Botodata

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a medium-sized, privately-held clinic. We have 50–55 health staff onboard.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Botodata?

The primary challenge was to digitize our clinical pathway. We’d been doing it manually for the past five years, and it was getting cumbersome and outdated. The idea was to try to get the patients to do all of that online, without the need to physically go to the doctor.

We decided to develop a chatbot with a questionnaire that would normally have been done on location. The idea was to digitize that while keeping a comparable level of precision in terms of the answers given. We would offer the patients recommendations and potential prescriptions based on those answers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a considerable amount of written data from countless patient consultations, and we needed Botodata to process this raw data. There were patterns based on patient responses, along with the resulting recommendations. Botodata needed to review all of those and input each one into the system and create an algorithm based on those responses and the resulting recommendations.

They had a huge amount of raw data to process and then create an algorithm that would process entries in the future without any involvement from our side or theirs. It’s basically a learning system that takes the replies into account and spits out a result. The replies are within certain constraints. We can’t have random results that break the logic. The system aggregates all the replies.

They’ve completed the main chunk of work on the backend. We’re now looking for an app developer to implement it into a mobile app.

What is the team composition?

The bulk of my communication was with their main chatbot developer. They had one other team member who was pretty helpful with recommendations and input. I mainly worked with those two people, and I don’t think there was a project manager involved on Botodata’s side. I don’t think they had a sales manager, either.

How did you come to work with Botodata?

We did a website project with another company, and they recommended paying attention to Botodata if we wanted to build a chatbot and digitize the clinical pathway we had. They didn’t have the expertise in machine learning and big data to do it, so they recommended this new team. We were pretty hesitant at first, because they were a relatively new team, but the prices were decent, and the overall presentation during our first call was pretty good. They’re more of an enthusiastic, “we’ll do this all ourselves” type of company, which was another reason why I found them interesting.

How much have you invested with them?

I think we ended up paying $33,000–$35,000, which was over the initial estimate. I knew that the initial estimate can be changed or adjusted, and we did ask for additional features, so I have no gripes with that. The guys did their job well, and we paid what we paid.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Botodata between February–June 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s hard to give feedback without us actually being able to physically interact with it. Right now, it’s a proof of concept with a very simple frontend site where we can input replies to questions and it gives us recommendations. It’s made purely for us to see that it actually works, but the end goal is to have it on mobile. We’re still trying to find a good mobile company that will implement that.

Based on what we can see from the frontend side that they have connected to the backend, it does indeed calculate what we need correctly at over 90% accuracy. At least from this perspective, it’s a very good indicator that it does indeed do some calculations. We have to review them sometimes, but the main idea is that we no longer have to do them manually all the time.

How did Botodata perform from a project management standpoint?

It wasn’t anything spectacular or out of the ordinary, but it wasn’t bad. They were okay at managing the project and got the job done. No out of the ordinary issues happened, and there were no problems. Everything was done more or less on time.

There wasn’t a need for a dedicated project manager, and I didn’t request one from my side. The developer notified me if any important issues arose. I couldn’t care less if there was a dedicated project manager, or if it was the developer himself, as long as the information was properly relayed, and in time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They seem to be pretty proactive. I liked that if there were any potential shortcomings when I checked the results of the recommendation the solution provided, they reacted quickly, and I didn’t have to explain the same thing several times. I’d experienced this before with other companies. Those other companies didn’t bill me for the time spent explaining things over and over, but I still was wasting my time with them.

With Botodata, the level of English was pretty good, so I didn’t have to explain a lot. They understood what needed to be corrected pretty quickly. Even if it was above the estimation provided initially, they took it up upon themselves. When they screwed up, they admitted that they screwed up, and took responsibility for it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be following the timeline more closely. I have no qualms with the quality. Even if some features weren’t right at the start, they made the corrections, and it’s now up to the standard.

Timelines weren’t an issue for me, but I can see how a company in the corporate sector might find that Botodata doesn’t behave professionally or in a very business-like manner. They practice more of a chilled-out atmosphere. Of course, I didn’t mind that. I even appreciated their friendly atmosphere at times.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Clients shouldn’t be scared by their relaxed and very friendly attitude. They tried to befriend us right from the start and treated us not as colleagues, but as someone they’d known for a long time. I believe they even position themselves as enthusiasts that don’t want to look overly professional.

Approach them with this in mind and treat them with respect, and they will perform to your expectations. And don’t be afraid to point out their mistakes or delays, if there are any. They will admit it if anything is wrong.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I own jewelry shops in Israel. Our main focus is engagement rings.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Botodata?

Choosing an engagement ring is a stressful process; a lot must be taken into account, such as skin color, eye color, complexion, etc. We wanted our customers to be able to try on rings from the comfort of their home so that they could see what the ring looked like on their own hand and choose one that they really liked. Then, they’d hopefully come to our physical stores and see the ring in-person.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Botodata did a lot of research to ensure that the development solution they chose would work. Using images and 3D videos of our rings that I provided along with computer vision, Botodata developed a tool that enables digital ring fitting. The team did QA testing to ensure that the tool was bug-free for our users. They put the tool on our website.

What is the team composition?

I worked with three people: Bogdan (Data Scientist, Botodata), who was very detail-oriented and explained as much as possible to me; a project manager, who was helpful in terms of reporting and providing update; and a QA engineer, who helped with testing.

How did you come to work with Botodata?

I don’t know much about the development industry, so I asked friends whether they knew someone. A friend who had experience working with Botodata introduced me to them.

How much have you invested with them?

The estimation was $35,000, but we made some changes during development, so the overall cost was $45,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work together lasted from April–July 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve only been live for about a week, so I don’t have much information yet. However, I’ve already gotten positive feedback from clients who have come into our physical stores after using the new tool and getting the chance to try rings on digitally.

How did Botodata perform from a project management standpoint?

I really enjoyed working with Botodata. It was important to me that they didn’t feel too far away, and they made it seem like we were in the same office. I could always reach any member of the team immediately. They even invited me to be part of their daily standups; unfortunately, I wasn’t able to be on all of them, but I always got feedback and updates regarding what they’d already accomplished and what they were planning to do. I was very satisfied with their management. They used nice communication tools.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I didn’t know whether it was possible to create a tool like this and implement it on my website, but they did their best. They were really nice and detailed during the pre-development process, so I felt comfortable and confident that they’d deliver the product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m not a technical person, and I didn’t initially understand what they were talking about. However, I’m happy that we found a common language and eventually understood each other.

Any advice for potential customers?

You shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions. They’re eager to be helpful and provide advice. When I told them I didn’t understand something, they provided me with information on what they were doing and what they expected from me.