Innovate
We love solving problems, innovating and building apps!
We have a REAL passion for solving problems.
Social
These days we can't imagine our world without Facebook and Twitter. Social networks are now part of our
everyday lives from personal to professional and connecting our offline lives to our online personas.
Social networks are a great opportunity for both promotion and platforms.
When it comes to promotion, we don't call it marketing, we call it sharing. We help you connect in to
the social networks and utilize your customers existing social identities. The end goal is engagement.
Mobile
Modern applications and services are expected to be available anywhere and anytime, including your own
pocket.
With so many options in devices and the constant changes in operating systems, most find mobile a challenge.
Our approach to mobile is flexible and fast. We'll help you figure out the right mobile strategy for your
site or product. We can crank out native Android and iOS applications, build you a hybrid with PhoneGap/
Cordova or code you a nice web app with responsive design. We've done it all.
Cloud
Web? Internet? Cloud? We don't care what you call it. Web sites and applications keep people coming back to
the internet. We use HTML5 and related technologies to create rich, responsive user experiences (like
this site). And we know how to build and use APIs to maintain flexibility.
Cloud computing lowered the barriers and costs to deploy robust and scalable backends in almost any
technology. We regularly take advantage of Ruby on Rails, MySQL, Postgres, Redis and jQuery, but are no
strangers to Java, PHP, Web Sockets, Node.js and others.
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Deliver
Products, not projects
Applications don't just get built, they require improvement to meet changing needs and updates to stay current
with technologies. We treat applications as products and help you iteratively determine a lifecycle strategy that
meets your needs. This is why we are big fans of agile methodologies as well as lean startup principles. As the
world moves fast, we need to produce measurable results just as fast. And we are all about results.
Kick-Off
All of our engagements start with a simple meeting to set a baseline and agree on goals.
- We listen first,
- Then ask the you right questions,
- Identify the target audience,
- Identify what your product should do for the users, and
- Agree on the scope of your Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
Analyze
Thorough, but focused, analysis is the key to moving forward with any product.
- We break down epics into user stories,
- Prioritize those stories,
- Incorporate lessons learned from previous iterations,
- Identify metrics, and
- Decide whether to pivot or persevere.
Architect
Architecting a product is both an art and a science. It requires a lot of both communication and leaps of
faith.
- Iterate on the User Experience with wireframes,
- Iterate on UI and feature design with comps or prototypes,
- Consider, select, refine and the technology infrastructure, and
- Develop the deployment strategy.
Build
All the analysis and architecting pays off when it comes to building. Well planned products are smoothly
built.
- Identify top priorities for each iteration,
- Develop code along with unit tests,
- Perform acceptance testing, and
- Integrate before testing even more.
Launch
We help you complete the technical and social strategies to make the launch of your product a success.
- Adhere to a deployment plan,
- Address the unexpected as quickly as possible,
- Promote the product through various channels, and
- Solicit feedback from your core users.
Scale
We enjoy scaling your product just as much as we enjoy developing it.
- Performance testing,
- Metrics analysis,
- Identify inefficiencies,
- Review user responses, and
- Set up the priorities for next iteration or engagement.
Communicate
At the center of every successful engagement is effective communication. Because our work is personal, we
don't serve clients, we build partnerships.
- We'll respond quickly and with meaning,
- Spend a lot of time listening,
- Call it like we see it,
- Happily go off topic with you, and
- Take you out for a drink (tea or beer).
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Team
Talent + Dedication
We are two people - a couple to be exact. We started Tapangi in the summer of 2011 because we thought
there was a better way to do business. The word “Tapangi” means to help (in a rare Palauan language). And that
is what we do.
Piotr
Piotr (aka Peter) is an experienced software professional with a passion for product development. He
possesses comprehensive skills in architecting, designing, building, launching and maintaining
applications. His broad experience with consulting has made Piotr into an effective technical coach and he enjoys
mentoring people through the software product development process. He evangelizes best practices (TDD,
BDD, CI, XP, etc) and advocates for open industry standards and open source software.
The non-geeky stuff: Piotr a Polish native with a love for languages and travel. He daydreams of opening
a scuba shop somewhere near the equator.
Liz
Liz is an practiced leader and a veteran product manager focused on web application development. She has been
guiding and growing effective product teams for over a decade. She has refined her skills in variety of
environments
including federal and local governments, the travel and marketing and non-profit to name a few.
Being an amateur developer, Liz has an innate ability to understand technology just as well as she understands
business and people.
Recently, Liz started organizing Rails Girls DC, a local chapter in a global movement to teach women
web application development with Ruby on Rails through fun-filled, hands-on workshops.
