Nickelfox

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Trainman is an all-in-one train ticket booking platform that provides a one-stop solution for Booking Train Tickets online, for checking PNR status and predicting 94% accuracy of Ticket confirmation status before booking on waitlisted tickets.

As the CEO, my role is to plan and direct all aspects of the organization’s policies, objectives and initiatives.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Nickelfox?

We were looking for a pool of resources to work with us remotely as a virtual extension to our existing team. Nickelfox provided us with the appropriate development team to help scale our product.

The main goal of the engagement was to scale up our iOS App development and backend capabilities to delivers cost-effective services and streamline online train ticket booking process.

SOLUTION

How did you select this agency and what were the deciding factors?

We received a recommendation for Nickelfox via a mutual acquaintance. They met all of our requirements for experience, technical proficiency, and reference checks. Because of their team's commitment, quality of resources and competitive rates, Nickelfox's bid was accepted, and we are pleased that the work far exceeded our expectations.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We worked with Nickelfox on an open-ended scope through a monthly retainer model under staff augmentation for the backend and development of iOS app for our product.

Deliverables:

• iOS app

Python Backend Steps followed:

• Project planning
• Iterative Development sprints
• Iterative QA & Reviews
• Deployment, Knowledge transfer

Support Technology used:

• AWS
• Python - Django
• Node JS
• iOS- Swift

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

We shared JD for both the profiles with the Nickelfox team. They recommended a pool of 6-7 candidates. Our technical and HR team then conducted 3-4 round of interviews before finalizing the team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The iOS App that the Nickelfox team created is fluid and bug free that aided in quick onboarding of our users and support staff. Their backend developer, project manager and Devops Engineer worked together to help quickly delivery key modules and micro services.

These efforts resulted in a backend infrastructure making the ticket booking process faster, which was our primary objective for the engagement. The turnaround time for reported issues has been significantly shortened.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their team followed the Agile methodology and adhered to the one trend of daily stand-up meetings, in which every member of the various teams came up and reported on the progress of the project. They had added us to their Slack channel so that we could communicate by message, and Jira was utilized to handle the project.

Their team's project management style is pragmatic and structured which was beneficial to us as we could engage with the team and contribute our views to the overall development of the platform.

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

Nickelfox’s coding standards were at power and helped to improve our internal processes. In addition to having good communication skills, the team was able to produce quality work while adhering to deadlines. They made good use of the project management tools and communicated openly to ensure transparency.

By effectively assimilating with internal resources, they enable seamless collaboration and support a lasting partnership. Overall, they were incredibly professional.

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

Although the team could be more available to work from our offices, they’ve been an understanding and effective partner.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of WD Creative Collective. My wife and I started the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nickelfox?

During the pandemic, couples needed to find a way to get married remotely and have their guests participate in the wedding. Couples didn’t want to get married on Zoom because it felt cold. We wanted to create an app that allowed couples to share their big day in a personalized way with many features that made it feel like a wedding.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Nickelfox provided mobile app development services. Zoom is for business meetings, but our iOS app was customized for weddings. One component was live streaming so couples could share their big day with their friends and family around the world. Before the livestream, there was an exclusive content feature where guests could learn about the couple and see their favorite photos and videos. Also, there were a lot of design details. Nickelfox worked closely with our creative director to bring a wedding card to life, online invitations that look like invitations, and a preview feature like a photo trailer before the livestream.

Additionally, the guests could upload photos to say congratulations. We wanted people to have a way of sharing the videos, and the videos would play during the reception so couples could see their loved ones. It was like a guestbook for life, a small detail that made it personal. Nickelfox also built a registry function. Overall, the application emulated the idea of a hybrid wedding where remote people didn’t feel left out, not only during the day but beforehand.

What is the team composition?

We worked with the two founders, a project manager, a developer, and a designer.

How did you come to work with Nickelfox?

Our creative director found them on Dribbble. We met with the company’s founders and enjoyed meeting them. We interviewed three vendors, and they were the best ones. They were professional, technical, and cost-effective.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on the app together from May 2020–May 2021. Now, we work with them on other projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They brought our app to life in a beautiful way. Nickelfox did a good job taking our vision and making a warm and personalized app, unlike what was out in the market. Many couples got married using the app, and the guests were happy to be part of a wedding that otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to attend. People responded positively to the app.

On the other hand, every software has bugs, but they dealt with them efficiently, professionally, and quickly. Moreover, most of the bugs were solved before we went live.

How did Nickelfox perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was excellent. We used Google Meet and emails to communicate. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their project management was outstanding.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You need to define the look and feel of the app before engaging with them. Meet the team and have them work on a small project to get comfortable with their work style. Since they’re overseas, you must get to a natural rhythm with the team before ramping up to take on bigger projects.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are specialists in IT cloud Consulting & Services. We help businesses with identification of issues and implementation of cloud infrastructure & solutions. My role is to lead the technical cloud solutions team and to identify and convert business requirements into technical deliverables.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We were looking for a solution to develop the SAAS inspection and monitoring tool for our long term client in the shipping industry. We had deliverables, consisting of designs and development of a SAAS tool along with a mobile app. The main goal of the project was to develop issue reporting and issue tracking tool.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Nickelfox was recommended to us by a common contact, they did go through our evaluation criteria in terms of experience, technical expertise and reference check. Nickelfox has a dedicated, honest, and committed team so their bid was finalised and we are happy that the work went really well beyond our expectations.

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

Scope of the project is to develop the SAAS platform for technicians, managers, consultants, and support staff and to develop a mobile app for all users, along with a web dashboard for managers, consultants, and support staff. Technicians can monitor key areas of concern as per the set paraements and in identification of any issue, they can log vai the app with detailed remarks, images and videos. All key parties are notified. And team allocation for issue resolution is done from respective teams followed by progress tracking.

Key features:

• Viewing tech parameters for inspection
• Issue reporting
• Issues reported are notified to relevant teams
• Monitoring issue resolution progress
• Report generation Process followed:
• Discovery sprint
• Project planning
• Wireframing & prototyping
• Typography & Iconography
• Design
• Iterative Development sprints
• Iterative QA & Reviews
• Deployment, Knowledge transfer and Support

Technology used:

• .NET
• Microsoft Azure
• SQL Database
• React Native

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

Nickelfox team members include the members from the different teams

• 1 Sr Project manager: Over all project management and deliverables, along with team coordination.
• 1 Business Analyst: working on the documentation, user story creation and helping during discovery sprints
• 1 Designer: UI/UX designers, responsible for Wireframing, prototyping, Typography, Iconography & Design (1 Sr Product Designer & 1 UI/UX Designer)
• 2 React Native developers
• 5 .Net Developers: Working on the backend and frontend
• 1 Senior QA
• 1 Devops Engineer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The platform which has been designed and developed by the Nickelfox team is seamless and user-friendly especially the designs (UX experience) which was helpful to onboard our technical and support staff. We have considerably reduced the turnaround time for issues reported.

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

Their team followed the one trend of daily stand up meetings where every member from the different team comes up and tells the status of the project on a daily basis. It helps us to get involved in every task and to put our thoughts into the process as well. To communicate via message they have added us to their slack channel and for project management Jira tool was used. Nickelfox used to follow the agile methodology, hence we used to have frequent demos of the developed/designed features.

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

A thorough discovery sprint helped us find potential areas of concerns and plug in potential resolutions in the overall user flow. Nickelfox is very cooperative and always ready to listen to our concerns and we were always informed about the updates of the project.

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

Their teams could have more overlapping working times with our working time zones.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and product design manager at Ubirider, a travel platform. We aim to change urban mobility to a more digital and connected one with smooth UX.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nickelfox?

We needed a company to design and develop a new interface for one of the components that we have in our product. It’s a machine that buses use to sell tickets on board.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Nickelfox designed and developed a new interface for an app for Android and tablets. The app is for an onboard machine that buses use to sell tickets and to see if the tickets are validated, even the ones that are bought online or in our app. 

The interface is supposed to work at the point of sale (POS) that is on board or in the ticket office. It’s almost the same with some variations. They have to accommodate different ticket options. For the next three months, the team will still be helping with any bugs.

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager, one Android developer, and two designers. The designers were sometimes invited to join us.

How did you come to work with Nickelfox?

They contacted us through LinkedIn. They found our CEO and sent their portfolio. At that time, we were looking for a service company. We looked at their portfolio and asked them for a value proposition and we started to engage with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about €15,000 (approximately $17,600 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2020, and the work is ongoing. The build took 3–4 months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We like them and we like the value they bring. It was our first time hiring a service company. Nickelfox is very easy to work with. They hear us very well, and they understand everything. 

How did Nickelfox perform from a project management standpoint?

We didn’t structure the project very well in our heads in the first place, so it was a little hard in the beginning. Their project management was good. The project manager was very organized and always on top of everything. 

It's going very smoothly. They share their Slack channel and Asana with us. We’ve always had access to them. The one difficulty is language. Sometimes we have difficulty passing on the concept, but it’s okay.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team is very fast. We had some brainstorming and then the following day, they presented some impressive ideas. They are very strong when it comes to organizing the work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m not sure if it was totally their fault, but I told them the design and the UX could be a little more out-of-the-box. However, we were still structuring the project as we were going. It was difficult for them to come up with solutions that were exactly what we wanted because we didn’t know what we wanted.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s really nice working with them. They’re very positive and put in the effort to deliver really nice work. Even when we weren’t satisfied with everything, they started a new conversation with the management, and we decided to put a little more time into the work. 

Nickelfox did it really fast and well. I recommend working with them. They have a really nice price range, and they’re very easy to work with and talk to.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Smartex. We build hardware and software for industrial applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nickelfox?

We’re developing a machine learning platform with web and local applications. We’ve mainly worked with Nickelfox on web and UI development. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve deployed three projects to them, starting with an online dashboard that displays graphs. Nickelfox built the backend and frontend of that. They also designed and programmed the UI for a machine station built for Android tablets. We have more projects in the pipelines with them.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with 2–3 project managers from Nickelfox so far. I’ve also seen 2–3 of their designers in our meetings, along with a couple of programmers. There are about 10 programmers working for us right now.

How did you come to work with Nickelfox?

We’re an industrial company that provides technologies for manufacturing, textile factories in this case. We were looking for a team that could provide developers with industrial backgrounds. 

UI designs are typically different in manufacturing. We asked for many proposals and shot in many directions. I believe we found Nickelfox on LinkedIn, and their proposal was the best in terms of price and quality.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost so far is $20,000–$30,000, and we have $50,000 worth of projects in the pipeline.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Nickelfox at the beginning of 2020, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

What I like the most about Nickelfox is that they’re extremely fast. We usually have few meetings with large achievements.

How did Nickelfox perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re super lean in terms of deadlines, and they’re one of the most affordable solutions I’ve found. We haven’t had any problems from this standpoint, and they also allow us to pay in installments.

Their developers are in our Slack channels, and we have kickoff meetings and touchpoints with the project manager through Zoom or WhatsApp calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The price and quality balance is just right, and the team is very fast. We’re comfortable working with Nickelfox, and we plan to assign more projects to them. Their business developer answers all our emails and calls, even during the night and on weekends. I always have someone to talk to on their side.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Pricing can always be improved, but that’s just my personal bias. I haven’t found a company with a better price. We’re quite happy on the technical and business sides.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Having them within our Slack channels is useful for our programmers. On the business side, the informal approach we have makes a lot of sense to me in terms of adjudicating projects on WhatsApp.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a small business that provides parents with images of what’s left on their children’s plates at the end of lunch at school. My partner and I completely run the business at the moment.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nickelfox?

They were responsible for developing two mobile apps and a web app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created a very basic web app that functions as an admin panel. There, parents can see pictures of school lunch offerings and nutritional data. They created an iOS and an Android app, but the consumer app was Android-only. That’s because our users are mostly using Android at this point. They developed everything from scratch.  

What is the team composition?

We spoke with the founders to define the scope. After that, we were assigned a project manager and several engineers. At some point, I believe everyone at their organization worked on the project. 

How did you come to work with Nickelfox?

While doing online research, we were having trouble locating a strong partner in Europe. We expanded our research to India at the recommendation of our networks and came across them. From there, we started searching for developers with a background in the education space, and they checked all of our criteria. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $40,000 with them and are about to invest another $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since January 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve been beta testing their apps in a real-life environment. Their work has been tested and made available on top app stores.  

How did Nickelfox perform from a project management standpoint?

We can count on them day and night to keep our project running smoothly. They’ve been incredible project managers.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their price point is very impressive for the quality of work they can provide. They offer great attention to detail, making sure that they’re creating the best possible product. We’ve developed a transparent, efficient relationship.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’d love to see them expand their design and UI expertise.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Come to them with a defined scope. We counted on them throughout that process, and they were able to take that on. However, the project would’ve been more efficient if we had come to them with ideas.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

NeonMill is an online consultation and health record platform for patients. NeonMill enables access of hundreds of healthcare professionals to the patients in need.

Blockchain-enabled medical record storage for ensuring security isn't breached and documents are stored safely and easily accessible to all relevant personnel. I am the founder and CEO of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Nickelfox?

Nowadays, electronic medical records are kept in data centres. Moreover, access to these records is limited to hospital and caretakers. Since this information is centralised, therefore it is quite expensive and prone to security hacks.

In the blockchain network, the medical histories of each patient are shared among doctor, hospital and insurance regulators. If this shared ledger is updated, then the change is transferred and reflected across all the people having authorized access in this network. We wanted to partner with a development agency to build our platform especially one having experience with blockchain.

What were your goals for this project?

The project entailed development of a platform with multiple user types primary being the patients who are looking for doctors to receive a consultation. Second users being the doctors/healthcare professionals providing these consultation services.

The platform included, iOS & Android Apps, Responsive Website, Multiple Admin Panels and core Machine learning model for intelligent profile matching and suggestions. Scope also included creating UI & UX for a seamless user experience across the selected target audience.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We got connected through a reference from one of my friends. After interviewing the core team we were convinced of their capabilities to handle the technology challenge of implementing blockchain to avail the platform with a high level of security.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Upon start of the project we had high level requirements listed and a goal to achieve. Since, we had the initial requirement for the project laid out. The team at Nickelfox helped us map out the product release phases.

They also did the analysis of the entire system from a technical perspective. All these details were captured in a detailed scope of work. After the scope detailing, they also delivered the wireframe and prototypes of the design for the entire platform.

After wire-framing the development started simultaneously for web, mobile and backend. All this detailed planning helped us to have a seamless delivery of our MVP as expected.

What was the team composition?

For our project, We had 1 Project Manager, a team of 7 members comprising of Developers & Designers and Tester aligned to us by Nickelfox.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Results were great with the initial beta launch that we did with select hospitals and health care providers. As we now have the product launched for everyone in the healthcare industry, we are able to gather more data and feedback to focus on areas that require further beefing up of security and data storage so we may move everything onto our blockchain network.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We had weekly meetings with the project manager, which helped a lot in prioritising tasks effectively. Although the details and status of internal daily meetings and tasks was available for us to review on the management tool.

For project management we used Asana, Slack was the main communication tool. Github had all the code pushed everyday for reviews and backup purposes as well.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The technical knowledge and execution of the team are commendable.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is very little they could improve given the quality output they managed to deliver. They could have although added a few more team members for the project and maybe have entire team included in the brainstorming sessions for further enhancements to products.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Origami Consulting. We provide software services and have our own product.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nickelfox?

We needed help with web development and UI/UX design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Nickelfox developed a website and mobile application as well as designed the UX for both. I gave them examples of different sites so they could get an idea for what I was looking for. Then, they built wireframes, completed the designs, and implemented the development.

Nickelfox used Sigma and Sketch files for UX design; Node.js, MongoDB, and React for the website; and iOS and Android native platforms for the mobile applications.

What is the team composition?

I interact with Swati (Project Manager) on a regular basis and an account manager from time to time.

How did you come to work with Nickelfox?

I conducted a Google search, using keywords, to find US designers. I found Nickelfox’s Instagram account and liked the work shown in their portfolio.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $90,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began the project in January 2020, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve met our prescribed benchmarks such as user-friendliness and UX-driven design for the solutions. Our platforms have wonderful reviews. Overall, Nickelfox is doing a good job.

How did Nickelfox perform from a project management standpoint?

Twice a week, we meet via Slack for status tracking. We also communicate through email. The account manager follows up occasionally to see how the team is performing. Nickelfox really listens to what we say.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very good with UX/UI design, and they use the latest technologies. Their code is neat, clean, and very streamlined.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t see anything that needs to change.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d suggest their services to a mid-level or startup company that’s looking to expand ideas and implement UI/UX designs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the senior designer at the New York Times. I was in charge of hiring freelancers and creatives to put together articles.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nickelfox?

We hired Nickelfox for the creation of graphics and animations for one of our paid posts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They had a part in the ideation phase, so they contributed ideas to our rough outline. They provided a combination of videos and stills for this client.

What is the team composition?

I worked with the owner. 

How did you come to work with Nickelfox?

I knew one of the owners from a previous job, so I looked him up and reviewed his portfolio. Everything looked great and I was already confident from working with him before, so I got in touch with him and we took it from there. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $50,000–$70,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from November–December 2018. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In our meetings with our internal team, we felt all of the work came out great. 

How did Nickelfox perform from a project management standpoint?

They were fantastic—we were in touch quite frequently throughout the project. If we had any changes that needed to be made quite quickly, they were always on hand to make those. We could always get in contact with them and we used Trello to manage the work. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They had a great amount of knowledge about animation. They came up with great ideas on the fly, as well. Whenever edits needed to be made, they got them done on time. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. Any feedback we had on their work was always handled speedily. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a preliminary call and discuss the project. See if they have any ideas of their own because it was really valuable to hear their feedback on the animation ideas. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the executive director of Currinda Pty Ltd, and we're an event and conference organizing company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nickelfox?

We needed someone to develop an application for our company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have software that handles all the preparation for the conference but we needed a single native app that would produce a custom app for our current event. That would avoid us having to translate data from one database to another.

The main function of the app was to provide delegates access to the program. We wanted it to be interactive access that enabled polling, note-taking, and sharing via email.

We wanted them to be able to find topics and look through buyer profiles. The information was already there in the database. The challenge was getting it displayed in an accessible and reliable format while being able to customize it for each event. We're used for more than 200 events each year. Not all of them have an app, but that's quickly changing. 

At this point, the app is live and complete. Now, they make sure the software is up to date.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three people from their team on this project.

How did you come to work with Nickelfox?

Someone on our team was aware of them and their work. He alerted us to them. They had pretty good credentials, pricing, and experience. 

How much have you invested in them?

We have spent around $40,000–$60,000 AUD (approximately $26,956–$40,434 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in November 2018, and the collaboration is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

People have been happy with the app. Through several versions and iterations, it's been really stable and the feedback from delegates indicates that it's a useful tool. That's significant because many delegates are pretty skeptical about the value of an app at the conference.

From our perspective, the alternative to these apps is to print out a book. Those are often out of date due to program changes anyway. The app is dynamic because it accurately draws from the database.

There were a number of early issues to do with logging in, which our delegates pointed out. Those API issues have since been corrected, and people are concentrating on the app itself. They really are enjoying it.

How did Nickelfox perform from a project management standpoint?

We had a couple of people we could go to with questions and concerns. While we're in different timezones, we didn't have any trouble communicating. Some of their team worked around the clock.

Communication was pretty straightforward. We had a couple of teleconferences and initially went through a wireframing phase to make sure we were on the same page. I thought it was a good process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were essentially always there for our team, responding to us. When there were problems, they didn't disappear. Instead, they held themselves accountable. They worked with us the whole way to make sure that we got the right product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be great if they moved to our country. Even with the nature of the experience, I was pretty happy with it. That's why we entered the maintenance with them so willingly. We're very keen to keep working with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have open communications with them. We didn’t make any assumptions and always asked questions whenever we weren’t certain about something. They were good with their answers.