Relying on developers is a thing of the past, with non-technical teams rapidly creating and deploying apps

“Fliplet helped us grow an ‘appetite for apps’. Their program is designed to jumpstart you by helping you with your first five apps - and that was really helpful to us. It was a great way to learn.” Ginevra Saylor, Director, Innovation and Knowledge Programs - Gowling WLG

Challenge

With a busy IT team that was already stretched, and projects they were keen to deliver both internally and for clients, it made sense for Gowling WLG to look at Fliplet. They were eager to speed up project delivery across multiple departments and reduce the lag time that can hamper innovation.

Another challenge was that the “low code” solutions they had used previously, while fine for the full-fledged developers in IT, were much harder for non-technical staff to learn and use comfortably.

“When you are working in innovation, you don’t want to sit on a good idea for long because you know that the longer you sit, the more likely it becomes that someone else will have that same brilliant idea and get it out to market before you do.” 

"We needed to find something that was not only really easy to use and learn, but also intuitive enough to not lose the skills if you didn’t have the luxury of going into it every day.” Ginevra Saylor, Director, Innovation and Knowledge Program

Solution

Once they began using Fliplet, Gowling WLG made rapid progress, creating multiple apps for both internal and external use.

These are some examples of the apps they built:

Country Desk App

Almost as soon as Gowling WLG came on board with Fliplet, their marketing team jumped in and created the very first app: the Country Desk app. The app catalogues essential information about Gowling WLG’s global network of referral – or “best friend” – law firms, allowing their legal professionals to quickly identify and connect with local resources around the world.

It’s an extensive, easy-to-use app, that gives all the details their lawyers need via their mobile phones and tablets. It also lets them email their desired contact without having to exit the app.

Virtual Client Engagement App

The next app that Gowling WLG’s marketing department built was in response to Covid-19.  With client lunches and other in-person activities no longer possible, the team sought to create a menu of virtual activities that lawyers could invite their clients to attend. This became a very popular app and included packages, prices, and the built-in ability to schedule events and invite clients. This app was also made available in multiple languages.

GoXL App

The Intellectual Property Group at Gowling WLG wanted to recreate the feel of the one-to-one networking they would typically do at international conferences, but within the context of an app. They came up with the idea of delivering five- to eight-minute videos on different topics as a way to connect and network during the pandemic.

Videos were filmed at home, giving them a personal touch, then uploaded to the app. People could also sign up for 60-minute webinars via the app, but the content was largely “bite-sized” with new videos and short articles

Return to Work App

Gowling WLG created a highly customized version of the Fliplet Return to Office app and tailored it to address a variety of requests from the administrative side of the business. Everyone coming into the office was required to use the app, which was updated to reflect the current “return to office” protocols. This easy-to-use app took people through a series of questions to confirm they were healthy enough to come into the office, and notified office managers so they could check capacity for that specific office location. This app is available in both English and French.

“One way an app can help is with scheduling. People will want to know who’s in which office and when. For example, if I want to be in on the same day as a specific person in my team, I want to know what days that person is in, what office they’re working from, where I can find them and so on.”

“We came across a couple of tools that advertise themselves as no code. Part of what won the day with Fliplet was the fact that I looked at it on a Friday, sent the link to our team, and that Monday one of them said to me, ‘Oh, I built an app  in Fliplet over the weekend. It was good - I think we should buy it!’  Of course, we did more due diligence than that, but that experience was compelling.”

Know Your Client App

This app is designed to help lawyers comply with law society “Know Your Client” guidelines. It provides access to important forms and documents, as well as useful resource materials.

Process

Gowling WLG has credited the Fliplet accelerator program with giving them "an appetite for apps" and helping them learn what works as an app and what doesn't. (There are still some things that work best as a PDF.)

Following on from this program, regular ongoing contact with Fliplet has continued to help Gowling WLG team members with app ideation.

“Fliplet checks in on us regularly, so we can bat around ideas, and I find that really useful. They let us know about new templates that might be useful, and we tell them what we’re thinking about, or problems we might want to solve with an app. I like that exchange. I’ve also become a big fan of Fliplet’s webinars, which I find informative and engaging. I’ve gotten great ideas from them.”

As with all companies creating apps, looking at risk, accessibility and compliance is an important part of ideation. With every new app, the Risk Department is involved early on in the process to ensure time isn't invested in something that will not prove effective. 

Results

The analytics across Gowling WLG’s suite of apps showed that over a few month’s period, there had been approximately 50,000 sessions, with almost 10,000 devices logging into the apps. This demonstrates that people use the apps and return - they’re not one-time users. And this has been achieved with almost no promotion internally. [Note: Fliplet can advise on app promotion if required, but it wasn’t needed here.]

Future Plans

With the world of work evolving, Gowling WLG has plans to create more apps to support a more agile workforce that splits its time between remote and office work.

In addition to apps that cover logistics, like hoteling and scheduling, they’re looking at creating an app designed to maintain the culture and social side of the Firm, even with people working semi-remotely.