Custom D

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founder & CEO of global fin-tech Art Money

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Product build (website, algorithm & database integration)

• API integration - external agencies eg credit bureaus, Xero, payment gateways

Objective:

• build a low-cost fin-tech product for a boot-strapped startup, that is best practice and is equal to the VC funded fintech
• Seamless API integration with a number of parties, particularly payment gateways and credit bureaus
• Develop e-commerce plug-ins and custom integrations
• Develop ID integrations to solve KYC/AML reg-tech and use those solutions to become an industry leader

SOLUTION

How did you select Custom D and what were the deciding factors?

Trusted, highly competent, no bullshit, chilled (Kiwi's), fairly priced. We had a prior longstanding relationship and felt they were best placed to take us into the world of fin-tech & APIs. We were right. They operate more like an internal team than an external provider. Very close relationship of trust.

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

Really too broad and too much scope to detail here. Happy to provide further info on request.

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

Project Manager New Business Director Director Also: various developers & designers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We just closed a successful Series A based on great client adoption and retention, partly due to the great experience clients have with the tech - despite it being in many ways still at MVP stage.

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

Strong communicators, honest, realistic, tight with budgets. We feel their project manager is really part of our broader team.

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

Ability and breadth of skills. Honest communication. They are genuinely interested in and committed to our company purpose. Have been very flexible and understanding when we went through financial ups and downs as a startup. A less flexible approach might have killed our business opportunity. They are a true partner.

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

Nothing significant.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Business Process Designer for Industrial Design Consultancy with offices in Sydney and Melbourne

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our existing back office systems were crumbling and unsupported. We were using multiple spreadsheets and doubling up with data entry to capture time and materials for purchasing, invoicing and payroll. Previous searches to find an off the shelf solution had cost significantly in time and money and not worked out.

SOLUTION

How did you select Custom D and what were the deciding factors?

We stumbled across Custom D whilst looking into updating our website, and found they had similar problems with their own back office system and so we leveraged from their work and expanded and customised to suit our processes.

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

We worked closely with the team to map out work flows and pain points in the current systems we were using, approaching the project in different modules. First up we tackled time entry, then invoicing, purchasing and supplier management, and finally reporting. Each module was released separately to ensure seamless integration with our workflow and accounting systems, and to minimise disruption to our clients.

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

We've probably worked with about 8 different team members from Custom D since the start of the project but have had constant interaction with 3 key team members throughout.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

For the most part each time we've released a module or a change to the system it has gone largely unnoticed by our team (approximately 50 people). This is always regarded as being a huge success, as it means there is no disruption or downtime to ongoing project work.

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

Utilising 'Slack' for project communication has been great for keeping track of all the requests and changes along the way. Communication is easy. Timelines are mostly met, but sometimes extend out due to changes in constraints and additional requests.

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

They really understand the way we work, so it was a great process to work with them to drastically improve our administration procedures.

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

Can't think of any.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a Fundraising Consultant for a Fundraising Agency. We support non-profits through developing and implementing fundraising strategies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Working on behalf of our client, charity organisation Hōhepa Canterbury, we brought our brief to Custom D to develop a custom fundraising website for Hōhepa from scratch.

The website was specifically created to support their capital campaign in seeking to raise funds for two new homes to be built to provide residences for the people they support with intellectual disabilities.

SOLUTION

How did you select Custom D and what were the deciding factors?

We had worked with Custom D previously and knew they would go the extra mile to support this charitable initiative. We had confidence in their expertise and trusted them to bring our vision to life with all the technical aspects taken care of.

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

We had an initial meeting with the team to get to know them better and start to discuss the purpose and vision of the website. Custom D visited Hōhepa Canterbury to learn more about this charity and its ethos to inform the website design. From there, we established timeframes and deliverables.

Custom D developed an initial look and feel based on our draft site map, which was then refined into wireframes. After feedback on this and supplying the content to the team to work up the draft site, the project manager created custom illustrations and a bespoke slider for the donation items.

Custom D developed the full functionality for the site, including bringing in Hōhepa's database provider so that the website could include seamless integration for donations coming through to populate directly into the existing database. The final site went live on the anticipated date with the full functionality and a fantastic look and feel true to Hōhepa.

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, with Managing Director overseeing progress, a developer was heavily involved in providing the technical support. The whole team were excellent to work with.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website has met its objectives in providing a platform to engage and educate members of the public about intellectual disability and Hōhepa Canterbury. It has been well received in the community and has been marketed widely in Christchurch through digital and direct marketing.

A number of donations have been made towards the fundraising campaign, including from new donors to Hōhepa Canterbury.

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

After initial in-person or Zoom meetings, Custom D tracked the planning and progress of the website development through a Slack channel, which enabled us to stick to deadlines to provide content and feedback on the wireframes and draft site.

The project manager was highly responsive on email or phone as well and was quick to work through and problem solve any issues that arose, particularly around getting the functionality operating as planned with the database provider.

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

The team was fully on board with our vision and worked hard to produce a website that met and exceeded our brief to provide the platform for Hōhepa Canterbury to engage with the community and donors.

We valued their commitment to the project and the alignment of our values with that of the client. Custom D was generous enough to provide much of their service in-kind as a donation towards the fundraising campaign. We simply couldn't have done it without them.

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

Working with the database plug in was the most challenging aspect and involved a lot of coordination with a third party and their team. The scoping for this aspect of the project could have taken place earlier in the project which may have allowed more time to find solutions to some issues with plugging in the database to the website.

However, Custom D managed problem solving very well and went over and above to quickly pivot where needed to achieve the desired outcomes.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I manage a specialist recruiting firm, and we also develop technology platforms.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Custom D?

We were building a platform to use inhouse for our search operations.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Custom D has offered development services throughout a couple of years. This included building the recruitment platform. They’ve used Ruby on Rails among other technologies.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with about eight or so. Sam (Technical Director) has been a very consistent point of contact. He’s been our project manager and go-to person throughout our relationship.  

How did you come to work with Custom D?

I found them through a confidant who referred them to me. Right away, I could see their passion for our project; they understood what we wanted to achieve. I could see they were trustworthy, too. I was looking for somebody I could really trust, and they were very trustworthy, loyal, and honest from the beginning.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $120,000 and $160,000 in their work so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our project started around May of 2018. They’ve been providing ongoing maintenance for the platform for the last eight months. We’re about to kick off another development project with them.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve helped bring together some really beautiful products that we’ve been able to take to the market. Everyone who has seen the product says it’s very beautiful, easy to use, and very clean. There are similar products in the world, but our product features better functionality in a much more appealing user interface. In particular, our clients say that they can tell that our platform has been designed by a recruiter.

They didn’t compromise on the quality even though they had a budget to work with. They’ve gone all-out to create a high-quality product. They looked at the bigger picture to consider where it might go, who might see it, and what other benefits could come out of it. They don’t take a short-term view so they can get more money out of a project more quickly. They’re a really ethical, critical, and committed team.

How did Custom D perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very loyal to the project and the clients. I haven’t had any issues with their communication style. We email, Skype, Zoom, or speak over the phone. We also use a Trello board where we manage the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re really, really critical. They’re very invested in pleasing the client and work really hard. At the beginning of the project, they spent two whole days with my team really wanting to understand how we work and what we needed the platform to do. They sat beside us for two days to watch how it worked.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’re getting to a point now where we need more maintenance from them on an ongoing basis, which becomes very costly for us.

We want them to continue providing maintenance because they built the platform, but at the same time, the type of maintenance we need isn’t the cool work that they should be doing.

If anything, it would be helpful if they got someone else who could provide that service to us at a lower cost. So, then we wouldn’t need to ask someone like Sam who is very skilled and senior to perform low-level work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You have to do the workshop day. It’s really essential for them to understand what that project entails and share their strengths. 

Also, be very honest about your price point. My first experience with other developers (not Custom D) resulted in major challenges where they took advantage of my price point. But, Custom D made this project so much more enjoyable because we knew our budget from the start. They were willing to work with us within our budget restrictions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of sameview. It’s an online platform that helps people with disabilities coordinate their care. We help connect different supports the family might have —such as doctors, therapists, educators, and others — to work collaboratively and help relieve the stress of caregiving from the family while helping the person achieve their goals faster.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Custom D?

We needed a developing partner to help take our product from its beta state so it could be ready for public launch into the market.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided good documentation about the code we had to that point from the previous developer. Custom D worked iteratively. They took the product, looked over feedback, and made improvements as the project progressed and until it was ready for launch.

The product is a web-based application built on Firebase in the backend and React in the frontend. There’s a payment capability that was integrated, along with Stripe, Google Analytics, and a few other things that commonly go into an app.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a team of three people including a full-stack developer who was the project lead, a backend developer, and a frontend developer/designer.

How did you come to work with Custom D?

I knew one of the founders from a previous project I did with one of their sister companies. Custom D provided security and quality that we needed to finish the project. What’s more, I appreciated that their alignment of values was the same as mine when we discussed the scope and my vision for the product.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $65,000. The initial 14-week project to launch the product was roughly $25,000. Since then, we’ve spent another $40,000 or so on other projects.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2019, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Custom D is easy to work with. The product successfully launched in July 2019 and feedback has been positive overall. Users like the design as well as that it’s easy to use and onboard.

How did Custom D perform from a project management standpoint?

We worked in an agile methodology, and they’re very responsive and available. We communicate daily via Slack. Since they’re offshore, we only meet in person when they occasionally travel here. They’re pretty good at meeting deadlines too.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They do business with integrity and bring a lot of value to the table.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their prices are slightly high for offshore developers.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Keep it simple. Don’t try to provide a bunch of stuff users aren’t asking for. Focus on a couple of things that help get the best possible result.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am a Manager of Foundation for Arable Research

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Research and extension for New Zealand arable farmers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Custom D to accomplish?

• Develop an AI tool to answer user questions on our website

SOLUTION

How did you find Custom D?

Existing provider

Why did you select Custom D over others?

Existing provider

How many teammates from Custom D were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Develop and launch a reliable AI tool for FAR website:

• The tool only searches documents on the website.
• Essential to provide citations/links to take users to the documents or pages on the website where information was drawn from.
• All information had to be framed in such a way that it could not be considered advice or a recommendation. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

AI tool live on the website.

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

They provided excellent delivery time and lots of collaboration around needs and problem-solving.

What was your primary form of communication with Custom D?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Speed of delivery of a 'New Zealand first" project.

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

not for this project