Citrusbits Uses Instabug To Collaborate With Clients

CitrusBits leads the field in user-focused design and mobile app development. With clients like Burger King, Quiksilver, Johns Hopkins University, National Geographic, and more, CitrusBits uses Instabug to create mobile applications loved by users.

Apart from its technical expertise, what sets CitrusBits apart is its close collaboration and communication with clients, which results in world-class apps. We had the chance to speak with Breann Johnson, Lead Product Owner, about their client-focused process.

“I really like seeing something built from the very beginning,” she told us. “It always changes over time and it’s exciting to see something come to life from an idea to a finished product six months later. And then to be able to give it to the client and see their excitement after working so closely together is really special.”

Objective

With a portfolio of 300 apps under its belt, CitrusBits expertly juggles concurrent projects for a range of clients at once. With product, development, and QA team members in different locations around the globe, the agency needed a solution to collect client feedback, get data, and streamline communication among stakeholders.

"We have multiple projects always going on with as many as 10 projects at any given time in various stages of development. Some projects are just starting, others are live, and a portion are warranty and support as well," Breann explained.

Challenge

For CitrusBits, app development is not a one-sided experience, but a collaborative journey that they embark on with their clients.

“From the beginning, clients have access to the app and we have them use it even if it’s just a login screen or it’s the very first, preliminary sprint. We involve them very early on so they can let us know any feedback, monitor any changes, and share new ideas about things they didn’t think about before,” Breann said.

Getting input from clients at each step is crucial to their creative process, and they wanted a system to make this quicker and easier for both sides.

“A big problem Instabug solved was our communication with clients. We'd get a lot of feedback but it was just a big list of unorganized and random screenshots. It was a hassle trying to figure out what the problems were and get relevant information like device and OS.”

Solution

CitrusBits incorporated Instabug in their process in order to make it easier for their clients to share input as well as to capture technical details automatically and keep all feedback and reports organized.

"Now, Instabug is crucial. When we start a project, we deliver an initial build to our clients and onboard them right away to show them how to use Instabug and explain that this is the best way to communicate," Breann explained.

In addition to collecting feedback from clients using Instabug, Breann reviews every build along with the CitrusBits QA team, and they all use Instabug to report bugs.

Results

With Instabug, CitrusBits can review builds, report bugs, and communicate with clients -- all while integrating with their other tools.

To streamline the development workflow, CitrusBits uses Instabug's automated rules to automatically forward bug reports to Jira.

“Instabug's integration with Jira has been awesome,” Breann said. "Our clients just shake their phones and reports go straight to Jira. We know when they report things immediately and we can get in contact if needed. We forward everything to Jira where we review issues and delete duplicate ones. Then we gather everything up, put them in a sprint, and begin working.”

As a result of using Instabug to collect feedback and bug reports throughout the app development process, clients are kept in the loop and stay engaged with the agency. “This setup has really worked out best for us and it makes the client really happy to feel involved as well,” Breann said. “It’s exciting for them to see the project start so rudimentary and develop into a completed project.”