Top Product, Technology, & Venture Design Firm
Sidebench is an award-winning strategy, design, and development consultancy based in Los Angeles. We cater to innovative enterprise companies and top new ventures seeking product strategy, bringing them the strategic value of management consultants & experienced founders, the technical chops of expert data & systems architects, combined with the UX-first approach of one of the best product design teams in the world.
Recent Awards & Recognition:
- Inc. 5000 America’s Fastest-Growing Companies (5x-time: 2021/'20/’19/’18/’17)
- Fast Company's 2021 Best Workplaces for Innovators
- Fast Company's Best Apps & Games of 2020, W3 Awards 2020 (2x Gold Awards & 1x Silver)
- Built in LA - 2022 Best Places to Work
- Entrepreneur Magazine's Most Entrepreneurial Companies in America (3x-time)
- Forbes 30 Under 30, BuiltInLA Top Social Impact Companies, American Hospital Association’s Innovation Challenge Winner
- Clutch #1 LA Custom Software Developers
- Clutch #1 LA Mobile App Developers
- Clutch Global Top 100 B2B Firms
- Clutch Global Top Leaders Awards: Mobile App Development & Software Development (4 years in a row)
- GoodFirms 2021 Top LA Mobile App Development Companies
- GoodFirms 2021 Top Software Development Companies, Top Web Design Companies
Certifications
- Certified Diverse Supplier - Minority-Owned Business (MNSDC, 2021)
- International Association of Accessibility Professionals (CPACC)
- HIPAA compliance trained & certified (company-wide)
Let’s Co-Invent the Future Together!
Focus
Portfolio
Microsoft Corporation, Facebook, Instagram, Red Bull, Sony, NBCUniversal, Andreessen Horowitz, Accel, Lightspeed Ventures, Oakley, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Imagine Entertainment, Legendary, United Talent Agency, Pressed Juice, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, UCSF Clinical Innovation, American Heart Association, and more. Ask us about some of the incredible startup success stories!

Children's Hospital Los Angeles
The Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, a top ranking children's hospital in the US, set out to understand what variables prevented parent's from pursuing follow up care after their child is discharged from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

LA County Foster Care
The Department of Child Services in Los Angeles, California spends 2 million hours a year arranging 4 million hours of Foster Child visits. They partnered with Sidebench to develop an MVP platform from which they could improve their process into the future. This new platform, called Time2Connect, is expected to save over 500,000 hours/year, allowing social workers to dedicate more time and energy to result-driven outcomes such as reunification of foster children with their biological parents.

American Heart Association
American Heart Association’s Innovation Group wanted to give patients more power to manage their health journeys. In order to give patients easier access to resources, Sidebench translated AHA’s guidelines and content into actionable care plans that can be delivered through mobile platforms.

Inland Empire Healthcare
While Medi-Cal and Medicare health plans are government funded, Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) strives to offer premium services to its subscribers that are comparable to high-end health plans. To help elevate their service offerings to fit IEHP’s high standards for patient care, and to ultimately empower patients to be proactive about their health, IEHP decided to work with SIdebench to build a bilingual mobile app that gives members access to prescriptions, authorizations, claims, lab results and more.

nOCD Mobile App
nOCD is a revolutionary mobile application in the mental health space that helps patients record objective data in between their regularly scheduled sessions with their therapists. The barriers to entry in understanding a complicated health topic like OCD treatment made for a difficult user experience in the first version of the nOCD app. It became Sidebench's mission to make this first-of-a-kind mobile app into a tool that was as accessible as it was helpful.

Imagine Entertainment
Imagine Impact is an entertainment accelerator within Imagine Entertainment. Sidebench designed and developed a barrier-breaking app that directly connects screenwriters with interested script buyers. Since Imagine makes revenue from each script sold, the marketplace platform enables increased script sales through an improved user and buyer experience.

Pressed Juice
Pressed Juicery is a cold-pressed juice and wellness trendsetter in California. Sidebench helped scale Pressed Juice and grow their annual revenue by 200+% by developing a comprehensive e-commerce strategy and designing a scalable consumer-facing mobile application

Red Bull Artist Relationship Management Platform
Red Bull works with thousands of artists through long-standing music initiatives such as the Red Bull Music Academy and Sound Select. To better manage relationships with artists and uncover new opportunities, Sidebench developed a custom CRM platform from the ground up.

Oakley Lens Guide
The Lens Guide showcases all available lenses by sport, color and it debuted Oakley's Prizm technology. Despite initially being limited by their in-house resources and outdated technology stack, Sidebench was able to get their new platform to market with an 81% increase in their load times across desktop and mobile.

Microsoft
Microsoft Tech for Social Impact (TSI) is a business unit within Microsoft Philanthropies helping nonprofit organizations reach their goals through cloud technology. In order to reduce the euthanasia rate of companion animals and save the lives of animals across the Washington shelter system, Sidebench built the concept for an Animal Shelter Management application.

Sony Entertainment
Reviving a beloved film franchise is never an easy task, so when Sony decided to reboot Ghostbusters in 2016, they wanted to think outside of the box. They worked with Sidebench to leverage the new Playstation VR platform by creating and distributing a new Ghostbusters game to promote the movie alongside an emerging Virtual Reality platform.

Red Bull Music Doorman
Red Bull Music focuses on highlighting musicians and artists while empowering their consumers to push culture forward. Sidebench empowered Red Bull Music to better cater their events to attendees by developing the Doorman app. The Doorman app serves as a single channel for all Red Bull Music events to check in fans and receive analytics on event attendance to better inform their event experiences.

Red Bull Photo Booth App
Red Bull hosts nearly 1500 events each year. To produce a photo booth experience at those events, they were using multiple vendors. Working with various entities at different events around the world was costly, inefficient, and not internationally scalable for a global, enterprise brand. Sidebench set out to help Red Bull build their own photo booth technology.

Red Bull Artist Evaluation Platform
With Red Bull Music focusing on finding local, emerging artists, a challenge emerged regarding selecting the right artists and maintaining fan favorites. Sidebench rebuilt their Artist Evaluation App to ensure the tool builds strong emotional connections with event attendees.

Awards & Recognition
Our team is incredibly proud to announce that our Baby Steps LA mobile app, created alongside the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, was recently awarded a place on Fast Company’s Best Apps and Games of 2020 List. Fast Company is one of the world's leading progressive business media brands, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, leadership, and design. Some of the other applications that made the list: Disney+, Daily Harvest App, and the Spotify Kids App.
We would like to thank our incredible team, network, and client partners here at Sidebench for dedicating their time and efforts to helping us become a product leader in Los Angeles. We remain committed to our pursuit of innovation and we will continue to push the barriers of technological development in the modern age. We look forward to the exciting new partnerships and challenging projects that 2021 has in store for us.

United Talent Agency
United Talent Agency is a leading talent agency representing artists and entertainment professionals. Sidebench expanded United Talent Agency’s offerings by strategizing for the design and development of an asynchronous video messaging app that could span and connect generations.

Loot Crate
Loot Crate is a subscription box service focused on the gaming community. Sidebench helped increase Average Order Value and subscriber retention by implementing a full-service loyalty and rewards program, while also redesigning and developing their e-commerce landing pages.

UCSF Clinical Innovation Center
The Clinical Innovation Center (CIC) is tasked to develop the infrastructure and internal capacity to accelerate innovations that solve critical delivery system problems at UCSF Health. To assist large device manufacturers with improving their health device development process, Sidebench developed user journey maps that delved into how receptive stroke patients will be to using technology to aid their recovery.

Gamevice Companion App
The Gamevice team recognized a need for users to be able to search for Gamevice compatible games in a centralized location. With a companion app, Gamevice would have the potential to disrupt the portable gaming market, scale their product, and provide flexible options to the gaming community beyond Nintendo.

Oakley Len's Guide
The Lens Guide showcases all available lenses by sport, color and it debuted Oakley's Prizm technology. Despite initially being limited by their in-house resources and outdated technology stack, Sidebench was able to get their new platform to market with an 81% increase in their load times across desktop and mobile.

Manifest Mobile Health Solution
Manifest is a health and fitness platform, designed using exercise and behavioral science to drive real, sustainable results. Sidebench designed a streamlined portal and an additional app for facilitators, along with a more engaging app for participants to connect and interact on a personal basis with their trainer.

NBCUniversal
NBCUniversal needed a platform to distribute digital content and assets to syndicates, distribution partners, and location stations worldwide. Significantly reducing the time required for asset management, Sidebench built a B2B digital asset marketplace that consolidated 4 distinct interfaces into a single platform and optimized checkout and download workflows.
Reviews
the project
Custom Software Development for Health Coaching Company
''They feel like a part of our team.''
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the president of a custom software development company.
What challenge were you trying to address with Sidebench?
We needed to transform and build a product for our company quickly, and we wanted a trusted partner to execute.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Sidebench is doing web-based development for us; the product has an admin portal for coaches to access messaging, calendaring, scheduling, and document uploading functionalities. It also has interactive elements where members can fill out a will evaluating their health in different parts of their lives. In terms of technologies, the system is built through AWS and React.
What is the team composition?
We’ve worked with product managers, directors, product leads, and a designer.
How did you come to work with Sidebench?
We researched a dozen different agencies, and we chose them because we thought they had impressive consumer apps. In addition to that, they were likable people, and we felt like they would fit into our working culture.
How much have you invested in them?
We’ve spent around $1 million with them so far.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in October 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
They’ve been excellent partners and are essential to our processes. Overall, I’ve been impressed with their professionalism and ability to teach our team many project management skills and best practices.
How did Sidebench perform from a project management standpoint?
Project management has been very positive; they communicate with us and are flexible to make things work.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Their team adapts to our systems and norms very well, including our project management tools, and sitting in our Monday meetings — they feel like a part of our team.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I don’t think there’s anything they can improve on — their work has been overall positive throughout the engagement.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Evaluate your options, but they provide what they offer from the beginning of the process.
the project
Software, Web & App Dev for Pharmaceutical Manufacturer
“Sidebench is absolutely fantastic to work and collaborate with.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the CTO and chief product officer at Diathrive, a chronic disease management company focused on diabetes.
What challenge were you trying to address with Sidebench?
We brought on Sidebench for several reasons. We needed to redo our enterprise infrastructure in the wake of switching to a complete B2B application from a B2C.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Sidebench is developing the backend of our B2B platform, helping us configure our CRM, and developing a React Native application for us. They’re building out a more robust enterprise infrastructure. Their team covers everything from website and app development to backend infrastructure creation. We’ve provided Sidebench with the technical and architectural considerations they need to utilize to keep our platform secure.
What is the team composition?
I primarily interface with Austin (Product Manager) and Haley (Senior Product Manager), who run 4–5 of our workstreams. I also work with Brandon (Head of Strategy and Partnerships) biweekly.
How did you come to work with Sidebench?
I went through several different channels before I found Sidebench — we needed to be careful about picking the right partner because our company was so new. I narrowed down our potential partners to two vendors after interviewing six firms. We flew out to meet Sidebench and were impressed with their understanding of our business and their experiences with healthcare startups. We thought they’d be great partners, so we hired them.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve invested around $500,000 with Sidebench, although that will increase by the end of the year as we continue to give them additional projects.
What is the status of this engagement?
Our engagement with Sidebench began in October 2021, and it’s ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Sidebench is absolutely fantastic to work and collaborate with. Their team has taken the time to understand our business in-depth and our development constraints. We’ve collaborated closely with them to work through our project constraints — they use their experience to ensure we achieve our project goals.
Overall, the development process has been very good. Our communication is very clear, and Sidebench is very open to taking on new projects. Not only that, but Sidebench has provided us with excellent feedback on what directions to take the project, the app structure, and how to increase engagement. Their suggestions have been wonderful.
How did Sidebench perform from a project management standpoint?
Sidebench hits all of our deadlines — we’re actually ahead of schedule right now, which is virtually unheard of in the development industry. They identify project blockers early on and detail project plans so we’re aware of approaching project-dependent deliverable deadlines. We use several collaborative tools to communicate, which is great.
What did you find most impressive about them?
The way Sidebench collaborates is amazing, and so is how they can translate project concepts into reality is amazing. Our industry is complicated, and chronic disease management is even more nuanced. It takes a partner like Sidebench to collaborate with us and execute our business idea within our timeline and budget constraints.
Are there any areas they could improve?
We’re pleased with Sidebench’s services, so there is nothing for them to improve.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
My team is incredibly happy with Sidebench’s service, and I’d advise customers to be straightforward with them about their projects.
the project
Mobile App Development for an Online B2C Platform
"The product that they’re in the process of creating is well beyond what we thought we were signing up for."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
We’re a large app and digital platform that connects consumers to black-owned business through technology. I’m the founder and CEO.
What challenge were you trying to address with Sidebench?
We were working with another technology company, but they did a horrible job building and launching our site. Sidebench came in to fix those issues and create a new app for us.
What was the scope of their involvement?
The app will be a black-owned business discovery app that will be available on iOS and Android devices. We’ve gone through the discovery and design phases and are now in development.
What is the team composition?
We have a main point of contact and have interacted with 5–10 people in total.
How did you come to work with Sidebench
We found them on Clutch after a Google Search. After contacting a few options, we went with Sidebench.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent $550,000 on the app development specifically.
What is the status of this engagement?
We’ve been working together since May 2021.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
For one, they fixed our site. Our payment system was down for a few months while the previous team was troubleshooting it. They came in and cleaned up everything on a quick timeline, allowing us to continue operating as were before the issue arose.
The app development has been a great process. It’s clear that they are a competent team. We trust them a lot. The product that they’re in the process of creating is well beyond what we thought we were signing up for.
How did Sidebench perform from a project management standpoint?
There are weekly meetings where Sidebench goes through the different deliverables and any questions that we have.
Project management was our number one request from them because of our previous experience, and we haven’t run into any delays. They’ve been very communicative since the beginning of the project.
What did you find most impressive about them?
We interviewed a couple of companies at first, and what stood out about Sidebench was that they were very passionate about what they were doing and what they could do for our platform. They came with specific ideas about how to improve our platform.
Additionally, their team is very easy to relate to. With other companies, it’s clear that you’re speaking to an engineer without a lot of interpersonal skills, but with Sidebench, it’s clear that they have both the technical skill and the ability to communicate well with others.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I hate not having an answer for this question, but I really can’t think of anything they could improve. They’re certainly the best of the 3–4 technology companies that we’ve worked with over the last few years.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
You get what you pay for. They’re a bit pricey, but they’re worth it. Additionally, keep an open mind. We had designs that another company had done when we first approached Sidebench, but after the discovery process, they came up with another idea that made much more sense. You may come out with something more in-line with what your audience wants than what you came in with.
the project
Mobile App & Website Dev for NFT Company
"They make things happen because they know what their employees can bring to the table."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the co-founder of a non-fungible (NFT) marketplace.
What challenge were you trying to address with Sidebench?
We hired Sidebench to create our NFT marketplace.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We recently finished the discovery process with Sidebench, which allowed us to read the market and figure out exactly what approach we should take. For several weeks, we sat down with their project manager to map out all of the features we wanted to see on our MVP.
Then, their designer and technical architect did all of the planning that would be handed over to the development team. At the end of the discovery phase, we had a navigable prototype. We’re now moving to the development phase, and the team will build our NFT marketplace, which will be available in both a mobile app and a website. The next goal is to create a product that will be essentially used by the public.
What is the team composition?
We’re working with 4–5 people from Sidebench, including a project manager, designer, and technical architect. We’re also working with Kyle (Growth Strategy Manager) who acts as a liaison between our two teams. We don’t talk to him on a daily basis, but we can reach out to him if we have any issues.
How did you come to work with Sidebench?
My business partner and I did a lot of research into finding a good firm to help us. We also knew that hiring five random developers wouldn’t work in the type of project we were envisioning. Once we reached out to a couple of companies, we chose Sidebench because they offered a valuable process to us and they executed larger projects than what we were going to assign to them.
In addition, we were in the NFT space, which was super new, but with a massive number of platforms popping every single day. As a result, we wanted to go with somebody who could help us turn our project into something unique — a company that could separate us from our competition. In the end, we didn’t want to go with anybody else.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent around $80,000 during the discovery phase, and we’re about to spend another $400,000–$450,000 for the development phase.
What is the status of this engagement?
Our ongoing collaboration started in May 2021.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
They’ve been amazing the whole time, and we don’t regret hiring them. The prototype they've created has allowed us to present something to our investors. Based on what we’ve seen so far, we’re very confident about our project’s outcome.
On top of that, they know how to pick people that can manage our project, hand-selecting them based on their prior experience and level of interest. They also have an internal assessment in order to decide who’s going to work on each project. In pairing us with qualified people, they really ensure our project’s success.
How did Sidebench perform from a project management standpoint?
Sidebench’s process is so in-depth — they definitely know what they’re doing. Our communication is great; we have virtual check-ins almost every day, and we‘ve been able to visit their office once. They reach out to us whenever they have questions, which allows them to create exactly what we’re asking for. Furthermore, they always meet our deadlines.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Everybody on Sidebench is similar to a piece of the puzzle because they have diverse talents capable of building things for some of the best companies in the world. They make things happen because they know what their employees can bring to the table. In addition, they don’t hesitate in doing things because they already know how they’re going to accomplish things, and they're capable of supporting clients without a technical background.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, everything we pay them is worth it. They get things done the right way; they explain things and think through how they’re going to build something.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Know exactly what you want to do, but be open to suggestions from their team. In the end, they’ll make your project come to life.
the project
Salesforce UI/UX Dev & Maintenance for Cannabis Distributor
"Sidebench offers a complete Salesforce package."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the CTO of a cannabis distributor in California, the largest cannabis market in the world.
What challenge were you trying to address with Sidebench?
We rolled out many different Salesforce functionalities and received various Salesforce web screens and templates. While they were usable, they weren’t intuitive. We wanted a better experience for our users and customers, so we were looking for someone to help us improve our Salesforce platform’s UI/UX.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Sidebech used our team’s designs in developing, coding, and integrating improvements in our Salesforce platform. They worked on our brand portal, among other areas.
After that, Sidebench has taken over the maintenance of our Salesforce platform; they’ve become our sole Salesforce partner. They develop integrations and handle configurations for Salesforce’s features, forms, and reports.
What is the team composition?
I work with a project manager, a developer, an executive, and one other resource.
How did you come to work with Sidebench?
Initially, we had been using another vendor for our Salesforce platform. They didn’t have UI/UX expertise, and they recommended Sidebench to us. We met Sidebench’s team and were impressed with their work, so we hired them.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent between $250,000–$500,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in January 2021, and it’s ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Sidebench has scoped the project very meticulously and gave us detailed estimates — they’ve hit their deliverables right on track.
We’ve received positive feedback from our internal teams and external brand partners about the platform’s new UI/UX; our dashboards are a lot better now.
How did Sidebench perform from a project management standpoint?
Sidebench is outstanding at communication and proactive at project management. Whenever they ask us to do something, they follow up very quickly if we don’t react right away.
If there have been delays, it’s because we needed time to get the required details. They’ve been very patient with us, but they are also aggressive with their follow-ups.
Sidebench also produces regular status updates, and they’ve hit every deadline we’ve asked of them. We mostly communicate through emails.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Sidebench offers a complete Salesforce package. They’re good at administering the different solutions that we’re using, such as sales, service, and employee portals. On top of that, they have UI/UX expertise, which isn’t typical among Salesforce providers.
Are there any areas they could improve?
I can’t think of anything.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Align on what you are looking to do. Make sure that you have a well-defined scope and documentation around that. Sidebench can help you explore different options, but it helps if you do some homework upfront to accelerate the process.
the project
Android & iOS App Dev for Health & Wellness Firm
"Their ability to remain agile and provide solutions as conditions change has been enjoyable to witness."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I am the co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Covis Inc., a company empowering health decisions using powerful AI and big data.
We have developed an algorithm that calculates the individual risk from COVID-19 using public data, machine learning, and knowledge from medical literature. Covis Inc. is a DESY spin-off and a two-time MIT hackathon winner. I am also a Physicist at DESY, Hamburg, and Senior Scientist at the Humboldt University in Berlin.
For what projects/services did your company hire Sidebench, and what were your goals?
We wanted to create proprietary algorithms used to assess the risk of COVID-19 infections and display that data to CoVis mobile app users, and we worked with Sidebench to build and launch both an Android and iOS app to be launched in Germany and the USA.
How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?
After an extensive search for a technology partner, we chose Sidebench for their ability to add innovative value, their expertise in healthcare, and their communication commitments.
We were very impressed by their previous projects, in particular the NOCD app. Their communications were quick and efficient and they were willing to work on a very innovative project on a very tight timeline to leave a social impact.
Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.
We completed a discovery engagement that gave way to a robust development plan, ultimately working to release mobile apps for iOS and Android. Being an app backed by scientific knowledge and innovative scientific methods, the Sidebench team worked closely with the Scientists on the CoVis team.
How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?
So far, our team has worked with a User Experience Designer, Design Manager, Technical Architect, Developers, Product Manager, and Quality Assurance Engineers.
Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?
The CoVis app is the end-product of a solution developed by the CoVis team and scientific research conducted at DESY, Hamburg. The work done by Sidebench brought this solution to life in the form of an app for both iOS and Android.
The quality of work is impressive and the app has proved to be very effective in the testing phase. As an example, the app requires a quite complex algorithm for location tracking which has been implemented flawlessly and is a key part of the proprietary algorithm that we use to assess the individual risk from COVID-19.
Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.
Through weekly stakeholder status calls and touchpoints with Product Managers, the engineering team, and Design Leads, we have been able to get our concerns addressed in a timely manner. Both the Project Manager and Technical Architect have been available for discussions at any time and spent a lot of time with the CoVis team trying to understand the concept and the science behind the app. Communication has been very open and quick.
What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?
Their ability to remain agile and provide solutions as conditions change has been enjoyable to witness and be a part of. When a problem arises the team goes above and beyond to provide solutions and preventative measures in place to mitigate the chance for problems to continue to arise.
Being a very innovative solution that was built during an ongoing pandemic to address an unforeseen problem a lot of flexibility was necessary for the project to be successful. Sidebench was extremely flexible with schedules and implementation timelines, being able to easily incorporate changes that were made necessary due to changing regulations surrounding COVID-19.
In addition, with their experience in developing mobile solutions, they have been instrumental in foreseeing possible hurdles early in the project roadmap so that these can be addressed in due time.
Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?
The CoVis team is very satisfied with Sidebench. They have the right expertise and the right work culture that helped us build the CoVis app.
the project
Web App Dev & Design for Health & Wellness Company
“Working with Sidebench has been the best experience we’ve had with any developer thus far.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
My organization is all about health, wellness, and preventative medicine. Our goal is to empower people to make better and more informed choices so that they can live healthier and more conscious lives.
What challenge were you trying to address with Sidebench?
We had a contract with a different organization that we’d been working with for quite some time, but they just couldn’t get the project done.
We were looking for someone who could pick up the pieces, put them all together, and create the dream that we all envisioned.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Sidebench has been instrumental in taking a web app that wasn’t very well programmed or organized and putting it together. It’s a Laravel web app with HTML5 and Vue.js.
The product should go live at the end of March 2021. We have a backlog of additional features, so we’re committed to using Sidebench for the long haul.
What is the team composition?
We have a whole team assigned to this project. We’ve worked with a project manager, a design consultant, and Henry (Manager, Strategy & Business Development).
How did you come to work with Sidebench?
It took a lot of work. We interviewed at least 15 companies and looked at each candidate’s website, reputation, and previous projects. We also considered what types of apps they’d done and what areas their skills were in.
Once we reached out and talked to Sidebench, we were very impressed. After our third meeting with them, we signed the contract. We looked at a lot of really good groups and different options, but Sidebench really rose to the top.
What is the status of this engagement?
We reached out to them in November 2020, and the project is still evolving. We have about 6–7 weeks before we complete this phase.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
We are looking for ease of flow of data capturing and UX. We work closely with Sidebench and, through a range of different ideas, they have made it very seamless.
We haven’t launched the product to the public yet, so we don’t have any metrics beside our own satisfaction with what we’ve seen in comparison to previous development teams that we’ve hired.
How did Sidebench perform from a project management standpoint?
We meet with them either once or twice a week through Zoom. They have excellent communication skills, and they deliver on time.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They’ve very collaborative. We bring certain ideas to the table, and then they tweak them a bit to make the ideas work even better. They continue to do that until we’re 100% satisfied. Working with Sidebench has been the best experience we’ve had with any developer thus far, and we’ve worked with several.
I am so eternally grateful to Sidebench for taking an idea that my team had and creating something that we’re really excited about. They are very creative and thoughtful.
Are there any areas they could improve?
They have far exceeded my expectations, so I couldn’t ask them to do any better — they already do an outstanding job.
Any advice for potential customers?
Listen to their ideas, and be open.
the project
Web App Design Revamp for Medical Educational Video Service
"They did a lot of research about us and our users. It felt like they knew the product as well as we did."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the product manager of GIBLIB. We stream online medical education content, including surgical videos and lectures.
What challenge were you trying to address with Sidebench?
We wanted to revamp and refresh our current web application layer. No one internally was a UX/UI resource or graphic designer, we decided to hire a third-party to create the next version of the company site.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We requested their help with the design; we're handling the implementation. The application isn’t running yet. They provided their expertise as a UX/UI firm.
When we approached Sidebench, we already knew all the new features we wanted to add, so we solicited their input on how those things ought to be portrayed. There were numerous meetings initially about how to lay things out. It was very collaborative. After developing an initial schema, they provided a more detailed UI and design.
What is the team composition?
We worked with at least three core people: Max (Project Manager), Dana (UX Designer), and Jeff (UI and Graphic Designer).
How did you come to work with Sidebench?
They were a recommendation. One of our previous product managers used to work with Sidebench. We trusted that internal referral.
How much have you invested with them?
We spent a little bit over $60,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We worked together from July until November 2020.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
My general feedback is positive. The three main employees were all very professional; they knew what they were doing. We’ve unanimously agreed that we couldn’t have accomplished what we have without working with Sidebench. They definitely brought the value we needed.
How did Sidebench perform from a project management standpoint?
Communication was clear. We used a combination of Slack and Zoom meetings. There was an official meeting on Monday and a semi-official meeting mid-week. This system was effective. Their project manager always provided agendas and previewed what we were going to talk about the next week. The project management was really well executed.
What did you find most impressive about them?
The word for me is ownership. From the beginning, they did a lot of research about us and our users. It felt like they knew the product as well as we did. They cared a lot about the project.
Are there any areas they could improve?
There were a couple of times at the end of the project when things were delivered a few days later than the initial date. Everyone softens up at the end, but it wasn’t to a point where it was detrimental to our roadmap. If I had to share something to improve on, that’s what I would say. There’s nothing else negative to say about them.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
First, the client has to be ready and know what they want. They need to have a gameplan in-line so they’re not relying entirely on Sidebench. Working collaboratively with them is the best way to go. Second, make sure to over-communicate. We try to be sensitive about others’ time, which is needed, but not communicating when you need to can deter the overall project.
the project
Custom Scheduling Tool Dev for Neuro Therapy Company
“Sidebench is great because they’re aggressive about tracking down bugs and fixing problems.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I am the chief technical and transformation officer for Cortica. We provide advanced neurologic therapies for children, usually for children with autism or other neurodevelopmental needs. We service most of California and are rapidly growing.
What challenge were you trying to address with Sidebench?
We hired them to help us build a custom software platform that matches family schedules and therapist availability across multiple locations and therapy types. Our goal is to improve outcomes for the children we support by increasing the number of sessions of care each patient receives. We also want to ensure that clients have access to all the different therapies that we offer.
What was the scope of their involvement?
They developed a scheduling tool. They’ve integrated with Office 365 and Outlook, an electronic medical records system that most of our medical providers record their clinical documentation on, and an autism-specific care management system that the majority of our therapists do their clinical documentation relating to their patients.
They’ve also replatformed our website. We moved from Drupal to Contentful and Netlify. We’re considering other project like web app development.
What is the team composition?
I work with Chris (Partner & VP), and 5–6 other people on a regular basis. The team includes a product lead, a UI/UX developer, two junior product leaders, and an infrastructure manager.
How did you come to work with Sidebench?
They worked alongside other people I knew in the area. I interviewed a few different firms based on web testimonials and who was recommended to me. Sidebench wanted to understand our business and had worked extensively in healthcare in the past, so they came up to speed quickly. Their CEO was super available and spent lots of time with me ensuring that I understood their approach.
I spent a lot of time with their references to ensure that they were the right fit for us too.
They’re very UI-driven, and I thought that was particularly important for the products that we were planning to develop. They also seemed like the right size for us. I wanted an agile and creative partner that was excited about what we were trying to do. Sidebench beat out everyone else I considered because they checked all of our boxes.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent close $2 million so far. That will probably double going forward.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working together in July 2019 and we finished the first aspect of our partnership in September 2020.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
On an annual basis, we generate about $6.7 million through the improvements that this platform brings us, including about $4 million from the scheduling program already.
We’ve also seen a 10%–20% increase in contract fulfillment, or our ability to meet with clients based on what is recommended by the healthcare and insurance provider.
Similarly, we’ve been able to reduce the amount of time potential patients are on our waitlist by improving the algorithms we use to schedule them. This lets us hire new providers if needed.
We don’t do super in-depth code reviews, but we do measure the quality of their work through extensive user-testing and sign-offs.
Sidebench is great because they’re aggressive about tracking down bugs and fixing problems. It’s a real partnership, and they don’t nickel and dime me for ongoing issues. They work on an ongoing list of backlogged items that could improve performance, which has been very successful.
How did Sidebench perform from a project management standpoint?
We worked well together. Everything regarding the cost and timeline was articulated well. They update us once or twice a week, especially when we’re busy. Both our team and theirs is pretty agile, so sprint planning has been really helpful. We reassess our priorities almost every other week to ensure that we’re tackling the right challenges.
They’re also super available. I can text any team member and I know that they will get right back to me. We share a Slack channel and a Jira board, too.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They deeply want to understand our business. They’re right there with us, trying to figure out what we need to do to make sure things are done the right way. For example, they’ve created process maps and user-journeys and continue to iterate on those. While this is really important for development, it’s also valuable because they continue to have discussions with me about whether or not we need to codify current processes, or if we want to improve these processes. We don’t want to have to redo anything if we change the process down the line. Only a group that understood our business completely would be able to participate in those conversations. They’re very mission-driven and are very supportive of what we do.
Are there any areas they could improve?
They’ve been a fantastic partner.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
To really understand them, ask for references. It will help you learn more about them. If I were a potential new customer, I might not be so aware of how capable they are of understanding the core of our business. However, trusting them to spot opportunities that can optimize various processes, can be very valuable.
the project
Mobile App Dev for Integrated Messaging Platform
“They’re able to build around our concept and work pretty independently.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the founder of a startup.
What challenge were you trying to address with Sidebench?
Starting out, I only had a loose idea of what was needed to get my business off the ground. I hired them as my development partner.
What was the scope of their involvement?
I had an idea and framework of what I wanted my partner to build. We needed them to design the entire product. They did everything from user research to building upon my ideas to creating workflows based on my wireframes. In the end, they completed all of the design work for the app. That included screens and a basic logo. It was important for me to create a proof of concept before diving into the development of a full version.
At this point, they’ve provided that. Now, we’re working together to build out the product they designed. The final solution will be a messaging app that utilizes hashtags to communicate and organize trends. They’re enabling the creation of channels, group messaging, private chat functions, and Twitter integrations. The app will be for iOS and Android.
What is the team composition?
I have one main point of contact who acts as a product manager. Additionally, there are design and development team teams working on the app as well.
How did you come to work with Sidebench?
I found them on Clutch. They offered the best ideas and timeframe compared to other companies I interviewed. Additionally, I was looking for a partner that would handle all aspects of development. They offered all the services that I needed, so they were the most suitable.
How much have you invested with them?
For all of their services, we’re spending about $250,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started the project in October 2019. The design was completed in December 2019, and the development started up in January 2020. We’re still working on that now.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Since sharing and receiving feedback on their work, we’ve found that the designs are quite intuitive. They’re great at coming up with ideas of their own and managing a heavy workload. In addition, they’re able to explain and describe their processes well in layman’s terms. The design level is very high.
How did Sidebench perform from a project management standpoint?
I appreciate that everything is managed through a single point of contact. That’s been rather convenient for me. We meet together once each week to discuss their progress. They’ve been great at keeping up with schedules and timelines. We haven’t experienced a delay because of that.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They’re able to build around our concept and work pretty independently. Their team has taken my idea and ran with it, which is exactly what I wanted from them. I didn’t have to worry about the development process as much because of that.
Are there any areas they could improve?
During the engagement, they used quite a bit of technical jargon that I wasn’t familiar with. They didn’t hold my hand through that process, which may have been helpful.
The client is delighted with Sidebench's work and is impressed with their professionalism throughout the partnership. Their communication and flexibility have been outstanding in delivering solid project management. The team also praises their ability to adapt to their rules and needs.