CitrusBits

BACKGROUND

I work for a global restaurant chain operating in Latin America. I am the Communications Manager for the region.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

We were looking for a mobile app company to design and develop a multi-language, multi-country couponing app for both Android and iOS operating systems. Each country needed to be able to customize their content through an easy to use online CMS [content management system]. The goal of the apps is to improve restaurant sales and traffic.

SOLUTION

We did a big search and got many good referrals, and in the end we went with Citrusbits. We felt they were the hungriest for the job and they were aligned with us on their hard work ethic. The project lasted 9 months and in that time they delivered:

1. An online CMS available in 3 languages.
2. An Android app available in 3 languages.
3. An iOS app Available in 3 languages.

All deliverables successfully passed all quality assurance and legal requirements. Phase one of the project has already been completed. The application is live and in the Apple and Google stores.

We have an ongoing relationship with Citrusbits, as we are constantly working on upgrades and new features for the app, and developing strategies to expand the app to a larger user base.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Citrusbits did an excellent job in delivering all that was requested of them, and they did it all in an extremely professional, timely manner and on budget. The app Citrusbits designed and built has seen thousands of downloads and has an average of 4.5 stars in the Apple and Google Play stores. As a result of this success, we are also in the process of migrating 250,000 users from our other apps to this application.

The team was enthusiastic and driven from the get-go. We were very impressed by Citrusbits’ work ethic, professionalism, and enthusiasm about the project. The deliverables we received throughout the development process were on-time and top quality. I have no improvements to suggest for Citrusbits as we are thoroughly satisfied. We have been impressed by the quality and speed of work delivered by Citrusbits.

BACKGROUND

I work for Parago, a Blackhawk Network Company. I am the vice president and chief marketing officer of the Beget Division, which was focused on building a daily deal business competing with Groupon and Social Living. 

Blackhawk Network is a global organization operating in 24 countries and leads the market in being the pioneering leader in all things prepaid – partners with the best and biggest brands and retailers to provide a wide selection of desirable gift cards, prepaid digital products, prepaid telecom products, and financial service products via a global distribution network.

Our products can be found wherever consumers shop – both in-store and online – including grocery, mass merchants, convenience, specialty retailers, financial service providers and mobile wallets. Our patented technology and systems ensure smooth processing of prepaid transactions, accurate product delivery, targeted marketing programs, and more.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

In 2011, right around when Groupon's daily deal business was taking off, and many daily deal providers were emerging, we launched a new division to build a daily deal business that required developing a new ecommerce platform from zero lines of code with the plan to have the business in multiple markets around the United States in less than a year. We built the product in-house, but didn't have bandwidth, resources, or skill set to get a mobile app with this launch. 

A strong mobile app was crucial for the success of this project. Back then, even Groupon didn't have the GPS finder features in their app, and this was an opportunity for us to launch a new business with features and functionalities that make the product sticky and deliver a much better experience than what was available by our competitors.

The goal was to deliver an experience with this app that can go beyond the mobile responsiveness, and provide features and functionalities that can be mobile specific like GPS finder, alerts, and notification. Additionally, we needed a strong UX/UI [user experience/user interface], much better than our competitors with a very sleek interface making it easy for users to find the right offer through hundreds of available offers. The UX was extremely important for the success of this product. 

SOLUTION

We spoke to many vendors and, through the due diligence, we found either they couldn't deliver the product in time or lack the design and UX capabilities we needed that can fit well with the website and mobile experience we built. 

The Citrus team was very responsive in the sales process. Mobile apps with the functionality we were asking were not fairly common. We didn't understand how much we should be paying for such a project.

The Citrus team helped us flush out the requirements, which helped us understand the complexities and opportunities, and we were pleased with the process used to help us understand the cost. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

The team did an awesome job in not only developing a great UI, but also delivering a great UX experience that made the app desirable to our customers. The project was delivered within the expected timeline. We changed some of the scope in the middle of the project, and team was great at helping us understand the implication of any delays on the original defined deadline, and descoping to get the high-value features set in the first release.

The Citrus team was very organized and kept us in the loop throughout the project. I should add they are a true agile shop and provided us with the level of visibility we asked thought out the project. All and all, we were pleased with the outcome. 

BACKGROUND

Fitness Groupie is a startup company that is creating a mobile app to help individuals connect with their friends, co-workers, or even strangers, to achieve their fitness goals.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

We were looking for a company who was extremely creative, accountable, and willing to work with startup companies. Price and personality were key for us when making a decision.

SOLUTION

Citrusbits built my prototype mobile application from scratch. We expect to launch the application in July. They already have created my website and a promotional video. The work is ongoing but we expect to be done in 3-4 months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Citrusbits has done an amazing job bringing my idea to life. They have exceeded all my expectations with design and added features. They are extremely creative, accountable, and most of all, fun to work with. I highly recommend Citrusbits!

They are a patient and funny group that can work with non-technical clients. I didn't expect the process to be so easy and smooth.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a very small company, consisting basically of myself. I'm a professional lighting programmer.

What is your position?

I'm the owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Citrusbits?

I work in television, and I contracted Citrusbits to develop an application where you can connect a mobile device to a lighting console, and control the console remotely.

The app is used both by my clients and myself. We are selling it in the hopes of breaking even on it but, essentially, we developed it for our own use. 

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

They provided the technical side of the project. I designed it myself, we built all the layouts, I did all the graphics, and they provided the technical solution.

How did you come to work with Citrusbits?

There was a long process of selection. It's not your typical mobile application. At first, we were looking for a business partner who would want to join us, and who would have the technical expertise. We weren't able to find that, so we started looking at companies.

Since the app is not anything that's been worked on before, and has nothing to do with regular mobile phone issues, it took us a long time to find someone who was interested. In the end, it was an individual inside the company, who had an interest in theatrical lighting, which wrapped his arms around it. They have an L.A. office. I went there, and we liked them from the start. They seemed like a nice group of people, and we moved on from there.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

It's on the low side of the $50,000 to 200,000 segment.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've completed the Android side. In general, it's an ongoing project. We've broken it up into stages, for financing reasons. They're currently coding iOS. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We have gotten some user feedback, and it's been incredibly positive. The quality of the app is good, and its placement in the industry is good. People who use this particular lighting console have been hungry for something that does this. The people we've given it to, and the ones who've purchased it gave me no negative feedback.

How did Citrusbits perform from a project management standpoint?

I am satisfied with them. They've been very responsive. Again, this is not your typical application, so, while they have a lot of expertise as far as working on the software side, they know nothing about lighting. The entire time, we needed to guide them, and make them understand what the app is even supposed to do. They don't work in the industry, so there's no reason they would know anything about it. At times, I was concerned that it would be too much interaction, just a long litany of concerns. They went with the punches, and it was no big deal. I feel that they did a great job.

What distinguishes Citrusbits from other providers?

I'm not sure I can answer that. I don't have a ton of experience with other companies. We contacted a number of developers, and many them simply couldn't understand what we were trying to do. Citrusbits took their time to listen, and I do feel that the owner took a leap of faith. They had no idea what it would cost to produce. We kept telling them that we have it buttoned down, we have all the design specs, we know exactly what we need to do, and won't waste their time. In the end, they did need to take a leap of faith that it would work out at the price they quoted. I think it's worked out. We're certainly happy with the product.

Is there anything Citrusbits could have improved or done differently?

There are things that I would have done differently in terms of how we laid out the package for them. We did it in a lot of detail, but it was done in a number of phases. There was probably conflicting information in the various forms of specifications that we sent them. That was a problem on our part, not theirs. Their guys would look at one form of specifications for one thing, and another for another. Even when we gave them essentially the wrong information, it was no big deal to them. They rolled with the punches.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We run medical clinics, drug treatment programs, and education and prevention programs. We're a nonprofit organization.

What is your position?

I'm the director of community programs and services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Citrusbits?

We want to provide a dating app for young adults, that also has safer sex and health education materials built in.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

They designed the mobile application. They took our ideas, and used their experience to make it better. The final version is much better than we ever imagined. They've added several features that we didn't even know were possible. The app will be available on iOS and Android. They worked on both versions.

How did you come to work with Citrusbits?

I knew nothing about doing mobile apps, so I went online, looked at reviews, and made appointments with six different app developers. I think Citrusbits were the fourth we met with. After the meeting, it was clear that they were the ones to go with. They seemed very knowledgeable and spoke a language I understood. They've been very patient with us as we don't know anything about apps.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

Right above $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project is almost completed. It's been submitted to the App Store, and we're waiting for it to be approved. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We've gotten very little feedback so far. We have an unfinished version that we use just within the company. The feedback for that was great, but we won't do real testing until we get the finished app on the App Store or Google Play store.

How did Citrusbits perform from a project management standpoint?

We're very satisfied. They've kept us informed every step along the way. They've given us enough time to figure out aspects that we weren't sure about, before moving forward. Overall, we've been very happy.

What distinguishes Citrusbits from other providers?

They have the ability to be responsive to what we needed, and take our ideas, and shape them into an app that people would want to use. I didn't really see that with the other agencies I met with. They were willing to make what we wanted, but weren't offering suggestions on how to make it better and different.

Is there anything Citrusbits could have improved or done differently?

Nothing that I could think of. There were a couple of little holdups, but always on our end. We didn't know how to get clearance from people above before taking the final step to publish the mobile apps.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder and CEO of a boutique design agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire CitrusBits?

I hired CitrusBits to help create mobile-responsive webpage designs for my client, a Fortune 500 company that had recently acquired another company that operates an e-commerce site.

What were your goals for this project?

The acquiring company has strict corporate style guides, so they needed us to perform a redesign of the acquired company's website. Our goal was to achieve compliance with the parent company's corporate style guide and other brand requirements. We also wanted to optimize the UX by streamlining the site navigation and making the website mobile responsive.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I was referred to them by a friend. After we had a few conversations, during which they shared some of their past work, I became confident in their ability to quickly understand and deliver what we were looking for.

Describe the project in detail.

It involved redesigning more than 20 different pages to be compliant with various corporate brand requirements. Along the way, we also helped my client improve the usability of the e-commerce site by optimizing the site navigation and key page flows.

What was the team composition?

The CitrusBits team consisted of an art director and a staff designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to satisfy my client's internal style and branding requirements in a timely fashion. Additionally, I've heard that our improvements to the conversion funnel helped the e-commerce business realize sales growth.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They were always responsive to my requests and truly felt like an extension of my own team. I had a great experience working with the CitrusBits team on this project.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was most impressed by their ability to quickly comprehend my client's complex requirements, particularly how each webpage fit into the desired UX. This allowed us to deliver exactly what my client needed in a short amount of time. I continue to work with CitrusBits when I need additional design resources and mobile expertise.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, I was completely happy with their work.