divami

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former CTO of a scholastic products and services company. The company works with over 10,000 high schools and 500 universities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Divami Design Labs?

We needed help designing the UX/UI of our products and services to engage the student population.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Divami Design Labs developed a web-based product and two mobile applications for iOS and Android. Their team taught us how to develop the apps.

We came to them with ideas and then they designed the different interaction flows. The product enabled students to customize scholastic products, so their team engaged students in the design process too. They created and ran the design workshops. And then, their team understood the feedback from the students.

We collaborated on the project, but they chose a framework that was compatible with iOS and Android.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 5–10 people from Divami Design Labs. They partnered with another organization that supported backend development.

How did you come to work with Divami Design Labs?

A colleague who worked with Divami Design Labs referred us to them. They offered to work on the project pro-bono for the first month. If we saw value, then we could choose to engage them. During the first 30 days, their team did excellent work. We then worked with them for a couple of years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We collaborated between November 2014—December 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their team was smart and did an awesome job. Most importantly, they understood our requirements as well as the feedback from the design workshops with kids. They were able to capture their thoughts and cover them in the designs, which was hard to do.

How did Divami Design Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

We worked with a consistent project manager throughout the entire process. The engagement was transparent.   The project manager oversaw the frontend design and development as well as the backend development. It was better for them to manage the project because it was less painful for us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Divami Design Labs understood how we wanted the products to look. Their team made our ideas a reality in a way we didn’t even expect. They stuck to the process and believed the process would yield good results.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We would’ve been more comfortable with them earlier if they were on-site for the first month of the project. It’s possible that wasn’t offered because they were confident in their abilities to complete their tasks remotely.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be upfront with them about your expectations. Define the guardrails and let them iterate with the designs. If you ask them to produce designs exactly how you want them, they could do it. But you won’t see the creative depth of their people.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Yuyiii, a travel platform startup based in Dubai and India. We’re in the business of discovering awesome weekend getaways near metropolitan cities in India, like Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore. We also create great video and photo content for these unique stays.

Our stays are varied, ranging from houses to plantations. We have an online platform for reaching out to guests and helping them book their trips. The platform's technology plays a very important role.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Divami Design Labs?

It’s always good to have one domain-expertise founder, one technology founder, and one marketing founder. In my case, I'm a non-technical, sole founder, so it was very important to find a great technology partner to more or less work with me as a co-founder.

I couldn’t hire an external arm and expect the team to behave like external consultants. At this early-stage level, I really wanted the people to be invested because I was low on resources. Every move I made was critical for the future survival of the startup.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I understand technology conceptually but not practically, Divami Design Labs does everything from design to development, handling databases and domain servers. They helped me renew my SSL certificate in order to run the site through HTTPS. Their team has also provided SEO efforts for the website.

I came to Divami Design Labs at a very crucial stage. My MVP was ready, but it was quite minimal. We wanted to create a booking engine that was different from what existed in the travel industry. Divami Design Labs not only had to excel at technology but also had to understand our business logic.

We’d done the MVP in PHP, but Divami Design Labs suggested using AngularJS because it was faster and more up to date, so that’s what we used. Design is very important for the travel industry. It had to look lively and professional all while being easy to understand.

What is the team composition?

There were two full-time developers when we started. The team now encompasses a database engineer, someone handling AWS, and another person doing my domain — all as and when needed. On a day-to-day basis, we have two developers onboard.

How did you come to work with Divami Design Labs?

I founded another startup in the travel domain before starting this company. Because I failed a lot then, I learned the importance of having a great technology partner. At that time, I was working with a tech partner from Mumbai and had done a lot of due diligence about the kinds of projects they rolled out, the expertise of the team members, and so on, but it still wasn’t a very good experience.

I went to a lot of my mentors and investors I was pitching to because their strength lies in technology. They were investing in a lot of tech companies. I reached out and asked them to introduce me to their network, and I found Divami Design Labs through a reference.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent between 15–20 lakh Indian rupees (approximately $20,000–$26,000 USD) so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with Divami Design Labs in April 2019, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Divami Design Labs has always delivered within the defined timelines and budget as well as at the right quality. Deadlines have shifted here and there because sometimes we’ve changed the requirements as we’ve progressed.

We received a lot of user feedback on how the site could be improved. After discussing the feed with Divami Design Labs, we rebuilt and improved a lot of the critical internal pages. They’ve had great flexibility around change requests. We’ve had to add and remove resources.

How did Divami Design Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

I’ve always told them that they feel more or less like a co-founder to me. They’re based in Hyderabad and I’m in Mumbai, but we discuss everything easily.

They send me weekly reports with the number of hours put in by every team member; this is great. It really helps instill my confidence in them. We have weekly calls, they give me detailed task breakdowns, and they’re always reachable. I’ve had calls with some of the team members at 4 a.m. when something was really urgent.

Expertise is a must-have when it comes to technology partners. They should be able to write code, debug, and know their jobs well. However, the difference for a client like me comes in terms of project management.

If something was misunderstood or we weren’t on the same page, Divami Design Labs is always forthcoming about it. Their team is very approachable, and we’ve sat down for 30 minutes to sort out any discrepancies. They’ve been very meticulous in breaking down tasks.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very approachable and understand the criticality of the matter at hand. If we have a strict deadline, they’re always there — whether it’s on the weekend, at midnight, or early morning. Whenever we start a new project, we have our own ideas and run our own research, but I’ve gotten some great suggestions from the head of their design team, as though this was her own startup.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their team is getting bigger, so their team leads could be even more fine-tuned on how the project is progressing.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I advise communicating everything clearly, in terms of requirements, budget, and timelines. Clients should be transparent and treat Divami Design Labs not just as an external agency, but as an extension of their own companies.

If there’s any problem at all during the project, clients should pick up the phone and clarify things with the team. They will let the client know when they don’t have the expertise for something, and they’ll provide suggestions on how to do things when they do have the expertise.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Transworld Group started as a shipping agency in India 40 years ago and is now a global leader in providing integrated and innovative logistics around the world. Avana, a Transworld Group subsidiary, provides integrated logistics solutions across Coastal Shipping, Liner Services, Refrigerated Logistics, Warehousing, Distribution and other customized logistic services.

Avana aims to create a unique operational model that uses technology to make accurate predictions, ensure high levels of efficiency, focus on automated operations, and simplify logistics across the Indian sub-continent and the Middle East. The conglomerate is a reliable partner to many corporations needing such solutions and services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Divami Design Labs?

We needed Divami’s expertise to design and develop logistics and shipping management portal, Avana, which our customers could use to manage cost and time, and improve productivity.

While we knew that we had a lot of complex information to display, we wanted Divami to design the portal in such a manner that it could be easily used by someone from any background, like a shipping agent or a supply chain manager

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to design and develop a customer-facing portal, Avana, which would have an attractive UI and a satisfying user experience to transform the logistics industry. Avana would be supported at the back-end by latest technologies for an unique operational model. This model could make accurate predictions, ensure high levels of efficiency, focus on automated operations, and simplify logistics management.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Divami was recommended to us by someone in our network. After going through some of the projects they had done in the past in similar domains, we were sure that they would be the right choice for our digital transformation as they could understand our needs better, and were in tune with our goals amongst the agencies that we were evaluating.

Describe the project in detail.

The project was to have a logistics portal, Avana, support integrated logistics solutions across coastal shipping, liner services, refrigerated logistics, warehousing, distribution and other customised logistic services. We wanted to develop a new mobile application and a responsive web application portal.

As user experience was a critical part of the project, we entrusted Divami to implement the whole design and UI development of the platform, including the mobile and responsive web applications.. Divami worked with us right from the ideation stage through post-rollout support.

What was the team composition?

On the design side, Divami had provided us with their lead UX designer and lead UI designer, with a consistent feedback and involvement of the chief designer. Apart from them, their project manager was also involved for timely execution of the project. They were also involved in the development of the portal on the UI and mobile side. The development team consisted of 4 developers including a lead and 2 QA engineers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project had a successful execution. Not only did a lot of our processes get digitised with the portal and the mobile apps , but also our clients have commended us for providing them with a seamless experience. Some of our existing clients, who were initially apprehensive about the transition to the new apps now appreciate them because of the efficiency they provide.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our teams and Divami were well coordinated. The Divami team addressed each problem with detailed research and came up with great ideas that significantly improved users’ experience. Furthermore, Divami and our teams had good communication, which helped to address each task and project changes quickly.

Owing to the size & scale of the operations involved in our business, we wanted Divami to thoroughly understand our current mode of operations. Divami took initiative and spent considerable time with our SME clients based across Mumbai and Dubai. They spent sufficient time to validate the designs through usability tests before launch to ensure that we were successful from the start.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Divami’s focus on communication and delivery of the project was most impressive. In addition, we were impressed by their willingness to stand by us at all times, even after delivery of the designs. They were easily reachable and very responsive in their support. We realized that their deep experience in B2B apps made it easier for us to achieve success.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There are no areas that we can recommend for improvement. Needless to say, we were very happy with the outcome and impressed by the Divami team’s expertise and professionalism.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the principal of a healthcare platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Divami Design Labs?

I was a contract CTO for a company in the durable medical equipment space. We were looking to revolutionize the interface for our customers. While we had the technical expertise, we didn’t have the design expertise to know what our customers wanted. This was necessary in order to perform simple, efficient, and intuitive transactions.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided design services for a web-based B2B platform. We used Angular, TypeScript, and they used CSS. On the backend, we used Laravel and Sequel.

What is the team composition?

I worked with three people on a day-to-day basis.

How did you come to work with Divami Design Labs?

One of our trusted partners who was already working on the project recommended that we work with the team. We went through the interview process and felt comfortable with them based on their portfolio and the individuals we worked with.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $100,000 and $200,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started around March of 2018, and most of the work finished up in February of 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They delivered very high-quality results. They didn’t create exactly what we said we wanted, rather they took the intent of what we wanted and came back with suggestions that were superior to what we were expecting. 

How did Divami Design Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

We managed the overall project separate from Divami Design Solutions, and they performed very well. Certain aspects of the project were under tight timelines, and they managed themselves very well. We used Zoom and Slack to communicate, along with the telephone.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality of their designs and their ability to communicate was impressive. Also, their organization stood out.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I would use them again in a heartbeat. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You should be open to their ideas and suggestions from a UI/UX perspective. Don’t force your ideas or preconceptions without seeing if there are alternatives.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

India Drivers Network was running an Uber-like platform for auto-rickshaws, even before Uber entered India. We had the largest auto-rickshaw network in Bangalore, India. We were also looking to expand into other areas, one of which was corporate fleet management. I was the co-founder and COO of the company. We have since been acquired by Yatra, one of India's leading OTA.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Divami Design Labs?

We had quite a bit of experience with building consumer apps; however, we felt we needed some help with building a platform and related apps for the corporate segment (B2B). Given Divami’s experience with the B2B segment, we wanted Divami to design the user experience and interface for our corporate fleet management application. As it was our first foray into the corporate segment, we needed somebody who had prior experience and expertise in building SaaS platforms. We hired Divami to design the UX and UI designs for the corporate fleet management application. This included the mobile apps for corporate employees, drivers and their supervisors, as well as a corporate operational dashboard for the travel coordinators.

What were your goals for this project?

Our main goal was to create the app and the dashboard in such a manner that could be easily used by the drivers and the administrators, without any extensive training. As the tech-savviness of the end-users would vary greatly, we wanted to be extra careful with the design of the mobile app for drivers and supervisors. We also wanted a well-designed dashboard which would make the operations easier to handle as well as provide high-level analytics for the management.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found Divami from within our extended network. As we looked for someone with experience in building SaaS platforms and the B2B segment, Divami stood out and made our choice easy. Their approach to understanding our problem statement and their subsequent analysis and discussions were the decisive factors in deciding in favor of Divami for our project.

Describe the project in detail.

The project involved designing a complete digital fleet management system for the large corporates. The platform touch points included a mobile application for the corporate employees who would utilize the cab services for their commute, another mobile application meant to be used by the drivers and their supervisors, and a web application for the management and administrators of the fleet that would allow them to provision and schedule cabs as well as monitor and provide high level analytics.

What was the team composition?

There was a team of 2 designers working with us and assigned full-time to the project, led by a Senior Design Strategist.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was appreciated by the users and did receive great reviews. The corporate teams were happy to use our transport and fleet management. As our project was under expansion, it was then acquired by one of the largest travel management companies in India. We can say that, overall the project was a success. The platform reduced the turnaround time for fleet management, enhanced security and safety for the employees.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Divami team worked very closely with us, despite the geographical separation. The close collaboration helped the project progress smoothly and we were able to complete it on time. To deliver faster, we started the development in parallel while the designs were being done, and Divami supported us by delivering the designs in sprints. They were always attentive to our needs and supported us as best as could be expected.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their team had a methodical design process that was really needed when building a platform with such a diverse set of users. We liked their design philosophy, especially designing for a corporate audience.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Once the project got started, Divami team waited until the research and analysis phase was completed to publish a detailed project schedule. Our feedback to them was to publish a schedule - however tentative - very early on in the project to help with planning subsequent sprints.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are an end to end mobility services company. We specialize in mobile strategy, app development, IoT integration, full-stack services, and maintenance. We cater to all kinds of middle ware and back-end development related needs apart from mobile apps, like from integration with analytics tools to integrate with hardware. I am the CEO of MobileWays.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Divami Design Labs?

While we specialize in full-stack development, we collaborated with Divami to get their expertise in UX and UI design for our clients. Especially for consumer apps and SaaS platform projects, we take support from Divami to research and create upbeat designs for our clients. Over the years, Divami has become our go-to partner for specialized UX and UI design needs. While we hired Divami for many projects, I’d like to highlight an IoT and a task management application. We partnered with them to design an app for a smart helmet, with geo-tracking & SoS capabilities. And the task managing app almost worked as a personal assistant organizing daily important chores.

What were your goals for this project?

For each of the projects, the goal was to deliver a superior app experience, in sync with the client’s vision. For the Smart Helmet Application, the goal was to deliver a jazzy and modern design apart from simplicity and ease of use. While we would always be involved in full project cycle, we expected Divami to work with the client to understand their vision and requirements and deliver a matching user experience.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We had been looking for partners locally in Hyderabad, and we met Divami’s founder at an alumni gathering. So it was an easy call to make to give them a try as we connected well in the first meeting and we felt the relationship would work well. And since the very first project we completed with Divami, we knew that we could rely on them for the rest of our projects’ requirements.

Describe the project in detail.

The Smart Helmet app was meant to be the first of its kind helmet with crash detection and an SOS system. The client’s intent was to give the riders a seamless experience with a simple app but with a rich and contemporary UI. Divami team worked very closely with the client to understand their expectations and to get their work reviewed and approved at every stage.

They were also involved through the development cycle to adjust the designs based on technical considerations. We had weekly reviews jointly with the client and Divami team to review and approve the work done. The task management app was supposed to be designed in a way that was easily accessible and could be trusted to remind the users of their self-assigned tasks. The client wanted to keep the users confident of the fact that everything is organized and accounted for so that they could be focused on things that were important to them.

Divami designed the app in such a manner that the users could get a clear overview of everything on their plate and never lost track of their important tasks. Also, after their research, they added a feature where the user could set the priority parameter and also be able to delegate tasks to his/her teammates.

What was the team composition?

Across all projects, we worked with several of their design team members. Generally, each project was worked on by a UX designer and a UI designer. Their Chief Designer was also involved in most projects providing guidance and design strategy.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The IoT app is running quite successfully in US markets. In fact, the client has been covered by National Geographic Channel, with phenomenal results. And it makes us proud to be part of such an impactful product journey. The self-organizing app has also received quite a positive response.

People are especially appreciating the whole design and experience of the application. We are happy to give the complete credit to Divami for the success of the design and user experience of the apps. Divami was able to deliver on the vision of creating a tool that promotes a calmer, more balanced, more fulfilling way to work and live.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Divami is a fairly mature team with respect to their processes and project management. We generally played the role of an enabler while they were working directly with our clients. During the main design phase, we had regular meetings with them to review the progress of work. They would generally pass on designs to us to get validation that they would be no technical challenges before they present the designs to the client for approval.

Once the designs have been delivered, we occasionally needed them to help with assets, designs for any scope changes etc., missing pages etc. Usually, we also have them do a sanity UX/UI review on the completed app to ensure design compliance.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Divami Design Labs really values relationships, they are great at building and managing them. Not just with us as a partner, but they also manage to build trust and respect with our clients they worked with. There is no us-vs-them attitude in their team -- it feels like we are all part of a single entity when working on a project. Of course, their work speaks for itself - they are really good at what they do.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Due to the time spent on research and analysis, the progress during the initial stages of the project seem slow to the client. While there is good reason for it and the overall project moves according to the timelines, they could work on changing this perception by perhaps engaging the client more during the research period.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a Product Development & Cloud Services company. We consult and deliver best-in-class, scalable and maintainable digital products & solutions for web, mobile, and enterprise. I am the Co-Founder and Director and head Development and Delivery for Sevya.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Divami Design Labs?

We hired Divami for several projects - some of the notable projects were - Shiksha (an educational intervention system to improve learning in government-run primary schools),

GreenSys - an IoT based SaaS platform to manage and monitor sensors deployed in the field and

Simpliance GRC - a compliance management SaaS platform for Gaming establishments.

What were your goals for this project?

In each of the projects, the goals we set for Divami were to deliver a great User Experience tailored to the user base. In Shiksha, the goal was to build an application that would be used by primary school teachers in rural environments - we wanted the experience to be not only easy, but also fun and engaging both for the teachers and the children.

For the Greenco rating system, the challenge we posed Divami was to design a system that made navigation of hundreds of devices easy and drive analytics that could be understood by admins who are not necessarily data scientists.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Divami came highly recommended by someone we trusted. And once we executed the first project, we knew we found a great long-term partner.

Describe the project in detail.

For Shiksha, we wanted the designs to have a high-engagement teaching mechanism that is both instructional and attractive to children. We wanted them to design the app in such a manner that it was intuitive for the teachers and quick to access as and when necessary.

Divami team travelled to a few schools in our target areas to work with the teachers and students to understand the process. We believe this helped them really understand the vision of what we were trying to deliver and these research efforts paid off in the designs they delivered.

Whereas, for Simpliance, the governance, risk & compliance platform meant for Gaming establishments, logistics dictated that the Divami team conduct all the required user research remotely.

They worked with stakeholders and SMEs on the client’s side as well as our business analysts to understand the USP of the platform and the vision and direction for the product. Once again, their designs reflected the efforts they put into research and analysis.

What was the team composition?

For each project, different people were involved - usually the team included one UX designer, a UI designer and a lead Strategist. Mostly project management was driven by us although they had a shared project manager to assist with project governance and tracking.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The Shiksha app is currently in beta field trials in limited schools. Certain aspects of the Shiksha application which were considered as complex interactions were eventually designed by Divami team in a simple and intuitive manner. The UX for the app received very positive feedback from end customer.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

One of the remarkable elements of Divami is their process. Especially their focus on research and analysis goes a long way in establishing their credibility and our clients’ confidence in them when they present a design and explain why a certain approach was taken.

We do spend a lot of time with them at the beginning of the project - during the research phase - to ensure the problem statement and requirements have been communicated correctly.

After that, we have meetings every week to review the work completed. During the time we and our clients review the work and approve, Divami team works on the next set of design tasks. Regular communication between the teams has been very effective for the success of the projects.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Divami’s teams are very dynamic and creative, which is what you would expect from a good design company. More importantly, Divami is very committed to the partnership and they work very hard at making the partnership work.

What is most impressive is how this attitude and commitment trickles down to the individual team members. We always feel like we are working with our own people and not another vendors’.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Like any relationship we had initial hiccups, but most of them have been ironed out after the first few months. We have established a good cadence between our teams, and things are very smooth now. It is sometimes a challenge to justify to our clients the need for research and the time spent on it - if Divami can somehow help with this aspect, it would make our job a little easier.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Medicopia is a pharmacopeia mobile application that serves as a drug information reference tool in India. The information includes generic as well as brand names of medicines, indications for their use, dosing for specific illnesses, adverse drug reactions, contraindications for use, and pharmacology of the drug in question. I am a practicing Electrophysiologist and the Co-Founder of Pharmacopia Labs Pvt Ltd.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Divami Design Labs?

We partnered with them for the whole end to end solution, right from idea validation to the final product. They designed and developed the complete platform (including the mobile application) from scratch.

What were your goals for this project?

Our major goals were to have an application with which Healthcare providers could access quick and precise drug information like generic & brand names, contraindications & indications for their use, dosing ratios, adverse drug reactions, pharmacology of drugs.

Also, we wanted it to be designed in a manner that could be functional even without the internet, as in most of cases doctors face network issues, especially when working in a basement or some remote locations. We wanted an interface that was quite intuitive and quick to discover, considering the fact that it should be quick for the doctors to go through the information.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We wanted to select a partner, more than a vendor. We evaluated multiple agencies, but got a reference to Divami from someone in our network who has worked with them earlier. They understood what we wanted and believed in our vision and we are happy with our decision.

Describe the project in detail.

We wanted to build this application in a way, that significantly changes (for the better) how drugs are being prescribed by physicians. We needed something that could eliminate the guesswork involved in computing dosages, especially for pediatric and geriatric patients, thereby reducing the prescription errors that account for up to 70% of medical errors. Especially for the cases where multiple specialists are involved, we need such an application where the chances of confusion are minimized due to the availability of so many brands and alternatives available in the market these days.

Say, if a patient gets a heart stroke and is rushed to a cardiologist, but if he was already having a kidney problem, at times in such emergencies it’s difficult for the specialists to understand the ongoing medicines of the patients and often there are chances of mixing of dosages, hence, such an application has been very much needed. We knew that it’s complicated to design, hence it was quite challenging for us to find someone who gets the problem and give us the right solution and approach towards it, since we understood the need, but priorly not the technicality of this application.

What was the team composition?

Their design team included 2 designers - one for UX and another for UI, led by a strategist. There were 4 developers, a QA engineer and an overall Project manager during the development cycle. Also, they also built and managed a pharmacist team on our behalf to create and manage the drug database.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Even without major marketing, we have organically reached more than 10,000 doctors and gotten a lot of positive responses. Many have patted our back and have been quite impressed by the whole application. Very recently, we won the prestigious CII design award under 2 categories - for the best interaction design and for the best mobile app, and have been profiled at the Design Week conference. We definitely credit Divami for creating an excellent user experience for the doctors and for creating an app that we can be proud of.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They took complete ownership of the project. We literally just shared our vision and they brought it to reality. Since we didn’t have our own team of developers or designers, they created the roadmap for us and took responsibility for driving the whole process, from scratch to final delivery. We had regular review meetings where we would review the progress and give approval at each stage.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The entire team - each and every person we worked with - had the highest levels of commitment, ownership, and accountability. It is a testament to their team that we could bring out the product with just high-level direction and vision from us, without having a team ourselves.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I can’t think of any. They have been and continue to be a great partner.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Co-Founder of Wurkr based in London. Wurkr is an exciting new video platform that replicates your physical office…online! You can communicate and work with your colleagues visibly and in real-time wherever they may be.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Divami Design Labs?

We had bootstrapped an internal working together from anywhere platform that now needed to be taken to a wider audience. After speaking to a number of UX/UI companies we selected Divami to partner with us to design the new front end.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a UI that was fresh and very intuitive and we needed it delivered within 90 days.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

My team collated a list of potential UX/UI companies through web searches and recommendations. Divami was one of the companies recommended to us. We went through various interactions and selected Divami for their creativity, enthusiasm and communication.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we selected Divami, there were a number of discovery meetings that went into a lot of depth. This then led to conceptual overview designs that we reviewed and narrowed down to 2. Finally, all assets were defined and designed with our tech team. The selected designs were rendered to ensure all colours and concepts matched our expectations with a final finish within the 90 days.

What was the team composition?

We had quite an agile approach to the team composition, growing and contracting as needed. Overall there was 1 point of contact at both ends to ensure a central repository of workflow.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We instantly received the wow factor from the internal users and they absolutely loved the new UI designed by Divami. Our back end team were really impressed that our vision for the front end was perfect for our audience. We were able to integrate the designs with ease.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We always had access to our project manager and the CEO was available as and when required. Everyone else in their team was equally available, even at odd times.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The sheer enthusiasm of the whole team and the CEO for ensuring our vision was always at the forefront. Their creativity was way beyond anything we could have imagined. It led to us rethinking the future roadmap of the product. Great people, creative ideas and enthusiasm!

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not really, our expectations were met and the end product is being loved by everyone that uses or sees it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of Duke.ai, a company that has developed a SaaS-based bookkeeping and accounting tool that automates all the elements of document processing using AI, and imports those into financial accounting software.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Divami Design Labs?

We had developed the cloud infrastructure, which includes the ability to send documents and have them processed, but we needed a UI. We hired Divami Design Labs for this purpose.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We contracted Divami Design Labs to first help design what that the UI would look like based on the requirements we put together. We started out with a proof of concept using a JavaScript web app. Ultimately, we needed to have our cloud solution on a mobile platform, so we asked them to help us develop the iOS version. We talked about the UI’s design and the app’s interaction with the backend server.

The app is on both iOS and Android. We mainly wanted a simple app since our target customers are truck drivers. However, its use can be extended to anyone in the transportation industry. Usually, these individuals are on the road for a very long time and don’t have the educational background to learn advanced software like QuickBooks. We wanted to eliminate all manual data entry, and Divami Design Labs helped us put together a simple frontend. From there, pretty much all activities can be launched from a mobile phone.

We came to Divami Design Labs with some basic code and wireframes with three buttons—upload, view process, and view reports. They created proper wireframes for the app and impressive graphics for those buttons as well as visually-appealing backgrounds while producing a nice flow between the home screen and each menu. They provided their technical expertise in terms of the layout, but also on things like prompts for next activities in order to create an easy and intuitive experience for the truck drivers using our app.

Once we passed the layout and design phase with Divami Design Labs, we moved onto the integration of our backend APIs and how the data is transferred from the server to the app. They were involved in all the necessary engineering discussions and implementations. Their team also helped with some of our automation to make sure that, despite different use cases and unanticipated user interaction, we’d be able to overcome some of the assumptions and find some of the failure points. They wrote automated testing scripts and did some research and development for us. As the product evolved, we were able to do more reliability and QA testing with Divami Design Labs. 

What is the team composition?

I was in contact with around seven individuals. They had a programming manager assigned to our account, who made sure we were on schedule and that their engineers prioritized their development activities according to our requirements. This persisted for a period of seven months. We now have an engineer on retainer, who’s basically an extension of our team.

We don’t have a programming manager anymore and the developer reports directly to me. I set his priorities regarding the activities to work on, and he’s involved in our weekly scrum meetings and sprint reviews. He’s kind of like a contract employee.

How did you come to work with Divami Design Labs?

My CTO had heard good things about their company, so we gave them a test program to work on and the relationship evolved from there. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Divami Design Labs in July 2018, and it’s an ongoing partnership.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve delivered within budget and on time. It’s one thing to have a contracted service and give the provider something to execute, but it’s another when a vendor shares their insight and proactively informs flaws in the designs or approach to the work, helping us safeguard ourselves against issues in implementation or deployment. This is what Divami Design Labs does and it means a lot to me. Their team has been considerate on the cost as well, focusing on the activities that I’ve actually asked them to do. 

The first thing people tell us after they’ve seen the app is that it has a clean and intuitive interface, and I attribute that to Divami Design Labs’ ability to translate my vision of simplicity into the app.  

How did Divami Design Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

I was amazed at how they adapted to work on our schedule. I’ve worked with offshore companies and there was usually a delay. We had one critical registration bug after going into production, and we were able to resolve that in two days. It was a combination of night calls and morning calls, and they were always available.

We use Trello for project management. Divami Design Labs worked directly with my US engineering team over email. We have shared folders for documents and feature requirements.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really like their energized staff. I’m a high energy kind of person and when I called them to talk about the solution, they bought into it. It wasn’t just another job to them, but rather they acted as an extension of our team. The other companies I’ve worked with provided good service but didn’t feel our pain points. Divami Design Labs sees our success as their success, and I like that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We needed some people with AWS experience, and Divami Design Labs didn’t have them when we started. I ended up hiring someone externally to help us with that. Then, two to three months into the project, Divami Design Labs found an AWS expert. They’ve been able to listen to the feedback coming from their customers, find gaps, and fill them. We know we can't have full breadth across all technologies but it's impressive to see them respond to customer feedback.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Clients need to have a clear vision of what they want, but if they don’t, Divami Design Labs’ team can help shape what they need in terms of UI. I wouldn’t say to come with a blank sheet of paper and not have an idea of what the design and interactions should be, but Divami can help guide clients. They have a methodology for going from the idea stage to translating that into something visible. I’d say to not fret too much about not having all the details worked out. Divami Design Labs can help walk clients through that.