Carte Blanche Innovation Integrated

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CTO of Accessland, a marketplace platform for live events, videos, and pictures.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Carte Blanche Innovation Integrated?

We use Google search and other search engines to be found organically. Our website was in JavaScript, which was not suitable for search engines as it didn't fit in terms of technologies. Therefore, we wanted a new technology to help us rank in search engines. We had enough capability in-house but wanted to transform our efforts, considering budget and time. We hired Carte Blanche Innovation Integrated to renovate our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?
Carte Blanche Innovation Integrated helped us transform our website from the JavaScript and React framework to Next.js so that it would rank better in search engines. The team completely changed the surface of the technology platform on our website. 

As for the process, we provided them with documents that we already had and the code base. First, the team integrated into ours and explored what we had done before. We met several times to set expectations and tell them how we'd measure their success. From there, they started the work.

What is the team composition?
We worked with a general manager and four developers, including a software development lead.

How much have you invested with them?
We spent $2,700. 

How did you come to work with Carte Blanche Innovation Integrated?
We found them on Upwork and contacted their general manager. Initially, we selected our top three providers and ultimately selected Carte Blanche Innovation Integrated because they were hungry and capable of doing the work.

What is the status of this engagement?
We got in contact with them in April 2024, and the project ended in June 2024. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
During the discovery process, we provided Carte Blanche Innovation Integrated with the measures of their success and our expectations. Google's Search Console Insights was our first KPI to examine. Before our engagement, our score was 4–5 out of 100. Now, it's 60 out of 100 — a 10x improvement.
 
They worked well as a team and communicated effectively. Previously, we hired many freelancers and agencies to do contract jobs with us, but unfortunately, some software development teams can miscommunicate, not communicate at all, or deliver very poorly. Meanwhile, Carte Blanche Innovation Integrated delivered more than the scope of work. Overall, they were very focused on communication and delivery throughout.

How did Carte Blanche Innovation Integrated perform from a project management standpoint?
The team respected the budget and didn't charge us extra for anything or try to rebudget the project. The team gave us the budget after considering our expectations, and they met that. Overall, Carte Blanche Innovation Integrated was very solid and respected the plan. They also communicated well; when I asked a question, they responded really quickly.

They divided the project into tasks; since it involved diverse expertise, they split it into three, and the development lead handled one part. The team completed the heaviest part of the job in three weeks. They took a couple of weeks to investigate the platform and another couple of weeks to deploy the new one. Ultimately, they built the new system in 3–4 weeks. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We've worked with many companies and agencies, and two things are really important for us: the time and budget formula and communication. Carte Blanche Innovation Integrated managed well in both of these areas.

Are there any areas they could improve?
I don't think they needed to improve anything. 

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?
If anyone requires software development work, I would highly recommend Carte Blanche Innovation Integrated. I advise having the discovery call with the team and setting high expectations. Additionally, be bold and clearly explain what you expect; if you do, the team will meet those expectations because they have the capabilities.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and president of a nonprofit educational foundation that runs workshops and seminars for conflict resolution, and we also provide scholarships for need-based students.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Carte Blanche?

We needed support to create our website's branding and complete design. We also needed them to develop a learning management system (LMS).

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, we had a basic website that former volunteers created, which was the project's starting point. However, we didn't have any previous work to provide Carte Blanche for the LMS project. The team helped us define our project's scope and developed a management system within our site where workshop educators could manage their seminars and class recordings.

Carte Blanche migrated our original website from Weebly to a different platform. We provided Carte Blanche with an initial idea for our branding, and the team helped us develop it. The team also simplified and redesigned our logo. 

What is the team composition?

I had two main points of contact, including Rehman (CEO). 

How did you come to work with Carte Blanche?

A teammate from my internal technical team found Carte Blanche on a freelancer's website. We usually require three proposals with pricing since we're a nonprofit and were originally looking for a service provider to fix our website. We received around 15–20 proposals through the site, and Carte Blanche was among them. Their pricing was in the middle range.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $30,000–$35,000 on this project. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Carte Blanche in the third quarter of 2023. Carte Blanche has completed our website and is providing maintenance work. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Carte Blanche delivered a website and LMS that reduced the time we spent managing our workshops. We used to take hours to track the workshop attendees, and now it takes minutes. Operating workshops was more efficient, and professors were thrilled because everything was at their fingertips. Our LMS system tracked the required data from our workshops. Our brand engagement also improved, and we had more workshop attendees. 

Our website looked beautiful, and Carte Blanche improved its functionality. Carte Blanche helped us achieve something I didn't even know was possible.

How did Carte Blanche perform from a project management standpoint?
Carte Blanche met deadlines and went above and beyond, delivering work ahead of schedule. We communicated via email, and Carte Blanche used a project management system. Although I wasn't involved in their process, I was notified of the project's progress via email.

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

I'd like to highlight Rehman's work. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Carte Blanche listened to our needs and helped us figure out a solution. This wasn’t an out-of-the-box solution, and Carte Blanche helped me devise a solution that wasn't a typical software solution. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything for Carte Blanche to improve. The team was accommodating to my needs. 

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I recommend talking to Carte Blanche and discussing your project before signing the proposal instead of just going with their initial proposal. When we met with Carte Blanche, we expanded our project from building a website to developing an LMS. Speaking with Carte Blanche about our needs was good. Speak about your specific needs, and the team will find a solution for you.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Associate Medical Director of Croydon University Hospital.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

My company provides healthcare services to the local population.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Carte Blanche to accomplish?

• Being able to print patient lists for various specialties in surgery department
• Add Electronic Health Record of patients
• Add previous testing reports history
• Filter patient list by specialty
• Desktop app that would write and retrieve data from network storage
• Intuitive and seamless design

SOLUTION

How did you find Carte Blanche?

Referral

Why did you select Carte Blanche over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Carte Blanche were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

The work was to develop a database that would allow monitoring of all patients within the surgical directorate. This was to replace a much clunkier local database.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Reduce paper waste by optimizing patient list design for printing as well as optimizing data entry into the system in a more aesthetic and functional user interface.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Carte Blanche’s project management was excellent. Grounded in agile methodology, they really made the whole process straightforward. They were highly responsive to communication and happy to pivot based on feedback. The product came in before time. I was extremely pleased with the result.

What was your primary form of communication with Carte Blanche?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

We were impressed with their ethos and how they cared for their customer. Highly attentive to the details of the customer, as well as excellent communication. Carte Blanche takes immense pride in its work.

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

None that I observed

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Founder of an other industries company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We promote sustainable habit-building.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Carte Blanche to accomplish?

• MVP Development
• App design

SOLUTION

How did you find Carte Blanche?

Referral

Why did you select Carte Blanche over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned
• Highly skilled

How many teammates from Carte Blanche were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We are developing an app which encourages sustainable habit-building. We hired Carte Blanche to develop the MVP for us. The key deliverables were as follows:

1. Wireframing
2. UI/UX Design
3. MVP coding
4. App testing
5. App debugging

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Carte Blanche have designed an app that has an amazing UI, coupled with an intuitive and smooth UX. The MVP has been successfully codes and works exactly as intended. The testing by the team prior to delivery was very thorough and ensured that the functionality of the app was near impeccable. The team are continuing to work on integrating new features into the app.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Carte Blanche proved to be very organised, and the project management was very smooth. They struck the right balance between structure and flexibility, being able to react to issues on an ad hoc basis, whilst maintaining a stable and well-planned approach to everything.
They are very good at delivering items on time, and there were instances where they even provided early delivery. The team is highly responsive in addressing any questions or queries that I have, and they're very quick to implement any necessary changes.

What was your primary form of communication with Carte Blanche?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Carte Blanche offer a unique blend of technical prowess, artistic and creative design, and attention to the needs of the customer. I have yet to find this combination of traits in any other company.
Whilst other companies might be mechanically working on the task at hand, the team at Carte Blanche really immerse themselves into the product, trying to understand it inside out, thinking about how the product will work in situ, and offering suggestions as to features which may enhance the user experience.

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

As they have successfully met all of the deliverables up until this point, I cannot think of any immediate areas of improvement.