Software and Apps - FAQ

Spring’s clients are diverse, but we’re generally the best fit projects that have the potential to create a lot of value for our clients. In other words, if your project is critical to the mission of your business then it’s likely a good fit. We enjoy taking on projects where user experience is critical and one or more of the technology domains of web, mobile, embedded, or desktop are required.

We’re best suited for these types of engagements or relationships:

• New development – “idea to MVP” or “MVP to version 1”
• Dedicated software team – fractional software department
• Legacy takeover and remodels
• Project rescues or turnarounds

To give you a precise answer we must prepare a project scope and create a budget. We have a 2 step process in determining how long a software or app project will take

1. Initial feasibility estimate – After our first discovery workshop we will prepare an initial scope of requirements, estimate cost and time range for the project. This assumes you do not have any requirements (generally written by a technical analyst already completed. If you do we may be able to skip this workshop and provide you immediately with a feasibility scope.
2. If the initial estimate (of time and cost) are approved we move into our detail discovery and project planning stages. We will pull apart the project dive into features and come out with a final list of requirements, acceptance criteria and most importantly a fixed cost and time for the project.

A typical team for the projects we work on is two to three full-time developers, a project manager, a tester and a designer. On larger projects, we’re able to add people and go faster.

For a rough approximation of project duration, we take the estimates above and divide by 32 hours for each person on the team. For example, a 1200-hour project takes approximately 3 months of calendar time for a team of 3 people (1200 hours / (3 people * 32 hours/person/week) / 4 weeks/month = ~ 3 months).

We can’t answer this question responsibly until we understand your idea, business, market, users, etc. While we can’t tell you exactly what your project will cost, we can draw on the 100+ projects we’ve delivered since 2007 and tell you what’s typical for the projects we’re best suited to help you with.

While it’s really hard to know the specific costs of the project without going through a discovery phase like our Research, Design, and Planning phase, we can usually help you set a responsible budget during before you ever hire us.

No matter how large or small your budget, it’s always our goals for the value our clients receive to significantly exceed the fees we charge.

Our projects run from a few months to a year or more. Some have a budget of $30k and others have budgets of over $500K.

Many of the projects we do fit in one of the buckets below. There are exceptions, of course, but these are common.

Common Projects Ballpark Figures Ballpark Schedules
Research, design and planning engagement – $10k to $40k and 2 to 6 weeks
Proof of concept, prototype or demo software – $30k to $70k and 1 to 2 months
Web or mobile utility – $50k to $100k and 2 to 3 months
User-facing web or mobile app with UX emphasis or the first phase of a complex project – $100k to $250k and 4 to 7 months
Complex, multi-phase, multi-platform product – $200k to $500k+ and 6 to 12 months

It’s also important to keep in mind that most projects get broken up into multiple phases. During the first phase of development, our goal is always to focus on the highest value features and architect something that sets us up for future phases.

Custom software development is a big investment. We’ll help you mitigate risk, make smart trade-offs, and get the maximum value for your budget.

​This is a great question to ask and you should ask it of any app and software development firm you are considering. Many firms will farm out work to freelancers or interns. Our clients work directly with our tight knit crew of 7. Who that will be, depends on your project needs and what stage of the process you are in during the project, but generally you will be dealing direct with your technical project manager, designer and account manager. We leave all the developers behind the scenes to focus on what they do best… code.  Here is a little more information on our team model – Click here.

We have more than 12 years of software and app development experience. We’ve worked with and completed projects for eCommerce/marketplace companies, start-ups, real estate, clothing, finance and many, many more.

We are experienced in creating Android, iOS Mobile apps, Web and IoT apps,  messengers, entertainment, Web content, e-learning, real estate, CRM systems and constantly improving our skills! Check out our portfolio to learn more.

Learn more about the Spring Engagement Process.

​Everything that we build will be 100% owned by you. Before we work, we’ll put a services agreement in place that will assign ownership of all work product and deliverables to you as long as we’re paid for the services we perform.

You certainly do not have to be a software development expert, that’s what we’re here for. We welcome your experience in that matter if you happen to have any, but are prepared to guide you through the whole process and explain everything. Focus on your needs and we’ll deliver what you require.

We would not call it exactly a demo version but using Agile Methodology compels us to create operating software as soon as possible and later just add next features along the process. Therefore, you’ll be able to examine and test your software very early.

See the Tools we work with section of this page. Click here

Well, the most important thing to know is what do you want to accomplish. Why do I need this app or software? What for? What should it do? Having a clear vision in mind is crucial when ordering a custom application. You don’t want to spend many months developing it with us without being sure what you need. We’ll also be glad to help you get started, building projects from scratch is nothing new for us.

​Absolutely. References can be provided at any time.

We evaluate the result after every 2-3 weeks, we test our work (we conduct both development and acceptance tests), we present it to you, we apply your feedback so you know you get what you are paying for.

We guarantee cost. In an industry that’s infamous for cost overruns and low-ball bids, we go to great lengths in our upfront process to de-risk projects. This efforts produces spot-on solutions, accurate estimates of an agreed scope, and most importantly… successful relationships.  If we underestimate something then we’ll absorb 100% of the additional cost until we’re back on track. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do.

During our projects we aim to take on and absorb include as many of your change requests as we can. If we cannot as a change is too far from the original scope, then we will have a specific discussion with you, onlining what it is and any additional costs.

For our software and app projects we will break up you payment over the projects lifecycle. This delivers you peace of mind in being able to make your payments alongside seeing your development come to life.

Hiring your own software developers can be a really smart choice, however, recruitment process is time-consuming and the costs of keeping an in-house programming team are very high. You’ll probably need to employ your own  software engineers sooner or later but hiring us can help you save a lot of money and time (which is basically the same in a business project)

Hopefully the app is exactly what you dreamed of. But apart from delivering a finished product, we are happy to provide you with technical support and maintenance and monitoring should you need it. After all, we know our work inside out. Of course if you want to maintain it by yourself the source code and all technical data is at your disposal.

Of course! We are always happy to improve, upgrade and further develop our work.

We have a standard procedure of handling change requests from our customers. After receiving a change request we conduct an impact analysis. This allows us to deliver the timelines and cost estimate to the customer and what impact it has on the overall project. Once the customer approves the estimates, we implement the changes within the agreed timeline.

When paying for apps and custom software, you should have the mindset of paying a team to design and develop the first instance of a product. Custom software and app projects are ripe with risk, including: building the right product, funding and schedule risks, third-party integrations, and technical approaches that need to be proved out.

Remember, you are paying your team to help you mitigate these risks, not to financially own them. Each sprint or release is not a guarantee of a finished, bug-free product.

However, we do have standards and best practices in place that encourage each team to do their best to build a high-quality product.

We encourage our clients to embrace bugs, embrace risks, and know that we will do everything we can to address both. Your team will track bugs and work them into the schedule each week with other backlog item.

Our teams are smart and experienced; they do their best at predictably building your product. With each iteration, we’ll take what we’ve learned and quickly your team integrate new insights to keep quality high.