If you look for software developers online, there’ll be more than you can count. Standing out in this crowd is Remote.Online. An idea that blossomed in 1999, has achieved so much and more in all these years. Jeannie McGillivray, the Managing Director at Remote.Online, talks about how they’re making their mark in the industry and their future plans.

What inspired you to start Remote? Tell us the story.

Give us an overview of the services you offer.

We help teams achieve meaningful results by creating custom software that drives business transformation. Since we started in 1999, we’ve designed and built hundreds of websites, iOS and Android apps and turnkey enterprise-level online applications. We have also designed and developed carefully curated Virtual Reality experiences for iOS, Android, and Oculus Rift – creating immersive VR and 360 video experiences.

From our humble roots of website design, Remote is now a creative, dynamic and experienced team of world-class consultants, designers, developers and project managers, working together to continually research, evolve, innovate, design, build and implement scalable applications across all digital platforms.

What are your future plans for Remote?

These are exciting times for Remote. An incredible thirst for growth and focus to deliver truly impeccable work demands that we live at the edge of our comfort zone. Everything is, therefore, being re-imagined. Our management style, the way we organize our days, the vision for the company and each member of the team’s personal vision, as well the way we develop our software and manage our projects.

Before launching a software or mobile app or website, how important is prototype testing or general A/B testing? What are the best testing methods?

We have several approaches to prototyping and general A/B testing. For mobile apps, we often build basic prototypes using InVision, as it’s fast, and gives our clients a way of giving us immediate feedback.

Rather than A/B testing, we prefer the more Lean method of using analytics tools like Google Analytics and HotJar to see where our apps could be improved, and then make small bets on simple changes and tests, monitoring the results in the analytics.

Could you share 5 top tips with budding web designers/software developers that are about to start out in the freelance business? What must they keep in mind before starting out?

1. Make sure you’re clear about ‘Why’ you want to start out on your own. Money isn’t enough to keep your focus sustained for any length of time. Know your bigger vision.

2. Learn to value the beginner’s mind. No matter how good you think you are and what accomplishments you make, keep a thirst for learning and growth. 

3. If you start to take on employees of your own, make sure you get the ‘right people on the bus’. If everyone on the business isn’t pushing in the same direction, it’ll make your work twice as hard.

4. Keep looking at your business from an efficiency perspective. What’s slowing you down or holding you back the most? Work on easing that bottleneck, and then look again – repeat, often!

5. Imagine where you’d ideally like your company to be in 5 years. Once you figure that out, start working on it right away – you’ll find that your thoughts and ability to take decisions will change and it will help in your overall progress.

Given the dynamic landscape of web design, what are the trends you foresee in the web design space?

‘Progressive Web Apps’ (PWAs) are the next step in web development. In the coming months, we will be releasing our first few Progressive Web App developments. It will bring parity to the user experience, and enable those looking for a web solution to harness the functionality they might expect of an app. It’ll help them reach more users beyond the confines of the app store.

Why did you choose a .ONLINE domain name? How is it helping you develop a unique online brand?

We wanted something simple, yet unique. It goes well with our brand name (Remote), rolls off the tongue easily and most importantly, it’s memorable. It reflects the work we do, which all online. Remote.online was available and fitted the bill perfectly. There have been times when people have double checked if they’ve understood it correctly, but once they get it they love it. It’s easy to spell, memorable and relevant to our business.

“Starting an online business? Get your .ONLINE domain now!’