"A small team of A+ players can run circles around a giant team of B and C players." - Steve Jobs
Stratosphere Digital is a small, elite team of digital experts, helping companies large and small tackle design and technical challenges quickly and effectively.
Our Clients
We helped build and maintain custom back-end systems and a
responsive website and web app for Emulate, a Boston-based company that specializes in
Organs-on-Chips technology.
We built a website, a cross-platform app, and custom internal
systems for a full-service online
pharmacy.
We designed and developed a new website for a business communication platform. We also redesigned their web and mobile apps and produced a pitch deck and a promotional video.
We redesigned an international healthcare access company’s digital tool suite for physicians, pharmacists,
patients,
and large healthcare organizations.
More Work
We developed custom internal data and reporting systems for a worldwide fitness brand comprising
70+ studios around the globe.
We built an iOS app and redesigned a web app for an online
presentation and collaboration tool.
We rebuilt a website and web app that provides video-based
training for Android developers.
We redesigned a custom web and mobile app for the #1 microlearning platform for trainers and
companies.
We built a website, a web app, and custom internal systems for a food delivery startup.
We helped redesign a web app built for property managers to simplify sales, streamline operations, and scale
their
businesses.
We redesigned a fleet management web app and route-planning mobile app for a service that optimizes delivery
routes.
We developed new features and performed maintenance for the first ever medical alert Apple Watch app.
We helped build custom web and mobile apps for an online fitness startup.
We redesigned an enterprise voicemail system and a compact VoIP virtual business phone.
We redesigned a suite of product icons for a leading provider of mobile privacy, security, and
performance apps.
ShopTwigs
We built a responsive fashion boutique eCommerce website.
Web Video Caster
We redesigned an app that streams web videos to your TV.
Ping
We designed an iOS app for the world's smallest GPS locator.
Agora
We built a browser extension to improve online shopping.
Cookicons
We design the best Material Design app icons.
Papermill Collective
We designed a website for Material Design freelancers.
Our Services
Our services include, but are not limited to:
Development
PHP
Node.js
Meteor
Python
Ruby
JavaScript (ES6/7, CoffeeScript, TypeScript)
Angular
React
HTML5
CSS (Stylus, Sass)
AJAX, WebSockets
MongoDB
MySQL
Cordova
AWS
C#
C/C++
Java
Objective-C
Swift
QS/1, HL7, HIPAA
React Native
iOS
Android
eCommerce
Architecture design
Technical documentation
Performance and optimization
Code reviews
Product analytics
Design
Web
Mobile
UI/UX
Iconography
Illustrations
Prototyping
Want to see what a final design deliverable looks like?
Project Management
Specification documents
Feature definition
Project guidance
Idea review
Budgets and timelines
Team coordination
User testing
Technical training
Testimonials
What our clients have to say
Working with Stratosphere Digital on our website and app UI/UX redesign has been a great experience...
Working with Stratosphere Digital has been downright incredible...
The Stratosphere Digital team has demonstrated strong teamwork and the
technical capabilities necessary to help us accomplish our goals...
Working with Michael and Stratosphere Digital was a great experience...
Stratosphere's work is precise, elegant, and always well thought through...
Working with the Stratosphere team was an absolute pleasure...
Working with Stratosphere Digital was a great experience...
We consider discovering Stratosphere one of the best breaks we've had thus far...
Stratosphere successfully executed on tasks that other developers didn't even think were possible...
Stratosphere Digital demonstrated that they were the elite group I'd been looking for...
I highly recommend Stratosphere's team...
Stratosphere produces and provides excellent value...
The Founding Team
Eliyah Finkelstein
Manager
Jonathan Cook
Developer
Michael Cook
Designer
Who are you?
Hi, I’m Eliyah (pronounced El-ee-yuh).
What would you like to know about me?
Where do you live?
What do you like to do in your spare time?
What’s your favorite food?
Where are some cool places you’ve traveled?
What project management tools do you use?
Do you have any pets?
What books do you recommend?
If you could be hugged by anyone in the world, whom would you choose?
Who are you?
Hi, I’m Jonathan.
What would you like to know about me?
Where do you live?
What’s your favorite tech stack?
How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
If you could be hugged by anyone in the world, whom would you choose?
Who are you?
Hi, I’m Michael.
What would you like to know about me?
How do you start your day?
What’s your design stack?
What books do you recommend?
Have you had any other careers in life?
What’s your favorite artistic medium?
What hobbies do you have?
If you could be hugged by anyone in the world, whom would you choose?
Why are you living in a small town in Iowa?
Our Blog
Eliyah Finkelstein
6 Questions You Should Ask Before Working with a Software Development Agency
Eliyah Finkelstein
Avoiding Hidden Costs in Software Development
Eliyah Finkelstein
Why You Should Write a Specifications Document Before Starting Any
Software Development Project
Eliyah Finkelstein
The Importance of a Single Source of Truth for Software Development Projects
Eliyah Finkelstein
How to Maintain HIPAA Compliance in Software Development for Web and
Mobile Apps
We tackle design and technical challenges quickly and effectively, giving your business the boost
it needs.
If you just want a basic website, there are plenty of people who can help. However, if your
ambitions require a custom-tailored approach—or if you need a little extra guidance in figuring out your
ideal end result—Stratosphere Digital is the agency for you.
Don't risk losing your client's business because of capacity overload or unconventional requests.
Has an important client come to you with a task outside of your team's expertise? No need to
expand your team just to fulfill the occasional request—we're here to make sure you can always say "yes" to
your clients without stretching yourselves too thin. And you can count on us to blow them away with the
result, leaving you looking like the heroes they expect you to be.
Emulate creates living products for understanding how diseases, medicines, chemicals, and foods
affect human health. Their Organs-on-Chips technology, which places human cells in micro-engineered
environments, provides researchers with a new platform that predicts human response more accurately than
cell culture or animal models.
Emulate contacted us in the hope that we could add functionality to their website and web
applications while maintaining their brand standards. We’ve improved their website, built custom back-end
content management systems, built a custom web app, and created a robust design library with components that
can be directly pulled into their codebase, enabling interface changes to be immediately propagated
throughout their applications.
Supported Platforms
Chrome
FireFox
Safari
IE
The Services
Web Development
eCommerce
Architecture Design
Technical Documentation
Performance and Optimization
Error Reporting
Code Reviews
Product Analytics
UI/UX
Design System
The Stack
AWS
WP Engine
PHP
JavaScript
Node.js
Vue.js
React
HTML/CSS
OneLogin API
Mandrill API
BigCommerce API
Zendesk API
Sketch
Abstract
The Website and Back-end Systems
A Custom Website With a Custom Back-end to Manage It
We worked with Emulate’s designers to update their existing WP Engine website by coding
pixel-perfect responsive front-ends and performing quality assurance testing on all major browsers.
Improved page performance
A new navigation menu
A new footer
Parallax effects
Scroll-triggered animation effects
We built custom PHP modules for their back-end to customize almost every aspect of their
website, minimizing the need for them to hire developers to make minor changes to text, images, animations, and
layouts.
The Web App
A Help Center, an eCommerce Store, and More
We built a web application that functions as a help center, enabling Emulate’s customers to
create accounts, review scientific protocols, view FAQs, submit and manage tickets, and buy Emulate’s products
through an eCommerce store. Additionally, we built back-end systems for Emulate to manage users, permissions,
and invites.
The Pattern Library
A Design System Built For Code
Working with Emulate’s designers, we helped design and coded a Vue.js pattern library that
enables interface components to be directly pulled into code. This enables a robust and extensible development
cycle whereby any interface changes can be immediately propagated throughout Emulate’s applications.
divvyDOSE
The Client
A startup founded by Dr. Arvind Movva in Rock Island, Illinois, divvyDOSE is a full-service online pharmacy that sorts medications into personalized packs and delivers them to customer's doorsteps.
UnitedHealth Group purchased divvyDOSE for just over $300M in September, 2020.
The divvyDOSE app provides a full-featured experience across the major platforms and browsers. We employed the Material Design visual language and a modular UI approach to quickly build a consistent, responsive experience that can easily adapt as the divvyDOSE feature set expands.
The app enables divvyDOSE customers to manage their entire pharmacy experience. Features include:
Medication reminder system
Medication adherence tracking
Online store for over-the-counter medications and vitamins
Real-time caregiver management system
Offline data syncing
Signup Interface
Calendar
Marketplace
Medication List
Interface Icons
We designed a set of custom interface icons used throughout the app.
The WebsiteA Friendly Smile and a Helping Hand
We designed and built a website highlighting the benefits of switching to the divvyDOSE pharmacy. The website is responsive and works across the major browsers.
Illustrations
We designed a set of illustrations to showcase the friendly persona of divvyDOSE.
The Internal SystemsBridging Digital and Physical, Legacy and Modern
We can't get into the gritty details because they're top secret, but building software that plays nicely with medical systems and industrial hardware is a tricky business. We developed divvyDOSE's internal software that interfaces with legacy pharmacy software, personal health information storage systems, and a pill packaging machine. We also built a custom labeling, shipping, and billing system.
Konverse
The Client
Konverse is an internal communication and productivity platform that helps companies reach their
employees in a timely manner, whether they’re in the office, on the go, or on the frontline. Their mobile and web
apps replace emailing, task management, shared drives, customer support ticketing, intranets, and more with an
intuitive, all-in-one solution.
“Working with Stratosphere Digital on our website and app UI/UX redesign has been a great
experience. Their design knowledge has been key to helping us implement a vastly improved user experience for
our clients that marries current design philosophies with the simplicity our users need. As an established
company with a large number of existing users, we needed someone who could ask the right questions, understand
our current challenges, and help us create a new experience that didn’t lose the simplicity and clarity of our
current design. The Stratosphere team was able to quickly get up to speed and become true collaborators in the
creative process. The success of our updates is in large part due to the collaboration, knowledge, and hard work
of the Stratosphere team.”
The Solution
Konverse’s app was considerably more advanced and feature-rich than their competitors’, but their
design was outdated. As a result, they were losing business to apps with worse features but better UI/UX. We
performed a complete audit of Konverse’s existing design assets and then developed a new look and feel that
maximized user appeal, intuitiveness, and discoverability. From there we designed and built Konverse a new
website, crafted updated web copy, and produced marketing materials, including a promotional video and pitch deck
template.
In addition, we redesigned the UI/UX of Konverse’s web and mobile applications to give users a consistent,
high-quality experience across their platform. This involved producing an extensive design pattern library that
could be easily themed with the different brand colors used by Konverse’s customers.
The Services
Design Audit
Style Exploration
Design Pattern Library
UI/UX
Web Copywriting
Video Production
Website Development
Supported Platforms
Chrome
FireFox
Safari
IE
iOS
Android
Website
We designed a new website with custom animations and updated Konverse’s web copy to reflect a more
modern brand.
We created a collection of illustrations based on a set of style principles and practices to use
throughout the site.
Marketing Materials
Marketing Materials
We created a head-turning promotional video by traveling to record on-site interviews with some of
Konverse’s key customers, and we designed a templated deck for Konverse’s sales team to pitch to Fortune 500
companies.
The App
We redesigned Konverse’s mobile and web apps from the ground up. And to save their developers time and
effort, we also produced an extensive design pattern library so that their team could easily code the new designs
using components.
Axios
The Client
Axios International is a pioneering healthcare access company that has stood at the forefront of the
industry for nearly 25 years. They tackle access challenges in emerging markets with solutions that address the
changing needs of patients, the pharmaceutical industry, and government and organizational stakeholders. Their patient
access solutions have been implemented in more than 100 countries across the globe.
“Working with Stratosphere Digital was a great experience! The team was always available, friendly and
knowledgeable about web and app design. There was never any problem, always fruitful design discussions and
creative solutions. Once the style exploration was finished and a clear look and feel chosen, the screens were
designed quickly and qualitatively. Overall, it was seamless and the designs were delivered ‘key in hand’ for the
dev team to implement right away.”
The Solution
Axios was preparing to launch a new generation of innovative digital solutions used by patients,
physicians, pharmacists and pharmaceutical companies involved in Axios-managed Patient Support Programs. They were
looking to enhance the UI/UX of their mobile and web applications, so they reached out to us to redesign their suite
of tools. We started with existing prototypes and explored style variations until we had a look and feel that Axios
loved. We retooled their UX to optimize intuitiveness and deliver an experience their users would enjoy. And because
we know what a headache design implementation can be for developers, we built production-ready assets using a design
system in Figma, ensuring that each piece of the project met industry standards.
The Services
UI/UX
Iconography
Prototyping
Style exploration
Design system
Supported Platforms
Chrome
FireFox
Safari
IE
iOS
Android
MyHealth for patients
The MyHealth mobile app makes it simple for patients to track and manage their treatment.
With MyHealth, patients can:
View their upcoming medication releases
Quickly and easily pick up their medications from the pharmacy
Follow their program application status in real time
Easily upload program-related documents
MyPatients for physicians
With the MyPatients mobile app, physicians can refer patients to a Patient Support Program with a few
easy clicks and then effortlessly follow up on their progress at their own convenience.
With MyPatients, physicians can:
Refer patients directly from the app
Upload the program consent form or sign it digitally
Track their patients’ progress in the program
MyPharmacy for pharmacists
The MyPharmacy app allows pharmacists to seamlessly dispense medications to patients from one
centralized location.
With MyPharmacy, pharmacists can:
View patients’ upcoming Medpacks
Directly upload receipts and other documents
Validate documents using the integrated QR code scanner or security code
See payments and reconciliations
MyPrograms for pharmaceutical companies
The MyPrograms web application provides unparalleled live data access to pharmaceutical companies,
reflecting up-to-date program performance.
With MyPrograms, companies can:
View up-to-date aggregated and anonymized data
View the number of patients by status in the program
View number of physicians or hospitals referring patients to the program
View product distribution by commercial type or number of units
Patient Management System (PMS)
The PMS centralizes the data from all Patient Support Program processes into one platform, while
optimizing stakeholder management and engagement.
The PMS achieves this by:
Supporting program management activities from patient referral to treatment completion
Registering the treatment plan of each patient and their follow-up throughout the treatment
lifecycle
Recording where and when the medications are bought, and automatically creating reminders and
recording where and when the patient will need to get their new medications
Building reports about stock in and stock out to help health center logistics
Automatically and systemically generating and registering release letters
Integrating adverse event reporting, ensuring compliance, full follow-up and reconciliations
Style exploration
We explored style variations until we had a look and feel that Axios loved.
Style 01
Straight forward, crisp
Style 02
Friendly, soft
Style 03
Clean, spacious
Barrys
The Client
Barry’s Bootcamp is a global fitness brand that delivers high-intensity workouts by inspiring
instructors in a uniquely high-energy environment. Since its founding by Barry Jay and John and Rachel
Mumford in 1998, Barry's Bootcamp has been delivering The Best Workout in the World® to a legendary
following, including A-list celebs, models, and even Olympic athletes.
“We have partnered with Stratosphere for nearly two years to improve visibility
into our business and enable our teams to make more data-informed decisions. Over the course
of the partnership, the Stratosphere team has demonstrated strong teamwork and the technical
capabilities necessary to help us accomplish both our near-term and long-term strategic goals.”
The Solution
We developed custom internal data and reporting systems for more than 70 Barry’s Bootcamp fitness
studios. We then integrated those systems with multiple fitness scheduling APIs, allowing for custom report
generation. This enables the studios to have daily and weekly reports automatically sent to them, rather
than having to manually create email reports, and gives each studio a clear snapshot of how they’re
performing across dozens of relevant metrics.
We also created summary reports for Barry’s executive team so that they can better understand
their business and make their important decisions based on real data.
Lastly, we helped connect Barry’s data to DOMO, a cloud-based data management platform which helps
executives manage their business.
The Services
Python Scripting
AWS Server Management
Custom API Integrations
DOMO Connector
Wecora
The Client
Wecora is an online visual presentation and collaboration tool targeted at creative professionals, particularly interior designers. Wecora helps professionals collect products and inspiration, organize jobs, and facilitate discussions with clients.
We built a native iOS app using a modified Material Design style that we previously developed for Wecora’s web app. Our focus was on simplicity and clarity for non-tech-savvy users.
“We consider discovering Stratosphere one of the best breaks we’ve had thus
far with building out the Wecora solution. After many discouraging, overcomplicated
and costly partnerships that lead to painful hand-holding and uninspiring results,
Stratosphere’s approach was refreshingly relaxed yet extremely productive.
We simply provided the walls in which we wanted his team to structure our
app redesign, then they took the concept and ran with it in a way that was
thoughtful and attentive to even the most minute detail. After working with
these guys, we are confident now of where to land our ideas and already have
several on-going projects in their pipeline!”
The Services
Native iOS Development (Swift)
Interface Design
Iconography
Front End
Supported Platforms
iOS
Chrome
FireFox
Safari
IE
Wecora Capture A streamlined iOS app
We designed and coded a native iOS app using the Swift programming language and a modified Material Design style that we previously developed for Wecora's web app.
Wecora Web App Redesign An easy to use, responsive web app interface
The main focus of the Wecora web app redesign was to transition to a custom Material Design style and to simplify the interface for non-technical and older users who had difficulty reading or finding things on the screen. We increased the font size, placed visual emphasis on the primary user actions, and were deliberate about distinguishing different kinds of objects within the screen.
In the demo linked above, you’ll notice that all interactive elements respond to the cursor with gentle hover-and-click animations, offering ease of use and visual comfort to users.
The redesign also accommodates mobile screen sizes by making use of Material Design conventions.
Caster.IO
The Client
Caster.IO is an education platform for professional Android developers. The company works with top
developers in the industry to produce concise video tutorials on a wide range of Android development topics
offered through a subscription-based model.
“I come from a background of mixed media and design, so finding a group that matches my high
expectations has been challenging. However, upon reaching out to Michael and the team at Stratosphere
Digital, I found that luck had finally paid me a visit.
I hired them to design a custom logo and redesign Caster.IO. From the initial video conference
consultation with Michael, I found his inquisitive, probing analysis of the project very welcoming. From
uncovering concepts, design considerations, user experience recommendations, accessibility
implementations, and more, Stratosphere Digital demonstrated that they were the elite group I’d been
looking for.
From that point forward, they continued to deliver exceptional design, front-end development,
and product direction that ultimately helped turn Caster.IO into what it is today: a learning
destination for thousands of professional developers. Stratosphere Digital worked within the product
specifications, stayed on budget, and delivered all projects before their deadlines. They continue to
deliver outstanding results for all projects we have requested and we look forward to a long
relationship with them.”
The Solution
We designed a logo and established a new visual identity for Caster.IO. We teamed up with
developer Carlos Jeurissen for a complete visual and technical overhaul of their website and online
presence. We created over 60 course illustrations, as well as a template for generating new ones. We
continue to work with them to design and implement new features as their site and subscription base grows.
The Services
Logo Design
Web Design
UI/UX
Illustration
Front-End Development
Website Redesign
New Logo
ConveYour
The Client
ConveYour is a microlearning platform that enables influencers, trainers, and organizations to
engage with their audience in a new and effective way—with personalized, bite-size content; mobile-first
courses and campaigns; and interactive challenges. By tailoring their content to the specific needs of their
audience, companies using ConveYour build a deeper connection to them.
“As a self-funded startup founder, I’ve had to get good
at wearing many different hats. For the longest time, the product
design hat was one I thought I wore just fine. Yes, user experience
and user interface design had always been an area of pain for our team,
but it didn’t stop us from shipping product. As ConveYour grew, it became
painfully obvious that user experience and clarity had to improve in order
to efficiently scale the business.
There was a time where building cool functionality and telling
people about it was a business model. Now there are over 7,000 marketing
tech SaaS companies alone. The customer has ultimate choice. One cannot
just compete on functional merits alone; the customer experience is paramount.
Working with Stratosphere Digital has been downright incredible. Stratosphere
brings a level of thought and earnestness to customer experience that I’ve never
seen before. Yet, their pace is fantastic. Stratosphere’s work has replaced many
of our okay product ideas with masterpieces that can contend with the biggest and the best in ConveYour's industry.”
The Solution
We started our work with ConveYour by doing an audit of their existing design and UX. From there,
we established a set of initial goals for a complete redesign of the Learning Portal section of their app.
We worked closely with ConveYour to improve the structure, navigation, and feature set of the product.
The redesign was not only an aesthetic refresh, but also the establishment of a growing library of
design components, patterns, and assets for use in the current Learning Portal. When the redesign was
completed, we worked directly with ConveYour’s developers to support and oversee the implementation. We
continue to work with ConveYour on improvements to their app as well as new, unannounced projects.
Supported Platforms
Chrome
FireFox
Safari
IE
iOS
Android
The Services
UI/UX
Prototyping
Branding
Themes and Primary Color, UI/Illustrations
Our redesign needed to accommodate and improve the performance of the Learning Portal’s light and
dark themes, as well as allow users to set their own primary color and logo. We designed sets of interface
elements that worked well in both light and dark modes, and established a balanced, consistent use of
primary colors while maintaining high contrast for key content.
Design Library
Underneath the new interface is a collection of improved and expanded design components,
navigation patterns, and graphic assets. These elements accommodate responsiveness and themeability. Items
in the library are then built out as Vue components, enabling ConveYour’s developers to jumpstart the
creation of new features and products.
The Client
Fresher (previously Fitness Ration) is a startup based in Singapore that prepares precisely calibrated, nutritionally balanced meals based on specific fitness goals and delivers them to customer’s doorsteps.
“Stratosphere worked to understand our needs and tailored a solution that fit perfectly. They helped us build fully custom software systems to run the entire back end of our business and also coded our consumer-facing web application to be pixel-perfect based on the designs we provided. I highly recommend Stratosphere's team if you're looking for a solution that requires custom coding.”
The Solution
Starting from designs provided to us, we built a responsive website to showcase Fresher’s beautifully prepared meals; an order wizard to streamline and simplify the experience of purchasing meals, user accounts to enable the managing of customer profiles, preferences, and order histories, and custom internal software to make processing, scheduling, and delivering orders easy and accurate.
Supported Platforms
Chrome
FireFox
Safari
Internet Explorer
Edge
The Stack
Angular 1/2
TypeScript
Meteor
Node.js
PHP
MongoDB
HTML5/Stylus
The Website
Starting from designs provided to us, we built a website that highlights Fresher’s prepared meal products, including an order wizard that takes the customer through a simple process to select which meals are right for them. The website is responsive and works across all major browsers.
The App
Starting from designs provided to us, we built a responsive web app that enables customers to create an account and maintain a basic profile, which includes commonly ordered meals, allergy info, and an order history from which they can quickly reorder previously purchased meals.
The Admin
We built internal admin systems used by the Fresher team to manage the entire backend processes of their business. Features include:
A dashboard with the most relevant information for the day, including incoming orders and deliveries
An order management system that includes specific details about each order and offers the ability to
manually add orders and export or print order invoices in bulk
A product content management system that enables the editing of meals, prices, descriptions, and
nutritional information
A fulfillment management system that enables the setup of available delivery times and dates, as well as
anomaly triggers that prevent the ordering of too many meals within a specific time period
An inventory management system that enables the real-time tracking of stock for each meal
A promotion management system that enables the setup and management of coupon codes
A strategic partner management system to manage permanent deals with other companies that resell or buy
meals in large quantities for their employees
LeadSimple
The Client
Founded in 2013, LeadSimple seeks to help property managers “tame small business chaos.” Their sales
and workflow automation software combines CRM, communications, and process management into one easy-to-use system.
“Working with Michael and Stratosphere Digital was a great experience. Michael is a very
knowledgeable designer and was able to transform our product from it's previous design into something that was
new and with more personality, but still familiar to our existing users. He was organized, made sure we were
kept up to date on what he was doing and was fun to collaborate with along the way. I would recommend
Stratosphere and Michael to any company looking for professional assistance designing a new software product or
app or redesigning an existing one. Great work guys!”
The Solution
LeadSimple’s team had begun overhauling their app’s visual design in conjunction with the development
of new functionality. We were brought in to assist their lead designer in both figuring out the new style and
developing new UI components and UX patterns around core functionality.
We started with a detailed review of both their existing product and the new feature documentation. Key members of
their team shared issues and goals that they hoped to address. With our support, LeadSimple was able to develop
and apply their new style and UX patterns app-wide.
The Services
Design audit
Style exploration
UI/UX
Supported Platforms
Chrome
FireFox
Safari
IE
The App
Sales and Workflow Automation for Property Managers
Relationships
Contacts
Settings
Deals
Tasks
Style Exploration
RoadWarrior
The Client
RoadWarrior is a multi-stop route planning service for drivers and dispatchers looking to cut time on
the road. Its apps combine custom route flexibility with algorithms that maximize efficiency and account for
variables ignored by other navigation software.
The Solution
Both of RoadWarrior’s apps, RoadWarrior Mobile (for drivers) and RoadWarrior Teams (for dispatchers),
had been initially designed by in-house developers. RoadWarrior brought us in to take their existing, disjointed
designs and create a more consistent, contemporary product. We started with a full UI/UX audit of both apps to
highlight potential issues and opportunities for improvement. We then revamped the user experience and worked with
RoadWarrior to design new features and functionality. In addition, we created screenshots for the mobile app’s
listing and graphics for its user guide and website.
The Services
Design audit
Prototyping
UI/UX
Supported Platforms
Chrome
FireFox
Safari
IE
iOS
Android
RoadWarrior Mobile
RoadWarrior Mobile offers route optimization for couriers, delivery drivers, door-to-door salespeople,
or anyone with many stops along their route.
RoadWarrior Teams
RoadWarrior Teams gives dispatchers a way to handle the complexities of rigorous, multi-stop routes
and optimize fleet management. With the app, companies can easily keep track of their drivers and update routes in
real-time.
Creating a unified design
Our challenge was to come up with a design that felt familiar, but better and cleaner. And while we
freshened up and simplified some of RoadWarrior’s previous designs, we also built on their original concepts,
fleshing out the style ideas they’d been aspiring to.
To reduce extraneous UI patterns and establish a more consolidated and robust vision, we first performed an
inventory of each pattern component to account for any edge cases. We then created a set of unified UI patterns
that could be used across both web and mobile apps, minimizing developer workload and maximizing the intuitiveness
of the UX.
FallCall
The Client
FallCall is a Connecticut-based startup founded by physicians who wanted to provide elders and their
caregivers with an alternative to the bulky (and often stigmatized) “help button.” They offer simple, downloadable
monitoring and communication systems for mobile devices.
“Working with the Stratosphere team was an absolute pleasure. Their understanding of iOS and WatchOS
is world class and their ability to tackle challenges on each of these platforms led to app performance
enhancements that were greatly appreciated by our management team and our users. Both Jonathan and Eliyah are
readily accessible and personable regardless of the problem. I highly recommend Stratosphere to anyone in need
of a highly competent app development team!”
The Solution
In addition to developing and launching new features, we performed ongoing maintenance, bug fixes, and testing for
FallCall’s iOS and Apple Watch apps.
The Stack
Objective-C
Core Bluetooth
UIKit
WatchKit
StoreKit
The App
A Standalone iOS App and WatchOS App That Work Together to Provide:
Voice-activated Help Calls using Siri Shortcuts on Apple Watch, iPhone & HomePod
Caregiver system that sends notifications if emergency services are called, a fall is detected, or
the elder’s heart rate becomes abnormally high or low
Elder GPS location & heart rate data during Help Calls
24/7 central monitoring service staffed by trained emergency medical dispatchers
Real-time electronic text updates for all Care Group members during an event
Call center system testing to ensure elders are comfortable using the app
Zingfit
The Client
zingfit is a startup based in Boulder, Colorado, that offers online scheduling and engagement
software for boutique fitness studios.
“After working with several other sub-par developers,
Stratosphere jumped into our custom and complex code base,
making changes and improvements quickly and efficiently.
Stratosphere successfully executed on tasks that other developers
didn't even think were possible. I highly recommend Stratosphere
if you're looking for a top-notch team of software developers.”
The Solution
We helped build and maintain the internal software that manages and deploys the web and mobile
apps of zingfit’s fitness studio customers from around the world.
The Stack
iOS
Android
Fastlane
Node.js
Platform28
The Client
Platform28 is a leading cloud communications platform used by government agencies, private
enterprises, and the nation’s largest telecommunications providers. They offer a range of services,
including cloud-based telecommunication software, professional support, and advanced APIs.
“Stratosphere helped us with fresh designs for our
iconography, UI/UX, and graphics, and did a fantastic job.
We really appreciate their creativity, intelligence, and how
quickly they were able to understand our industry. Stratosphere
produces and provides excellent value.”
The Solution
We provide ongoing design support to Platform28 in multiple ways. We create logos for their
products and services, design the UI/UX of their web and mobile apps, and create graphics for their
promotional materials and presentations.
The Services
Iconography
UI/UX
Print Design
Illustration
Promotional Design
App Design
Presentation Graphics
Product Icons
PSafe
The Client
PSafe is a global leading provider of mobile apps designed to protect people’s freedom to safely
connect, share, play, express, and explore online. The company boasts over 130 million installations of
their innovative privacy, security, and performance apps.
“The promise I made to my client is that we will be creative, collaborative,
and utterly reliable. Talent like Stratosphere allows us to live up to that promise.
Stratosphere’s work is precise, elegant, and always well thought through. Unlike many
designers who can make beautiful things but can't explain why they make sense,
Stratosphere always has a strong and clear perspective on their work,
which is appreciated by my clients and by my wider team. There will always be
room on my squad for Stratosphere.”
The Solution
We collaborated with Intrepid SF, a new agency in the Bay Area that was helping PSafe remodel its
brand architecture and revamp its visual brand identity in preparation for a major push into the North
American market.
Our particular focus was on refreshing PSafe’s suite of product icons. We merged two product
groups into one unified group and created a new visual style that was minimal, vibrant, and stylistically
balanced between the Android and iOS platforms. We designed a set of icons on top of a grid, with shapes
that adhered to a consistent set of style patterns.
The result was a reimagined set of icons that will serve as the foundation for future PSafe
product icons.
The Services
Icon Design
Twigs
The Client
Twigs is a fashion boutique in Madison, Wisconsin that offers a mix of apparel and accessories from top designers.
Starting from designs provided to us, we built a responsive website on top of the Silver Earth eCommerce platform to showcase Twigs’s collection of fashion apparel and accessories. We worked directly with Silver Earth to develop an improved checkout process, a user review system, and improved product pages.
Supported Platforms
Chrome
FireFox
Safari
IE/Edge
The Stack
HTML5/Sass
JavaScript
jQuery
ASP.NET
Silver Earth eCommerce
The Website
Starting from designs provided to us and using the Silver Earth platform, we built a website to make it easy for customers to purchase products, create an account with saved preferences, write product reviews, and create and share wishlists. The website is responsive and works across the major browsers.
Web Video Caster
The Client
Used by millions of people, Web Video Caster is an Android app that streams videos from your favorite websites onto your TV. Not only does it let you watch movies, TV shows, sports broadcasts, and live news streams, but it also allows you to cast local videos stored on your phone.
The redesign focused on simplifying the UI and refining the Material details. The app now boasts a distinctive charm, thanks to its friendly mascot and a series of illustrations to help users with the more complex elements of the app, such as error messages and the initial onboarding experience.
The Services
Icon Design
Interface Design
Illustration
Supported Platforms
Android
Interface Refinement
Harnessing Material Design conventions, each screen of the app was cleaned up and refocused.
Even the most reliable streaming video services can have issues occasionally. Personal and sympathetic messages, as well as illustrations with opportunities to contact tech support, help defuse frustration. Emotion-driven messaging and illustrations help defuse users’ frustration by offering empathy and providing opportunities to contact tech support.
Mascot
We designed a friendly mascot to help liven up the app, improve the onboarding experience, and increase conversions to the paid version of the app.
Icon Design
After extensive design exploration, we arrived at a new product icon that weaves together symbolism of Chromecasting, browsers, and video, while capturing the spirit of Material iconography. We made a careful effort to come up with an icon that was not too similar to the wider family of relevant Chromecast trademarks, but was similar enough to remain recognizable and familiar to the user.
Ping
The Client
Ping is the world's smallest GPS locator for kids, pets, bikes, luggage—or anything that moves.
We designed an app and validated its interface by testing a wireframe prototype with a diversity of users in the client's target demographic. We then used user feedback to design the consumer version of the app, including a logo.
The Services
Logo Design
Graphic Design
Interface Design
Prototyping
Supported Platforms
iOS
Interface Highlights
The app is designed to help new users quickly set up the Ping GPS device and sync it to their Ping smartphone app. Once set up, the app is ready to locate paired devices, providing confidence and comfort to users. The app design is clean and warm, with soft shadows, gentle color gradients, and bright accents.
Logo
The Ping logo establishes a visual link with the Ping GPS device and the Ping app icon. The letters have a consistent width and are based on repeating circles cut to different lengths, evoking a sense of reliability, friendliness, and simplicity.
Agora
The Project
Agora is an online shopping solution that overlays useful features on top of existing online
retail websites. We built a system to scrape the details of products across retail websites, as well as an
interactive Chrome extension that allows users to grab products right off the page from top retail sites and
save them in one organized place. This ambitious startup project is still in development.
Promotional Video
We worked with a video production agency to write, shoot, and edit a video to promote Agora.
The Stack
We brought together many different technologies to create a single coherent product.
Grab products right off the page from top retail sites and save them in one organized
place.
Get quick access to expanded product images, reviews and more.
Compare the things that matter most with a customizable fullscreen workspace.
Shop in real-time with and get feedback from friends.
Iconography
We designed a set of custom interface icons used throughout the product.
Promotional Material
We designed a series of promotional materials to showcase the features of Agora.
Web Scraping System
We built a sophisticated web-scraping system to accurately get up-to-date product information
directly from the product page being viewed.
Cookicons
The Client
Cookicons is an iconography side project of Stratosphere designer Michael Cook. He has been commissioned by a wide range of clients, including independent developers, non-profits, startups, and established companies.
Michael makes vibrant, high-performance Material Design app icons for Android, iOS, and the web.
Material Design is a visual style and design framework introduced by Google in 2014. It centers around thinking about interfaces as sheets of versatile digital paper that cast shadows based on their elevation.
The documentation for Material Design contains a section on iconography with brief guidelines for sizing, geometry, color, and lighting. You can view those guidelines here.
Michael's deep familiarity with Material Design documentation has allowed him to take it a step further with Cookicons. He has homed in on the spirit and nuance of the style and uncovered many details present in Google's icons but absent from the guidelines.
Each icon is custom made through a process that considers an app's feature set, personality, and competitive landscape. These factors are brought together to present compelling symbolism with strong composition.
In addition to carefully considering the issues of clarity and aesthetics, Michael performed icon A/B testing during the design process to achieve a boost in install rates.
The Services
Icon Design
Supported Platforms
Android
iOS
Cookicons Icon
Android Summit 2017: Adaptive Icons - Case Studies & Principles of Design
Droidcon NYC 2016: Material Icon Design Workshop
Papermill Collective
The Client
Papermill is a collective of Material Design enthusiasts who specialize in illustration; icon,
product, interface, and motion design; and mobile and web development.
The website is a demonstration of Material Design, a comprehensive design language produced by
Google for use on mobile and the web. The Papermill website meticulously adheres to the guidelines of the design
language, but also goes further with bold animation and illustration.
The Services
Logo Design
Web Design
Illustration
Supported Platforms
Chrome
Firefox
Safari
IE/Edge
Logo
The logo reflects the core concept of Material Design: digital interfaces composed of overlapping
sheets of digital paper at different elevation. Papermill strives to be straightforward, proud, and
hardworking, and the icon is desinext to function Next mark of qualit.
Illustration
Design Showcase
Submit the form below and we'll email you a PDF showcasing more design details from client projects
featured on our website as well as unpublished work.
After you’ve had some time to review our designs we will reach out to you about potentially working together.
Eliyah Finkelstein
Why You Should Write a Specifications Document Before Starting Any Software Development
Project
If you’re thinking about starting a software development project, this blog post is for
you.
You’ll learn why a software specifications document can make or break any such project.
Here’s the truth that most businesses don’t know:
Most software projects are delayed and over budget. Many of them never even make it to launch day.
Successful
projects can often credit their achievement to a clear and comprehensive written specifications document.
What’s a specifications document?
A specifications document is a detailed and specific plan of what you want to build and
how you
want it to work. Basically, it serves as the ultimate guide for your developer. Without it, a lot of things
can — and likely will — go wrong.
The importance of a specifications document
A lot of businesses end up hastily hiring agencies or developers to create their software,
thinking it will work out just fine to figure out the details as they go. It’s a common mistake to start
software
development projects with vague instructions, and one that can end up wasting a lot of your time and money.
If developers don’t completely understand what you’re looking to build, it’s unlikely that
they’ll be able to deliver it. This may also damage the effectiveness and of the software, and result in
significant
portions — or all — of the code needing to be rewritten.
How to write a good specifications document: be as detailed and clear as possible
Your software specifications document should be crystal clear. There should be no room for confusion,
misinterpretation, or uncertainty.
Since the specifications document is a guide for your developer, you need to be as detailed as possible.
Include
what you expect, why, where and how it will be done, and by when.
The key is to give details and explanations for even the simplest procedures. Your interpretation of
something might
be different from the reader’s. So, it’s important to directly state what you want. Put into words the
pictures you
are painting in your head. Once your developer sees what you want to happen, they can carry the plans out
accordingly.
Don’t be afraid to put in more detail if you feel like it isn’t enough.
As an example, how should a password reset feature be described so that it’s crystal clear? Here’s the level
of
detail you should be including:
Password reset feature
On the login screen, at the bottom, there should be a text link titled “Reset your password.”
When the “Reset your password” link is clicked, a popup window should appear with the title
“Enter your email address to reset your password.” This popup window should have a “Close” button at
the top
right. It should also have a text field for the user’s email address, as well as a “Submit” button.
When the “Submit” button is clicked, if the user entered an incorrect email, an error message
should be displayed in red below the email address text field saying, “The email address you entered
was
incorrect. Please enter a valid email address.” If the email entered was correct, the user should be
taken to a
new page within the popup window with a message saying, “Success! We’ve sent you an email link to
reset your
password.” Using the MailChimp email API, the “password reset email template” email should be sent
to the email
address provided. Below the “Success! We’ve sent you an email link to reset your password.” message,
there should
be a text link that says, “I didn’t receive the email. Re-send it.” Clicking that text link should
re-send the
“password reset email template” email to the email address provided using the MailChimp email API
and a message
should appear that says, “Success! We’ve re-sent you an email link to reset your password.”
The “password reset email template” lives in MailChimp and should programmatically create a
password reset link with random characters in the URL to be included in the email. When the password
reset link is
clicked, the user should be taken to a web page with the title text, “Enter your new password into
the fields
below.” Below the title text should be two text fields for the user to enter their new password
twice. Below the
two text fields should be a “Reset my password” button. When the “Reset my password” button is
clicked, if the
text in both fields do not match, an error message should be displayed under both text fields
saying, “The
passwords do not match.” If the text in both fields match, the user should be taken to a new web
page with title
text that says, “Success! Your password has been reset.” On this page, there should be a “Login”
button that, when
clicked, takes the user to their account page. At the top of the account page, there should be a
banner with the
text, “You are now logged in with your new password.” The banner should automatically disappear
after 10 seconds
and should also have a “Close” button at the top right.
As you can see, this is quite a lot of detail for a password reset feature. However, all
of
these details are necessary to impart to the developer in order for them to effectively implement this
password
reset feature, as there are many other ways this feature could work other than what is described above.
Takeaway: Write a specifications document before starting any software development project.
When you write a clear and detailed specifications document before starting a project,
you’ll
see a great reduction in errors and amount of rework necessary during and after your software is built. The
chances
that your software will be delivered on time and on budget will increase significantly.
That’s why we highly encourage our clients to take time writing their specifications
document
so it can be as clear and as detailed as possible. This should always be the first step of any software
project. It
can be done in collaboration with a software development agency, but it’s important to understand that only
you know
exactly how your software should work.
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Avoiding Hidden Costs in Software Development
“What’s it going to cost?”
We love hearing this question. Not because we have some bizarre affinity for the budgeting process, but because we see
discussing cost with potential clients as an opportunity to get clarity on project strategy. This will ultimately help
you maximize the ROI of your product—and it allows us to demonstrate our value from day one, before we write a single
line of code.
Some firms may rush or oversimplify the bidding process, which can turn into a major liability for you in the long term.
We’re not the experts in your business—you are—but often, we find that we need to recalibrate the expectations of our
clients and educate them on the hidden costs of development decisions.
We want your software to have the greatest impact it can—and to do that, we’ll help you budget your project to avoid
unnecessary costs and delays caused by technical debt.
Technical debt is the invisible, costly drag on a project resulting from:
Solving the wrong problems (e.g., over-designing and over-engineering)
Solving the right problems in the wrong way
(e.g., prematurely, or based on incorrect assumptions, accelerated
deadlines, or bad coding practices)
Technical debt doesn’t just lie hidden as cumbersome architecture in your software codebase that needs to be fixed or
worked around. It also affects your bottom line by way of project delays, buggy software, expensive rebuilds, and,
ultimately, user satisfaction.
While technical debt can be difficult to see, it can be avoided. First, ask yourself detailed questions about your
project—and make sure you’re being asked those questions by the developer as well (see our examples below).
In addition, if you have existing code, you should consider paying for a code audit. Any reputable digital agency should be able to
do this for you.
Here are some of the questions we often ask our clients before bidding a project:
What are the goals and necessary features of a minimum viable product (MVP) version of the software? (This functions as
a hypothesis of your value proposition—ideally, you’d get a chance to refine it based on real data.)
What meaningful data can be gathered from the MVP version, and how can it be used to refactor development goals?
What are the probable goals, features, and design decisions of an ideally finished product?
Do you want a web application, a mobile application, or both? If a web application, does the software need to respond to
different screen sizes? If a mobile application, should it be compatible with iOS, Android, or both?
Do you have existing brand materials, style guidelines, or design libraries, or do these assets need to be created from
scratch?
Will the design of the application be simple and straightforward, or will it have embellishments such as custom icons,
illustrations, and/or animations?
How will a user be onboarded to the application? How sophisticated of a user onboarding system is required?
What number of active users are you expecting in the short term and long term?
Are there any security or compliance requirements (e.g., HIPAA, HL7, PCI)?
Do you have examples of other applications on which you’d like to model decisions?
If you’re not being asked these questions by a prospective software development vendor, there’s almost no chance that
their answer to the question, “What’s it going to cost?” will have any real utility or reflect the quality of work
needed for a high ROI on your project.
Please don’t be fooled by a low price tag. Simpler and cheaper decisions now are
likely to end up costing you more later—and by later, we mean pretty soon.
In conclusion, while cost is a necessary metric by which to compare vendors, we also encourage you to take into account
which vendors are capable of giving you the highest ROI on your investment.
We take pride in our work and our ability to
set you up for long-term success, and we practice what we preach by helping our clients gain clarity around project
strategy and planning even before they’ve hired us.
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The Importance of a Single Source of Truth for Software Development Projects
Many software developers brief their clients on the significance of what’s called a “single source of truth”:
A single, shared space where anyone can go to get all the information they need about the project.
Rather than being spread across a number of different communication methods, such as email, Slack, phone, text, or
project management software, all the information should end up on one platform.
In truth, 90 percent of our clients fail to adhere to this recommendation a good amount of the time.
We get it. It’s such an easy and innocuous act to send an email or Slack message. And generally speaking, this
isn’t a problem. The problem is when information that’s critical to the project gets lost in the scattered messages rather
than transferred to the project management tool acting as the single source of truth.
So why do we swim upstream against such a pervasive behavioral norm? Is it really worth the hassle for our clients and
us to stick to a single source of truth?
The answer is yes—and we do this more for your benefit than ours.
For many years, we’ve tried it both ways—and after much trial and error, we’re convinced that sticking to a single
source of truth is in your best interest. Doing so can help you avoid a number of hidden costs, such as:
Miscommunication or misinterpretation
Unanswered questions that get lost in the noise
Repetition of clarifying questions
Unchecked assumptions
Wasted time waiting for answers
Lack of clarity about who is responsible for what
Unnecessary task switching
Frustration from having to search through massive email or Slack threads to find crucial information
General confusion and headache
All of this reduces efficiency and effectiveness, and costs you time and money. And it makes the whole project
frustrating to work on for everyone.
Software developers often speak about the need to immerse themselves and “get in the zone” when writing code in order to
be maximally efficient and effective, which is difficult to do when they’re required to switch between technical and
social tasks.
Having all of the information needed for a particular task in one place makes it much easier for a
developer to get in the zone and write high-quality code.
Derailments from a single source of truth are bound to happen—but they’re easy to fix.
A few derailments are inevitable, especially when initially trying to get a client to stick to a single source of truth.
Typically, such a derailment takes the form of a long email thread or Slack discussion.
Once you realize it’s happened,
immediately translate that communication back to the project management tool acting as the single source of truth and
tag the relevant parties so that they can continue their discussion inside the project management tool.
This simple act will make it clear to everyone involved that all crucial information must be transmitted via the single source of truth.
Our goal is to make your job as easy as possible.
We know you’re busy with many other important responsibilities. In addition to saving you time and money, we want to
make your experience with us overwhelmingly positive and easy.
Software development that is poorly managed can be such a
thorn due to delays, unexpected costs, and/or low-quality final code. We believe introducing you to a single source of
truth is one of the most important things we can do to make your experience as smooth and streamlined as possible.
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6 Questions You Should Ask Before Working with a Software Development Agency
Building software is rarely a simple task, and many businesses don’t have in-house
developers who can effectively develop and maintain the software they need.
That’s why many businesses choose to hire software development agencies to build and
maintain their software.
Why work with a software development agency?
A software development agency knows how to build software from the ground up and can turn
your ideas into software that is extensible and easily maintainable. They can write code that not only does
what it’s supposed to, but that also doesn’t cost a fortune to maintain. Many businesses don’t consider the
cost of ongoing maintenance and feature development of their software, which often ends up being
significantly more than the cost of initial development.
So how do you find the right software development agency to work with? Sure, it’s tempting
to just pick the first agency you find, but it’s generally a good idea to shop around before making a
decision. There are a number of things you should consider before choosing an agency to develop your
software.
Here are 6 questions you should ask a software development agency:
Can you tell me more about your agency?
This might sound obvious, but a lot of people skip this simple question.
Getting to know the agency you might be working with is an important step. It’s
the first step, in fact, of developing a relationship with them. You need to find out how their
agency works, how long they’ve been in the business of software development, if they outsource work
to junior developers, what they’re good at, and what they’re not so great at.
Can I see some of your previous projects?
Just like with any job, the hiring party should look for a portfolio or
compilation of past works to determine if the applicant is a good fit given the specific
requirements of your project.
You should look into their past projects to see how well they developed the
software and what the final products looked like. You should also try to get ballpark numbers
regarding initial cost and ongoing cost.
Would it be possible to speak with your past clients?
At job interviews, applicants are often required to submit character references.
This gives the employer a direct channel to individuals who know the applicant well.
The same applies when hiring an agency. It’s incredibly valuable to get insight
from people who have worked with the agency in the past. They can answer any questions you might
have, such as what it was like working with the agency, how well they communicated, how organized
they were, what problems came up, and how they handled those problems.
The benefit to speaking directly to past clients is that it gives you an idea of
the agency’s work ethic and general values, which can be equally as important as technical
experience. You don’t want to be working with an agency that might have very different values than
you.
How do you communicate with your clients?
Every agency should be able to give you a clear plan or technique for how they
communicate with their clients.
Having a software development agency work for you does not mean you get to sit
back, relax, and watch them do the job. Collaboration is essential, and developing software requires
hands-on participation from you as well. That’s why it’s important that you and your agency can
communicate effectively.
Asking this question will help you determine whether the agency communicates
effectively, as well as find out what tools they use to keep projects organized and on track. You’ll
then be able to gauge if communicating with them will be smooth and seamless.
Will you take charge of the maintenance of my software?
Software development is not a one-time thing. It requires regular maintenance and
new features are often needed after the initial launch. You need a developer who’s willing to work
with you in the long run. That means attending to updates, bug fixes, and feature enhancements.
It should be clear how quickly the agency will respond to issues that arise and
what guarantee they are making in regards to their availability.
Do I have full ownership of the code?
Employees of a company should always acknowledge that any work they do is not
theirs—it belongs to the company.
It works the same way in software development. Once you pay the agency, all of the
code should be your property. It’s essential that ownership of the work product is transparent.
These are just a few questions that will help you find the right agency.
We hope they’ll save you from the headache of working with unprofessional or inexperienced
agencies. Before you pick an agency, make sure you can confidently dismiss any concerns you may have about
them by asking these 6 questions.
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How to Maintain HIPAA Compliance in Software Development for Web and Mobile Apps
With more and more software applications being developed for the medical and health
industries, from modern online pharmacies like PillPack and divvyDOSE to Amazon Alexa’s new health care
skills, developers are starting to have to take a hard look at the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA) when developing web, mobile, or other software applications.
For developers, staying on top of what is required to maintain HIPAA compliance can be
incredibly overwhelming. The plethora of outdated and vague guidelines makes it all the more agonizing.
When we first started building HIPAA-compliant apps, we were stunned by the apparent
scarcity of information available from the software development perspective.
After having spent countless hours building HIPAA-compliant internal software and
consumer-facing web and mobile apps for clients like divvyDOSE,
SmartScripts, and Transparent Health
Marketplace, as well as other data-sensitive clients like Emulate, Barry's
Bootcamp, Zingfit, and ConveYour,
we’re confident that the information below will be a helpful starting point for anyone attempting to develop
software that requires HIPAA compliance.
A Brief History of HIPAA
HIPAA first came about in 1996 as an all-encompassing reform to the health insurance
industry. The bill has a whole section dedicated to the communication and protection of private and
sensitive medical data. If you aren’t familiar with what the software development and tech industry was like
back in 1996, here are a few facts to give you an idea:
Google was still just a research project at Stanford and was known as “BackRub”
Ebay.com had just been launched
Pokémon was introduced to the world
Only about 100,000 websites existed (compared to about 1.8 billion today)
A Brief Overview of HIPAA Compliance
There are two different components of HIPAA that you should be familiar with: the Security
Rule and the Privacy Rule.
The Security Rule deals specifically with electronic information and has set forth guidelines on how to
secure protected health information, known as PHI, which is basically any individually identifiable medical
information that is transmitted across any medium. The Security Rule breaks down PHI protection into three
different categories:
Physical – protections for actual physical devices
Technical – protections in regards to the information itself
Administrative – policies and procedures that help protect against a breach
While HIPAA’s guidelines can be quite ambiguous, the gist is that you’re supposed to “protect against any
reasonably anticipated threats or hazards to the security or integrity of such information” by, among many
other things, “implementing a mechanism to encrypt and decrypt electronic protected health information.”
This is obviously far from clear. Luckily, there are industry standards for HIPAA-compliant encryption used
by the major cloud platforms (Amazon, Google, and Microsoft) that provide a great foundation.
The Privacy Rule attempts to determine who's responsible for making sure PHI-related data is handled
correctly. Any company or entity that deals with the transmission or storage of PHI—not just health care
providers or hospitals—may be liable.
The Privacy Rule divides entities into two categories:
Business Associate – Any person who collects, stores, transmits, or maintains protected
information on behalf of a Covered Entity. If a person or organization does not provide a service or
function that involves the use of PHI, or has very limited access to PHI, then they might not be
considered a Business Associate.
Covered Entities – Health care providers, health care clearinghouses, and health plans who
transmit any health information electronically in connection with transactions for which the
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has adopted standards.
As a developer, you would be considered a Business Associate, which means you would have
to sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with the Covered Entity.
The Privacy Rule also mandates that Covered Entities provide their users/patients with a
Notice of Privacy Practices, informing them on how their PHI is protected. The regulations laid out by the
Privacy Rule are intended to increase awareness of PHI and how it’s used, as well as to give more control to
patients/users over who has access to their PHI.
HIPAA Compliance Tips for Developers
Please note that adhering to the points below is in no way a guarantee that your
application will be completely compliant. It may be best to seek out an expert HIPAA compliance consultant.
Offload Security to Experts
By using existing HIPAA-compliant tools, you can offload a lot of your security concerns.
The burden of expertise on HIPAA compliance should not be solely on you as a developer. Ideally, you’d be
able to work with a HIPAA compliance expert who would guide the security decisions for the application.
You’ll also want to find out what other regulations you might need to take into
consideration. There are tools available to help with that, such as this
guide provided by the FTC.
Avoid Handling Data Whenever Necessary
Try to minimize the data you are storing, accessing, or displaying to only what is
absolutely necessary. If you don’t need patients’ addresses, then don’t ask for them. Any personal
information used in your application should have a clear purpose.
If you plan to use cloud storage, be mindful that the transmission of data to and from the
cloud has to be secure. A BAA is also required in these kinds of situations.
Don’t forget about geolocation data. HIPAA defines geographically identifiable information
as any information that narrows a person’s location to a location smaller than a state. Geolocation can take
a seemingly harmless and insignificant piece of patient data and turn it into a massive liability.
Transmit and Store Data Securely
With so many HIPAA-compliant protocols and tools available to you today, there’s really no
excuse for not making use of them. If data is encrypted locally, stick with known protocols that have
withstood the test of time. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel, especially when it comes to security.
If your application sends text messages, be mindful that MMS and SMS are not encrypted
protocols, so avoid these when transmitting PHI. Also, push notifications are generally a vulnerable means
of communicating with your users. If your application is using these communication methods, be sure that PHI
is never displayed, as it’s just too easy for someone other than the intended recipient to see these
notifications.
Maintain Application Security
Consider all the different places in which your application is storing data. Backups and
log files are often lacking when it comes to security. If the app is consumer-facing, it should feature a
local session timeout which forces re-authentication.
The last thing you can do to be sure your application is secure and HIPAA compliant is
conduct security testing. There are plenty of tools
available for you to do this yourself. If you aren’t a
security expert, though, then it is in your best interest to seek out a third-party professional to perform
penetration testing on your application. Be sure to inform them that the application they’re testing needs
to maintain HIPAA compliance.
Protect Yourself with Insurance
If you’ve landed a project that requires HIPAA compliance, you probably have the extra
cash to protect yourself with an insurance policy. For about $2,000/year (the price will vary based on the
income of your business and some other factors), you can get a $1 million policy. To get insured, talk to an
insurance broker.
The policy you’re looking for is called Errors & Omissions insurance (E&O). The thing to
be aware of with E&O insurance is that they are Claims Made policies. This means that if you stop coverage
you will no longer be able to make a claim, unless you buy what’s called a “tail” or “the extended
reporting,” which is essentially just renewing your existing policy.
Maintaining historical coverage is important because it’s possible that years after you
last touched PHI, an investigation could determine you to be a liable party in a data breach.
Wrap-up
The guidelines set forth by HIPAA can seem convoluted and overwhelming, but by following
the points outlined above, you’ll be well on your way to building a HIPAA-compliant software application.
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