Bixlabs

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive for a company that’s focused on creating foundational web software for brands to engage, reward, and collaborate with their community.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bixlabs?

We hired Bixlabs for engineering talent and to bring on full stack software engineers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with a coding challenge because we were looking for both back- and frontend skills, and then we had an onboarding process to bring the engineers onto our team. Bixlabs handled vetting and training on their end, and the engineers did a small amount of further training to work on our team. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve been working with two engineers from Bixlabs, and we interact with two other people who handle project management. 

How did you come to work with Bixlabs?

They were referred to us. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $50,000–$100,000 with Bixlabs. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May 2022, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

The projects have been very successful so far. The metric of their success is demonstrated by the quality of their code. We are also measuring on ease of iteration, progress, and communication, which are all factors contributing to overall growth. 

How did Bixlabs perform from a project management standpoint?

Of all the contracting agencies that we’ve used, Bixlabs has provided us with the most timely work. We use Linear with the Bixlabs engineers, and Slack for communication. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team from Bixlabs is incredibly personable, friendly, caring, and thoughtful. The process doesn’t feel transactional or bureaucratic when we’re working with them, rather it feels very nimble and action-oriented. 

We communicate openly and transparently, and we’re looking forward to how we can continue growing the partnership. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’re very happy with everything they’ve done for us so far. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear description of the engineers and the timeline for onboarding that you want to follow. It helps to be really intentional about the specific profile, because it saves time, and helps to find the best fit for your company.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the head of AI for a company that builds optimization software in the fields of water and electricity management and med-tech

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired BixLabs to build a web-app that houses our AI engine for analyzing medical scans. The goal was to build both a front and backend doctors can use to analyze their patient data/images.

SOLUTION

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

I posted an ad on UpWork and BixLabs was one of the companies that responded. I chose them because they had high ratings and almost no negative reviews/feedback. Also, I wanted to go with a company and not an individual because I knew there would be ongoing support.

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

The scope of work was to build a web-app in javascript (React + Node frameworks) in which a user can upload certain types of files (.dicom) that represented medical scans, have the app process the videos and display the output of our AI engine. So key steps were building the front/back end then connecting to a REST API endpoint that we build that does the AI processing. The design was already provided so the development was quite straightforward.

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

There was the project manager who I barely interacted with. Then there was one full stack developer who I spoke with daily.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app was made to be used by doctors and it was just finished so feedback from users remains to be seen. As far as feedback from us, the app works great, it is quick, delivered just as in the provided design and generally provides a smooth user experience.

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

It was really just me and the full stack dev communicating with each other, which is really perfect for me. I am quite technical so I really didn't see a need to communicate first with the project manager who then communicates with the dev. This way we work efficiently and if issues come up we are able to communicate on a technical level to resolve them quickly. We used slack and github which worked perfectly and was all we needed.

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

They were professional and the full stack dev I worked with really knew the language and the frameworks to the point where he could figure how to solve anything given enough time. He really built the app to my exact specifications and when it wasn't clear on how to build a certain feature he always presented me with options and suggested me the best solution. They're a great team and a great company overall.

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

Towards the end I really had to go find each and every bug in the app and point them out to the full stack dev and it took longer to resolve than I would have liked

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Sister District is a grassroots organization that aims to build enduring progressive power in state legislatures across the country, to improve people’s lives and support Democrats by filling critical gaps at every point in the political life cycle. Proudly founded and led by women, including women of color, Sister District has grown to 50,000+ volunteers nationwide and has supported nearly 100 candidates, winning more than 70 races thus far. I am the Head of Creative and own the website and all digital design.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our website required an application for us to create candidate pages and have our user base interact with them. This was previously outdated and old code and needed to be update. It was built on the theme which had been sunset and had no support. In order to switch themes to a blank theme, and optimize the site, we had to rebuild this application centralizing it, and then move themes. Bix has helped us with an number of other applications prior to this.

SOLUTION

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

Looked for reliable, reasonably priced vendors. Worked with a different one before and were very disappointed.

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

Kick off meeting to discuss scope. I created mockups, wireframes, and requirements for the backend in Wordpress. Bix and myself went through each part of the project and wrote out specific tasks for each sprint. We then assigned priority and points to each task. Our developer began building the application, releases to staging so i could test, and iterating. We used Wordpress, Clickup, Elementor, Slack as well as a few other tools.

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

A project manager was our main point of contact. A developer was on our project full time, and we had a second developer for part of the time. We also had access to a sales manager for billing questions.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our candidate application runs smoothly, is accessed by thousands every day. We were able to transition the theme and optimize the website. We see less errors, issues, and much fast loading time.

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

We met twice a week with the PM and Developer for an hour. The first call was to review the work done last sprint, and demo, and give feedback. We would also add any new tasks that came up. The second was to plan the sprint and prioritize tasks and assign the correct points/time for the next sprint.

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

The project manager and their developer were both a pleasure to work with.

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

We had some issues with our hosting site that we were pushed to move off of, which was not an option at the time. It continually came up, even though we could not move off of it, which was frustrating for all involved.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and COO of a small mobile app startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with BixLabs?

We needed a vendor to design and develop a product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

BixLabs designed prototypes of our web and mobile app. Now, their team’s developing the platforms, handling everything from inception to QA to release. They’re building the web app in React but using Flutter and Dart to build the mobile app, which will be available for Android and iOS.

What is the team composition?

We work with four people from BixLabs. The team includes two designers and two developers.

How did you come to work with BixLabs?

BixLabs completed design and development challenges that we presented them on Upwork. We were satisfied with their initial work.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $25,000–$50,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together around August 2020, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

BixLabs meets all our expectations. Their team matched the design to the final product and created accurate estimates for each sprint. They do quality work.

How did BixLabs perform from a project management standpoint?

To track the project, we use Jira and have daily meetings. So far, they’ve met deadlines. Their communication is extremely strong too.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They understand what we want and thoughtfully work with us. Their team produces high-quality designs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’re great.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Define the scope of work internally and understand the resources you’ll need. Stay connected with their team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a company that does web and mobile app development and creates film production tools.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bixlabs?

We hired them to help us with an app development project because our bandwidth was a little bit limited.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Bixlabs is helping us with an app. They’re using Java and Android studio.

What is the team composition?

We work with an account manager and three developers.

How did you come to work with Bixlabs?

We found them on Upwork. Bixlabs seemed to understand what we needed, and they were easy to communicate with and reasonably priced.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them about six months ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We’re hoping to get the project launched in the Google Play store this week. I’ve done significant testing on their work, and it seems to be of good quality. So far, so good.

How did Bixlabs perform from a project management standpoint?

Bixlabs did estimates in various milestone stages of the development process, which we reference in Google Docs and Google Sheets. The team is pretty good a sticking to their estimates most of the time, but some milestones missed the mark cost-wise. That’s quite typical in the development process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They do a good job of communicating, scheduling meetings, and setting deadlines. Communication is important when it comes to a map-based app like this.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing jumps to mind right away. If anything, sometimes, there was quite a big gap in the estimates between the worst and best cases. I like to be a little more sure about what a certain feature or milestone is going to cost upfront. 

It’s understandable because you can’t accurately estimate something until you get to it, but I think the team could do a better job of sticking to their estimates. That said, most of the time, Bixlabs was accurate.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Reachify’s voice and messaging platform enables businesses to automate, collaborate, and deliver better customer experiences. I am the CEO or Reachify.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Bixlabs?

We brought Bixlabs on to help us augment our development team. We needed savvy developers that understood our modern tech stack, and of all agency's interviewed their developers performed the best.

What were your goals for this project?

Help us increase our development velocity while maintaining code quality and consistent development patterns.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We went through a 2 phase interview process that included verbal technical questions and screen-share technical exercises.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Being a staff augmentation, the bixlabs team members that joined Reachify had to work on all aspects of our web platform. They immersed themselves and became acclimated very fast while working very professionally and seamlessly with our existing team.

What was the team composition?

We started with 2 specific individuals we interviewed at Bixlabs to join our team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

They have allowed us to expand our team and increase our velocity in a great way.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We handled all the project management in-house and our developers and the developers through Bixlabs worked together well, organized by Jira stories that we managed.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are very talented and skilled developers that had friendly and fun personalities.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Very minor, but a few occurrences of delayed notice on upcoming time-off requests.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a social media aggregator app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bixlabs?

We were trying to develop an app, and at that point, I hadn’t been able to find a technical co-founder. I had created prototypes and had done a good amount of usability testing and research to validate my idea through lower-fidelity prototypes. I was ready to take it to the next level and build out an MVP.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

When I reached out to them, Bixlabs scheduled an interview with me. We talked through the app that I was trying to build, the research that I did to validate the UX, and my budget. They then assigned me a developer.

The team worked from the design and UX components that I already had. During the implementation stage, we had to rethink the UX, so Bixlabs and I did that together and adjusted the design accordingly.

They assisted me to integrate the app with various social media APIs, do some crawling depending on restrictions, and display social media postings. We used React Native.

What is the team composition?

Rodrigo (Techincal Leader) was my main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Bixlabs?

I found Bixlabs on Upwork after doing research and reading web reviews. They were incredibly transparent and forthcoming, which I appreciated. In my earlier conversations with them, they seemed very buttoned up and professional.

Additionally, I really liked their website. They had case studies, client stories, and lots of documentation to vouch for their work. 

How much have you invested with them?

I spent about $24,000. When I pitched it to them, I naively said that I wanted to keep it within $8,000, which I now know was unrealistic. 

What is the status of this engagement?

I began working with them in December 2019. The Android app went live, and we just need to fix one more bug for the iOS app. The project was essentially completed in June 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Rodrigo would go through every single ticket, story point, and estimation with me and talk through how that amounted to the hours that led to the invoice. The process was very transparent. At this point, we don’t have user feedback, but anecdotally, I’ve received positive responses. There are still some bugs that we need to fix, but Bixlabs has been on top of that. 

How did Bixlabs perform from a project management standpoint?

Rodrigo was very communicative, responsive, and accessible. It felt like he was a teammate rather than a contractor who was prescriptively being told what to do. We communicated via Slack and had regular stand-ups. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They hire people with integrity. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind right away. If anything, they could tell people with unrealistic expectations that building an app requires a lot of engineering. Overall, there was nothing that they could’ve done differently.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of virgotalent.com - It's an online database of extras for TV commercials and music videos.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Bixlabs?

Completely rebuild my website, database, casting apps.

What were your goals for this project?

To design and build a modern, fast, and fluid website/app for my employees, casting clients, and the actors/extras that utilize my companies services.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I found them on Upwork. They had great reviews and were very responsive.

Describe the project in detail.

I've had around 20+ meetings with Bixlabs over the past 6 weeks. They've learned every aspect of my business. They've taken all of my companies stakeholders into consideration in designing our new database.

I never have to worry about miscommunication, wasted time/resources. The first mockup was spot on. We only had to make minor changes on a few pages. I can honestly say that to date, this has been my best experience with developers.

What was the team composition?

Damian (Project Manager), Santiago (Designer), Julian(Programmer), and Ana(Sales and Service) have all been a pleasure to work with. They seem to have a company culture of friendly, professional, commutative staff.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven't launched yet, but the mockups look amazing. I'm very grateful to be working with such a talented team.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Seemless

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their punctuality and professionalism were amazing.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nope!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and CEO of an online talent platform that connects women to global board opportunities. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bixlabs?

We reached out to Bixlabs for web development services relating to our platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Bixlabs supports two development elements for our platform. They're building tools to support the onboarding of new users, collecting data that helps us understand both our candidates and companies searching for talent. They also work on our search algorithm, helping us connect candidates on our platform with relevant opportunities. 

What is the team composition? 

We work with an engineer and project manager.

How did you come to work with Bixlabs?

They were recommended to me personally, and I felt like they were a good match based on initial conversations with them. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since January 2019 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Their turnaround time and velocity are quite good, and the processes they've established with us have been relatively seamless. They've been great to work with across the board; they're flexible and understanding of working with a business without any direct product content.

How did Bixlabs perform from a project management standpoint?

In addition to their flexibility, they also have an effective process. They're organized when it comes to managing projects on Jira, allowing for a lot of visibility of what they're working on. They also hold weekly meetings with our team to demo the completed code and next steps. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

It's been a very easy relationship overall.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing specifically stands out.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a broker at a large real estate firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bixlabs?

We needed help developing an app that will help process our execution tasks.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Bixlabs helped us define the problem, evaluate the need, and formulate a solution. We worked together, so the design would allow for streamlined communication as well as an accessible data presentation for our staff and clients. Once completed, the iOS app will make it possible to define, analyze, and evaluate transactions.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Damien (Product Manager, Bixlabs), Santiago (UX Designer, Bixlabs), and Matías (Tech Lead, Bixlabs).

How did you come to work with Bixlabs?

I searched for developers online and reached out to a few different providers. After hearing what each of them had to offer, I decided to go with Bixlabs. They were only able to offer the design phase, without committing to the actual development of the app. I thought that was a good option, so I could get myself to a solid starting point before taking the next steps with the app.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $9,000–$10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from May–July 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We don’t have any measurable data yet, because the app has yet to launch. During the project, while I had most of the ideas myself, Bixlabs came up with some valuable suggestions that were helpful in determining the app’s direction.

How did Bixlabs perform from a project management standpoint?

The team was really organized and prepared. I thought they brought good ideas to the table over the phone and through email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m overall very happy and impressed with their work. They ask a lot of great questions and offer insight I wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything right now.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would recommend them to anyone in the same position that I was in—they’ll help you get to your next step.