How is Blue Label Labs different from its competitors?

First, we live and breathe cutting-edge/bleeding-edge technology, so your app will similarly be cutting-edge/bleeding edge with a long “shelf-life”. Second, with a perfect mix of local, domestic and international talent you are guaranteed to get the optimal mix of a high-quality product and a fair price. Third, you will be assigned a dedicated Program Manager (PM) after we’ve established a contract who will be your single point-person for all of your needs and questions. This PM will stay with you for the duration of your relationship with Blue Label Labs and is your conduit to all of the resources we have to offer, thus streamlining your communication and preventing you from having to repeat your message to multiple resources or play air traffic control. Our PMs are the best in the business and we’d be happy to introduce you to a projected PM (and project team) once we’ve got an estimate on the table to discuss. Fourth, the size of Blue Label Labs team (now 64 people strong) means you don’t have to worry about the “single point of failure” issue that exists at smaller shops of just one or two developers, nor the burden paying for the high overhead cost associated with larger shops. Fifth, we have a stronger focus on design than most other shops. We split our design team into two specific functions—Product/User Experience and User Interface. It’s a rare unicorn designer that is good at both thinking through flow and product decisions, as well as branding, colors, logos and overall User Interface. To that end, each project team has both a UX Designer and UI Designer staffed to ensure top notch design. Sixth, with over 7 years of operation and over 250 apps completed, we have both the experience and extensive re-usable code base to ensure your app is built as efficiently and as inexpensively as possible. Seventh, our QA and Testing methodology is rigorous and as important to us as the actual development—meaning your app will be as bug free as is possible. We have a dedicated QA Engineer staffed on every project. This engineer is not the original author of the code ensuring the highest quality results from the QA process. Please see the below sections for more details.

How does Blue Label Labs work with clients?

Blue Label Labs Labs begins most projects with a Discovery, Planning & Design Phase (Phase One). First, we determine the proper technologies and development schedule. Second, the Design teams inherit the User Stories that were drafted during the sales process. User Stories are simple one-liners that outline the activities your users will need to be able to accomplish within the app. These User Stories then get grouped together into meaningful features and feature sets. The Design teams work with the client to finalize the User Stories. Third, our design team sets out creating greyscale wireframes to illustrate how a user will move through the app (i.e., the user experience, UX). Fourth, we transition to full color illustrations/designs that have the final look and feel of the app (i.e., the user interface, UI). Fifth, the app designs are then uploaded into a prototyping platform called Invision that allows our team to create tappable and swipeable “hotspots” so that you can show the app on your phone or via a mocked-up phone in a web browser. At the same time, we draft a Functional Specification document that details the technical hows and whys of the project for the development team. Once that work is complete, we them move on to the Development Phase (Phase Two). The Agile development/engineering team works hand-in-hand with the Program Manager and follows the wireframes and the Functional Specifications to build the app. Our first development goal is the First Deliverable milestone—we call this D1; this is a highly functional build of the app that contains a subset of features agreed upon by Blue Label Labs and the client. We then begin an iterative process of finalizing the remaining features. At the same time, a QA Team builds a full test plan for the app. The QA Team continually performs functional and regression testing on the app, reporting issues to the Project Manager. Learn more about our process here.

How long does it take to complete the average app?

Typically, for our average 4 to 5-month project, the Phase One: Discovery & Planning and Design lasts for approximately 4 to 6 weeks, with Phase Two: Development and Testing Phase occupying the remaining 3 to 4 months. At the end of the Phase Two, the final app is prepared for Deployment. Deployment involves moving any web services and server side components to a production environment and submitting the app to the relevant app store(s).

How much does the average app cost?

If we were in full-swing on a new project, a client can estimate a cost of between $10,000 and $30,000 per two-week sprint ($20,000 to $60,000 per month) for the effort—typically billed bi-weekly. If Blue Label Labs is handling everything from Discovery, Planning & Design through to Deployment in an app store, total app costs average about $120,000 for one “platform”–iOS, Android, Web, etc. That said, it very much depends on the complexity of the design and development required for each individual app, we’ve completed full apps at costs of between $50,000 (a bare-bones, simple MVP/prototype) and $2,000,000 (a full featured, enterprise apps). We provide free, no commitment estimates to clients. After the app is submitted to an app store(s) or pushed live on the web, the Blue Label Labs team monitors the app store and customer reviews and deals with any issues, questions, delays or approvals that arise. We have a great track record with app submissions and make sure that the app submitted is highly likely to be approved without issue. Post approval, a maintenance agreement can be put into place to cover and small issues, minor app edits (e.g., color, image or text changes) and any bugs that might linger. At the end of the project, we will transfer all source code and project files to you and you will remain the sole owner of all IP in the app. After that time, we provide our services at an hourly rate of $120/hour for ad-hoc updates or at an hourly rate of $100/hour for a mutually agreed upon set number of hours in a 6-month retainer. The monthly maintenance cost for the average app is $2,000/month: in other words, a retainer of 20 hours per month at $100 per hour equals $2,000/month and guarantees expedited service vs. ad-hoc requests.

What is the difference between a Native App, a Hybrid App and an HTML5 App?

Native App: A Native App is an app written for a specific platform like iOS or Android—in other words, the app is written in the coding language used for development on that specific platform (Objective-C or Swift for iOS and Java for Android). When you build a Native App, you get access to all the hardware features exposed by the native code APIs and SDKs. For example, Apple iOS Push Notifications are one example of a feature that cannot be supported by an HTML5 App. The graphics and user interface of a Native App are far superior to any Hybrid or HTML5 app. You would choose this option, if you want to use the user interface components from Apple’s proprietary user interface libraries (i.e., the usability is better); you want full device hardware access—cameras, microphone, and geo-location; you want peak performance with no lag; you want users to be able to access the app off-line (i.e., without Internet access); you want access to push notifications and in-app purchase; and you want your app to de discoverable in the app store. On the downside, your code is less portable across operating systems and it is often the most expensive development option. It is our recommendation that if you plan to start a true, revenue generating, app-based business, this is the only viable option. Hybrid App: A Hybrid App is a form of web app that is deployed to a native platform like an iPhone or Android phone inside a native shell. This shell is usually little more than a web browser view (to display the HTML5 content) and some other hooks to allow your web app to potentially access some more hardware features that are not available inside a typical mobile web browser—e.g., push notification and in-app purchases. It improves code portability because if you want to port your app to another platform, you only need a native shell on that other platform to run it, the HTML5 content of the app is directly portable. These shells can be hand written, but can also be generated automatically by tools in the marketplace like React Native, PhoneGap, Cordova or Xamarin. These tools allow a developer to push the app out to multiple platforms (e.g., iOS, Android, Windows Mobile) quickly by generating the shell and packages required to do so automatically. This sounds powerful, and it is, but clearly creators of these third-party platforms have a lot of configurations and hardware to support, and thus, the solutions do not always work the same across all devices, and in practice, testing and hacking of special cases will be required by the developer to get proper functionality. You would choose this option if you want a balance between cost and usability; you want access to some (but not all) of the phone’s native APIs/SDKs and hardware; you want to be able to quickly deploy across multiple device types; and you’re not worried about high-end graphics. On the downside, because these third-party hybrid platforms (e.g., React Native, PhoneGap and Xamarin) need to support so many device types there are always implementation and usability issues to workout. In addition, you will only have access to the features of a new operating system 6+ months AFTER it is released by Apple, Google or Microsoft. In this way, your app will never be able to cutting-edge technology. While we are fully capable of building Hybrid Apps, it is our recommendation that this option is only viable for simple, lo-fi apps that are heavy on text and images, but don’t need much in the way of functionality or user interface. An HTML5 Web App: An HTML5 app is essentially a website with JavaScript code written to allow the app to perform dynamically, as opposed to a static website that you need to refresh to see the changes. It works interactively to make it feel like an app, but it is actually running in a web browser. It is essentially a website, which will support multiple viewports or screen sizes so that it works well on mobile. Because it is running in a browser, it is confined to what is possible within a mobile web browser. You would choose this option if you want to support multiple platforms with the same app/codebase; you want to deploy it on the web; you want the widest possible support across multiple device operating systems and manufacturers; and you want to be able to update your source files on your server and have them immediately deployed to all devices (i.e., removing the need for the app approval process). On the downside, your app is not discoverable in the app stores; it will never look and feel like a true mobile app; and you will have limited access to some of the software and hardware functionality of the phone (e.g., push notifications and cameras). It is our recommendation, that this option is only viable for view-only content where users are not expected to interact in any meaningful way.

Has Blue Label Labs ever transitioned an app the firm has built to a client’s internal development team? What is the typical process and how long does it usually take? Is there a fee for this?

Quite often Blue Label Labs transitions an app to a client’s in-house development team. As part of our regular transition for any client, we transfer all functional specs, wireframes, UI design resources, screen flow maps, passwords/certificates/credentials and source code to the client. We also have extensive experience working in tandem with a client’s existing engineering team. For example, Blue Label Labs will build the front-end experience of an app on top of a client’s existing backend web service and databases. These transitions are the quickest, averaging only a few days, since the Blue Label Labs team and the client team have already been working hand-in-hand for months. If we are handing over a complete project with no prior engagement with the client’s development team, then the transition can take a little longer depending on the support needed. This can range from a few days to a couple weeks. The transition is typically free of charge unless engineering resources are needed to facilitate the transition or the Program Manager is required to spend more than a week on the transition and training. We’ve even helped companies to interview potential new technical team members—e.g., developers and CTOs.

How does Blue Label Labs provide training to a client’s development team so that they could make app enhancements and how much would that training cost?

Along with all the project documentation and support outlined in the answer to the question above, we are happy to provide hands-on training to in-house developers/team members as part of the transition. There is typically no extra charge for this if only a few hours are required. If ongoing training is necessary, for example an in-house developer is not familiar with app development and requires a crash course, then we can offer our services at our hourly rate of $120/hour for training. We’ve even aided our partners in their hiring of their own technical/development team if/when the time is right.

How many designers and developers does Blue Label Labs have on staff? How many work on each client project? Where is the team located? Can the client talk directly to whomever will work on the app?

The Blue Label Labs team is comprised of 64 individuals across its UX Design/Product, UI Design, Development, Program Management, Quality Assurance, Sales, Marketing and Leadership teams. We have 6 Designers, 10 Program Managers, 35 Developers, 3 App Marketers—the remainder of the team is comprised of the Sales, Marketing, Operations & Leadership Teams. Depending on the size of the project, a team of at least 7 Blue Label Labs staffers will work on your project: 1 Program Manager, 1 UX Designer, 1 UI Designer, 1 Technical Architect, 1 Front-End Developer, 1 Back-End Developer, and 1 Quality Assurance Engineer—in addition to the technical and strategic oversight provided by Blue Label Labs leadership. The majority of our Design and Program Manager teams is based in New York City, Seattle and San Francisco areas. The Developers and Quality Assurance Testers are also based in the aforementioned cities, in addition to India-based team members. The Development, Design and QA Teams are managed directly by the Program Manager. The Program Manager is your primary point of contact and the liaison across all other Blue Label Labs team members associated with your project. That said, clients are welcome to speak directly with any individual team member as is needed.

Are projects priced based on “time-and-material” (i.e., hourly) estimate or a “fixed-price” quote?

Projects are priced on a “time-and-material” basis. With 7 years and 250+ apps of experience to our credit, we are able to produce very accurate estimates. We do our best to stay within budget or provide you ample warning if we think we may exceed our initial estimate so we can coordinate how to move forward together with you. Prior client references can vouch for the accuracy of our estimates and can be provided to you upon request.

Is Blue Label Labs able to guarantee that our app will be published in an app store?

Unfortunately, no application can be guaranteed for app store approval. However, Blue Label Labs has successfully built and deployed over 250 apps for the Google Play and Apple iTunes stores. We have a solid understanding and insight into what these stores will typically approve or disapprove of. We will warn you well in advance if any particular aspect of you project poses an approval risk. We have had a handful of instances where an app store has rejected an app for publication; not due to technical issues, but due to legal/business/terms of use issues; however, we successfully appealed ALL of these rejections and these very same apps are now in the app store for download today. We led these appeals on behalf of our clients at no extra charge. If your app is rejected due to technical reasons, we will make all necessary corrections needed to get approval at no extra charge. We are happy to connect you with some of our clients who did face some app store pushback to tell you about the rejection and our successful appeal.

What is Blue Label Labs’ policy regarding correcting defects and publishing an update in the app store?

We provide our services at a blended hourly rate of $120/hour for ad-hoc updates or at blended hourly rate of $100/hour at a mutually agreed upon set number of hours over a 6-month retainer. For example, a retainer of 20 hours a month for $2,000/month guarantees expedited service vs. ad-hoc requests. Ad-hoc requests are handled on a first come, first serve basis across all of our clients and development is based on our team’s earliest availability. The monthly retainer of hours functions much like an extension of the warranty period; issues are addressed within 24-48 hours and development will start as soon as the scope of the issue is defined. For those clients wanting a guaranteed 24 to 48-hour turnaround time on maintenance issues, a 6-month retainer is suggested.

What level of Quality Assurance is included and provided by you in your proposal?

A Quality Assurance (QA) Engineer is assigned to every project and builds a custom test plan for every project during the Discovery, Planning & Design Phase. During the Development & Testing Phase the QA Engineer continually tests the app using functional and regression testing. We test on a wide array of physical devices as needed for a given project. If we are building a backend web service and databases as part of the project, we will also have a set of automated unit tests that are run regularly to verify functionality.

What is Blue Label Labs’ quality assurance (QA) and testing methodology?

We believe that Blue Label Labs’ QA and testing methodology is part of our competitive differentiation. The fact that we dedicate resources to solely this function is something that sets us apart from other development shops for whom testing is simply an afterthought. At Blue Label Labs, QA is handled at all levels of development. There are generally 3 layers of QA/testing that happens for every project: 1.) Internal Development Team Testing Each Development Team has an internal QA Tester along with the Developer Lead who perform basic validation on bug fixes prior to builds being released to the broader Project Manager and QA team. Their validation is to ensure that items within JIRA, which we use alongside Trello, to coordinate team efforts and communicate with clients—are properly remedied according to their descriptions prior to “checking-in” or committing code. When items are resolved by the Development Team they are pulled into the “Testing Done by Dev Team” stack of Trello cards and/or within JIRA. When developing new projects, the Blue Label Labs Development Team will also be responsible for creating “unit tests” for our code so that we can quickly run a basic set of verifications. The dev team does the majority of their testing using iOS and Android app simulators. 2.) Dedicated QA Engineer Each project has a dedicated QA Engineer who sits independently from the Development Team who is responsible for: a.) Drafting a milestone based test plan which outlines a list of black box scenarios to verify and the expected results; b.) Performing smoke and full test pass runs against weekly and milestone builds; c.) Verifying and closing bugs that the Development Team has marked as complete; d.) Working with the Development Team to report issues and regressions; and d.) The QA Engineer takes items from the “Testing Done by Dev Team” Trello stack and verifies whether it is actually fixed. If it is, the Trello card is moved to the “Done (Verified)” pile, or sent back to the “Weekly Priorities” or “Product Backlog” stacks, as appropriate. The QA Engineer will generally perform their tests on 2-3 devices, depending on project requirements. 3.) Project Manager (PM) Testing The final QA gate is the PM who is responsible for quality of the entire product. They will also work with the QA Engineer to verify items have been fixed properly in addition to triaging new issues coming in from the client and the QA Engineer. The PM will appropriately schedule issues to be resolved based on their severity and importance. The PM’s testing is done on actual devices.

Can Blue Label Labs help me with Marketing and PR?

Absolutely. We aim to be your full-service app partner. Our Marketing & PR Offering is designed to help you launch your app and gain marketing exposure. Learn more about our Marketing & PR Offering here.

App Design & Development

Taking Your App In A New Direction

So long as you’ve been regularly listening to your users, it’s unlikely that you’ll find yourself in need of an overhaul at a fundamental level. While heading in a new direction is essentially required of a failing app, it’s also something that can arise out of opportunity or simply because a new feature helped redefine an app, intentionally or not. As you can imagine, it works out for some but for others, the shift in momentum topples the business.

There have been notable major changes in a couple of longstanding apps that have significantly changed the platforms themselves and influenced design in many other products. You might not be aiming for something that significant but it’s easy to see how one great feature earns homage through imitators and those who want to take things one step further. Let’s take a look at a couple of examples then we’ll take a look at a couple of upcoming changes that have the potential to make waves.

Features that pushed platforms in new directions

A couple of the most notable examples are found in the history of two of the biggest names on the web today: Facebook and YouTube.

The Facebook timeline changed social media

Soon after Facebook first became available to the masses (meaning you didn’t need a valid ‘.edu’ email address to register), it absorbed Myspace’s userbase with a less customizable platform. It was just kind of a way to keep in touch – instead of mirroring Myspace’s roadmap, Facebook would deviate and bring forth the News Feed in late 2006 which would serve as a foundation for what was first called “New Facebook” that surfaced in 2010.

Like all new things, this overhaul wasn’t beloved by the entirety of the userbase. To mitigate issues stemming from change-resistant users, they allowed users to continue to use the old version of the app at least for a time.

To be fair, the timeline becoming the hub was a major shift – suddenly, the activity of other users became front-and-center which ultimately served to engage users and attract other groups (namely businesses) to the platform. Everyone’s activity took center stage, serving as a new, widely used mechanism that would fundamentally change how people interact. Today, the idea of the “timeline” or “feed” is a central component for all different types of platforms, aggregating and displaying content from people and entities that are essentially “scored” based on how people interact.

This is also what allowed Facebook to become an attribution network and evolve into a super publisher, which has paved the way for other features like Facebook Watch, Facebook Marketplace, and more. Today, we see this style incorporated in a wide variety of platforms like the project management app, Asana, payment services like Venmo, and many more.

The evolution of YouTube

The evolution of YouTube’s core offering has stayed much the same, but it’s interesting to see how its layout has changed over the years. The founders originally felt YouTube had an application for dating. But as we can see, YouTube was developed around users’ behavior which would take the platform in a different direction.

Layout changes from over the years only tell part of the story as YouTube has shifted to accommodate a much broader purpose and thus, one of the userbases in existence. Interestingly, YouTube got its start as a way for people to upload videos that can easily be embedded into blogs which were a popular outlet for people to publish content on the web without hosting their own site, thanks to services like Xanga and Myspace’s blog component, among others.

The platform itself grew quickly in its first few years after a near-immediate purchase by Google in 2006 from its creators, a trio of former PayPal employees. YouTube managed to do what Google Video couldn’t and attracted the attention of major publishers like SNL which helped create a synergy, along with content from “average” people, that generated traffic far and wide. It was a video service that was both free and had amassed enough content such that there was something for everyone – YouTube emerged as an early constituent in a video consumption that now overshadows basically everything else on the Internet.

More video is watched on YouTube today because even though they’ve managed to successfully offer gated content, most of it is still free which is a big reason why they produce such staggering statistics. YouTube also manages to offer paid content and subscriptions to its premium service that also allows it to compete with services that have emerged over time like Netflix, keeping it securely positioned among the top few most popular websites in the world.

Groupon: from fundraising to digital coupons

Before we had Groupon, the company was known as The Point and it aimed to solve issues with investing by leveraging a central concept in their site known as the “tipping point.” It’s something we see today in platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo in the form of a “goal” – a project has to receive a certain dollar amount before funds are released from either platform’s escrow or funds are returned to backers (in most cases.)

The Point had the right idea but it was failing so founder Andrew Mason and his team brainstormed new ideas and landed on the idea that would become Groupon. As a kind of spiritual successor to The Point, Groupon originally centered itself around the tipping point concept but would instead serve as a tool for businesses to offer discounts using a similar design we see in today’s fundraising platform – businesses set a certain threshold for their Groupon (e.g., “X number of funders for a deal to go live”) to help ensure that it’s cost-effective.

In retrospect, The Point provided a kind of framework that would not only serve Groupon by allowing it to quickly grow into a billion-dollar company but also strongly influence modern crowdfunding platforms. Today, the tipping point is no longer necessary in Groupon as most deals reach high enough volumes and the platform has also expanded to offer more customization such as allowing businesses to add specific stipulations as well as limiting the timeframe that deals can be redeemed.

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Facebook and YouTube are extreme examples but it goes to show how changes can radically change how users engage with a platform for the better. In the case of YouTube, it essentially opened the doors for anyone with the drive to grow and command a large user base, creating a whole new kind of user-generated content that gets equal or better engagement than some professional productions.

Potentially disruptive changes on the horizon

Facebook and YouTube spurred immense changes that go much deeper than the technology itself but keep in mind, m ost new directions don’t yield quite the same result. However, some have the potential to unlock a new segment of business that can substantially alter a digital business as it proves to effectively solve a problem.

Here are a couple of changes in the works that we think have the momentum to become something much more than just a cool new feature.

Tickets through Spotify

Spotify today is a beautiful thing for everyone from music lovers to casual listeners. It managed to get some of us to stop pirating music just because it’s easier – pay a small fee a month and you can listen to anything you’d like and it makes it easy for artists to easily publish their own albums for the world to hear.

They’ve had an interesting road and faced some controversy over the last decade and now, they’re working on selling tickets to live performances/shows. Right now, they’re hosting live streams of certain concerts on their network for about $15 a head. They’ve also managed to link with a ticketing selling service for concert seekers and are in the process of becoming a first-party hub for concert tickets.

This is a big deal as it can put a squeeze on services like Ticketmaster, a business that people have historically griped about. With enough support, they could cause more disruption to the entertainment industry by supplying low-cost tickets (or at least providing the appearance of not having so many extra fees) which, if done securely, could help users, venues, and artists alike.

If Spotify would take care to link tickets to real humans, this could help thwart scalpers. Plus, it would offer the same convenience as other digital tickets, meaning there’s one less to think about as you’re shot-gunning beers in the parking lot before a show.

Speak freely and anonymously with Yik Yak. Maybe…

Yik Yak was an early entry in a small pool of apps that allowed users to share information publicly but anonymously. Not surprisingly, it received a ton of backlash, as did others that would follow in their footsteps like Profoundly, Sarahah, and Whisper (to name a few), because people do and say weird stuff when they think there won’t be repercussions.

Yik Yak’s first run met its demise following incidents after authorities got involved with certain headline-making issues. For example, one man who made a terrorism threat was arrested which made multiple headlines. This and other similar stories catalyzed dwindling engagement until mimic services mention above appeared and gave the notion another wind. But eventually, everything started dying off around 2017 with Yik Yak ultimately selling for pennies.

Fast forward to today and they’re back under new ownership with a facelift as well as a “no-bullying policy” and access to counseling tools. The newest version of Yik Yak will allow users to publish anonymous “Yaks” that anyone can read in a five-mile radius – the app intends to offer their users a private system that will facilitate anonymity but this time moderation to oust the people who abused the last incarnation into the ground. But of course, there’s already some backlash to the very notion of the idea.

While Yik Yak will likely garner more negativity than anything else, it’s interesting that these services still manage to amass so many users. There is some kind of value in anonymity, and users gain something that they can’t with many other platforms, for example, a place where they feel safe being honest. Reddit has managed to do an excellent job of this for years as they don’t require any personally identifiable information to be part of a user’s profile which helps keep a user’s real-world identity safe in a community where no one cares that you don’t have a profile picture or use your real name.

As such, there’s certainly room for Yik Yak to spool up their spin on “anonymous sharing” but only time will tell how (or if) the platform will evolve with its new offerings in tow or have a substantial impact on the market in years to come. With that said, there

We understand the impact change has on your userbase

Some apps will manage to stay in their lane and follow the original roadmap closely but this isn’t the case. You can plan for big changes early on but most often, the ideas originate from data you collect as you observe your platform. Our services are centered on strategy and growth, meaning Blue Label Labs helps drive businesses to make decisions that will help apps reach new heights, much like we did with iHeartRadio among many others. For more information or to get moving on your idea for a digital product, get in touch.

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