Akanza Sp. z o.o.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a CEO and Co-Founder at Mits - design & development house specializing in product design and web development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Akanza, and what were your goals?

One of our clients commissioned us to prepare a platform for automating cryptocurrency trading. Apart from the need to create the platform itself, we needed support in implementing the platform's website. Due to the full capacity of our team, we decided to outsource the project to Akanza Software House.

SOLUTION

How did you select Akanza and what were the deciding factors?

We met Akanza a few years ago in The Science and Technology Park in Lublin, where we had our offices. Thanks to the neighborhood we got to know their working methods and possibilities very well. When it was possible to subcontract the project, their proposal was the most advantageous in terms of price and implementation time.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

At the project initiation meeting, we discussed the scope of work and set precise goals. We delivered user interface designs for implementation, which we had previously worked with the client. Akanza first built a super fast MVP for the administration panel and frontend. According to this, it was possible to verify with the client and test the designed views on the target group. After accepting the MVP, we started building new application modules. In the last stage, we built a landing page based on Wordpress. We ran the entire project according to the Scrum methodology.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Four people in total but three at the same time. We had to our disposal Project Manager, Fronted Developer and 2 Backend Developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

After launching the project and publishing a case study, we got a few inquiries about new similar solutions. The client was impressed with the implementation of the project without delay - in accordance with the assumed schedule

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

We used agile project management methods. The project was divided into two-week sprints. We started each of them with planning and ended with demonstrations and flashbacks. Project Manager was in constant contact. We used Slack and Google Meets for communication. We ran the project in Jira.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

No delays in such an extensive project. I was impressed with how well the schedule is planned. I had no concerns about the success of the backend implementation, but the time when it was successfully completed surprised me positively.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Frontend tasks were not consulted on a regular basis and therefore required improvement at a later date.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am co-founder of Head2Toe, a social app for fashion and style that allows users to capture their style, share, and inspire. I am head of design, user experience, and putting the vision down onto paper.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Akanza?

We hired Akanza to develop our app in both Android and iOS platforms.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal for this project was to create a very solid first version of our app to grow our user base and attract seed funding.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We connected with Dr. Alexander Nawrocki, the CEO of Airspeed Equity, through a referral from a pitch audience member. We set a meeting up with Dr. Nawrocki and the rest is history.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we met with Dr. Rocky and established that his team was able to build what we needed, we signed a contract and began talking back and forth with the team members, specifically our Project Manager, Bart, who gave us estimates and timelines. The team was and continues to be very thorough with their work and pay close attention to detail.

What was the team composition?

We have a project manager that we use to discuss different features on the app. Bart, our project manager, is our point of contact for all updates as well as any questions we have about functionality.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The Akanza team created exactly what we wanted, and even went above and beyond to create a full-functioning and seamless back office to analyze and monitor our app activity.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We were worried about the time difference (Poland is +9 hours) but our worries were quickly laid to rest and in fact, it was quite beneficial with our schedules to work with the time difference. Communication was and continues to be very clear and timely.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

For Head2Toe, we were very impressed with the attention to detail that the team had as well as the small features and functions that had slipped past us. They brought things to our attention that were important and practical and helped us create an even better product for our customer.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Although no team is perfect, it is hard to find a flaw with this team. Their work ethic and expertise, as well as their pleasant demeanor, are very easy to work with and ultimately get you the results you desire in a company. Bart was named Project Manager for our Head2Toe project (his first project at this role) and we are confident he will only continue and excel with this position moving forward with us and with other projects.