Customer Experience, Outsourced Engineering Team, Successful Outsourcing
The show must go on: Developing a venue booking app with UPick
As the year winds down, it’s time to look back and celebrate all of our achievements of 2021, the challenges and the goals we conquered, and the clients whose projects we helped to become reality.
This time, let’s take a look at the story behind the development of the UPick app, which had the goal of creating a useful and reliable booking tool for both venues and artists, and how we helped them bring that dream from concept to a product you can use today. Enjoy!
What goes into making a good idea into reality? For the creators of UPick, it meant finding a reliable team that could build upon their idea, understand the concept completely, and offers the best technical know-how to bring it from paper into every smart device you can imagine. The beginning was simple enough; back in 2020, a couple of friends were looking into an area of opportunity no one else seemed to be exploring yet: what if you could simplify the process to book a show for a venue through an app?
The pandemic gave them a wide-open window to implement a solution for an industry that felt the consequences of this crisis deeply. Live shows account for nearly 50% of the music industry’s revenue, so six months into the pandemic, according to the World Economic Forum, shutdowns had already cost venues around the world 10 billion dollars in sponsorships and ticket sales, with no end in sight.
But with vaccination rates increasing, it was probably a good time to try and bring shows back, and UPick’s creators thought that an app that offered a quick way to reconnect performers with venues had some fertile ground to grow.
So, in February 2021 they started considering Scio as a partner, looking for developers who could create this app from scratch, decide the full scope of the final product, and make important decisions about the direction of the platform.
This was the first time our clients worked with Nearshore developers, and the advantages of having a fully experienced team equipped and ready to roll inside your own time zone became invaluable, keeping the costs of development down without sacrificing quality.
Since our clients had never been involved in a project of this size, constant communication to decide the specifics of UPick was critical, going from things like how to monetize the service, to the best hosting platforms to use.
Typically, development at Scio consists of a 5-step plan designed to arrive at a solution in the most productive way possible. Understanding users and their needs, as well as the objectives and constraints of the app itself, was Step 1. Step 2 involved analyzing the requirements of the app in order to trace a plan for the UX/UI and architecture of the platform. Then, Step 3 is pure Agile Development, up to the official launch, which was Step 4. And after the kick-off, is a matter of support to ensure the quality of the app, giving ongoing maintenance and adding features as a Step 5.
The Scioneers chosen were a Programming Lead who developed the architecture of the app, a UI designer tasked with creating a comfortable and stylish interface, another one assigned to create a search bar and review functions within the app, and a QA lead who would make sure everything worked perfectly.
Communication was key. Thanks to daily scrums, a core pillar of our process, we walked our client through the progress of the project, needing nothing more than 15 minutes every day to discuss the changes and challenges that surfaced, as well as what we accomplished, every week.
Here, we solved tons of questions born during development, like “how will a band schedule a show?”, “how will refunds work?”, and “how will the venues and bands make deals?” to more technical matters, like choosing a cost-effective hosting solution (AWS in our case), implementing login credentials from Apple, Spotify, and social media (including some necessary workarounds), to selecting the best payment processor.
Also, as we briefly mentioned, the business plan of the app had to be revised entirely once the booking process was decided, as Upick could easily be cut out from the deal between venue and performer, and our team took care of that.
The biggest breakthrough was deciding to make UPick a “progressive application”, where a web portal could function as an app with consistency across devices, like desktops and smartphones, making it as convenient as possible.
Then features were added, like the ability to share photos, videos, setlists, and even playlists from Spotify, and we had to rethink the way bands could contact venues as our understanding of these deals grew.
Progress went smoothly until finally reaching our Minimum Viable Product, where one of UPick’s users, whom the client showed a preview, managed to run all of their bands through the platform before it was 100% finished, which not only showcases the talent of our team but also made the customer base excited about the final product.
All in all, by September the app was ready to be launched, a whole project contained within the chaotic year of 2021, where Scio was able to offer the exact solutions UPick was looking for. A learning experience for both our team and our clients, we celebrate the effectiveness of Nearshore development, which can deliver no matter the circumstances.
The Key Takeaways:
- Since communication is crucial to make a product succeed, choose a development option that can communicate with you at the best time possible.
- It doesn’t matter if the details of your idea haven’t been ironed out yet, a good team will help you with those decisions.
- Development time of an app, depending on scope, doesn’t have to be too long. It took us around nine months to bring UPick from concept to reality.
- Some APIs are not very friendly, but there are always workarounds to any obstacle.
- If better ideas surge during development, it’s good to always voice them. The schedule might need to be reworked, but the final product is always going to be better.
Agile Methodology, Nearshore, Outsourced Engineering Team
Software development projects use different types of software development life cycle (SDLC) methodologies, depending on their nature and requirements. They basically define the way that software development work is organized.
The two main approaches are the traditional or waterfall method and the agile software development method. How are they different from each other and which one should you choose for your project?
First, we want to define each methodology:
According to Wikipedia «the traditional methodology or waterfall is a sequential development approach, in which development is seen as flowing steadily downwards through several phases»
On the other hand, Agile methodology is defined as a way of building software through incremental, iterative work cadences, known as sprints. «The highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software» – Agile Manifesto
Comparison between Agile and Traditional Software Development Methodologies
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Software Development Lifecycles
One main difference between the traditional and agile methodologies is the sequence of the phases in which the software development project is completed.
The traditional method uses a linear approach where the stages of the software development process must be completed in sequential order. This means that a stage must be completed before the next one begins. These stages usually comprise the following:
- Requirements gathering and documentation
- System design
- Code and unit testing
- System testing
- User acceptance testing
- Bug fixes
- Product delivery
On the other hand, the agile methodology uses an iterative and team-based approach. Its main objective is to quickly deliver the application with complete and functional components. Instead of completing the software development tasks in sequence, they are completed in sprints that run from around 1 to 4 weeks and where a list of deliverables is completed in each sprint. The tasks that do not get completed within the sprint are then reprioritized and included in future sprints. This also means that the different stages of the software development life cycle can be revisited as needed.
The agile software development method uses an iterative and team-based approach
The typical agile development lifecycle involves the following phases:
- Requirements
- Plan
- Design
- Develop
- Release
- Track and Monitor
With the traditional method, the details of the entire project have been visualized and defined before the project starts. In contrast, the agile methodology allows for more flexibility in that changes can more easily be made even after the project starts.
It is best employed if the scope of the project cannot be clearly defined in advance. This also means that making unplanned software development changes with the traditional method is costlier than with agile.
Customers are highly involved in the early stages of the software development process when employing the traditional methodology. More specifically, their input is needed during the requirements gathering phase, as they must provide a detailed description of what their requirements are with regards to the software application to be developed and how they envision it to function.
However, they have limited involvement after the software development process starts, aside from attending status meetings, doing reviews, and providing approvals. They usually get to see the product in its entirety after a software development life cycle is completed.
The agile software development method requires more customer involvement
In contrast, the customers are highly involved in every stage when employing the agile development process. They can review the application at every phase and make suggestions for improvement.
As a result, the customers are more engaged in the entire software development process, in turn ensuring that they are satisfied with the finished product.
The traditional method has more formal documentation and review process than the agile approach. Each phase of the development process is properly documented and reviewed when using the traditional approach.
On the other hand, due to the quick delivery time required with the agile method, changes are usually made directly on the code, with the developers just adding comments and annotations. This doesn’t mean that documentation is not an important part of agile software development projects.
Documentation in agile is typically seen as a strategic part of the development process, where all that is written has a purpose. It is a simplified document with executable specifications and stable concepts.
Which software development method should you choose?
When choosing the methodology most suitable for your software development project, some of the things you should consider are:
- The speed of completion.
- The size of the system.
- The level of collaboration and interaction that is possible among the software development team members.
In particular, if you need to quickly release a basic product that you can later build on and add more features too, then the agile methodology may be more appropriate for your project. It works best if you have a startup, which means that you have limited resources but need a basic software application to get your business up and running. Likewise, this approach is suitable for small-to-medium-sized software applications.
On the other hand, the traditional method is better suited for projects in large enterprises where the specifications and requirements must be clearly defined before the project commences. Although the project may be divided into smaller components, each of which is developed with the agile approach, this comes with the risk that the individual components may not be compatible with each other once they are integrated to complete the final product.
Finally, the agile software development method requires a high level of collaboration among the stakeholders involved where each stakeholder must be readily available for input or feedback. In this regard, if you’re working with various groups (software developers, vendors, testers, customers, and others) that do not work in a single physical location or that may have limited availability, then the traditional approach may be the better option for you.
Agile vs Traditional
Both traditional and agile software development methods have their own advantages and disadvantages.
However, whenever feasible, the agile approach should be considered, as it provides more benefits, especially for startups. It enables a complete functional software application to be released faster. It is also more cost-effective, as making changes is less costly than with the traditional approach. Budgets can also be determined on a per-sprint rather than a per-project basis.
Moreover, because the customer is highly involved and changes are constantly made to the application, a higher quality of work is achieved.
With the use of technologies such as webcams, VoIP, and others, a high level of interaction is still possible even among remote teams. In this regard, this collaborative nature of agile fosters trusts between the customer and the software development team.
In summary, the software development method most appropriate for your project will depend on factors such as schedule, cost, quality, and the other resources available to the project. As such, it should be the first decision that you and your software development team make.
By organizing the different stages of your project efficiently, you can better ensure its successful completion — that is, a project that is developed on time, within budget, and where the customers are happy.
Want to start building your next software idea? Want to give it a shot on the Agile methodology? Contact us we have been working with this methodology for more than 8 years now. So, let us know how we can be helpful to you. We love to help!
Agile Methodology
It has always been said that the kind of members you take in your team determines the success rate of a project. This is true for software developers, especially because completing a project takes a lot of time, money, and energy.
The Agile Manifesto started in 2001. It addressed the growing problem of software development where the process of creating and building projects took years, or worse, were left unfinished.
Before the agile software development methodology came about, software projects have been delayed or have cost more than its budget. During that time, meeting the client’s requirements was really difficult. Software development teams then were using the traditional Waterfall methodology to manage their projects and keep track of their progress. However, this methodology has flaws that made it harder for software engineers to finish their projects.
Agile has made it easier and more convenient for both the developers and clients. It works like a software development life cycle, following phases where developers manage each phase. It allows each stage to be altered, adjusted, or enhanced.
The cycle goes from system planning, requirement analysis, designing, and coding to the last phase of system testing. Since the project goes through these phases, it is important that members of an agile team work closely and collaboratively with one another. But what really makes a great Agile software development team?
Good Communication and coordination
Because agile methodology requires each member of the team to work on each phase of the cycle, good communication must be practiced all throughout the software development process. A great and successful agile team is able to share and contribute ideas with each other. It is also important that everyone is able to express themselves very well, such as when encountering a problem, asking for help or assistance, or taking the initiative to share new ideas or suggestions. Communication is vital in the process because everyone in the team needs to know the progress of the project at every stage. Good communication results in a well-coordinated project.
Leadership
This does not only apply to the team leaders or managers but also to everyone who is part of the team. Members lead and take responsibility in each of the project phases. The project will not be completed unless it has gone through the necessary stages, so this also means that it will not be completed if one member does not do their part.
Moreover, an agile team has proper organization and a balanced distribution of tasks. This helps make the transition of the project from one phase to another faster and smoother. Agile team members should know and understand their roles in the project to be able to perform their tasks and provide what is needed of them. It is also important that members know their strengths and weaknesses, so they can work on them together.
Empowerment
One important factor in agile development is the empowerment and autonomy given to each team member. People can achieve their goals because they are motivated properly and because they can freely explore and develop their skills.
Since agile development allows transparency and collaboration, agile teams also work based on trust. They have to trust one another because they need each other to complete the project. This trust can be expressed through consistent empowerment. Everyone in the team must consistently allow each member to work and own their parts, roles, and responsibilities. This soon leads to providing mutual support to one another and to assisting those who are having a hard time.
Dedication and Unity
All tasks require dedication, especially when bringing a software project to completion. This means that members of the agile team are hardworking and do not give up easily on the project. They have vision not only for themselves but for the team and the project as well. They are willing to adapt to different people and different situations, and they are open to growth and improvement.
Dedication also means working as a group where the success of one is the success of all. Members work together towards one goal and one objective.
Conclusion
Successful software development projects are often created by groups of individuals who dedicate their time and energy to solving and improving the features of the program that they are working on.
Great Agile Software Development Teams play a major role in the success or failure of software development projects. Although the team leader makes the most important contributions, it should be noted that everyone in the team is responsible for the completion of specific parts of the project, making it whole. With that, picking the right team members is something that should be taken seriously.
If you want to work with a great agile team that will ensure the successful completion of your project, visit Contact Us for more information. We can help!
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Customer Experience, Mobile, Mobile App, SaaS App
In this modern age of technology mostly dominated by applications, one of software developers’ major considerations is how the overall product or application affects user experience.
When we mention ‘user’ and ‘design’, two things come to mind: User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX). There’s a difference between the two, but in this article, we’ll focus more on the UX Design perspective.
UX has a very broad definition — from being the creative and analytical process of determining what a piece of software will be, to an approach in design that takes the user into account. The term originated from Don Norman, a renowned cognitive scientist in the 1990s. He defined ‘user experience’ as including everything about how the end-user interacts with a company, including its products and services.
Simply put, UX Design is the overall approach or process for designing a system that offers a positive experience to the users through product interaction.
Before you put your tech-wiz hat on, we’ve narrowed down the five most important things that you need to consider in designing your software application, ensuring that it isn’t only successful but user-friendly as well.
Consideration #1. Users First: The Art of App Onboarding
Before you create your software application, you need to know your audience or users first.
How does your audience operate? What do they want and need? How can your product make their life easier?
These are some of the key questions that you need to ask yourself when designing a software application. But how can you know what they want if you don’t show it to them?
Here’s where ‘app onboarding’ comes in. This is a term used when a random person is given the chance to use an application that he or she hasn’t tried before. This is the stage where your user will grasp the application’s UI and Controls, a critical step in the software development life-cycle.
There are many methods of onboarding, but the most important thing you must keep in mind is that your new users shouldn’t get lost or frustrated when trying out your app.
Consideration #2. Simplicity: Avoiding the Unnecessary
When designing a software application, software developers tend to get lost in the process. Because of their desire to develop the best software, they often forget one of the most basic principles in designing, which is to keep it simple.
Rather than designing an application that can do everything, it’s best to focus on one thing at a time, and then upgrade from there. This way, you won’t get exhausted in adding features that other software applications do — for free.
This allows your software application to have breathing space, and it streamlines the user experience. It also makes it easier for you to get the message across, in terms of marketing.
Consideration #3. Personalization: Customization and Originality
Not having the ability to tailor your newly-installed software application can be frustrating. That’s why a lot of people prefer one that they can customize or where they can add a bit of their personality into it.
Changes that allow for personalization may vary from font size and colors to the application’s layout. They may even include the capability of hiding some features within the software.
What this gives the users is the opportunity to play around with the application. Tailoring it to their needs leads to a more satisfying experience for them.
Consideration #4. Responsiveness: Efficiency and Speed
This is a key and standard element in any software application. If your application isn’t designed to be quick and responsive, it will result in inefficiency and a bad user experience.
By efficiency and speed, it means that your application can quickly accomplish what the user is trying to do and that it is efficient in finding different ways to cater to the user’s needs.
Reducing the number of actions to get something done in your app is one way of making it efficient and quick.
Consideration #5. Scalability: Growth and Functionality
Giving your software application ‘space’ for new features in the future opens the door for added functionalities, enabling the application to grow or “evolve” into something better.
Conclusion
Developing a software application that gives users a great experience boils down to knowing what your audience wants; keeping it simple and functional without losing its efficiency and speed; and making it customizable while also keeping it original.
By keeping these things in mind, you’re on your way to designing a user-friendly software application that will keep your users hooked.
If you need to develop software that your users will surely love, contact us and we will be glad to help you.
Entrepreneurship
Startups are an exciting place to be right now. They are full of ideas, passion, and a race to become the next Unicorn. Everyone wants to work for the next Uber or Snapchat, but their meteoric rise to prominence was the result of a complex series of steps, setbacks, challenges, and of course people.
What may entrepreneur fails to realize, is that now is the best time to get a winning formula. If you have a small team, responsibilities may tend to be ad-hoc. One of you will have a knack for chasing down clients, while another may prefer managing employees on a day-to-day basis. None of this is bad – if you agree on the roles each person should be doing, that is!
How do you share responsibilities without treading on the toes (and delicate egos) of your partners? We have a few handy tips.
Know Your Skillsets, Objectively
Entrepreneurs and founders are typically good at a few things. They can get by in most scenarios, which is why they are great for getting an idea from paper to production. However, as your company grows, you need to be objective about your own skills. It’s not as simple as writing down what you are good at – have your team do this for you. It could be that they see you as effective in an entirely different area.
A great tool for this (though slightly cliché) is Myers-Briggs type personality tests. They give a business-friendly view on personality types, and where the team would fit best in your startup.
Don’t Take It Personally!
If your co-founders or colleagues don’t agree on your assessment of their skills, it’s easy to say that’s ‘Just Business’. If they say the same about you… well, it’s hard not to take that criticism personally. Truly successful businesses rely on management seeing the bigger picture and moving the idea forward.
Remember that your team wants to succeed as much as you do – and only a team effort will get you there.
Formalize Roles…
I know that you may not need an entire C-Suite management team from day one, but formalizing roles based on skillsets gives your team legitimacy. You know the fundamental areas of your business and what skills they require, so once you have a list of everybody’s strengths, formalize what they do.
…But Don’t Become Too Stale
Of course, don’t formalize roles to the detriment of your startup. Things change. Business evolves. The great thing about a startup is that it’s flexible enough to change with the market, and so should your roles. Tim may have been a great salesman when you had smaller clients, but dealing with corporations takes an entirely different mindset (think purchase orders, tenders, procurement contracts, I could go on…). Don’t be afraid to shuffle up the deck, bring in new skills, and evolve your team over time.
Create Accountability
This may be the hardest thing to do in a smaller startup. Oftentimes, entrepreneurs rely on gut and emotion when forming a team. Friends are brought in, are given a role, and then silo mentality can take hold. You trust your friend. If you are divvying up roles based on skillsets, then you should hold those same skills accountable for the results they bring.
Have regular, formal meetings, and discuss objectives. Track progress. Assess whether something is succeeding or failing. If something isn’t going so great? Discuss why, and then take action.
