Touchlane LLC

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a founder of a technology consulting company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Touchlane LLC, and what were your goals?

One of our clients (a tech startup in HR space) was looking for an iOS engineer to join their team for several months, and my team was tasked with finding the engineer on their behalf.

SOLUTION

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

Our client wasn't keen on hiring in the US due to budget restrictions and overall difficulty in finding really good engineering talent over here, so Eastern Europe was the focus area. We interviewed a dozen individual developers, and a few agencies (like Touchlane) that had engineers readily available to join our client in a staff augmentation engagement. Touchlane's engineer (Pavel) had excellent English, great problem solving capabilities and strong iOS engineering skills, and altogether was a much better fit to a US-based startup than many other candidates we talked to. It also seemed like Touchlane supported their engineers well and gave them the resources they need to be successful.

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

It was a staff augmentation engagement, so the skillset Pavel (the developer) added to the team was the focus, not the scope of work per se. What was important in this project was Senior-level proficiency in iOS development (Swift), proactiveness and self-discipline, problem solving capabilities, strong communication skills (for daily collaboration with the other team members), and flexibility in schedule (sometimes there were meetings that were relatively late for the developer's timezone).

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

A single senior iOS engineer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The primary measurable outcome for us is the satisfaction of our client. They absolutely LOVED Pavel and were happy with his contribution from start to finish of the engagement.

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

We were primarily communicating on engagement matters with Irina, the CEO, and Anna, the Accountant. Both were always very quick to respond. It was very easy to get on a call with Irina and discuss any relevant matters.

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

The fact that they had Pavel, such a very talented and capable engineer, on staff tells me they're doing something right about hiring and retaining great talent. Touchlane must be a desirable place to work at for developers.

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

To be honest can't think of anything. It was a straightforward engagement with no surprises.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CEO of a design agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Touchlane LLC?

I was looking for a team, ready to develop a quality iOS photo editor in short timeframes.

What were your goals for this project?

As a developing design studio, we wanted to obtain our own photo editor app that would help us to create cool graphics fast and easy using fancy filters and presets.

SOLUTION

How did you select Touchlane LLC?

I was searching for vendors and came across Touchlane portfolio. They showed expertise in similar photo & video app projects, their proposal was the most interesting at that moment.

Describe the project in detail.

They built a smart photo editor from scratch in the fastest possible timeframe. Touchlane team took responsibility for all aspects of development.

What was the team composition?

A team lead, an iOS developer, a UX/UI designer (in addition to our own specialist), and a QA tester.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The developed app is a working product in our design activities as the photo editor utilizes neural network technologies and has a bunch of presets so our team often uses it for our internal tasks. We are going to actively promote this product to the public after a few new important updates.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Touchlane team worked quite responsively. They were always in touch, ready to answer our questions (we had a lot especially at the beginning), provided weekly reports, so everything was transparent enough during the process.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was pleasantly surprised by how motivated and communicative Touchlane LLC's experts were in the workflow. They kept pace during the working process and suggested fresh ideas and handy tips regarding the project in general.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We want to add some improvements into our project to be ready for the new release, but we’re satisfied by the quality of the end-product and the efficiency of our cooperation.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founder, IT Services company

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Touchlane LLC?

I hired Touchlane team with need to bring my app idea to the working MVP within the very limited time.

What were your goals for this project?

The task was an implementation of the MVP version of a healthcare iOS app that would help people to stay safe during the covid-pandemic.

SOLUTION

How did you select Touchlane LLC?

It was competition between different vendors. I was looking for experienced company, ready to get my project with very tight schedule.

Describe the project in detail.

Process of development started from the preliminary analysis, after they proposed me few strategies and set of features for the MVP. Actually I had few doubts about some of them, but Touchlane provided me with analytical research and proofs, so we started to work on.

What was the team composition?

The team consisted of the PM, Java and iOS devs, designer, QA, and a marketing analyst. The process was managed by Touchlane, I checked it by reports and regular calls.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Team was quite initiative about the project, they refined upon my idea and performed the full cycle of development, right to the AppleStore release. The project fitted into the tight timeframe with optimal feature set - this was actually very important for me!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

I didn't have my own development team, Touchlane provided me with turn-key solution.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Each team member demonstrated dedication and flexibility during the working process.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I would like to expand the app functionality, but it would take extra time and budget. So I can’t really complain.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work as a freelance IT project manager for various Finnish clients in private sector.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Touchlane LLC?

Touchlane was hired to developed a native Android application for a specific Honeywell device.

What were your goals for this project?

Purpose of the project was to replace an existing but outdated previous application developed for different platform.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Touchlane was selected since my colleagues had previous good experiences with them.

Describe the project in detail.

We started with some initial discovery meetings, proceeded to work with designs and then implementation. Touchlane's mobile app developer worked together with a backed developer during the time. Testing was done mostly by the client. Most of the work was conducted between March and May.

What was the team composition?

1 developer from Touchlane. In total 2 developers, project management and client's representatives (3 people). A few others in supporting roles from Touchlane.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within a few months practically everyone has switched to use the new application. Verbal feedback has been positive.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We were able to communicate effectively through slack.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Touchlane was really good at working flexibly when we had to adapt to a client's situation. A skillful developer was able to come up with solutions that were right for the situation and project's budget limits. We were able to create a working app and got happy end users despite challenges some challenges from legacy systems and a scope that was very open in the beginning.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Getting to know people takes some time when you are communicating through electronic channels and there are always some language and cultural barriers. But this is not really specific to Touchlane. We got over these issues quickly in my view.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Watcher is a personal safety app that lets family and friends look out for each other. I’m the CEO and founder. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Touchlane LLC?

Watcher lets users share their location with family and friends while walking home alone after dark. We hired Touchlane LLC to build the app and backend from scratch.

What were your goals for this project?

We're a startup, and Watcher is our first product. Our goal was to launch Watcher in the App Store, create awareness, and start building our user base.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We screened around 50 vendors and invited the two or three most promising candidates to take a coding test. Touchlane LLC came out on top.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Our internal team provided the UI designs and initial technical specs, and Touchlane LLC handled nearly all the development. The requirements included real-time location tracking, Google Maps and Facebook integration, battery optimization, automatic emergency detection using the phone's motion and activity sensors, push notifications, and phone number verification. 

What was the team composition?

Touchlane LLC provided a team of developers, an experienced project manager, and QA support.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

More than a dozen news outlets covered Watcher, which attracted tens of thousands of users with zero marketing. During its launch week, the app reached the number five spot in the Danish App Store and the number one spot in the social networking category.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We treated them like our own employees. We mainly communicated using Slack, Skype, and Trello. We had occasional delays and bumps in the road, but were happy with the partnership. Their project management was responsive, and they resolved issues as quickly as possible.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I especially enjoyed working with their founders. They both spoke excellent English and were always honest and direct, even when the news wasn't good.  They helped us develop our idea into a working product, and they continued to fix bugs and create new features months after launch. 

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, we were extremely satisfied. We had some operational challenges, but everything turned out.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our iOS application offers coloring books for adults. We have a freemium subscription business model with a free coloring book and paid premium content.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Touchlane?

We’ve had challenges finding a successful development partner in the past. Even if the app is functional, the usability is lacking, and other times, the result isn’t what we pictured. We need a developer to worked with our team on an iOS application with all the features we wanted.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Touchlane provided coding for the front- and backend. We delivered wireframes, mockups, and descriptions, detailing which functionalities were needed. They adjusted those before implementing them to the native application. Their team used Objective-C for development. The backend has API capabilities, and we’ve installed third-party tools for analytics.

Free to install, our iOS app offers a digital alternative to coloring books. It's specifically tailored to our 70% female user base, most of whom are in the 18–25 age demographic.

We also receive QA from Touchlane, checking for bugs and other issues.

What is the team composition?

In the beginning, we worked with a project manager, a backend developer, and between three-four iOS developers. As the project grew, the team is between 10–12 people, including QA and development providers.

How did you come to work with Touchlane?

We found a website their team made and engaged with them. We researched about four to five companies in total. Touchlane’s personable founders stood out to our team. As a nontechnical person, I wanted their reassurance on the whole process, and they offered a realistic approach.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested over $1,000,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Touchlane in April 2018, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen amazing improvements since we started working with Touchlane. Their team works hard to improve their internal processes to guarantee features are delivered on time and without bugs.

Their QA team makes sure the product is as bug-free as possible. We investigate why specific problems weren’t identified earlier and brainstorm how to avoid issues in the future.

How did Touchlane perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management approach was excellent. One of their strengths is that they work hard on their internal processes, trying to find different ways of iterating a project. There’s been significant progress from their side. We communicate through Slack and have weekly video calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Touchlane’s open-minded team is willing to work on issues with clients and takes their feedback effectively.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Touchlane is continuously working on improving their business and services.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of Racefully. We’re an activity tracking app for walking, running, and cycling. We turn those activities into an online game where people can remotely exercise with anyone, anywhere in the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Touchlane?

We had a large roadmap of features to get through and needed to augment our development team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Touchlane developers joined our development team virtually. Our UX designer would take upcoming features and design them in Sketch. After the designer shared the screens via Zeplin, one of the developers would take responsibility for delivering the UI feature. For a while, we had test resources as well, but, due to scaling down the project, the developers now test each other's work and beta testers in the field provide feedback.

The app is a native iOS app developed predominantly in Objective-C. Touchlane specifically provided iOS developers, including a senior iOS developer.

What is the team composition?

The team was composed of our own and Touchlane's iOS developers, a UX designer, and—for a time—testing resources.

How did you come to work with Touchlane?

We were already working with an independent developer and a UX designer. When we were ready to scale up the project, they referred us to Touchlane.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in 2016, and the work is ongoing. We still have one of the developers actively working with the team. I’ve been very pleased to continue working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app has been used in more than 80 countries and is getting positive reviews from the press and on the App Store. Overall, people are impressed with the quality of the app’s UX. That is partly due to the designer, but also the developers' execution. The Touchlane developers have been excellent at taking visual concepts and making them a positive part of the app.

How did Touchlane perform from a project management standpoint?

Our development approach is agile, and Touchlane's developers worked very productively within that. Touchlane keeps an eye on how their people are working to ensure that they contribute to processes. I was happy with their communication around the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve been supportive throughout the entire project. They’ve found people for us when we needed to scale up or down. They’ve helped us identify high-quality developers, and they invest a lot of attention and care in what they’re doing. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not really. They’ve delivered on everything I’ve asked for. We’ve had a steady relationship, and I’m happy to continue using them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Successfully working with any offshore team requires more organization and proactive communication. You can’t throw something over the fence and hope that it gets done. Be prepared to invest in the relationship, and help the developers understand the context so they can make autonomous decisions.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I worked as a lead engineer on the marketing side of the business and also oversaw some of the contractor projects for a company that provides a software-as-a-service (SaaS) marketing and e-commerce platform that’s highly customizable.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Touchlane LLC?

We needed support in building several initiatives and content management solutions. The nature of this project was very agile, so we decided not to go for a large outsourcing company but rather find smaller one to minimize communication overhead.

SOLUTION

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Touchlane worked closely with us to build both the frontend (Angular) and backend (.Net) functionality for several greenfield features.

What was the team composition?

There were two backend engineers and a single frontend engineer. One of them also operated as manager and team lead and is who I interacted with the most.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They delivered a highly-customized solution. For a long time, we left out several features that customers asked for due to lack of development resources. Bringing Touchlane on board allowed us to close this gap.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

There were some hiccups while the engineers were getting accommodated during the first few weeks. This also allowed us to iron out our specifications and approach with their tech lead.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of supercan. We’re a mobile messenger application that utilizes a payment model.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Touchlane LLC?

We needed a development partner to deliver our mobile app on iOS and Android.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our development team was structured so that we were responsible for the UI/UX design and the backend API development. However, Touchlane wrote every line of code for the native Android and iOS applications. Development was done in phases, with multiple releases throughout the process.

The product is an asynchronous video-based mobile messenger with a payment model. It targets experts and digital influencer who have an audience. Users sell expert tips and other content on the platform with price customization.

What is the team composition?

The founders of Touchlane were our two primary points of contact. They assigned a development team and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Touchlane LLC?

When creating the startup, we knew early on we’d need to outsource the client development work. Our CEO had worked with them on another project and had a positive experience. We compared Touchlane against several options and decided to hire them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $400,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Touchlane in September 2016. The project was finished at the end of 2017, but they continually provide basic maintenance.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don’t have any shareable metrics. Paying customers use the app and have left positive reviews.

How did Touchlane LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

The most hectic project phase lasted for about a year, but we kept to the planned schedule and their communication was excellent throughout the process. They had a professional approach and were able to discuss and solve problems quickly.

We used Jira for project management so we could track their progress in real-time. We also used Slack as a communication channel, which worked effectively despite the time difference. We were in contact with the developers and project leads on a daily basis. Overall, Touchlane performed well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciated working directly with their founders because they treated us as valuable customers. The team was dedicated and responsive. That was an essential factor as we needed to react quickly to changes.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Touchlane performed well, but there’s always room for improvement. For example, the schedule was sometimes underestimated. Overall, the app functions well, so I have no big complaints.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Whenever starting an outsourced project, clients should focus on maintaining daily communication. I don’t know if a setup like this could work if the client simply sends a list of requirements and hopes for the best.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Owner/Shareholder of a retail company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Smart solutions for space heating

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Touchlane LLC to accomplish?

• Mobile application for our IOS device

SOLUTION

How did you find Touchlane LLC?

Referral

Why did you select Touchlane LLC over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Touchlane LLC were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Mobile application development based on our specification. Coding + project management.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Mobile app is close to commercial. We will launch new product (IOS + mobile app) soon. Small amount of bugs so far

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

Yes- Touchline has delivered everything on time and we have had very good and open dialogue

What was your primary form of communication with Touchlane LLC?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their flexibility and ability to propose and find solutions were impressive

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

Nothing worth mentioning