Product Development for Connected Devices
Published May 19, 2023

Product Development for Connected Devices

Connected devices make for complex product development.

While mobile and web app development have their own challenges, there are many reasons why engineering connected device apps for internet of things (IoT) projects demand much more complex processes. Orchestrating cross-functional experts, using flexible and durable tooling, and navigating challenging internal environments are required to create new ecosystems. Working with a digital product agency who can complement or supplement your team’s expertise for connected device product development means you need an experienced and dependable partner. 

We’ve been trusted on a variety of large, intricate connected device projects, honing our craft through applied understanding and results for our clients. The outcome? We know what is required to deliver integrated companion apps so the hardware or device interactions your product is built on have a reliable platform to interact through. 

Developing connected devices takes a village. And we solidify collective impact.

Mobile product development for connected devices requires bringing together and orchestrating a variety of craftspeople to get the job done right. Industrial designers, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, firmware engineers, software engineers, UI/UX designers… Though all of these experts commonly play critical roles, providing a team that’s been through the process a few times and can bring some leadership has been huge for our clients. We’ve experienced success helping firmware teams that have deep hardware experience, but are newer to bluetooth low energy communication (BLE). We have the technical skills and experiences to coordinate and deliver systems that need to be highly resilient and work in challenging environments.

Expertise in the right tech stack for the right problem.

Township has built expertise utilizing react-query to engineer robust client applications that are able to artfully manage async communication in offline, online, and high latency situations. We understand the complexities involved in porting data from hardware devices to iOS and Android apps, then ultimately to the cloud with two unreliable connections between them (BLE and cellular data). 

Our deep experience with Elixir means we can build resilient, distributed APIs and backends. Elixir is simply syntactic sugar on top of the Erlang language and Erlang Virtual Machine. Erlang was built by Ericsson to be a resilient language for use in the telecom industry. We exercise this skillset to build robust and performant systems.

Navigating internal environmental woes.

Agency partners joining a client to build in a challenging internal political and procedural environment isn’t for everyone. We have navigated and weathered challenging circumstances with our client partners and discovered a strength as a result. Sometimes organizations need a group of operators that can simply get things done in challenging organizational environments, while others seem allergic to change or progress. We are able to produce change when even internal teams equipped with the same set of technical skills have been challenged. Whether we’re partnering with world class banks and navigating the challenges of security compliance, third party penetration testing, and security audits. Or, building for the medical space and adhering to HIPAA compliance requirements, interfacing with EMR (Electronic Medical Records)—where rigorous engineering effort is required, we’re a good match.

We’re experienced connected device engineers and designers.

We’ve intentionally taken on complicated projects that others might shy away from in order to earn expertise in hardware and connected mobile applications. Uniquely, our team of engineers and designers work together to carry the back-end experience through to the user interface. We work to uncover pain points and actively challenge assumptions to align us on basic end user needs and functionality. Then, we break the work into manageable pieces and utilize a mix of proven design patterns and visual treatments to design in sprints with engineering feedback along the way. The output is an elegant and easy to use connected device product with deep consideration for both user experience and company goals.

No matter the stage, industry, or challenging circumstance—we’d relish a shot at showing you how we can help with connected device product work.

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