we liked how collaborative they were, because that’s how we like to work.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from February to March 2018.

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

They were able to jump in, understand the brand, and deliver the UI and UX in about six weeks, which was really impressive. Especially considering the pressure we were under.

How did Topflight Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

We collaborated via text, email, and video calls, and they were highly communicative, often responding within minutes. The end-client was in a different time zone, but Topflight was really flexible in terms of working and collaborating with us, even if it wasn’t during the typical workday.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were really easy to work with, which is rare with creative firms, and especially so when you talk about design. They were open to feedback and were very collaborative. In terms of response time, they were able to turn things around really quickly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If this had been a larger scale project, I would say that should have utilized a project management tool where we could see our progress. For this particular project, it wasn’t needed, since we also had a short turnaround, but on other projects, I would recommend for them to use one if they don’t already.

Any advice for potential customers?

You need to find someone that has the same kind of work ethic as you, in terms of response times and availability. We’re available to our clients at almost any time, and Topflight made themselves available to us. Having that same perspective, in terms of customer service and experience, is important.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a co-founder of Wizard Match - a business to business software solution

For what projects/services did your company hire Topflight Apps?

Develop and design our company website

What were your goals for this project?

Build out an aesthetically pleasing and marketing friendly website for our software product

How did you select this vendor?

I connected to Joe Tuan through Linked In and reviewed past work and was impressed by quality and the companies experience and reviews

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They developed the front end of our website and were amazing with design and user friendly interface. They were on time or ahead of time with all aspects of project management and their team is stacked with talented individuals who are gifted with creative and tech savvy professionals.

What was the team composition?

Between TopFlight Apps and us we had about 6-7 people on the team. Meetings were targeted and goal oriented and execution was flawless

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

We will be launching our solution later this year as we are still in product development and beta testing but when we do we have a terrific website to use as a marketing platform thanks to Top Flight Apps

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

It was proactive, efficient and was met and surpassed expectations.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their ingenuity, flexibility, affordability, and focus to execute our vision

Are there any areas for improvement?

We were delighted with every aspect of our interaction with this company.