knctrr

knctrr is a gig-economy startup focused on connecting people with side-hustles to potential customers through a trusted referral network. Anyone on the platform can offer a referral and earn a commission, generating a virtuous cycle for community members. The knctrr app also provides a secure platform for discovering providers, negotiating rates, hiring a freelancer, and paying for services.

The knctrr team had been in R&D mode for about 18 months before approaching SmartLogic to begin the application build; they had considered hiring and building internally but ultimately concluded that it would be too costly and time consuming. knctrr solicited proposals from a number of local vendors, and found the team at SmartLogic to be the best fit in part because of their quick response time, attention to detail, and consistency in delivering on time.

While knctrr had a clear idea of the concept, core functionality, and UI/UX look and feel, they worked closely with SmartLogic to come to decisions on tech stack and implementation details. SmartLogic was able to help knctrr weigh their options for decisions like what payment processor to use, whether to build a new chat feature or leverage a third-party tool, and generally to consider scalability and future-proofing in the app build.

Going through such a deliberate and robust design process with SmartLogic before starting the development gave us the leg up we needed to finish on budget and ahead of schedule, while managing to release a sophisticated platform that is compatible with all devices.

— Myles Smith, Co-founder & Vice President, knctrr

SmartLogic built a fully responsive web app and companion iOS and Android mobile applications for knctrr. The shared back end is built in Elixir/Phoenix and the web app uses server-side page rendering; the team used Web Sockets and Phoenix Channels for the live chat feature, and a Block Element Modifier system for styles. The mobile applications were built with React Native, and are meant as companion apps to the full web version; the team leveraged web views to extend the functionality of the mobile apps while staying on-budget for development.

SmartLogic began work on the project in April and the apps went to beta in June and launched publicly in July 2019. According to Smith, one of the biggest benefits of working with SmartLogic was the combination of expertise and how interactive the process was; he found SmartLogic to be very collaborative throughout the development process.

After early summer testing and the July public release, the knctrr team is pleased with their progress. They’ve had several hundred signups and have gotten positive feedback on the responsiveness of the app. The team at SmartLogic was able to bring them from concept to production app on a short timeline, crucial for them at their current growth stage.

2021 Update: Pivot to WeBirdie

knctrr has pivoted to a business-focused model under a new brand, WeBirdie. SmartLogic worked with the founders to adapt the platform we built for them previously to support their new business model, adding some new integrations and API endpoints as well as migrating a few features. We always enjoy helping startups to adjust based on shifting business climates, and were happy to support the founding team in the latest iteration of their venture.