DO OK

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We provide an expert-opinion aggregator focused on product reviews from newspapers, magazines, and so on. I'm the founder and CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with dook.pro?

We had some technology in place, which was built by another company. We weren’t very happy with it, so we reached out to dook.pro to redevelop the entire platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have iOS and Android frontend applications, both of which were re-engineered and partly redesigned by dook.pro. They also restructured our backend, which is quite complex. They simplified it and put it together in a smart and forward-looking way.

We previously handled the content manually, but dook.pro developed a completely new concept that allowed us to skip that process. Everything is now 100% automated. It’s tremendously improved our scalability, both from a technical and a financial perspective, cutting out every manual step involved in handling the data.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with 6–7 members of their team, including Dmitrij (CEO, dook.pro) and a project manager, with whom I liaised quite a bit. We had one backend and two frontend engineers, and there were a couple of other people involved tangentially. I liaised less with those, but my CTO did so more.

How did you come to work with dook.pro?

My CTO had worked with them before, so he suggested that we should also use them for this project.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent €50,000 [$58,023 USD] so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in late January 2018. They delivered the product last week and we've just gone live. We’ve put the next steps on hold for a couple of weeks, but we’ll pick up afterward. We have an extensive roadmap that we want to develop quickly, over the next weeks and months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’m extremely happy with dook.pro’s work. They picked up what I regarded as a complicated project—which the previous team couldn’t deliver—and delivered a product within five months or less. We’ve had a near-complete overhaul of all the technologies involved.

They had to familiarize themselves with some of the scraping technologies used. It was all done quickly and I was surprised by their ability to simplify the whole database and scraping structure on the backend.

My CTO was pleased that we now have just one database, one input/output API, and one scraping tool. Previously, these were all a mishmash of various tools. We had a complex infrastructure and we now have a very simple, straightforward one. In conclusion, if my CTO is happy, then I’m happy.

How did dook.pro perform from a project management standpoint?

They came up with appropriate tools depending on task's complexity, from Excel to a dedicated project management tool. They answer all our questions over Slack, and we can use the tool to bring everyone up-to-speed quickly. It’s worked very well.

The overall process of working with them was efficient. Every member of their team is very much up to their role. They provide assistance whenever we have a question or need feedback. My CTO handled much of the interaction, but I got involved in feature discussions, given that I’m the spiritual father of this project. They made constant suggestions, and never left open-ended questions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve used some specific backend technologies and I’ve been impressed by their ability to get up-to-speed with those. dook.pro was also capable of suggesting immediate improvements. They reached out to worldwide communities in order to find answers to the questions we had.

I’ve liked their eagerness and proactiveness on tacking the various issues we had, in terms of complexity and the previous team’s inability to deliver. dook.pro managed to deliver the product in five months, whereas we'd struggled with the previous team for a considerably longer time and for more money.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not really. We had a not-so-pleasant experience with our previous team, but I’ve really liked dook.pro. They’re truly a team; if I address a question to the wrong person, I will immediately get contacted by the right one. I’m extremely happy with them and I’ve promised to bring them a cake the next time I’m there.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a board member of Wheel Systems, a producer of network appliances.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with dook.pro?

We created an interface in-house but decided to involve an external company because we had very limited resources.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built our web interface from scratch. We had discussions about how it would look, what it should do, and what the endpoints are. We gave them the freedom to choose the best technology and they started working on the prototype. After three to four days, they provided mockups so that we could choose the look of the interface and its basic functionality. They’d ask from time to time what kind of approach they should take, and after a month, the product was finished.

The key feature is to catch users and provide them with all the functionality they need to make our product work for them. The user has to log in and pass user credentials for other clouds if any. Our software is able to gather information about the users using the cloud and can monitor access to it.

What is the team composition?

There was a product manager, two programmers, and a developer involved in the project.

How did you come to work with dook.pro?

We knew someone that works there. We contacted them, and after a small discussion, they agreed to work with us.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2018 until February 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re extremely capable of delivering a product they don’t know much about. The product has its own niche and it’s not commonly used. It’s hard to find a company that has the capability to develop such a thing without knowing much about it from the very beginning.

There are a few bugs, but they are going to fix them in a few days. The product is not released to the public yet; its first presentation will be in a month a half from now.

How did dook.pro perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Skype and Google Hangouts to communicate. I got weekly feedback from the product manager on how many resources I consumed. They even agreed to work on weekends in order to deliver the product on time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re good at discovering their customer’s needs. With other companies, we spent much more time describing how our product actually works, usually taking up to one to two months for them to get it. dook.pro understood us in one week.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they did a good job.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the global HR innovation manager for the largest independent-chain restaurant operator in Central and Eastern Europe. Our company is also expanding into Western Europe, Russia, and China. During this project with dook.pro, I acted as the product owner from the client’s perspective. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire dook.pro?

We needed to develop a customized soft HR system, as out-of-the-box systems don't meet our company's expectations.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a responsive design for web and mobile apps and a user-friendly and intuitive system. The solution needed to group all of our soft HR processes into one place and offer easy access based on privileges (e.g., brand, country, level in our organizational structure). The systems should integrate with our company's central employee database to create automatic flows in user accounts. This project mainly relied on React, Python, and Django. 

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our procurement department launched a formal tender process to find the best vendor, inviting companies chosen from Clutch. We selected dook.pro based on several meetings where we discussed our needs, roadblocks, and expectations. We started working together once our executive representatives approved this selection.

Describe the project in detail.

We have an NDA in place, so I can’t provide details.

What was the team composition?

I still don't know how many people were involved in the project because dook.pro constantly changed the team’s size without sharing any information with us. I can understand trying to streamline communication when working with a massive team, but poor communication is unacceptable when no deadline is being met. I was especially frustrated when they kept switching our project manager, who was responsible for the system’s most important functionalities and infrastructure.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What outcomes or results can you share that demonstrate progress and/or success?

Right now, I can’t assess the product because there are so many bugs that haven’t been fixed since the beginning of November. The system has been implemented, but users complain constantly about unreliable functionalities.

How effective was the project management?

The whole experience was poor. They never met our deadlines and wouldn’t respond to questions for days. In my opinion, dook.pro ignores customers.

They changed our project managers three times since July 2016. Our first project manager had no experience with this type of work, and he didn't deliver anything, which caused us to miss deadlines for the whole project. He had no idea how to manage the project properly, so three developers worked separately on the same functionality with totally different approaches. The second project manager had better skills, but my team couldn’t function in the dook.pro team’s negative environment. The second project manager delivered a lot of things but finally left the company. The third project manager tried his best but clearly had no understanding of our goals. We wasted time trying to explain everything from the beginning and had multiple arguments about how the solution should work.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

A few developers actually tried to communicate with us. They showed greater interest in our project than the team’s management.

What tips or recommendations do you have?

They need to rethink their entire approach, especially regarding communication and attitude. They’re not customer-focused at all, except during the tender process when they promised to deliver everything.

I've wasted so much time fighting with dook.pro; it’s been a nightmare. 

Company Responses

Every project is delivered according to the mock-ups prepared together with the customer and does not launch without their approval. We always keep the client informed about the progress, changes, and consequences of changes affecting the delivery of the final product.

In this particular case, the project budget from the customer's perspective was kept at the same level, even though we increased support on our end.

We are very proud we have grown from a small startup to a public company and every day dozens of companies work with us. We help them reach their business goals through listening, analyzing, understanding the needs and expectations of end-users, and software development closely collaborating in one team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the R&D project manager for a financial technology firm. We make limit order book data from exchanges available in a central platform and provide a platform for people to investigate the data and work with the data and analytics.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with dook.pro?

We needed to get a beta version of a platform out quickly. We had to incorporate different exchange feeds and integration protocols for multiple trading venues (of which there are over 150, representing over 10,000 liquid tickers), and we had to work with a number of those in parallel.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

dook.pro provided additional developers to support our in-house staff. Our internal team conducted the initial conversations with the exchange and data providers to work out the data formatting and the technical details, which we shared with dook.pro developers. They wrote the parses in Python based upon the initial set of specifications and the test data that we provided, and we then integrated the parses into our web platform.

What is the team composition?

Six Python developers from their team are assigned to our project.

How did you come to work with dook.pro?

dook.pro was involved with our company shortly after it first launched. They already knew about our business and the format of our data, so we knew they had the skills.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began in March 2015 and are still working together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their work has been part of a larger collaboration, so we don’t have any data that specifically reflect their impact. They’ve provided 14 parses so far and always have accurate timescales and good-quality work. There are some issues, but we’re able to address those with close communication.

How did dook.pro perform from a project management standpoint?

We've had a dedicated project manager who provides weekly updates and is available through Slack (which is helpful when working with developers in a different country) and telephone. We track their progress through Jira.

We use Slack for instant messaging, which is helpful when you have developers in a different country.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed by their flexibility and the knowledge of our business that they've built up over time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don't think so.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

If you can, visit them on-site and in-person first. It makes remote communication a lot easier afterward when you’ve already met face-to-face.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the product owner of a healthcare company developing an application for patient therapy.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with dook.pro?

We have a powerful platform and we needed to create a new web dashboard for it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have written the backend part of our technology in-house. dook.pro has written a frontend web application using ReactJS, based on our user stories.

The platform they’ve built is quite flexible, so, anytime we want to change something, it’s easy for dook.pro to incorporate those changes. This is a sign of a good underlying infrastructure for me.

What is the team dynamic?

We have used dook.pro as an extension of our team. We have no key account manager or project manager on their side. A couple of their developers have joined our team and integrated into our process. We also have a tester and an iOS developer on their team, in the same augmentation format.

How did you come to work with dook.pro?

I made some Google searches and looked at between five and ten companies. There was no recommendation involved, as far as I can remember. dook.pro had extremely open communication. We had a conversation about what they planned to achieve (which turned out to be true in the end), and they had people ready to start within a couple of days.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost of their work was above $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with dook.pro in March 2017, and have an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

What we like about dook.pro is that, rather than focusing on metrics, they purely integrated with our process. It feels more like we’re building a product together, and less like working on a set project. We’ve never had to discuss any KPIs; there is simply a common understanding of what’s right and wrong.

They’ve completely integrated with our process, without any issues. There hasn’t been any friction; they’ve tried to understand how to work with us from day one, and adjusted to it. dook.pro has brought quite a bit of feedback on how to improve the product, even on things they’d just built. They had no problem saying that a part they built could be even better if we let them invest some time in it. The transparency and proactive approach to quality are very nice.

How did dook.pro perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve never had an issue regarding responsiveness. Timelines are a bit more fluid for us, but the communication around what can be achieved over a certain period is very good. Rather than putting pressure on them to achieve a certain timeline, we focus on quality. dook.pro is quite good at telling us how long things will take.

We have met them in person, but the overall collaboration has been remote. We communicate through daily video conferences and a project management tool, JIRA.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They see their role as a subject-matter expert. dook.pro has guided us forward on doing things right.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of FastTrack Company. We are developing a product which is a luggage tracker device. You can put our product in your suitcase and you can track your luggage everywhere around the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with dook.pro?

We are developing a hardware product without the adequate software solutions to complement it. We wouldn’t be able to deliver a solution to our customers this way. We already had a company in Poland that we worked with to develop our hardware and the tracker, but we needed a competent software development company to build on both Android and iOS, as well as handle our backend development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We didn’t have any existing wireframes. We basically briefed them with requirements documents, a couple of phone calls, and a face-to-face meeting to tell them more about our company and what it is we wanted. We had a clear focus on the product that we wanted to build.

They helped us figure out the best way to achieve what we wanted from a technical implementation and concept perspective. They developed the backend, the API, and the iOS and Android apps.

Given the fact that we were happy with the first delivery, we are now working with dook.pro again to make the next release of all elements of the product. We have the intention to keep on doing so because of their responsiveness, the way that they understand what we want, and the quality of the output.

How did you come to work with dook.pro?

We looked for an all-around development company that had good references, the capabilities of doing both the Android and the iOS app, and backend development. We did a web search and my CTO made a selection of a couple of companies. dook.pro gave the best and quickest answer to our requests in terms of helping us get a good software solution for our product.

How much have you invested with them?

I have invested about $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2016 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The total solution — the backend, the API, and the two mobile apps — works well. We were quite happy with the fact that from the first day after delivery, everything worked smoothly. The basic functionality works fine, but there is room for adding and improving the way it works; that’s something we’re working together with dook.pro on, improving the initial mobile app as well as the backend.

How did dook.pro perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a good project manager. He takes in what we want to have and then comes up with both a clear breakdown of hours as well as a deadline. We set up joint tools like JIRA and Confluence to help get the best insight of what they are doing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed with their versatility and with the fact that they delivered the whole solution. They’re not specialists in either iOS or Android, and they also do backend and API work quite well. They have a good cooperation between the various specialists for the different platforms, who all work together to build a solution that works for us and especially for our customers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had some issues with availability of specialists, but they saw that and got other resources in order to make sure that they could still deliver. Being able to deliver continuously is something they could do a little bit better. For example, if the project manager is not available, then it’s difficult to get someone else to fill in instantly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CTO of TestaViva. We are making legal business in the Denmark online space easy. We currently have five employees, but there is also a board of five investors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with dook.pro?

There was a design for which we had implemented frontend work in Denmark. Since some people weren’t really satisfied with it, we decided to create a new version. We needed some frontend people who could work fast and effectively in order to implement it before the launch of the site.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had worked with one of their resources, and set up a Skype meeting with him. We explained our issues and he eventually came back with two developers which started on our project. dook.pro initially wanted to do the work in sprints, but since the deadline was very close, we ended up implementing everything at once. dook.pro provided frontend HTML, CSS, and JavaScript work.

Since our features had been implemented in the previous version, dook.pro didn’t have to build anything new, but they did consult us on alternative approaches for the platform.

How did you come to work with dook.pro?

One of our board members had used dook.pro for another project, and he was very happy with the results. He got in touch with dook.pro and that was it.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with dook.pro in January 2017. The work was completed by the end of February, but if we need anything else, we will definitely use dook.pro again.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

People have been very satisfied with dook.pro’s design in general. It’s a very easy to use and professional looking site. dook.pro provided two resources which would have cost us a lot more money had we used Danish freelancers.

How did dook.pro perform from a project management standpoint?

The team was aware of our deadlines. We had some demos for partners which needed to be ready in time, so dook.pro ended up working almost nonstop for two weekends. We usually used Slack, but dook.pro had another tool internally. We also used Skype for face-to-face communication. We are in the same time zone, so that was not an issue. dook.pro estimated 320 hours of work, but they ended up using only 305. They did two months worth of work in only one month, which was also pretty good.

What did you find most impressive about dook.pro?

I was impressed by the workload dook.pro was able to handle. They were fine with working over the weekend in order to meet our deadline.

Are there any areas dook.pro could improve?

Not off the top of my mind.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a technology-enabled recruiting startup. I’m the CTO and one of the cofounders. On the tech side, we have built a career platform to help match candidates to jobs and a set of internal tools to help make our team work more efficiently. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with dook.pro?

As a bootstrapping startup based in New York, it’s financially difficult to hire engineers locally. In order to scale up our engineering capacity, we had to look elsewhere for more affordable options.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They worked with us as an additional member of our engineering team and worked full-stack on user facing app and internal tools. Projects include audio recording features in our application, API integrations, and algorithms to match candidates to jobs.

dook.pro helped us by providing another great developer besides me and my co-founder in order to reach our goal faster. They have been a great partner from the beginning. They’re technically strong so I can always turn to them for advice. 

How did you come to work with dook.pro?

I found dook.pro on the Django website where they recommended firms that do that kind of work. We interviewed several firms, and I ran a series of technical interviews and dook.pro was by far the best.

How much have you invested with dook.pro?

We have spent between $25,000 and $40,000 with dook.pro so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with dook.pro in March 2016, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Working with dook.pro has allowed us to quickly scale up our engineering capacity and hit our product milestones. They were able to work very independently and freed up time for us to hire and grow the business.

How did dook.pro perform from a project management standpoint?

We were using Slack and Asana internally. dook.pro were experienced with this setup and plugged in seamlessly.

What did you find most impressive about dook.pro?

The most impressive thing is the quality of engineers that dook.pro. They’re all very technically curious people, and I think that’s one thing that makes developers great. dook.pro takes pride in their work.

Are there any areas dook.pro could improve?

Working with a dev shop was new to us and it took a while for us to find a rhythm that works. I think it would've been helpful if we had a bit more guidance and set better expectations. For example learning about best practices on how to work with a remote team would've been very helpful in the beginning of the engagement. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We have developed a delivery management platform for e-commerce. We connect online retailers with delivery companies like UPS and FedEx, handling integrations for labels and tracking.

What is your position?

I am the Chief Executive Officer of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Dook.pro?

We were looking for a partner who could assist us with ongoing development. We needed an overflow capacity for bigger projects which could not be overseen, allowing us to ramp-up our development capability on relatively short notice.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

We brought Dook.pro on as team members. We develop Python projects on which Dook.pro augments our existing resources. Our own lead developers have the most domain and infrastructure knowledge, so they run the work. Dook.pro has added a lot of value to our team.

How did you come to work with Dook.pro?

We came across an inbound advertisement for their services, possibly an email.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The total investment for Dook.pro's services has been in the hundreds of thousands range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our first project with Dook.pro in January 2016. We have an open relationship with Dook.pro. They aren't working with us at the moment, but if we had an opportunity tomorrow, I would definitely contact Dook.pro.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Dook.pro's work is combined with that of our own developers. Individually, Dook.pro is as good as our own resources, but they don't have as deep of an understanding of our domain structure. I would have no hesitation of calling 3 of the resources from Dook.pro to our own team, though. They have gained the necessary experience with our system's nuances, and we see them as regular team members.

How did Dook.pro perform from a project management standpoint?

Dook.pro is able to cope with an Agile environment. Our project managers manage the work. We use a project management tool, they pull cards from it and we set them up with the same infrastructure used by our own members. There is no project management done on the Dook.pro side, which is perfect for us. We don't want to have an isolated team, but to have developers fit in with our workflow.

What distinguishes Dook.pro from other providers?

We have appreciated Dook.pro's flexibility. We have been able to pull resources in quickly. When a new project comes in, we can simply contact Dook.pro. It can be difficult to have resources ready at all times, but Dook.pro has managed to pull someone for us whenever we requested it. I don't know how they do it, but it has been amazingly beneficial to us.

Is there anything Dook.pro could have improved or done differently?

We have open dialogues with Dook.pro. There have been occasional miscommunications, but we've been able to sort them out on our own, through the normal course of events. Dook.pro has a great team.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a startup company that is run as a family business. We've launched a learning product for children between 3-9 years of age.

What is your position?

I am a co-owner of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with DOOK.pro?

We initially wanted to develop a mobile platform, but decided to create a physical product because we feel that children need to be more tactile at the ages we target. We still needed a website for our company, in order to have a digital presence. This is where the team from DOOK.pro came in.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

DOOK.pro developed our solution using AngularJS. It was important to have a programming model which could work across multiple browsers. We needed multi-language support and also wanted to create a place where our community could upload video snippets. We've invented a lot of muscle coordination games and wanted a way for our users to easily post their own ideas.

Since we didn't want to sell our product through the website, we included a page on the site which could easily locate distributors based on GPS information.

How did you come to work with DOOK.pro?

I have a fulltime job in management consulting. I joined a small company that is heavily inspired by what happens on the West Coast in entrepreneurial terms. In that context, we had a colleague working on developing a digital community. He recommended DOOK.pro to us.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The development cost was $16,000. Their hourly rate was around $27. Based on the market in Denmark, that is a very good price. The average salary in Poland is five times lower than what it is here, but we are extremely close to each other. It's amazing to have this level of skill, at that price and within such a close proximity.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them at the end of 2015. Our project has been launched.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The finished product was completely up to par with our expectations. We did have minor changes to make, but they were done very well and without additional costs.

We initially had a cartoon-like design for our website which was lifted from our product's packaging. It had a vintage feel to it, which was not so well-received. It was not to do with DOOK.pro's performance. They created the page from our requirements, and we've had a redesign since in order to give a more mainstream appearance.

How did DOOK.pro perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very good from a communication standpoint. We kept in touch through both Slack and Trello. I could follow their progress whenever I wanted. DOOK.pro was very responsive whenever we needed clarifications or wanted to give them detailed requirements.

What distinguishes DOOK.pro from other providers?

Our physical product will be sourced to China. I'm also working with a team of molding engineers in Poland, and have noticed that both of these teams have a lot of pride for the work they do. They never cut corners in what they deliver. I've talked to other people about this and it seems to be the general attitude for this part of Europe.

Is there anything DOOK.pro could have improved or done differently?

The look-and-feel of the site is very unusual. In retrospect, they could have chosen a more mainstream design for our page.