Product Development
Product Development: We'll take your concept to completion
The Internet is an incredible powerhouse for disseminating ideas, community building, data aggregation, selling product or subscriptions - a sandbox of ideas that people keep contributing every day. Undoubtedly you have thought at one time or another about "Wouldn't it be cool if..." ideas that will change the way you work, help your company grow, make more money or make someone's life more managable. In other words, online product ideas to change the world ;)
Fuse IQ will take your product idea from concept to completion, and all the steps in between. Our team has been helping strategize and develop Web-based products and services since 2004, and many of our team comes from the rich startup community here in Seattle that was born of the wild west of the "dotcom boom" days. We know what it takes - we ask all the right questions and help you get the answers. We have helped many companies and organizations develop their online products from scratch to Beta to full production.
Process
Our process has grown out of example and observing what works and what doesn't. Our team will walk you through these necessary discussions and exercises:
- Concept Analysis for Market Viability
- Competitive Market Research
- Concept Visioneering
- Funding Strategies
- Technology Options
- Development & Release Strategies
- Design & Development
- Deck Creation for Granting and/or Pitching
Examples
In Our Back Yards (www.ioby.org): This team of environmentalists approached us with an idea, a business plan, to create a website that allowed individuals or teams to fundraise for neighborhood projects. We helped finalize their vision, technical workflow, architecture, initial branding and design and built the Beta using Drupal with Ubercart (shopping cart). Fuse IQ donated over 80 hours of pro bono work because we felt so strongly this product concept needed to come to life. This accumulated startup effort allowed IOBY to prove their concept and pitch to funders. The site is now launched across the country.
InsideTrip (www.insidetrip.com): We were approached by a veteran in the airline pricing industry to help bring his vision - of revolutionizing the way people shop for and select flights - to reality. Based upon manual and automated data aggregation we created an online service that defined flights based upon 13 variables (like time from gate to gate, layovers, seat room, airplane age...) to create a Trip Quality Score. Using LAMP technologies, custom databases and through leveraging AJAX we created the Beta version of this very interesting product, as well as designed the branding and website. Take a look at this article from NY Times, and CNN Video that talk about InsideTrip.
The Learning Monitor (private Beta): Dr. Stephen McGee, a research professor of Northwestern University, approached Fuse IQ with an idea that had been growing for a number of years: he could not find a simple and effective way to develop and manage curriculum online and could he design a better way to do it? There are other tools available, yet they were proprietary, or lacking in key functionality. Over the last 1.5 years we have been working with Dr. McGee in developing the Learning Monitor - a curriculum building tool using Drupal. Using this tool, teachers can create their own questions and topics and add to a pool or keep them private. Teachers can assign students to take tests built within the tool and monitor their student activities. Using an agile development process, we collaborate regularly with Dr. McGee as more grant funding comes available.
United Nations Development Programme Climate Change Projects Map (Currently under redevelopment): In preparation for the 2009 United Nations Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, UNDP needed a way to publish the 800+ projects relating to Climate Change they were sponsoring. UNDP in NYC worked with Fuse IQ in Seattle to strategize and create a Google Maps + Drupal solution. We developed a method for viewers to click a (custom) pin in a country, or defined region and have a modal window show the list of projects and topic areas they covered. One would click ont he project to view the project details. Viewers had a custom search function as well as reports they could download. This would mark the first time ever where the public could view all the various initiatives and projects coming through the United Nations and her partners to help educate on and curb the effects of climate change globally and regionally. The map was such a success UNDP recently has contracted Fuse IQ to develop a new and enhanced version!
Other online products we have produced:
Feeding America Capacity Assessment Tool »
UW Department of Global Health TrainSMART Training Management Tool »
Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Circulator Fraud Detection System (description coming soon)
For more on what we can do for you, check out our Services or contact us. We’d love to talk with you about your product idea!