Worldteam (formerly Arcade Dev House)

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director and owner of The Workhouse, a digital marketing agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Arcade Dev House?

Our in-house developer left our team, so we needed to outsource our development and maintenance efforts to Arcade Dev House.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Arcade Dev House integrates new features and maintains the software product of one of our clients in the animal healthcare industry. The platform has features that enable order processing, built-in order and tracking notifications, sales summaries, and promotions. Their team ensures the smooth deployment of each update and the seamless display of new information on the dashboard.

Apart from managing that customer platform, Arcade Dev House also helps us maintain and develop new software solutions for a messaging service product that we’ve launched in partnership with a global company.

What is the team composition?

We mainly work with Robert (Commercial Director) and Emma (Product Manager).

How did you come to work with Arcade Dev House?

They were a recommendation.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $88,000 AUD (approximately $63,000 USD) so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement with Arcade Dev House started in July 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Arcade Dev House has a keen understanding of our company and our clients’ needs. Their systematic approach and knowledge of software development enable them to deploy robust solutions that continue to further our growth and meet our clients’ expectations. Overall, Arcade Dev House’s stable progress and quick turnaround times are our main success metrics for their team’s work.

How did Arcade Dev House perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate via email and Zoom and rely on Atlassian for project management. Arcade Dev House is on top of their project management game — they're highly capable of meeting timelines and quality standards.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re most impressed with Arcade Dev House’s service-orientedness and extensive skill set.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything — we’re happy with their performance.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take the initial stages seriously and maximize your communication channels with Arcade Dev House’s team.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the director of a full service advertising agency specialising in media buying and production.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Arcade Dev House, and what were your goals?

We brought Arcade Dev House into an existing project that needed significant development and completion as the company that initially began the project was let go. We needed Arcade Dev House to review the previous agencies work and develop solutions that would enable the projects completion.

SOLUTION

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

Arcade Dev House understood right away the scope of the project and was equipped to deliver on what was already a project that was underway.

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

We provided the team with the framework and UX design. Through a series of meeting they worked closely with us and our client to develop and test the product.

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

A manager was assigned and we worked with several members of their development and client management team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

At the time of this review this project is still ongoing.

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

We had a clear line of communication to their head managers and engaged in several itemised meetings about the project.

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

Their willingness to find solutions to really complex situations and their can do attitude is tremendous. They are also very collaborative and their work deliverables are outstanding.

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

The quoting structure is a little convoluted and requires a much more ease of presentation, as this overshadows their impressive skills and quality of work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a media production house that has a large following on social media; we have more than five million followers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Arcade Dev House?

We wanted to develop a platform that we could control as opposed to using social media platforms. The key deliverable was a modernized app with features that we could manage in-house. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

When we started using Arcade, we had a lengthy UI/UX design phase where we provided them with a project brief. Then, we did a bit of product design. We didn’t have an existing app in place, so they did that from scratch. From there, they developed the app. 

At present, we have an ongoing maintenance contract for the improvement of our product. The app’s main features include a modernized interface, personalized UX design, and monetization. Its backend functionality allows us to manage the product better, and it’s also attached to Google Analytics.

What is the team composition?

Depending on the project’s phase, we’ve worked with five or so people from their team. These people include product managers, senior developers, UX designers, and the directors of the company. 

How did you come to work with Arcade Dev House?

While we were searching for a vendor, we received several quotations and proposals. Among them, Arcade went above and beyond our expectations, pretty much owning the product as we moved forward. The team also did a good job of understanding our needs and requirements as they proposed a process that worked for us. As a result, we hired them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $250,000–$300,000 AUD (approximately $184,000–$221,000 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Arcade in January 2019, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve generated revenue from the app, which is a great success metric for us. Our app has more than a hundred thousand users, and we have an active paid user base. 

How did Arcade Dev House perform from a project management standpoint?

Arcade’s project management has been great, and they own problems and manage things well. To communicate with them, we use emails, phone calls, and face-to-face meetings depending on the project’s requirements. They also use a piece of software to manage our issues. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a strong team, and they work as if they own the product. The team comes up with proposals and gives us feedback on how the product can be improved. Moreover, they resolve problems quickly. All of these are pretty much what we want in a partner. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate the problems and the goals you want to achieve from the start of the engagement. If you do that quite well, Arcade will come up with a proposal that will work for your project. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a contracts administrator for a multi residential building company, focusing in developments in Sydney, Australia.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Arcade Dev House, and what were your goals?

Our company previously used an Excel spreadsheet to create a finishes matrix to keep track of productivity. ArcadeDev were engaged to provide a more user friendly approach and provide a live update which was more user friendly.

SOLUTION

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

Arcadedev was referred through a mutual client. We chose them on the basis that they have completed similar concepts and understood what our needs were. Also, initially they provided key ideas in ways to simplify the use and exceed the desired outcome with the indicative cost was within our budget.

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

The scope was to provide a finishes matrix app which could be updated remotely for site staff and provide live updates to senior management. Data entry for activity tasks and deadline dates were to be entered prior to the commencement of a project and updated weekly to see if targets were met once completed.

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

There were the two Directors and a Senior Product Manager. I am assuming the Product Manager had a team to liaise/delegate tasks with.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When we launched, we ran the old system and new app in parallel to compare the two. By the end project, we were able to see it as a valuable investment in efficient data entry and providing live updates/status.

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

The Project Manager was easy to communicate with and provided frequent updates. We had both in person meetings, phone calls and Skype. Everything was delivered as within the promised deadline

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

The brief was provided to them and they provided a concept design meeting and exceeding our expectations. They provided further useful information such as extrapolating data and providing a graph to provide an overall status of the project using the finishes matrix. Impressively, from brief to going live and being able download and use the app, it was a turn around in less than two months.

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

Nil.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The Nelson Meers Hotel Group is located in Sydney and owns and operates 14 Hotels in the hospitality industry across Greater Sydney. I have been with the Nelson Meers Group, and have been in the role of General Manager of Operations for thee years.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Arcade Dev House, and what were your goals?

We hired Arcade Dev House to build our Daily Takings System, with the intention of having a single source of truth across our sites, which could be easily accessed by head office.

SOLUTION

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

They have offered a professional and tailored service with well-maintained documentation.

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

Providing a source of truth to record all cash/eftpos sales and transactions, gaming transactions and accommodation revenue. This replaced the outdated excel systems we were using up to that point.

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

3 staff, including Managing Director, Project Client Manager and Marketing Communication Manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

To date the project has allowed us to to streamline our data collection across all venues. It has simplified the process of compiling our data and allowed us to focus on building our business.

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

The workflow is effective by applying project management software, documented well and prompt communications.

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

Direct access to the team, and a can-do, and they have a positive attitude.

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

I have been unable to identify any areas of concern.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Founder of Productiiv App. Productiiv App is a web based project management application designed to provide a seamless, transparent and intuitive platform to manage medium and large size projects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Arcade Dev House, and what were your goals?

We found a gap in the project management application space, where traditionally these types of applications are either geared toward building contractors, there was nothing specifically for subcontractors to handle functions like Scheduling, Billing, Allocating Timesheets, AP & and Safety all in one platform. Our goal is to develop Productiiv App as the go-to all-in-one solution for subcontractors and other teams looking for an all-around easy-to-use solution.

SOLUTION

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

I had previously worked with Arcade in a smaller project and the attention to detail and structured workflows adopted by the owners, Sam and Jackie, attracted me to their style.

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

Custom Software App Involved: Workshopping for data architecture Solution Analysis workshops Wireframing UX design Logic & Function workshops Miscellaneous meetings to cover new releases and upcoming releases. Arcade was very helpful in integrating 3rd party Apps such as Recurly and Sendgrid too.

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

3 People Sam - Product Owner Jackie - Solutions Architect/Tech Director Emma - QA/Project Manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

So far we have reduced time in two areas:

1. Timesheeting - 4 hours per week
2. Job Costing - 10 hours per week

on top of all the human errors in data entry we have prevented by building this application

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

Deadlines: were met 95% of the time Communication: clear, precise, detailed emails. Their project management style is very structured via JIRA, InVision, and Figma

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

Sam passion for beautiful solutions and Jackie's passion for perfection

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

No

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founder/ Director. MyCanary aims to improve safety by improving communication and connecting every person on construction sites.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Arcade Dev House, and what were your goals?

We came to Arcade with a prototype and a client ready to start. We required a fully working user friendly system, added features and improved efficiency. Ready to go within 3 months.

SOLUTION

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

After using an international developer for the prototype, we wanted a local developer to be more hands-on with and also someone that understood our industry. After meeting with several local firms we did not feel comfortable with, we were referred to Arcade and straight away Sam, Jackie, and the team understood what we wanted and how to make it happen.

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

We had a series of discovery meetings, worked on wireframes together. worked through the complexities of the user portals and how they would interact with one another, testing and Sam was more than willing to give his time to assist with onboarding and getting the client up to speed.

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

We never had any issues with personal at Arcade, Sam Jackie and the Team were always available to answer any of our queries or questions.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We gave the team a tight timeline to go from an idea to a fully ready live product in 3 months, other developers told us it couldn't be done however Arcade came through and delivered.

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

We had frequent in-person table meetings, we communicated via email and also voice calls in between meetings to keep an open communication line at all times.

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

We were most impressed by their input and expertise in the discovery meetings plus being able to take a concept to the finished product all with the same team. Their knowledge and passion really play a key role in turning our product into something we are proud of.

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

We were very happy with this project and continue with them to this day.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Founder and CEO of a video messaging application based in Sydney Australia

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Arcade Dev House, and what were your goals?

As a start-up with 2 non-tech founders, we were looking for experienced development partners to help us realise our product vision. We interviewed a number of options and hired Arcade Dev House to help us develop a new mobile application.

SOLUTION

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

We were impressed by Arcade's strategic development processes, market and user insights, and their team. Sam and Jackie worked hard to understand our needs and our market opportunity,

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

The scope of work was from ideation, wireframes, UI/UX design, prototypes, solution architecture, front end and back end development, database architecture, to final delivered and tested application, with analytics dashboard. Basically from soup to nuts.

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

We worked closely with both of the key business leaders, Sam and Jackie who were very hands on with access to designers and a slew of developers in the background. It was a seamless collaboration.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Confidential

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

They managed the project with a great communication style at every stage of the project. We became addicted to Jira and saw it an invalubel tool for us. Our team experienced open collaboration and a free-flowing exchange of ideas. Sam and Jackie delivered innovative ideas that improved our product far beyond our expectations.

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

The deep involvement and passion for world-class quality by both Sam and Jackie who pushed for the highest standards, and they overcame challenges with intelligence and urgency ultimately delivering a wonderful result for our business.

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

Better biscuits with the coffee.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work for Acciona (Formally Lendlease) as an Engineering Manager in the Tunneling team. We are a major international construction company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Arcade Dev House, and what were your goals?

We wanted to create a tablet based app for in-tunnel geological mapping AND an online form and database for permitting.

SOLUTION

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

We reached out to three different app development companies. Arcade were not the cheapest (middle) but we liked their solutions/interactions and that they had worked with construction engineers before.

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

Create a website and tablet app (Data inputs, calculations, reporting, searching, digital signatures, excel and PDF outputs) - Kick off meeting - We sent Arcade samples of similar apps/tools we currently use - Several meetings to get an understanding of our needs - Final Price and scope developed and approved - 12-16 weeks of testing and iterations

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

Mainly Sam to being with, then Vincent and Jackie. Juri occasionally for UA aspects. After the development, issues were/are communicated through emma.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Very happy with the price and final product. It took more time the desired to get to the final product. Some of this was out fault as we were still making changes during in late phases and live use, but some of it was a mis-communication or misinterpretation and a small amount of errors.

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

Long meetings during development followed by Arcades website for communication of issues/improvement thereafter.

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

The speed to get the initial design was very quick. Arcade Dev House's design process is a game-changer. The sessions were fun and it made us come up with better ideas. The process was formatted in a very logical and systematic way, guiding us through the process in a way we wouldn't be able to do on our own.

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

The main frustrations we had were communication. It was poor during some periods. It took a very long time to get feedback or follow up questions following the submission of an issue on the arcade service desk website. The automatic response of "We're on it and are aiming to give you a first reply within the hour" was a little annoying :p.. get rid of that.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Manging Director of Ticked Off App - we provide a range of software and service solutions globally.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Arcade Dev House, and what were your goals?

We had ongoing challenges with our previous developer and were looking to bring structure to our development pipeline, as well as work with a team of people who could help us make our product better.

SOLUTION

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

I met with the Directors of Arcade across a number of meetings, to learn how they work with clients, what systems and processes they have to maintain control, accountability and transparency, as well as share some goals of the business and how they could contribute to the overall success.

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

Having worked with Arcade for over 2 years, the scope of the project changed and grew over time, as did the vision and roadmap of the business. The key focus for both teams was to ensure that systems and processes was disciplined, regardless of what chunk of work was currently in scoping, development, testing or releasing.

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

I have worked closely with a range of the Arcade team, depending on what the current focus was.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Working with Arcade has been a turning point for our business. In addition to bringing structure to the development work, we also benefitted from their insight in to emerging trends and technologies, as well as efficient and effective solutions.

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

To be frank, our previous Developers were shit. They missed meetings, kept no minutes or actions, spent more time on explaining why they hadn’t met their own objectives or arguing about what was or wasn’t included in a piece of work. With Arcade, it has been easy to speak with people that are working on the project, to check for ourselves the status of any works in progress and where necessary, meet to discuss ideas, options or developments.

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

The Directors of the business are very hands on, on top of every detail and very knowledgeable about their outputs as well as our business. I have always been able to have very frank discussions about the business, its direction and they have always been very supportive and respectful.

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

I genuinely could not ask for anything else from this long held and successful relationship.