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Online banner ads, Twitter and Facebook are popular platforms for reaching potential and current clients, but some companies are finding that there’s an app for that.

In its infancy, an app is an idea of how to help solve a problem or answer a question. Turning that idea from abstract to concrete is a process that requires time, patience and often a willingness to think outside the box, according to two local web developers.

Matt Dolan, managing principal engineer for KPFF Consulting Engineers, found more than one use for apps in his firm.

KPFF Engage, developed at the firm’s Los Angeles office, is a closed app 鈥� a user needs login information to access it. The app provides users with access to information important for annual meetings the firm hosts for employees 鈥� such as details about speakers, meeting locations and hotels and restaurants in the area the meetings are held, Dolan said.

鈥淲e used it for the first time last year when the meeting was in Seattle; it saved us from having to hand out paper copies of all the information,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his year the meeting was in Portland and it was easy to change the information and use the app again.鈥�

The other app was created in-house by Jim Fox, information technology manager at KPPF’s Portland civil office, prior to StormCon 2014, a surface water quality conference at the Oregon Convention Center in August. The open app provided StormCon attendees access to a map that pinpointed locations of innovative projects Portland residents have created to clean stormwater. The app also provided users with directions, via Google Maps, to travel to those locations from where they were.

Fox said he struggled to find a versatile platform. He first tried to do it 鈥渢he old fashioned way鈥� with HTML code, but said that proved to be a nightmare. He finally settled on GoDaddy, which worked best with laptops and tablets, and with both Android and iOS.

鈥淢y advice to people trying to develop an app is to budget a lot of time, because it’s going to take much more time than you think,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 also recommend they leverage any staff who have expertise or skills in graphics and web design.鈥�

Fox recommends setting aside plenty of time for beta testing.

鈥淚t really pays off to allocate enough time to test the app on several platforms,鈥� he said.

Tom Rebel, a partner in the Atlanta office of Fisher & Phillips LLP, a law firm specializing in labor and employment, said his company encountered the same issues when developing an app for its clients.

鈥淥nce you put the information in an app it looks different on a computer than it does on a handheld device,鈥� Rebel said. 鈥淵ou have to understand how it’s going to look from the perspective of the user.鈥�

Rebel said he found his clients were having trouble correctly tracking employees’ time off under guidelines of the Family Medical Leave Act.

鈥淔MLA calculations are far more difficult than most people realize; it’s very frustrating to sit with a calendar and count days,鈥� Rebel said. 鈥淲e had clients who were expressing frustration and sometimes getting calculations wrong, which is bad.鈥�

Two years ago Rebel, Chief Marketing Officer Kevin Sullivan and about 16 other associates at their annual policy meeting decided to discuss apps and how they could work for their law offices. That’s when they decided an app could help clients keep track of their employees’ FMLA hours.

鈥淚t’s amenable to an app because you’re just plugging in numbers,鈥� Rebel said. 鈥淲e thought it would be worthwhile because it does something specific and saves (clients’) time.鈥�

Fisher & Phillips had worked previously with Greg Fredette, managing partner of Portland-based Saturno Design, to design its website. Sullivan said that when the firm decided to create an app, officials asked Fredette if he could develop it. He said he could.

This app wasn’t the first Fredette and his team had developed, though it was unique because most of the apps Saturno Design develops are simpler and made to be used in-house for employees. There are four ways to calculate FMLA time, Fredette said. The app had to be able to crunch numbers for all four calculations.

鈥淭his was challenging because of all the options; there was a lot of back and forth between us and them, trying to figure out how the calculations work,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f I was to do it again I’d learn everything I could about all four methods up front.鈥�

Rebel said he also learned several things during the design and creation process.

鈥淎s a lawyer I’m good with words and the app people are good with numbers; we speak two different languages,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e had to be able to teach the developers about FMLA and what the rules are so our ideas could be translated into the app.鈥�

Sullivan said the firm has received positive feedback from clients using the app.

鈥淐reating this has worked to build goodwill between with clients,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat’s important when you’re in a relationship business like we are.鈥�

One piece of advice Rebel offered for companies considering app development is to make sure a problem is being solved.

鈥淎pps aren’t helpful if they’re just a catalog of terms and definitions,鈥� he said. 鈥淧ick the right problem that’s in need of a solution or it’s not going to be useful.鈥�