Wonderment Apps

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am an executive of a proptech company. We were looking to build a web app with Wonderment.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Wonderment Apps, and what were your goals?

The goal was to build a web app. The app had database components, user roles and permissioning, an admin panel and superuser access and some sophisticated modeling capabilities.

SOLUTION

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

The decision was made based on a combination of communication skills, clarity of RFP and cost. Wonderment was one of the best in the combination of all three.

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

I provided wonderment with a detailed RFP as well as some in depth technical documentation. I asked them to deliver a comprehensive scope of work broken out by feature and estimated time and resources required to complete.

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

Faraz (COO), Ramina (biz dev)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The wonderment team was really a pleasure to work with. They were punctual and prepared for every meeting. Their communication skills were excellent and they really made sure they asked the right questions to ensure alignment.

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

The primary methods of communication was zoom and email.

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

Each person I spoke with seemed on top of their game. They all knew where we were in the process and what the next steps were. There was never any wasted time catching anyone up on what happened in the last meeting.

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

None.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a program manager with a company that provides Internet-based mailing and shipping services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Wonderment Apps, and what were your goals?

Wonderment provided a UI solution for our customers to be able to track various shipments. Wonderment also implemented a mobile apps solution for our product.

SOLUTION

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

I did not participated in this process. Generally, the company would solicit bids, score the vendors and negotiate a contract with the vendor.

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

There were three milestones for the delivery of an Android and iOS mobile app for our shipping solutions product: internal beta phase, customer beta phase and marketable launch. The methodology used was scrum.

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

A project manager was assigned as the lead contact. During the initial phase, a technical project manager was involved. There was a lead developer and a lead QA. Depending on the work committed, there could be 2 - 4 developer and QA resources.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Wonderment delivered per schedule, however, some development was on hold until internal teams could deliver the back-end system Wonderment needed to complete the mobile app.

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

Communication was a Wonderment strength. There were weekly updates and status meetings for formal communication. informal communication could be in the form of the company used messaging app, email or phone call. Issues and risks to schedule were immediately raised and a mitigation plan was put in place

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

Wonderment Apps was truly professional, and they keenly listened to our needs. Wonderment would also provide recommendations if there was an impediment to the schedule.

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

None.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the project manager for our logistics department. We are an e-commerce platform that serves and provides wellness and beauty products around the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Wonderment Apps, and what were your goals?

There was a brand new company we were trying to form and creating a website for its presence was one of the steps. We needed a simple website that ca[tires the mission of this new company.

SOLUTION

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

iHerb has worked with Wonderment prior to this and we had a good experience was recommended by our IT department to continue working with them. The price was reasonable and we all agreed to work with Wonderment.

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

My director and I met with Eric and his web developer to talk through the big ideas and timelines initially. Eric generated a great timeline to keep all of us on track. He also didn't mind creating an Asana, which is the platform iHerb uses so it's easier for myself to track progress and communicate.

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

6 people in total worked me often on the project. Eric, their project manager.

• Joe - their head was with us at the beginning to scope out.
• Sidra and Jack was the UI UX.
• Ramina - when it comes to scheduling and day offs of their employee so we can expect who to contact.
• Julie, their AP.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Although we didn't launch the website ultimately due to company decision, the final product of the website was exactly what we wanted. Eric and his team listened carefully and provided feedback to best meet our timeline and budget.

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

Eric was great at communicating each step of the way. Including using a great timeline to keep all of us on track. He was also willing to provide updates through our choice of PM tool, Asana.

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

Eric always goes the extra mile to make sure we have all questions answered. It is very easy to work with them despite of how big their company is.

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

Nothing! Will definitely want to work with Wonderment again for future website projects.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Reinventing Reentry is a nonprofit organization, and it’s largely focused on educating society on the importance of giving individuals who were formerly incarcerated the opportunity to succeed. I’m the acting board president who’s responsible for the ongoing success of the organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Wonderment Apps?

In order to be effective, our company did everything — including presentations — in person. When the pandemic hit, however, we needed to take our whole program online. Wonderment Apps helped us develop the virtual aspect of our product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Wonderment Apps developed an interactive web application for us. Through it, we wanted people to be able to immerse themselves in the experience. The team created a step-by-step simulation that replicates real-life scenarios — specifically, what it’s truly like to look for opportunities and be faced with barriers.

What is the team composition?

I worked with a product developer and an account manager, and I also interacted a bit with the CEO at the onset of the project. 

How did you come to work with Wonderment Apps?

The previous president of the organization heard about Wonderment Apps through another vendor she had worked with. Wonderment Apps came across as really reliable and knowledgeable, so we considered them in our search. 

We really wanted a company that was progressive in their faith and capable of finding the solution that we needed. Wonderment Apps seemed like a good fit because they understood the overarching mission of our organization, so when we won a grant during the pandemic, we decided to hire them.

How much have you invested with them?

Thus far, we’ve spent around $11,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them around May–June 2020, and it’s an ongoing partnership. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have done some user-testing via an external partner, and the feedback and results that we’ve gathered around the app are very positive. Wonderment Apps has created something groundbreaking and successful. The simulation pulls on users’ heartstrings and gives them an opportunity to look into what other people are experiencing.

How did Wonderment Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

One of the reasons why the project is still ongoing is because their team allowed us time to properly grieve the loss of our organization’s former president. They were willing to work on our time and pick up once we were ready to resume working on the project. 

Throughout that time, Wonderment Apps has been stellar. They have been very supportive and have kept us on track. They’ve also been very responsive and attentive to details and deadlines. I’ve never had to remind them of anything, so it feels like a true partnership. 

Wonderment Apps utilized their own internal project management systems, but we’ve mostly collaborated via the Google Office suite. We share presentations or PDFs and also conduct our check-ins there. It’s the most convenient communication platform for us, and they’ve been very willing to adapt to it for our sake.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re really pushing to be more inclusive, leaning into people’s differences from an equitable lens, and they understand the importance of all of that. There aren’t many companies like that in the tech space. Wonderment Apps is really a cut above the rest in that they listen to who we are, what we need, and what roadblocks we might face. I’m forever grateful for our partnership.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing I can point out. In fact, they’ve been really great at anticipating our needs. Our meetings are structured so that, when one team member cannot answer, another team member will provide valuable insight. It has allowed us to deliver way ahead of the deadline.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know what you want early on, and be fully transparent about your needs. Trust that Wonderment Apps will provide an outsider's perspective and valuable solutions. They’re creators by nature, so their approach has a lot of creativity infused into it. Appreciate that process, and be open to their suggestions.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Managing parter at premier security consulting company

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Wonderment Apps, and what were your goals?

Wonderment helped develop a custom workflow automation and application to manage and triage influx of new data points ingested by our Elastic search cluster for analysis.

SOLUTION

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

We needed a solution to our growing problem managing data-sets we were receiving from varies system and services. We needed a team that understands the problem and help with building the stack that can scale up given the constraints we had.

What the team at wonderment was able to deliver and architect was perfectly aligned with our current infrastructure and budget. We chose Wonderment because of the experience they bring in the modern web technologies and the transparency, reassurances they provided us during our initial engagement.

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

Wonderment are experts when it comes to architecture build on top of AWS. Our scope of work involved building a centralized logging platform on top of AWS platform to ingest our ever growing data sets.

The technologies/services used included CloudFormation templates to rebuild the services as needed, OpenSearch Service and Kibana for creating and customizing dashboards and visualizations, AWS Lambda, AWS VPC and Elastic Compute Cloud to manage and run our services.

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

We had a project manager, two developers and a customer success team member.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to launch our service on time and within budget. After the launch we saw significant improvement in how fast we were able to process and deliver results to our stake holders. What used to be a 3 day long job process was now done in less down 15 minutes! I say that is a success in my book.

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

Wonderment Apps kept me up to date with milestones and deliverables. They over communicated and were transparent about what was possible and what would we needed to do to stay on budget and avoid Scope creep. Their experience was noticeable throughout the whole development cycle.

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

Having a experienced development team that know the modern technology stack and treat you as a partner throughout the whole development process makes Wonderment a great software development agency.

Rest assured they will to be your partner throughout the development and in the future as you grow and need a partner that understands your project and software development needs.

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

None!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the SVP, Marketing & Sales for a SaaS company that provides software solutions to the entertainment industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Wonderment Apps to optimize the UX/UI of the user registration and purchase flow for our software platform.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We have partnered with Wonderment Apps on other design, UX/UI and development projects.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

The Wonderment Apps team met with our product & marketing team to understand the goals of the new signup flow, the shortcomings of our existing signup flow, and to review examples of optimized signup flows that we wanted to emulate. From there, we partnered with the team on several rounds of design mockups, iterative changes, updates to functionality, and copy writing for the flow. Finally, the final signup flow files were handed off to our team for development on our platform.

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

My team initially met with the Co-Founder and Director of Product, and worked with the Director of Product ongoing throughout the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The final signup flow exceeded our expectations in terms of functionality and performance, helping to increase the conversion rate for paid subscriptions on our platform.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They were easy to communicate with, receptive to our feedback, and deliverables were provided on time.

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

Wonderment Apps was very open to collaboration and in parallel provided recommendations based on their expertise.

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

No, we had a great experience.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I own a Digital Media consulting practice that specializes in strategy, operations, product development, and marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

My client owns IP that they wanted to deploy in the eCommerce space. I hired Wonderment to develop the product concept, technology framework & roadmap, and early brand development.

SOLUTION

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

I worked with Wonderment in the past on a product concept so they were on my shortlist. After speaking with 2 other firms, we went with Wonderment because of their relevant experience with building and maintaining eCommerce platforms.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Based on the IP owned by my client, they requested an eCommerce product concept focused on a particular market segment. Wonderment was actively involved in developing the product concept. They developed a two-sided marketplace solution for buyers and sellers. Wonderment created user personas, product markups, ecosystem diagrams, and a product roadmap

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

• President
• Project Manager
• Product & Design Manager
• graphic artist

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are in discussions for Wonderment to produce the Product Requirements Document containing User Requirements & Flows, Wireframes, Conceptual Designs, and a Prototype.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our workflow was very effective. We met via Zoom and had regular check-ins.

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

I was impressed by their experience in eCommerce strategies, eCommerce platforms, and creativity.

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

I was very happy with their work and would recommend them to others.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive producer at One Good Man Productions. We do film, television, and content production.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Wonderment Apps?

I was looking to outsource development for our third-party clients, such as mobile app, websites, and more.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They collaborated on several projects with us. Whenever our external customers needed an app or media platform, I reached out to Wonderment Apps. Their process usually started with analyzing customer engagement experience and performing deep-dive analysis. The team would then lead brainstorming sessions and conduct product design and development processes. The Wonderment Apps developed a basic AR app for one of our projects. It had a QR code so that students could activate an instructional video. 

They also built a digital media platform for another third-party client of ours — it was a media channel focused on financial literacy. Viewers could then subscribe and develop their own playlist. On top of that, they could watch content, get recommendations for more content based on their viewing, and more. 

The team also integrated an interface with third-party companies that provide training content. At the backend, administrators could pull data and analytics to analyze user engagement, determine viewership, identify the length of engagement, determine map user journey throughout the platform, and gather some demographic data. 

For some projects, they acted as an extension of our team, and for others, I recommended them to work more directly with our third-party clients, and I took on a consultant role, working very closely with them throughout the project. Wonderment Apps is now bidding on a project that we’ll be starting soon.

What is the team composition?

Ryan (CEO) is my main point of contact. He brings in the appropriate people for a project, including a project manager, account manager, and designer. During the project, our main interaction is with the project manager.

How did you come to work with Wonderment Apps?

I’ve known Ryan personally for several years. When he started his company, I knew it was a great opportunity for me to work with them. They were transparent with pricing and had reasonable rates. Above all, they provided great customer service.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $200,000–$1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in July 2015, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everyone has been impressed with the design and functionality of Wonderment Apps’ work. They bring a deep knowledge of marketing and technical skills to create apps and digital platforms not found in many companies. 

How did Wonderment Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management process is good, and they’re communicative. We have weekly meetings, and we also communicate through texts and screen sharing. They meet deadlines and they let us know if they can’t meet one. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re responsive rather than reactionary; they’re always calm, cool, and collected. They don’t just follow whatever their client says. Instead, they dig deep to understand the project’s objectives and make recommendations for the best way to achieve them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They need to help their project managers understand the engagement from conception to launching in the marketplace; they need to train them to have some of the savvinesses that Ryan has on the marketing side of things since he can’t be deeply involved in every project.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take time to do analysis and strategy before diving into the development portion of the project. Most importantly, look at the big picture and set up a schedule for reviews.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CTO. We offer courses and media content on wellness, personal growth and development

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Wonderment Apps, and what were your goals?

We hired Wonderment to build a custom video conferencing, media-streaming, and community-based platform. We wanted to have a Zoom-like experience in the browser (and eventually on mobile). We were looking for a team that combined technical skills, design skills, and knew how to build products that were fun, simple and engaging.

SOLUTION

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

We spoke with 6 vendors in the bespoke software platform space. All of whom built web and mobile apps, many of whom had experience building video / media-driven platforms, e-learning systems and community features. We felt Wonderment offered the most intuitive grasp of the mission of our product and was the most willing to get inside the project with us. We were not looking for a vendor that would simply take instruction and implement. We wanted a creative partner who would work hard to build something better than we could imagine.

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

We initially engaged Wonderment in the Discovery process. We discussed our mission, core business objectives, and creative objectives. They interviewed our team thoroughly and we began fleshing out the product roadmap in detail. We explored various concerns around audience, technical feasibility, and timelines. We settled on our roadmap for our initial launch then began building wireframes, user workflows and designs. As we completed the discovery process we had them make a technical build estimate to see what was needed to build the platform. This included in-depth researching of video vendor platforms for price, features and ease of implementation. They were present and engaged at each step and we have felt they were always going to bat for us to find the best solution.

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

We have worked with their CEO and COO (periodically), their director of product (primarily), several project managers, QA manager, and their development manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our project is currently still under development but I can say that their product design and user workflows are very carefully thought out, they combine best modern practices with our platform goals, and they were able to capture the aesthetic we were aiming for. As far as development is concerned they have also shown to be excellent at planning out the build process, telling us what is possible from a cost and time standpoint, and remaining flexible when we have change requests.

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

They use a combination of waterfall and agile, depending on the project. In our case we needed more of a waterfall at the beginning and then as the product components came together we began using a more agile approach.

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

They've been able to produce a unique, creative platform that is custom-fit to our needs. They exhibit a great deal of care and finely-tuned understanding of who we are and what our objectives are, and bring in industry best practices and a great deal of experience to implement them in a technically sound, scalable way.

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

I would have liked a clearer understanding of how the handoff works between the Discovery and Build phases of the project, especially in our case as we have a project with various technical unknowns and were not sure how much work would be needed to reach a clear picture of the build.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

At the of this project, I was the Head of the scientific research division at a nationally funded research institute.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We were just starting a large, International project for which we had received a large grant from the national funding agency. We needed a website to act as both a marketing and communications platform for the project.

SOLUTION

How did you select Wonderment Apps and what were the deciding factors?

We initially approached Wonderment on the basis of personal recommendations and then selected them after initial positive discussions with the team. In addition to their technical expertise, they were enthusiastic about the goals of the project and the idea of supporting an ambitious research project like ours.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Our project was quite complicated and the website needed to reach a large range of users and stakeholders. It had to provide technical information and yet be accessible. We knew what we were trying to achieve, but not how to do so through the website. Wonderment worked very actively with us through the design phase.

They helped us focus our message, design visuals to convey that message, and translate our sometimes very technical details into content that was more appropriate for a broad audience. After the extensive design work, they went from design to prototype and working website very quickly. The project manager kept everything moving forward and there was a very active back and forth during the implementation phase to refine various details and produce the final project.

We always felt that our project had their attention and that they wanted to get it right for us.

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

We worked regularly with the project manager and the account manager. We also worked with 3-4 designers, artists, and technical creators during the design and implementation phases.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project officially concluded in 2020 with excellent reviews from the national funding agency. It achieved all of the intended goals and more, and was the launch point for an even larger international project that is currently running. Our project brought together researchers from around the world and the website was a crucial tool in coordinating the efforts of the team and achieving that ultimate success.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We found the workflow very easy and effective. There was frequent communication by email and video calls. The project manager kept things moving and was always quick to respond and followup on actions.

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

We were impressed by the team's range of capabilities, and they were able to bring it to the execution of our project. They helped us not only with the design, but also creating and refining the content. Most impressive was the way they integrated their team with ours. Once the project was up and running, it quickly came to feel like a single integrated team which is all the more impressive given the geographical separation of the groups involved.

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

I can honestly not think of anything to recommend. I'd happily work with this group again.