MLSDev

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO for an e-commerce site specializing in the heavy-duty truck space, primarily aftermarket parts for large-scale semi-trucks. We facilitate the sales and provide a concierge-type service for end customers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MLSDev?

We had some large-scale projects underway, so we needed development help. Specifically, we wanted an agency that could provide consulting, UI, and graphics UX expertise.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The first thing MLSDev did was a new design. We took that design, iterated on it, and executed it together. They started from the ground up, in terms of usability and customer expectations. MLSDev questioned every component of the website, simplifying everything down to its lowest common denominator to make it comprehensible and efficient.

We gave them access to our source code, and we basically created a new application. We had our legacy application, and we had MLSDev begin a new bootstrapped version in the latest Ruby on Rails. We ported over features, tested the new app, and then began redirecting traffic from our legacy app to the new updated version.

What is the team composition?

We had two developers and one UI/UX person.

How did you come to work with MLSDev?

Our COO heard of them through word of mouth in the Los Angeles tech community.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent in the $50,000–$150,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership lasted from July 2016 to October 2017. We would’ve continued, but one of our main project investors went away, so we had to scale back.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

MLSDev was instrumental in the development that took our conversion rate from 0.9% to 1.15%. While we used them, our revenue went up, and we did better as an e-commerce company overall.

How did MLSDev perform from a project management standpoint?

They brought some much needed discipline to our organization. Being a small team, we’re sometimes all over the place, so that structure was helpful. 

I communicated often with the developers over Slack. Because they’re based in Ukraine, we ran into some time zone issues, but we were able to deal with them. For the most part, MLSDev was available. They stuck to the budget, followed plans, and told us if they would be late in delivery.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their commitment to discipline is impressive. I've worked with other developers that don’t have a structured way of managing their projects, but MLSDev wasn’t like that.

They utilized cutting-edge best practices, which is great in a field that is constantly changing. Their team would walk me through why their approach was the best, and then we made dev decisions together. They created an iterative process that let us analyze our progress and make changes as needed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They don’t distinguish between experienced and new developers, so the abilities between people could vary quite a bit. We were just given two resources and billed the same for each, even though they had much different skill levels.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of a Nordic fintech company. We do asset management and investment advice.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MLSDevs?

We wanted to have scaled-down iOS and Android app versions of our web application. We hired MLSDevs because we didn't have any app developers in-house. We also had to do this project while we simultaneously developed the frontend of the web app, so MLSDevs was basically part of our team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our target audience for the mobile apps was Nordic retail clients. We realized we didn't have the resources to build the mobile apps ourselves, but we still thought it was important to be in that marketplace.

How did you come to work with MLSDevs?

I previously worked at another company in the fintech space that had had positive experiences working with Ukrainian developers. So we looked at Clutch for companies with good references, and we narrowed those down to companies in Estonia, Poland, and Ukraine. We talked to five or six firms that had gotten good reviews on Clutch, and we eventually settled on MLSDevs. I think Clutch is a good way to get the first view of who’s good before you start to engage them. We chose MLSDevs based on their references and how important they found us as a client and how well they executed the proposal.

How much have you invested with MLSDevs?

I think we ended up paying roughly $50,000 to MLSDevs.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work together is complete. Now we have to wait for FSA approval, and then I hope to launch the mobile apps in August. I think we started working with MLSDevs in November 2016, and I think we ended the work in early June 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The problem we’ve had is that we’re a regulated business, so we’re not allowed to push out the apps until they’re approved. We have tested the apps, and MLSDevs have tested the apps. Technically, the apps work well. We’ll see how consumers perceive them in the fall.

How did MLSDevs perform from a project management standpoint?

I touched base with MLSDevs every week or so. My point of contact was the CEO. They had two and sometimes three developers. We developed the UX and UI of the apps ourselves, and then MLSDevs had a guy who kind of went through it and refined it a bit. They had some QA on their end, a project manager, some sales representatives, and then a product leader that changed in between. MLSDevs was also on-site with our developers to fix all of the nitty gritty details. I think the daily contact was on Skype or Google Hangouts, and I believe they used Trello for the project management.

What did you find most impressive about MLSDevs?

We liked MLSDevs a lot. They’re very rigorous. We had worked with other Ukrainian developers on the backend, and we eventually dropped them. I think MLSDevs has enough senior resources on their team. They’re a bit more expensive, but that means their quality is much higher. We’re very happy with MLSDevs. They’re very good and professional.

Are there any areas MLSDevs could improve?

We experienced some friction at the start, because I think MLSDevs had the impression that ours was a fixed-cost project, and they had to stick to the general budget and spec we had agreed to. We were telling them that it’s impossible to stick to spec 100%, and we needed them to work with a bit more agility. Then we had a good talk with the CEO, and we talked to the project managers and told them that it’s good that they were well-structured and tried to meet the spec price, but that they also needed to be adaptable to our needs. I think everything went well after that heated discussion. I think the problem was well-intended from their side, because they wanted to keep to the budget, but I think we should have had more detailed discussions so that we could keep working together to make the project as good as we could make it.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with MLSDevs?

I think what worked well is that, after the fight, I scheduled a short call with the CEO every second or third week or so. I think that was quite helpful. They’re good, quality-oriented developers.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

GoGibbon is a social media company. The intention is that people can connect with other people to go out and do specific activities immediately if they don’t have other people that are available such as friends or family. It’s similar to Uber for activities. I am one of the co-founders.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MLSDev?

We wanted someone who could educate us and walk us through the process from concept all the way through to a finished product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They began with a market analysis to look at what competitors were doing. They created wireframes which helped us to determine scale and scope. In the design portion, we worked with a couple of different designers which were outstanding. Then, they developed the iOS app. They helped us make decisions along the way that were to the benefit of our company.

How did you come to work with MLSDev?

We did a lot of online research including Clutch. We were looking for a mid-sized firm. We had a list of 50 companies around the world. We did interviews with some of the firms and talked to references. A lot of the US-based companies we reached out to weren’t interested in the specifics of the app. They were more interested in starting with a monetary analysis. MLSDev approached it by encouraging us to create an MVP [minimum viable product] and we liked that idea. We liked the fact that they were transparent in the way they worked. Their primary focus wasn’t just on monetary gain for them.

How much have you invested with MLSDev?

So far we’ve spent between $50,000 and $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August 2015 and we just finished the MVP. We’re doing some testing and making changes now.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We did initial beta testing and they scored off the charts in ease of use and design.

How did MLSDev perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great communicators in terms of their whole process. My partner and I do not have tech backgrounds and we felt that they provided information in a way that was easy to understand. We had talked to some US-based companies that use MLSDev and one of them told us that the MLSDev team can run circles around their MIT team. We were concerned about working with someone in another country because of the language barrier and time difference but they were unbelievable. None of those concerns proved to be problematic. We did all of our communication through Skype. Everyone that we dealt with knew English well. Every week we would have meetings on Skype for them to show us what they’d been working on. We’d give our feedback and any changes were done in a timely manner. They never went over budget. They were so professional, reliable, and creative, and I’m thrilled we made the choice we did.

What did you find most impressive about MLSDev?

When we would try to push for a change or idea that they did not agree with, they fought for what they believed in, and most times they were right in the end. If we wanted to stick with our decision, they were always respectful and recognized us as the client.

Are there any areas MLSDev could improve?

We were not familiar with the Apple review process. I think the only thing that we didn’t feel like we were educated enough on was how that process worked, but that’s not a reflection on MLSDev’s work at all. They were quick to make the changes that were required for Apple. It would have been good if they had explained the process to us.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder of a startup. We’re working on launching a social sharing app - it’s a utility app for food sharing. It’s like Facebook, Instagram, and Yelp combined. Currently, a lot of food content is shared on these other platforms but these platforms are really designed for general use. We’re building a social platform focusing primarily on tools and features for the eating experience.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with MLSDev?

I have a great idea and I don’t have a tech background. They were able to help with realizing my idea.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I had a wireframe and they helped with doing the mockup UI [user interface]. They also developed programming and coding, and continue to follow my lead on the UX [user experience] and UI of the product. They will develop it, too. It started out as a mobile web app. I think it’s using Swift and we’re just making an iOS for now.

How did you come to work with MLSDev?

I placed an ad online and there were a bunch of developers that submitted their bid. I had a good experience with them [MLSDev] in the initial assessment. The relationship started with the concept, and the overall interaction I had during the initial contact was positive, so we continued to build on the relationship.

How much have you invested with MLSDev?

This is confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

It began in May of last year [2015]. It’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We put a lot of emphasis on the design from the onset. The product was launched a few weeks ago. The feedback from users is that the interface is quite nice and clean.

How did MLSDev perform from a project management standpoint?

Pretty good. They’re reliable and they’re on top of things. MLSDev uses tools to keep the client on top of the day to day work process. They’re using Jira. That’s used for bug tracking as well.

What did you find most impressive about MLSDev?

I’m very impressed with their frontend developer, Artem. Anything I want, he’ll make it work.

Are there any areas MLSDev could improve?

It’s not my own team, so I don’t have the luxury of controlling their hours. They work 9-5 or 9-6 and not weekends, so it’s hard for me to expedite certain projects.

BACKGROUND

Please provide a brief description of your company.

I am a single individual working on a game project in my spare time.

What is your position?

I am the product owner. I decide how the product should be designed from UI, to backend, to implementation. I set out the priorities and decide which things need to be done.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was the business challenge that you were trying to address with MLSDev?

Since the product is a mobile game, the challenge was to bring entertainment and fun to our users.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

The project was to create and launch a game application for smartphones.

MLSDev was to provide consulting and guidance for the project, as well as carry out the development of the frontend and backend for the app. This included the UI and some wireframing, although I initially provided the bulk of the wireframes and app description. Once the UI and the structure of the app was defined, MLSDev would provide me with test versions every one or two weeks, and I would carry out tests and confirm what’s OK or not.

How did you come to work with MLSDev?

I checked several companies on Elance.com with the same type of profile, credentials, and portfolios. I then contacted four or five companies and described the project to them. Based on the price, quality, and timeliness of feedback as well as elements of their portfolio, I progressively narrowed down my search to MLSDev.

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

I have spent something in excess of $10,000 working with MLSDev.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started consulting for a few weeks in December 2014 and actually started the development of the project in February 2015. The finished application was released in April 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We decided early on that we would go for a MVP rather than work on a full-fledged version of the game. We felt that the latter would take too long, be too expensive, and too difficult to change.

Eventually, the result was a complete but simplified version of the game that was released only in one market to test the interest of users. It received only very limited traction, and we quickly stopped the Facebook and Google Mobile Ads marketing campaigns. I was personally convinced that the game needed more features to get users involved beyond the core gaming loop. We are now working on an enhanced version and have prioritized a number of next steps.

What distinguishes MLSDev from other providers?

I don’t have much experience working with different providers so I can’t really say. But overall, MLSDev was well organized, followed their internal rules and procedures, and carried out the development step by step.

Is there anything MLSDev could have improved or done differently?

I would have appreciated a more critical approach from their side, particularly in the design phase. In my opinion they went too straight to the final design, which was efficient but lacked constructive trials and back and forth discussions.

As a solo entrepreneur, I would have appreciated more guidance and consulting on an ongoing basis and not just a consulting session at the beginning. While I had a clear vision of what I wanted, and could carry on with purely operational conversations every week with the project manager, I would have appreciated another layer of conversation on the product, users, positioning, and so forth to help with the brainstorming and idea generation. Given how knowledgeable about the product the MLSDev team became, I think their opinion should extend beyond purely operational details.

Also, I had several issues in the process because of a high turnover at MLSDev. The consultant I worked with quit at the end of the process, as did the sales manager in charge of my account. Next, my product manager was fired and the second one quit after a year or so. I understand these things happen, and the follow up was usually quite well managed internally, but still every time you have to get acquainted with a new person, it takes time.

Finally, there was a period when I was working with the second product manager—who was an improvement from the product manager who was fired—when he became very unresponsive, very uninvolved, and generally difficult to work with. This lasted a few months and was a very difficult period for me. I was really thinking about finding another company to work with. Eventually he left MLSDev, and I got a third product manager who was pleasant and efficient to work with.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I'm working for McDonald's in the Baltics, which covers three countries: Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

What is your position?

I am the marketing and digital director for McDonald's Baltics. I'm responsible for marketing and for all digital projects when it comes to marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with MLSDev?

We wanted to create a mobile app that would enable us to send offers to customers. The objective was to increase customer loyalty.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

I briefed them on our wish list and what kind of functionality we wanted, and they came back with a proposal. They worked on the wireframes and created UX [user experience] and UI [user interface] design. They developed two mobile applications – one for iOS and one for Android. They did the programming, coding, and design. The project was done by them fully.

How did you come to work with MLSDev?

I work with a company from Lithuania that recommends all the best app developers in the region. Through them, I found MLSDev. Then, MLSDev got other good recommendations and showed us some past projects. We had a couple of meetings, discussions, and then started to work.

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

It cost between $50,000 and $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work started in mid-January, and we launched our app on the 17th of June of this year [2016]. We will continue because we want to keep updating the app. We want to add new features, especially when it comes to some fun elements like games. We are planning to use the app for different promotions.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

They launched it three weeks ago, and it was highly publicized. It was number one on local app stores, which excited us. We didn't get any negative comments. Internally, our employees think that it's very easy to use. We don't have any specific comments from customers yet.

How did MLSDev perform from a project management standpoint?

They had one project manager throughout the process. Because I have experience working with many different project managers from different agencies, I can say that MLSDev was very professional and always accessible. They were always ready to discuss different questions. I'm very happy with the work.

We have regular calls. They would show what they did during the last week because they work on the agile method. I'm always on Skype with our project manager.

What distinguishes MLSDev from other providers?

I haven't worked with other app developers, but I have experience with website development. It was completely different because MLSDev used the agile method, so we could see what's happening. In general, it was very flexible. We were able to understand what improvements could be made and what we could change. I think that was a very good experience.

Is there anything MLSDev could have improved or done differently?

No, I wouldn't say anything – not really.

BACKGROUND

Kooma•looma is a coalition loyalty program that allows e-commerce and m-commerce providers and app publishers to manage promotions, rewards, and discount programs on their stores easily, increase loyal users, and attract new customers. Kooma•looma is a digital bonus program based on points through which users can obtain rewards, discounts, and other special privileges. We began in 2015.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

As we are a startup company, we first need to create a minimum viable product to validate our business model. We seek a business partner that integrates our loyalty program and obtains an increase in revenue because end users will spend more frequently.

SOLUTION

For our MVP, we are developing a set of software API [application programming interface] and JavaScript widgets that our business partners can integrate to assign loyalty points to their end users. Furthermore, we need a few front-end websites that use those APIs.

MLSDev is in charge of the graphic design and software development of the front-end websites, for mobile, tablet, and desktop users. This includes my.koomalooma.com, the main where end users can look at our rewards catalog, check the points balance, and redeem rewards; partner.koomalooma.com, a back-end website where our business partners can configure loyalty campaigns and consult analytics reports; and and an administration backend site for our internal use – this web application help us to configure our rewards catalog and show us internal KPIs [key performance indicators].

The project started about six months ago and still is in progress.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

MLSDev demonstrated good enough skills in design and software development to create a successful MVP. Communication and the time required to solve any kind of issue was good, and their people ask for frequent feedback to improve the development process further.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Our company is a mobile software developer. We produce apps for both iOS and Android, with the help of MLSDev.

What is your position?

I'm the head of products for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with MLSDev?

Our overall goal with MLSDev was to obtain a way to get started very quickly in building apps for the Android platform. Recruiting in-house developers was a time-intensive task and we needed to get going very quickly with people that understood the platform.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

We used them primarily for mobile app development.

How did you come to work with MLSDev?

It came through a recommendation. They were recommended by someone with whom we do business. We talked to them and they seemed to be a good fit.

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

The project was about $90,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project is completed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Most of the work that they've done is not yet released. I don't have any great user feedback, but once we hired an Android developer, he was able to jump right in and work off of the code that they'd been developing.

How did MLSDev perform from a project management standpoint?

We were really satisfied with their performance. MLSDev was very proactive in terms of reaching out when they had questions or when they needed clarity on any of the feature developments. We worked with them over a long period of time. They handled situations like employees needing a holiday or needing to move someone to a different project without asking. It was easy to work with them.

What distinguishes MLSDev from other providers?

We always worked with the same project manager which helped them understand the project that we were trying to build, our business needs, and to make sure that they understood what our priorities were, so that they'd be spending time on the most important things. Even when a developer might change, we had the same project manager. She provided consistency over the duration of the project.

Is there anything MLSDev could have improved or done differently?

The biggest thing to be improved would be more on our side; mainly being more collaborative and communicative. It's necessary when using remote developers. When we were very engaged with them, they were receptive to it, and when things got busy on our side, they were still able to be proactive. They excelled when the client could be engaged with the development process.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a startup. We create mobile apps to encourage people to communicate and to provide language for ideas. We are based in London.

What is your position?

I am the CEO and founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with MLSDev?

We have several phone apps in the pipes. We are working on the first one. We have an iOS version and are working on an Android one. 

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

They are working on the Android development piece and a bit of design.

How did you come to work with MLSDev?

Initially, I had put an ad on Elance, but I actually found them through Clutch.

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

It was less than $10,000 at the moment. It should go up to $50,000 in a few months' time.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work is ongoing. We are finishing the first version of the first app. A few months of development for further versions will follow. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

For the time being, the only feedback I have is for a French version of the application on the Google Play store. We will create an English version of it in a couple of weeks. We are testing how the French public is interacting with it.

So far, we have an almost 60 percent retention rate from day zero to day one. Almost 60 percent of people who download the app come back to it the following day, which is quite good. For the time being, we have between 4.3 to 4.4 stars on Google Play.

How did MLSDev perform from a project management standpoint?

We are satisfied. The developer working on the project is very experienced. They have done a great job.

What distinguishes MLSDev from other providers?

They're nice people to talk to and do business with. They are very enjoyable to manage. So far, they've been reliable on a technical standpoint, which is not the most frequent case when dealing with phone app development firms.

Is there anything MLSDev could have improved or done differently?

Nothing obvious comes to mind. I have no complaints.

BACKGROUND

I am the CEO of Random Array Ltd, a London-based startup providing a mobile first solution for people in the shared rental market. The application itself is called Chored. We are a startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

We had partially completed development on our Android solution, but needed to include additional functionality to incorporate our end-to-end payment solution before our scheduled launch in September. This involved the team working closely with our own back-end developer to incorporate his cloud functions in the front-end product.

SOLUTION

Essentially, we had an existing MVP [minimum viable product], which allowed housemates to transfer money between them. But, we developed a payment platform that allowed payments to go straight from app to the various utility providers in the United Kingdom and, due to the departure of our Android development, we needed someone else to integrate this functionality into the front end.

MLSDev provided the front-end application, which is currently live and available on the Android Google Play store. 

We found them on Elance, simply by filtering on European mobile dev resources. We chose them based on their European location for time zone reasons and the overwhelmingly positively reviews they had received in the past. The project took around five months in total and, in the end, we got what is in my opinion an exceptional product out of it.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Initially, we provided a specs document of the features that we wanted to add to our existing application foundation. However, during the course of the development MLSDev frequently asked questions on our UX [user experience] strategy and feature inclusion, which often led to a change in direction to the absolute benefit of the project. We felt they demonstrated a clear understanding of Android development, specifically with regard to the Android developer and style guidelines.

The app was a huge success in the London market. The iOS version was even featured by Apple in the App Store because of its high adoption rates.