An online, web-based app, card trading game that educates and professionally collaborates.
~ Dr. Deborah A. Gears, PhD, President and Creative Mind behind traitingspaces.com
Testimony by Deborah Gears
This story is about my experience with Creative Approaches, and I begin with a tale about myself to provide context for understanding.
I am a 40-year career veteran of computing and have worked as a programmer, systems analyst, software development manager, data architect, and tenured professor of information technology.
I have been party to software projects big and small, with outcomes both successful and challenged, and worked with a spectrum of knowledge workers in industry and in the classroom.
As a recent retiree from academia, I began my own business stemming from a successful research project.
During my first year as a newly dubbed entrepreneur I studied the intricacies of business start-ups, along with a search for a software development firm that would fit my needs and expectations.
I had difficulty finding a developer that could understand my requirements, and through a personal recommendation found Ian Caspersson at Creative Approaches.
To get started, I provided four design artifacts that we worked through to understand what needed to be built. I shared that our competitive advantage included gamification−the use of game elements in non-game contexts. We agreed on a cost, delivery schedule, and quality−I was anticipating a minimum viable product that would facilitate market testing.
Ian and the Creative Approaches crew worked independently and would ask questions as they arose. They offered design suggestions that would appeal to customers and inherently influence product marketing.
Ian quickly grasped the playful nature of our product and inserted gameful themes that aligned with our strategic intent. He would provide regular reports on progress that gave me a sense of calm knowing we were on track.
As you might guess from this writing, we were gleeful and surprised by the result. My team and I were gleeful because the applications performed exactly as we had wanted, working on any device, with a modern feel and without clutter.
Features were operational sending our salesforce into action ready status−something we didn’t anticipate.
We were surprised because we found features built into the products that we had not thought of but clearly needed, both administrative and customer-facing. During the first release show-and-tell we identified adjacent features that were subsequently incorporated into the product, without hesitation.
Our product is innovative. Ian and crew wrapped technology around it and created an engaging user experience. Here is what early adopters are saying: “I love this! It was so easy to open an account and start adding cards. I want one!” “This is so cool!!” “Navigating the app is simple, intuitive, and I like knowing what my status is.”
~ Victoria Rizzolo, VP of Sales and Marketing at Boolean Shore, LLC
