We Make Waves

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and CEO of MorelandConnect and we’re a custom software agency based in Cleveland, Ohio.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with We Make Waves?

We were leading a project and our firm was writing all of the backend code, so we hired We Make Waves to do software development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were introduced to We Make Waves as a firm that does mobile app development and integrations, and they also had experience working with data privacy and security providers in the UK.

They were in charge of UX design, management, development, testing, and deployment of a mobile app. Midway through the project, the client requested more features to the app that we didn’t envision when we started. Those other features were basically facial recognition scanning and vitals scanning — We Make Waves didn’t have experience with any of that so part of our challenge was how to implement these features without disrupting all of the good work we had already done.

What the app basically did is use three components; two we provided, and one was integrated with a covid tracking and testing app. The first part is where users answer a set of questions related to their temperature and the people they’ve been with. The second part is for contact tracing, where the app can send coordinates to our backend system, where it would figure out who’s close to each other in an anonymous way.

The final part is facial scanning for biometrics. We take all the data and push it to a private secure storage location, which will ultimately lead to the creation of a dashboard to allow individuals to check into a location. We used JavaScript, React, C#, .NET framework, .NET Core, and SQL server.

What is the team composition?

I primarily worked with four people. There was one who was strictly on the design part, two did the testing and coding, and Kirsten (Co-Founder). He did some coding, but he was mostly the lead who managed the relationships and activities that were going on.

How did you come to work with We Make Waves?

I wasn’t in the position to decide since we were brought on to manage and build the backend of the project, after they’d already been hired. They were selected primarily because of their experience working with this platform, and because they were a good mobile design and development firm.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent somewhere between $50,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from April–December 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The work that we did with them was accomplished in 3–4 different parts and because of client demands, they spent more time than they had anticipated and just worked through it with us. We Make Waves was very flexible and client-centered and they did really good work even though they were at a point in the project where the client kept asking for more.

They kept at it because they believed in us and the team — their dedication to client service was just top-notch.

How did We Make Waves perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed very well. They established deadlines and they hit them in almost all cases, with only a couple of occasions that they didn’t. They were very forthright in describing the challenges that they saw, whether they were external or internal — this made it really easy for me to communicate with the paying client.

They had a set of tools that they used internally, but I can’t remember what they were — although we had a JIRA board that we used and they did a nice job working with us. They also used Figma for some of the design work and because we were in different timezones, we mostly communicated through Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed with their tenacity in following their methodology for design and development. There were times when the client would come in and ask for a quick and cheap update, but We Make Waves wouldn't compromise because they believed they can deliver great designs following their own process. I admired that they held true to their beliefs in the way that they go about their work — in our experience, the results were top-notch.

Another thing I liked about them was their developers were patient and intelligent. I was proud to have on every call with the client because they explained the project clearly. When the client got upset about some things, they kept their feet on the ground and explained the situation until they understood it — they didn’t lose their temper or got upset, they were excellent when it came to interpersonal communication.

Are there any areas they could improve?

For our taste here in the Midwest, US, they were a bit on the expensive side. I almost feel bad for saying it because they’re based in London, and we’re based in Ohio, so there are different exchanges and costs of living. However, I would imagine that they would be really inexpensive compared to the shops in London, so it’s almost unfair for me to say — that’s the only thing I can really think of.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would recommend that you allow We Make Waves’ expertise to just flow through — don’t try to throttle them or change the way they go about doing their work. Their methods, their process, and how they built their team are really good, so there’s no reason to get in the way of how they do things — let them do their thing, and you’ll be thrilled with the results.