Response to RFP:
Crowdsourcing Transportation Solution
Example
A. Executive summary
We would like to thank X company for providing us with the opportunity to respond with a
proposal for the Crowdsourcing transportation solution development services. We understand
this is a competitive process and that X company is searching for the right partner to provide
best practices, excellent technology and support services expertise while leveraging broad
technology and cost-saving experience in guiding X company through this project.
Summarizing the document, please find the proposal’s key concepts below :
● X
company is seeking a vendor to design and develop a solution to enable users and
owners of large vehicles to find each other and collaborate for moving large items from
one locationto another.
● The solution will comprise of three components:
○ A mobile app (iOS) for company clients and drivers
○ A custom website and landing page, integrated with the web administrator
application
○ A cloud-based web application for collecting, storing and managing user data, as
well as managing website content
● We are sure that we possess the experience, skills and commitment to undertake this
project in approximately 3 months.
● The provisional cost of services is estimated from $XX,XXX with +/- 15% possible
variation, and breaks down into:
○ WebSite, Landing and Content pages $X,XXX
○ iOS mobile app $XX,XXX
○ Administrator Backend $X,XXX
○ Project management and governance $X,XXX
● The services will be provided on a time and material basis.
● Itransition guarantees a 2-month warranty period taking effect immediately from project
acceptance. During this period, any defects discovered will be fixed free of charge.
B. Proposed Scope
X company is a startup transportations company, aiming to take the market niche in the West
Coast states territory. Here at Itransition we understand the importance of such factors as time
and quality of approach to make this effort a success. Therefore, we’ve carried out a deep
investigation of project requirements, industry opportunities and understood that the fast start of
the application should include the most essential features that will allow the business to launch
smoothly, with the possibility to add more functionality at a later time, in thoroughly considered
and prepared steps.
The current proposal shall include the limited MVP functionality with a website, administrator’s
backend, and the mobile application for iOS version 7+ smartphones. We believe that the
proposed scope of features will be sufficient for initial launch of the product on the market.
Roles
We identified the following system roles with proposed user functionality:
Administrator: a company representative, responsible for managing company website content.
Managing application statistics, users, and driver profiles. Shall operate from a web
administrator’s interface.
Driver: an application user, has to register through the company website via a specially made
questionnaire. Approved drivers receive application credentials from the administrator. sers
access the modified mobile application interface with features needed for convenient driver
operation. The driver profile can be managed via both mobile and web.
Client: a mobile application user with a need to transport an item from one location to another.
Can register and manage profile using a mobile device or a web interface. Shall request
transportation through the mobile interface.
Administrator Interface
The role of the Administrator shall include the following:
● manage website, blog, and landing page content;
● manage Client profiles;
● manage Driver profiles, including submitted questionnaire reviews, approval or rejection,
managing payments to Drivers, managing feedback;
● working with statistics tools.
Driver Interface (mobile)
The mobile Driver interface shall allow the driver to perform the following functions:
● order management;
● transit management;
● profile management with access to payment information;
● alerts section, allowing to receive updates of new transportation requests, company
updates, etc.
Client interface (mobile)
The mobile application for the company Clients shall have the following functional modules:
● new order section, allowing to submit as many details of the items to be transported as
needed;
● payment module, where a Client would pay for requested transportation;
● transit module, allowing to view route, dispatch and estimated arrival times, as well as
contact the driver
● profile management section
● alerts section, with updates on requested orders and company services.
Transit List and Map View
The section shall allow users to view all historic services, and enter the details screen. The
details screen shall allow users to view the transit route, time the transit started and estimated
delivery. The screen conveniently places the driver information and the call-from-app option to
contact the driver.
Driver Profile
Tapping on the driver image the user enters the driver profile page, which contains relevant
driver information, including the most recent feedback from previous service users.
Ordering services
The user describes the item to be moved, uploads a photo, enters dispatch and delivery
locations and chooses the preferable pickup time or period. Then the user is offered a
confirmation screen with a payment option, warning that the system shall launch the search
when the payment has been completed. If a user has not completed the payment, the
application shall save the item for a limited time and list it on the Transit screen with “payment
pending” status.
Website
We envision the following pages and features required for the product launch:
● Application landing page
● “About Us” section
● “How It Works” section
● Pricing page
● Map showing areas of operation
● Blog section for company news, articles, and promotional updates
● Links to legal materials (end user agreement, terms of service, etc.)
● User account creation and account management
● Driver application area
The website content pages will be managed from the administrator’s backend.
C. Project Approach
The key ideas of how we will approach the project are summarized below.
Process
● Waterfall methodology
● Itransition will provide analysis, design, development, testing and post-release support to
X company
● QA testing will be provided by an independent internal QA team, while final user
acceptance is to be provided by X company
● The application will be hosted on a staging environment, and then provided to X
company for deployment and final testing on a live environment
Communications
● We expect X company to allocate a single point of contact to supervise the development
effort and provide subject matter knowledge to our team
● The person should be available during business hours Central time
● Certain technical support should be provided by X company for Itransition to deploy the
solution components into the live environment provided and publish the mobile
application to the App Store.
Technologies
● ASP.NET MVC technology is proposed for the Web application
● Xamarin platform (http://xamarin.com) is suggested for the mobile application to provide
native UX for mobile users
● The mobile application will be designed to run on iOS 7+ devices
We recommend using Xamarin framework for this project as one of the most cost-effective
solutions to develop multiple mobile applications for iOS and Android with the same
functionality.
Xamarin is a commercial multi-platform framework for developing native mobile applications.
The rationale behind using Xamarin to develop the apps is as follows:
● Native performance: C# code wrappers allow to reuse 90% of native code. That means
developers may use existing Google and Apple documentation to build applications and
utilize pure native features;
● Native look and feel: UI elements are native. They do not just emulate native elements
style and behavior. They are genuinely native and use all the native features and
settings;
● Platform embedded access to device-specific features (camera, GPS module,
accelerometer, etc.);
● Android and iOS versions of the application will reuse about 50% - 80% of source code.
This is about functional code and UI screens and controls. With the help of Xamarin
Forms it is possible to share UI definition across all the platforms;
● Cost advantages of cross platform technologies: every new platform costs approx. 50%
less than the previous platform development;
● Is a multi-platform technology: a multi-platform technology might be the best choice for
keeping the same standards of performance with native.
Post –release support
● Since the expected amount of support effort (i.e. support enquiries) is not known,
Itransition proposes to handle it on a time and materials basis, calculated on the hourly
rate and billed monthly
● Itransition will assign a point of contact available for all support enquiries.
D. Estimated Costs and Timelines
Itransition anticipates the overall project cost to be $XX,XXX with possible variation of +/- 15%.
The project can be complete in approximately 3 months.
Component Estimated Description
Costs,
USD
Website, Landing and Content $X,XXX A custom website and landing page,
pages integrated with the web administrator
application.
iOS mobile app $XX,XXX A mobile app for drivers and clients
Administrator Backend $X,XXX A cloud-based web application for
collecting, storing, and managing user
data, as well as managing website
content
Project management and $X,XXX Project management
governance
Total Service Fees: $XX,XXX
Please note:
● Costs listed are given for the services only. Travel expenses, should they be required,
may be billed as reasonable, accompanied by valid expense documentation.
● This proposal terms and conditions are valid through Jan 30, 2017.
Estimated Costs for MVP
This section details costs breakdown by specific project tasks.
Estimated Estimated Cost,
X company (Web + Mobile App) Workload, h $
Website: Landing and Content 288 $X,XXX.XX
Design 78 $X,XXX.XX
UI mockups and requirements specification 33 $X,XXX.XX
Visual design 45 $X,XXX.XX
Development 145 $X,XXX.XX
Content pages
About Us/Landing 3 $XX.XX
How It Works & FAQ 3 $XX.XX
Pricing 3 $XX.XX
Service Maps 3 $XX.XX
Blog page 14 $XXX.XX
User Agreement, Terms of Service 3 $XX.XX
User self-registration 28 $XXX.XX
User profile management
View /edit profile 28 $XXX.XX
Driver Questionnaire 24 $XXX.XX
Driver profile management
View /edit profile 12 $XXX.XX
View job history and payments 24 $XXX.XX
QA 45 $X,XXX.XX
Test documentation design 3 $XX.XX
Full-feature testing 26 $XX.XX
Regression testing 9 $XXX.XX
Cross-browser testing (latest versions) 7 $XXX.XX
Delivery 20 $XXX.XX
Configure live environment 7 $XXX.XX
Deploy web application in live environment 10 $XXX.XX
Final QA check 3 $XX.XX
Administrator Backend 204 $X,XXX.XX
Design 58 $X,XXX.XX
Requirements specification 58 $X,XXX.XX
Development 112 $X,XXX.XX
Content management system
Manage 6 content pages 14 $XXX.XX
Manage blog 13 $XXX.XX
Driver profile management
Review/approve/decline driver
profiles 19 $XXX.XX
Generate application IDs 7 $XXX.XX
Manage payments 21 $XXX.XX
(get calculations for weekly check
amounts)
Manage driver ratings 17 $XXX.XX
User statistics tool 14 $XXX.XX
Google analytics tool 7 $XXX.XX
QA 25 $XXX.XX
Test documentation design 2 $XX.XX
Full-feature testing (Chrome) 18 $XXX.XX
Regression testing 5 $XXX.XX
Delivery 9 $XXX.XX
Deploy to customer environment 9 $XXX.XX
Mobile Application iOS 7+ smartphone w
API 759 $XX,XXX.XX
Design 74 $X,XXX.XX
UI mockups and requirements specification 37 $X,XXX.XX
Visual designs Android, iOS smartphone 37 $X,XXX.XX
Development 534 $XX,XXX.XX
Core and initial setup 31 $XXX.XX
User Authorization 14 $XXX.XX
Password change/reset 28 $XXX.XX
User Profile
Client self-signup 47 $X,XXX.XX
View/edit 32 $XXX.XX
User Settings 13 $XXX.XX
Get User location 9 $XXX.XX
Google maps integration 14 $XXX.XX
Match locations 24 $XXX.XX
Create route/Get directions 28 $XXX.XX
Estimate time en-route 19 $XXX.XX
User alerts screen (timeline) w. auto refresh 28 $XXX.XX
Create an item for transportation
take/upload photo 14 $XXX.XX
enter dimensions 7 $XXX.XX
enter comments 19 $XXX.XX
Send a transportation request 14 $XXX.XX
Receive Job estimate 12 $XXX.XX
View Driver profile (ratings, feedback) 32 $XXX.XX
Reject Driver for ordered transportation 11 $XXX.XX
Leave driver feedback (rating, comments) 21 $XXX.XX
Initiate a phone call (using device
capabilities) 4 $XXX.XX
Working with client orders
View client orders list 26 $XXX.XX
Sort orders by distance 9 $XXX.XX
Sort orders by date 9 $XXX.XX
View order 24 $XXX.XX
Accept/Decline transportation
request 19 $XXX.XX
Timer start/end/record 12 $XXX.XX
Payment Gateway integration 45 $X,XXX.XX
QA 112 $X,XXX.XX
Test documentation design 5 $XXX.XX
Full-feature testing iOS app 60 $X,XXX.XX
Regression testing 26 $XXX.XX
Compatibility testing 21 $XXX.XX
Delivery 8 $XXX.XX
Publish iOS application to the App Store 2 $XX.XX
Final QA check 6 $XXX.XX
Project Management 150 $X,XXX.XX
TOTAL SERVICES: 1401 $XX,XXX.XX
Estimated Costs for Optional Features
During our preliminary discussions we singled out several features that did not get included into
the main project scope. Nevertheless, it was decided to bring the estimations for the said
functionality separately for the client’s consideration.
Optional Features Estimated Extra Description
Cost, USD
Mobile app for Android $X,XXX – $XX,XXX Develop a mobile application for Android
devices 4.4+ and Windows Phone devices.
The figures include porting the
functionality described in the main scope
Mobile app for Windows $X,XXX – $X,XXX
to Android and Windows Phone
Phone devices
platforms. If done alongside with the main
development process, it significantly
decreases resource requirements, which
translates into cost effective development
estimates.
Social Networks $XXX – $XXX Implies social networking functionality for
Integration mobile application users, with options to
invite friends to use the X company
application or service in social networks
Traffic checker $XXX – $XXX The tool can work using either Google
(considers traffic in map functionality, or another cost
estimations or proposes effective traffic estimation option.
alternative route)
Mobile advertisements $XXX – $XXX Integration with the most effective
platform integration advertising platform.
Push notifications $X,XXX – $X,XXX Shall include the following types of alerts
sent to mobile application users:
● Notify users of a truck arriving at a
certain time (e.g. in 10 minutes)
● Notify users that the truck has
arrived
● Notify Drivers of a Job available
● Notify Drivers of a payment made
by the company
In the current scope, the role of alerting
the user is given to the Timeline section,
while we believe that as soon as push
notifications are implemented the section
shall play an important role in
broadcasting company updates and
marketing information to end clients.
Estimated Delivery Timeline
The delivery timeframe for this project, which is estimated at approximately 3 months, is
explained below.
Project Activity / Timeline Feb’17 Mar’17 Apr’17
Website, Landing and Content pages
iOS mobile app
Administrator Backend
Integration and delivery of Website,
Publishing Mobile application
Team Composition / Hourly Rates
The following team composition and hourly rates are proposed:
Resource Allocation, FTE Hourly Rate
Project Manager 35% XX USD/hour
Business Analyst 100% as needed XX USD/hour
Graphic Designer 100% as needed XX USD/hour
Mobile Developer 200% XX USD/hour
Web Developer 100% XX USD/hour
QA Engineer 100% XX USD/hour
E. Improvement Ideas
Here at Itransition we are excited to have a chance to bid on X company project, as we believe
we understand the customer needs and are able to meet the requirements. What is more, we
are ready to take the project further with customer improvements that will make X company
stand out from the competition with unique services and service offering. In this section, we
wanted to suggest a few ideas that can contribute to further application and service
development. Here they are:
● Gamification for Drivers: rating system, virtual awards, top driver of the month, etc. with
percentage increase of driver earnings for such.
● “Where is my item now” real-time tracking for Clients.
● “Get directions” option for Drivers.
● Add the option to pick items at several locations or deliver to more than one location.
● Paid subscription for Drivers with which they get new order notifications first; are able to
search for orders in a different area (say, they have made a delivery and want to get
another delivery on the way back); special route planning options; additional options with
earnings display (say, add graphic representation).
● Advertising: can be added to most used screens, such as order transit screen for users
and new order list browsing for drivers.
● Bonuses/discounts to Clients for inviting friends.
● Add Apple Watch/Android Wear support, with notifications, animated delivery process,
etc.
● The onsite landing page and the in-app “About” section show total statistics of items
delivered and distance travelled by company Drivers.