Publex

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of SDD-Technology, a digital company. We provide our clients with complex digital strategy, consulting services, and product production.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Valysto?

With the rise of the cryptocurrency market, we found a promising niche for betting services. We had to design and create a mobile financial betting service for cryptocurrencies. We hired Valysto for architecture, UX/UI design, and programming.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal of the project was to reach a significant betting turnover, get new users, and achieve good retention.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We’d already had a good cooperation. After trying to work with different studios, we still didn’t have satisfactory results. We liked Valysto’s strong design and technical expertise, good discipline, and fair rates.

Describe the project in detail.

We started from sketches and wireframes, and after that, they began to design the mobile UI. We passed this stage quickly enough with an app design that was modern, simple, and clear. Then, Valysto started to develop the apps themselves for iOS and Android. They worked in one-week sprints, with regular short meetups to discuss what was done and if there were any changes in functionality. That approach ensured a transparent development process and a good result. At the end, Valysto organized testing and bug fixes to deliver the final version.

What was the team composition?

We worked with a project manager, a UX designer, a backend API developer, and two mobile developers (iOS and Android).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In 2018, we had 6,000 downloads for both platforms and reached nearly 15BTC daily betting turnover. Users left excellent reviews concerning both the UX and performance. Thus, I can conclude that it was a successful project.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We communicated regularly to discuss how are thing were going and current development status, issues, and questions. Valysto always replied quickly. We commonly used Skype, Telegram, and Trello.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I appreciated the design and programming competencies of Valysto. All the projects we’ve done together, including this one, perform well and almost never suffer from bugs.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Valysto ought to enlarge its team so we can do more projects at the same time. They’re already doing this to some degree.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We develop financial products for our clients such as high-net-worth individual (HNWI) portfolio management, configuration of investment strategies, analytics, and consulting. I’m the head of product.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Valysto?

Creating financial plans is one of our key services. However, it would always take a lot of time of our analysts to put business plans together. We found that we used some common patterns for several calculations and made use of the same external data sources. So, we hired Valysto to design and develop a service tool that could automate that process.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to increase our service level for customers and increase the number of business plans that we could create simultaneously. It looked like we could achieve a significant reduction in the time it took to create plans.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We chose between several agencies but decided on Valysto because they had corresponding experience in developing financial projects. Of course, we also received a reasonable cost estimate.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

First, Valysto went through a discovery phase. We had several sessions and discussed how our business processes work. Then, they designed a web service that would automate the business plan creation process. During this phase, we received wireframes, mock-ups, and technical specifications. Finally, Valysto began to develop the product, moving in two-week sprints. This allowed us to make minor corrections for the product during development.

What was the team composition?

The project team had six people: a project manager, an analyst, a designer, two developers, and a tester. We communicated with the project manager and the analyst the most and a little with the designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We received a web service that could automate business plan creation. After we started to use our new tool, we reduced the time it took to create a business plan from 2–3 weeks to five days. Our analysts noted that service turned out clear and effective outputs, and well it’s now well integrated into our company.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We communicated a lot, especially at the beginning of project. We had regular Skype conversations and discussed small work questions using messengers. Our project manager regularly informed us about work progress and all issues, so the workflow was plenty effective.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was impressed by how deeply Valysto dove into our internal business processes while trying to understand how to better organize the business logic and UI. Their analysis became the basis for an effective development process and produced an excellent result.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We spent more time on project than planned. However, this was caused by some modifications that we decided to implement during development. Our goal was to get the most appropriate tool, and we got it.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm CMO at food retail company. We have 68 shops in Europe. I'm responsible for overseeing the planning, development and execution of marketing and advertising initiatives.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Valysto?

We launched a product to increase our markdown sales (food with forthcoming expriration date). That was mobile application for our customers.

What were your goals for this project?

We had two goals: increase retail turnover and decrease losses from expired goods. So we launched a dedicated mobile application designed to work with target audience and sell goods online.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We searched online for developers in different directories and asked for estimation around 30-40 software development companies. Valysto made an impression due to their system approach to our project. They interviewed us, made initial research and offered a complex plan how better to implement our ideas and which best practices from our industry to use.

Describe the project in detail.

We spent 1 month to create UX and design for mobile apps. Valysto made several versions and we chose the most interesting and creative. We have a lot of discussions at this stage. Then we started development. We used agile approach and released new version of application each 2 weeks. Apps for iOS and Android were ready after 5 sprints. Valysto also maintained apps after launch and helped us to adapt to increasing consumer traffic.

What was the team composition?

We communicated with project manager, lead designer and lead developer. Also 2 mobile developers, backend developer, tester worked at this project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within 2 month after we launch we had ~2000 daily active users in both apps. Thereby we notices the decrease of our markdown goods losses (from 4,2% to 3% of retail turnover). That was satisfactory business result.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

I think that workflow was very effective. We were always in touch, I never waited answer more than 1 hour even at holidays. We used whatsapp to communicate and worked with Jira boards – so it was always clear what's happening at the moment.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I mark their expertise in UX and design, that was very important part for us and Valysto proved to be professionals. We will certainly work with this company again on our digital projects.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Development stage lasted a month longer than we expected. However this was significantly associated with some modifications we decided to implement later.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm general manager of a civil engineering company. We design, repair, and construct buildings in five cities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Valysto?

We realized that our internal processes were not effective. Coordination between our teams was slow, bogged down by paperwork, and lacking transparency.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to move all paper communication into a mobile app. The goal is to decrease time spent on decision making from several days to several hours. We also want to be able to see the main indicators (e.g., remarks from controlling team on construction) in real time.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We searched for a team online as well as asking for recommendations. We found three companies with similar backgrounds. Valysto showed high expertise when discussing our projects and had some good propositions. They also came recommended from another partner.

Describe the project in detail.

There were two major stages during the project. In the initial design stage, Valysto started by doing research. Then they outlined the technical architecture of the system and created an interactive visual prototype. We had several discussions to finalize the vision of the product. After making technical preparations, they began the development stage. 

What was the team composition?

We communicated mainly with a project manager. The technical team consisted of two mobile developers, a web developer, and a designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The system has been integrated into our workflow for almost six months. We’ve significantly increased our effectiveness. We can now react quickly to different situations and take notes during constructions. We’ve also seen a decrease in the number of errors.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Valysto led several sprints and we could regularly see their progress. There were no problems with communication. We usually used phone calls, Skype, and messenger. They were always in contact and quickly answered our requests.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We’re really impressed by their technical skill. Valysto’s ability to analyze our business processes allowed them to propose an effective solution. We’d had bad experiences with other teams so we were particularly happy about their solid communication. Valysto was the first partner that didn't disappoint.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We wouldn't mind if the costs were a little less. However, the quality of work is high so it’s worth it.