Mobile application development brings veterinarians into the digital age

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Client Review

Background

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of audience and technology for Brief Media, which produces clinical journals focused on the veterinary industry. We’re based in Tulsa, Oklahoma and have a staff of 50 employees.

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Opportunity / Challenge

What challenge were you trying to address with Praxent?

We had acquired the rights to a well-known veterinary reference book called “Plumb’s Veterinary Drugs,” and wanted to transfer this to a digital space for paying subscribers. This was our first foray into digital publishing, and we needed a reliable development agency.

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Solution

What was the scope of their involvement?

Praxent essentially built the digital space from scratch. We provided consultation on issues specific to our industry and they created a clickable prototype for test purposes.

From here, they created a responsive website to host the reference book’s content. They worked out the payment functionality, incorporating enterprise solutions with IP authentication, and built corresponding apps for both iOS and Android.

What is the team composition?

We meet with a dedicated project manager and a developer on a biweekly basis.

How much have you invested with them?

Post-build, we pay approximately $100,000 annually for site maintenance.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2013 and our relationship is ongoing.

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Results & Feedback

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

The app and website allows veterinarians to quickly access information regarding things like proper prescription dosages. We’ve timed users, and found they can typically find what they’re looking for in less than 30 seconds, saving them the trouble of combing through a hard copy textbook.

The design and functionalities met our expectations. We’re in the product’s third year, and 2017 has seen a substantial subscription increase, resulting in revenue growth of 72%. According to our subscriber surveys, over 90% of our customers report being extremely satisfied with the product.

How did Praxent perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been great partners. We communicated daily during the project’s development and continue to have biweekly meetings that coincide with their sprint schedules. We also rely on a ticketing system and have access to their developer should any issues come up between our scheduled meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve really come to view their team as an extension of our own. We recently planned our 2018 product roadmap, and Praxent really worked with us on ideas for optimizing user experience. They even offered insight on the business end, providing suggestions for subscriber acquisition and retention.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could have given us more pushback during the early stages of the project. We put forth some competing demands that slowed our otherwise efficient progress. At this point, they’re comfortable enough to tell us if a request will affect scheduling, but they were more hesitant to do so in the beginning.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

View them as a partner and let them in on the challenges you want to address. I never give them specific instructions for solving a problem. Instead, I explain our goal and let Praxent’s team return with recommendations for accomplishing that goal. We find better solutions when we work collaboratively.