Bixlabs

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The company is a human-centered design and design thinking company working primarily in the B2B sector. A lot of our clients are startups, but we also have B2C and enterprise solution work. We’re either working with CEOs of startups that are developing products that sell directly to consumers, or we work with companies that are building enterprise solution products. I’m the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bixlabs?

We were looking for someone who could complement our design expertise. We deal primarily with design, design thinking, project management, and product ownership, but we lack a technology partner. We’re based out of New York City, so finding talent is economically prohibitive. We needed to find New York caliber talent at a price that allows us to stay in the game.

Bixlabs helped us with the design and development of a brand-new website. Our client had internal resources, but they were all tied up in other projects. As a consultant, when a client asks us to design some specific elements of a project, that could also mean that they want us to design the whole thing including development. Having Bixlabs as our technology partner allows us to be nimble and flexible and grow according to our needs. We can continue pushing forward on our projects in NYC, but when the opportunity comes along, we know we have a very reliable and resourceful partner in Bixlabs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked with Juan and Nico [UI/UX Leader, Bixlabs] on the project. I was already carrying another client so I didn’t have the time to devote myself to this website project. I was able to give Nico direction in where my vision was and he was able to run with it. We would review his work every couple of days and I would give him feedback so he could continue on the execution side. I only needed to spend a few hours with the client on the strategic side and Nico would be able to execute on the tactical side. We ended up using a foursquare platform that was going to be heavily further developed in order to not look so foursquare-ish and to include the content that we were selling to the client. Juan was able to use his magic to make it perform the mission that Nico and I brought to the table.

How did you come to work with Bixlabs?

I needed someone on short notice and I found them online. I had some experience with European developers and had been talking to some of my developer friends. One of them suggested that I check out South American firms because they have good talent and they are also in the same time zone as New York. When I was searching, I found Bixlabs on Clutch. I asked my developer friend about them to make sure they were vetted accordingly. My friend, who’s a full stack developer, went online to review Bixlabs’ portfolio and he said they knew what they were doing. They can do frontend and backend in the right tech languages, so it was a no-brainer from there.

How much have you invested with Bixlabs?

We spent $5,000 on the project. If I had wanted to accomplish the same level of iteration and prototyping with local talent, the price would have been tripled if not more.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August 2016, and I continue working with them. I’m now switching my services to let my clients know that we not only provide design and design thinking, but we can also take their projects from concept to development. I am relying on them to grow our business. With their help, I’ll be able to grow into additional markets.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The website project was canceled by the client and was never implemented. We’ve now partnered with the CEO of a company that is looking to raise money. She’s speaking to venture capitalist firms and the investors want to know who’s going to build the project and it’s then that I tell them about Bixlabs.

How did Bixlabs perform from a project management standpoint?

They used a software management communication tool which was their own version of Slack. I have a very specific approach to project management. I tend to manage my own projects.

What did you find most impressive about Bixlabs?

When working with companies from India or Europe, there is a problem with the time difference. One thing that makes Bixlabs very favorable is the time zone they’re in. There were a couple of times I needed something done quickly and they did whatever they needed to do to get it done by the next day. That speaks to their level of professionalism and competence. It’s a huge lesson that you don’t need to be in New York to be a great developer; you can be anywhere.

Are there any areas Bixlabs could improve?

I would love to be able to work with them in a more Agile manner, possibly like Trello. They used their own version of Slack, but now that Slack is very ubiquitous, it would be advantageous for them to implement Slack with all of their clients or come aboard their clients’ Slack channel. Tools like Trello, JIRA, or Rally would be beneficial so that there’s transparency in what’s being done from a project management standpoint. Their English communication was excellent, and they also helped me work on my Spanish communications.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a business co-founder of Zlapps. We provide a Slack plug-in that allows people to create tasks, assign them to team members, set due dates, and get reminders, all within the platform. Our application is being used by around 60,000 teams.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bixlabs?

We wanted to grow outside of Slack and build a standalone application that connected to the existing backend.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Bixlabs was brought in to develop our application. They provided one frontend and one backend developer, as well as a UX/UI [user experience/user interface] designer.

How did you come to work with Bixlabs?

As a startup running an accelerated program, we had been given a set amount of money for working on our product and building the business. We were looking for a development team in a similar time zone to our office in Los Angeles, one which wouldn't be too far away from the US. My co-founder is from Argentina, so South America appealed to him. He researched agencies online, found Bixlabs, liked the initial meeting, and went from there.

How much have you invested with Bixlabs?

The cost of Bixlabs' work has been between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Bixlabs six to eight weeks ago. The application has been released to the market, but we are continuously working on it.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Bixlabs' performance is quite high, as is the quality of the work. The code delivered is quite clean. We have released the software only two days ago, so there is not a lot of feedback yet. What we've build had been a highly requested feature from our users. We have only released to beta users, so it would be hard to provide statistics. So far, they have been really enjoying the dashboard and the overall product. Our investors like our results as well, in terms of look and functionality.

How did Bixlabs perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Slack for communication and JIRA for tickets. We work on weekly sprints, and the performance of our developers has always been good. They have worked as much as was needed in order to meet our deadlines, including on weekends when we had a deadline for Monday.

What did you find most impressive about Bixlabs?

I've worked for an agency that had overseas developers. The quality of Bixlabs' team is high in comparison to what we had. They may have a better recruitment or training process, which resulted in better developers. I also think that their members are very experienced. We simply liked their skillset and the results of the work.

Are there any areas Bixlabs could improve?

I don't have anything.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder of the business. We are developing a dating app that is currently in alpha mode. I am self-funding and work as a one-person show, for the most part.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bixlabs?

I had wireframes for my iOS app, but that was about it. I definitely needed a partner who could not only build the app but also fill in some of the gaps I had in terms of knowledge and experience for launching the app to the store, making it secure, and so on.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I handed them PDF wireframes. Based on the wireframes, the team not only built my iOS app but also provided valuable feedback and advice. I've always worked with one project manager from Bixlabs. He used designers and developers as needed, with one coder working for me on a permanent basis. Bixlabs has also made tweaks to my logo and general design.

How did you come to work with Bixlabs?

I found Bixlabs through a lead generation source. I filled out information with regards to my needs and gave some basic information. I was connected to three different companies—Bixlabs, an Indian company, and a US-based one. I spoke with all three. Similar to a dating process, I found that Bixlabs was a good fit based on our conversations. I'm sure that all companies could build an app, but when thinking about daily and weekly interactions and who provided the best rapport, Bixlabs easily won. I am based in California and Bixlabs is in Uruguay, so it was nice to only have a four- or five-hour time difference depending on the time of year—compared to a team in India, for example. They've always been accommodating in making meetings work despite this difference. There's never been a language barrier. Bixlabs' team has perfect English skills, both written and oral. They've done a great job of delivering not only what I put on paper, but also in questioning me on what was missing or could be tweaked. I expected that Bixlabs would only build what I put on paper, but they have helped make the app better.

How much have you invested with Bixlabs?

The cost of Bixlabs' work was between $50,000 and $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with Bixlabs in September or October 2016. The alpha version is complete, and we're making tweaks in order to be able to launch a beta.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We don't have any meaningful quantitative metrics yet, but, from a qualitative perspective, the benefits I've gotten from working with Bixlabs have led to a great partnership, versus having only a vendor relationship. They are vested in giving me the best possible app and in giving users the best possible experience. I've appreciated the fact that Bixlabs has been willing to question me in a positive way. They've definitely helped us take what we already thought was a good idea and make it that much better in a collaborative fashion.

As a non-technical person, I found Bixlabs to be a huge asset and education resource for the things I needed to do and know in order to build and launch an app. They've helped me through many of the procedural elements that I would never have thought of. Bixlabs has offered different solutions for everything, whether it be security, hosting, and all other decisions that needed to be made.

How did Bixlabs perform from a project management standpoint?

I had a dedicated project manager whom I knew was my go-to person, whether it was through email, weekly calls, Skype, and so on. For the most part, we've had weekly calls since the beginning, which would vary in length depending on how much had happened in the previous week, what decisions needed to be made, and what we had to share between each other. We also used Google Hangouts for meetings, Google Docs for sharing information, and Instabug for capturing information from users and generating reports. We didn't use Slack.

What did you find most impressive about Bixlabs?

Bixlabs is a very knowledgeable group. They have experience in various facets such as design expertise or development. I found every person from Bixlabs to be knowledgeable in their respective field, and very reliable. No deadlines have been pushed from Bixlabs' side, compared to friends' projects that took a lot longer than anticipated to design and build. Bixlabs definitely cares about end results and are great at giving me extra attention and care, which can't be found in other vendors.

Are there any areas Bixlabs could improve?

I can't think of anything off the top of my head. I have collaborated and communicated with Bixlabs very effectively, and I have no complaints.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the creative director and founder of Active Color, which is an agency focused on strategy, design, and development for digital products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bixlabs?

We had been trying to find a partner whom we could trust to develop a heavier backend system and other custom projects. Specifically, we were developing a medical initiative system that would tie together hospitals and clinics. It would help schedule appointments for patients.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Bixlabs developed our backend and tied it with our frontend. We were developing the frontend and UX [user experience] portions as well as creating the graphic design. Two project managers and a total of four or five developers were assigned to our project over the span of a few months.

How did you come to work with Bixlabs?

We knew that we wanted to work with someone in a similar time zone, and South America is a more cost-effective development source. I'm personally from Eastern Europe, and I'm fine with using outsourced resources. We had previously used partners in Europe, but the issue was the time difference. We researched some options, and Bixlabs felt like they could be a good partner. We asked them about the work process and established good personal relationships with them.

How much have you invested with Bixlabs?

The cost of Bixlabs' work has been around $20,000, but we have an ongoing project so the cost will probably go up. We plan to keep developing the platform after its launch.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Bixlabs in August 2016. The project is set to complete next week. After the first phase, we will start additional ones in a few months. We plan to have a long-term relationship with Bixlabs, rather than a one-time engagement. We do have other projects in the works, for which we'll possibly also include Bixlabs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We don't have any data because the product hasn't been launched yet, but, in terms of subjective feedback, the client is very happy with how everything looks and works. We were responsible for the design, but Bixlabs also contributed some frontend functionalities. Generally, everything in terms of development, communication, and timelines has been great.

How did Bixlabs perform from a project management standpoint?

Bixlabs has performed well, considering our circumstances. We had a bit of an issue with scope creep on the client's side, but Bixlabs worked with us, making sure that we could still pull the project off. They're excellent all-around, from programming to project management.

We use Slack regularly for communication and use both Asana and JIRA for project management. Asana is mainly used for communicating with the client, while JIRA is intended for sprints and Agile development.

What did you find most impressive about Bixlabs?

Bixlabs' key strength is their personal approach and the fact that they also have a level of care for our project. Bixlabs is willing to go the extra mile in getting things done. They are flexible, responsible, and dedicated to the work. The resources from Bixlabs are all nice, easy to work with, personable, and friendly.

Are there any areas Bixlabs could improve?

It may sound strange, but I have no complaints or suggestions for improvement at this point, from Bixlabs' side. There are many factors to each project, but our curve-balls have been managed well by working as a team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The name of the company is The Digital Garage. We are a platform as a service company. We provide software engineers and software developers a virtual environment where they can build next generation applications. I am the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bixlabs?

Because we have such close ties with the software development community, and we're an online presence, we needed a top-notch software engineering and web development firm. I went to Bixlabs because we needed some support in terms of our web development and content development on the platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They're providing full-stack web development services for us. They're doing everything from the front-end development and design of the website in some of our web assets as they relate to our platform. That includes things like cascading style sheets, HTML, and JavaScript programming. As we start to move down the stack, they're doing more web application or application development in Angular JS primarily. In addition to that, there's some Python development that they're doing for us. They're also doing very specific work in Golang and the remaining APIs [application programming interfaces] around the platform more on the service side development. They're doing full-stack web development in a polyglot environment. There are many different languages and many different moving parts to the overall architecture.

How did you come to work with Bixlabs?

I found one or two of their consultants via Upwork. After I'd worked with them for a couple of months, I contacted Bixlabs directly because I needed more resources. I had a much higher level of trust after having worked with the individual consultants.

How much have you invested with Bixlabs?

The project cost was between $50,000 and $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

It's ongoing. I've just moved some resources around where I wasn't pulling developers in different areas, and I've moved that development work to Bixlabs because I'm extremely happy with the work that I've been getting from them and the way they've been supporting me. The work will continue at least for the next year if not more. I have absolutely every intention of keeping Bixlabs on the project. We started in March 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Because we're a small startup, I can tell you that the folks that we work with at Bixlabs work with just about every employee that I have. All of my employees are extremely satisfied with Bixlabs – to the extent that many of the suggestions that I received in terms of moving the work to Bixlabs exclusively came from other employees of the company. Everybody anecdotally is extremely happy with Bixlabs.

How did Bixlabs perform from a project management standpoint?

They did very well. We're a small team, and I'm primarily in charge of project management. We do manage a Kanban board and use user stories, but much of the communication around the project is very informal and very agile. While that has been challenging to Bixlabs, the guys have been able to fit into that very well. In places where we need rigor, they have added that rigor on their own. I've appreciated that considerably.

What did you find most impressive about Bixlabs?

Just working with them day in and day out they're extremely flexible and support the things that we need and want to do. It doesn't seem to upset them if we have to switch and handle something else that takes them off their primary task. They're extremely flexible in doing that for us. The other thing that I've appreciated – even though we have a very small team, and the team that we're utilizing there at Bixlabs is fairly small, the people that they brought to us are young, enthusiastic, and very skilled. We've had the ability to throw many different problems in a very complex space at them. Quite honestly, I haven't been able to see anything that they can't handle yet. Those things are very different from past experiences that I've had with other teams. That's one of the reasons I'm so happy with them.

Are there any areas Bixlabs could improve?

Quite honestly, I can't think of anything that I would have them improve on.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We do online marketing services, web development, and app development in Las Vegas.

What is your position?

I'm the owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Bixlabs?

It's hard to find good app developers and, so far, Bixlabs has been great to work with.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

They have provided both iOS and Android app development, but also design services and a little bit of web development as well. We have a team as well, but we don't do that much app development. We have them do it.

How did you come to work with Bixlabs?

We were trying out many different agencies, but none of them were cutting it. They were the first one that was able to do a good job.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

It was $1,000 to $10,000 per project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've done maybe 10 projects with Bixlabs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

One of the apps that we worked on, it was a complete mess when Bixlabs took it over, and now it's actually functioning and our client is happy. That's a good one. It's called Bar HQ.

What distinguishes Bixlabs from other providers?

Bixlabs has great communication and technical skills.

Is there anything Bixlabs could have improved or done differently?

No – not on top of my head.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We manufacture a spray-on waterproofing system that's used on bridges and tunnels. We work primarily in North America – the United States and Canada.

What is your position?

I am the executive director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Bixlabs?

The biggest challenge that we had before Bix was just an overall bad development team. It was a very bad experience with our previous developer. We didn't get what we wanted, and it cost way too much. We brought Bixlabs in to fix what our previous developers left us with and they really helped us out.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Bixlabs provided web development and some iOS development.

How did you come to work with Bixlabs?

I knew Bixlabs's current project manager, Elisa Amarelle, from a prior engagement. I really enjoyed working with her so when it was time to find a new development team, I started with finding her. I didn't really know much about BIX Labs, but Elisa was how we found them.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

What we've done so far would be probably in the $50,000 to $200,000 range.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Bixlabs definitely met my expectations. My expectations were that the work would be done in a timely manner, that we wouldn't have bugs when we were done, and if we did have bugs, they would be resolved quickly. All of that was met. It's pretty basic. You ask them to do something, and Bixlabs gets it done.

What distinguishes Bixlabs from other providers?

For me, after having an experience with a bad development partner, the most unique thing is that Bixlabs delivers on expectations. From my experience, it started to seem like in the outsourcing development industry, getting what you want is actually difficult. What makes BIX special is that they actually listen to the client's needs and work to provide that. They'll take a lot of time to listen, to try to understand. There's a lot of communication back and forth before anything really gets built, so I like that. That's what makes them special.

Is there anything Bixlabs could have improved or done differently?

No. Not really.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization. What is your position?

I'm an Agile coach for a consulting firm. We help large enterprise corporations' IT [information technology] and business partners to develop and build software using the Agile methodology. We help Fortune 500 companies deliver software.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Bixlabs?

We approached Bixlabs to develop apps that we use internally. What we call the GPS app is an app that we use to assess teams that we work with and give them a road map of where they are today and how they progress. The app walks them through the journey and gives them an idea on how they're doing against the behaviors and practices that we're working with them to develop. This is an app that we use alongside of our clients to track our progress on their projects.

SOLUTION

How did you come to work with Bixlabs?

Our CEO made the selection of Bixlabs so I can't comment.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

I don't have the exact numbers. It's in the $10,000 to $50,000 frame annually. It's an incremental development and incremental partnership. That will go on and reach higher levels.

What is the status of this engagement?

It's ongoing work. We've been working together almost two years. We are very happy with what they are producing for us on a week-by-week basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Bixlabs develops a crucial part of our coaching effort with our customers. Without this app, we really don't have a way that we can portray how the teams are progressing that we're working with and show where they've progressed and where we want to go to next. The tool allows us to work some data and analytics with our clientele to report on what we've done and shape the future with our clients and what we're going to do next. We use the analytics to determine the next steps – where the teams have worked well and where there's opportunity for the teams to improve.

How did Bixlabs perform from a project management standpoint?

Bixlabs picked up a lot of the Agile software development practices and ran with it themselves. That has helped increase their output. It allowed us to work much better together. We provide them the features and the stories that we're looking for and they work on the stories in iterations and deliver them once a week. We assess the work and continue going.

What distinguishes Bixlabs from other providers?

Bixlabs is always very receptive and reactive to our requests and very proactive in asking for feedback on how they're doing. It's great working with them because you work with the people at their company and not with heavy contracts. We're in collaboration with their team members sometimes on a daily basis, but we meet on the phone with them weekly, and you get to talk to somebody and work through what you're trying to deliver, what they're trying to deliver, answer, and ask questions. It's a very personal relationship with their staff. 

In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve, or things you might do differently?

They could always improve their output. We always joke about that. They are always focused on quality but quality is something that you never reach a destination on. It's always something that's a journey. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We're a technology startup in health care IT [information technology]. We're building a mobile platform serving the hospital networks.

What is your position?

I'm CEO and founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with BIX Labs?

We're building an innovative product in a very dynamic space. Having a technology partner that's smart, that listens well and can keep up with the pace in this space is important.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Bixlabs is doing a large piece of the development work. We do have a U.S.-based development team as well, but we split the team between in house and BIX Labs. We treat them as our team. It works out real well. Bixlabs is really an integral part of the overall solution.

How did you come to work with Bixlabs?

We've done a fair amount of outsourcing in the past, to almost every continent. The number one thing we liked about Bixlabs was that they are located in Latin America. The time zone proximity of Latin America is better than what we've had in Eastern Europe or India. We think the cost-to-quality ratio in Latin America is pretty good. You'll have language barriers everywhere, but those you can work through. We've done a lot of different contract work with different firms and usually we'll do a small project, and then if we like what we see, we may engage them more. That's how we got engaged with Bix.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

Our partnership with BIX Labs has been $200,000 plus.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What distinguishes Bixlabs from other providers?

The best service providers are the ones that can listen well and then bring a high degree of attention to the relationship. Bixlabs has done a great job with that. Every culture is different. Bixlabs has done a nice job of listening, putting a lot of energy into it, and they also take real pride in their work.

In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve, or things you might do differently?

The risk for them is as development shops grow and get attention they tend not to do as well with client service. They don't do as well with the things that got them the success to begin with. I think that is not just confined to Bixlabs, but every service provider that's overseas. They start servicing the U.S., and they double in size, but then the quality drops off or the attention drops off. They'll have to confront that as they grow.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Head of operations and marketing

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Rebuild app in new flutter + add some features to existing code.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

recommended by another developer on our team

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

Android, IOS app built with flutter code

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

1 frontend Flutter developer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

not yet. we are still in product development mode

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

Slack

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

Overall, they provide good communication but communication points should have been earlier throughout projects

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

communication. attention to detail. TESTING before launch