Rubyroid Labs

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the account director for Pocket Rocket Creative Agency. We organize events including the FSP music festival.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Rubyroid Labs?

We needed a reliable partner to update our mobile application in a tight timeline leading up to the FSP Festival.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted the app to be user-friendly and flexible for both the content manager and end-users. We also wanted good navigation with an Instagram integration and agenda, FAQ, and favorites, and mapping features.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We chose Rubyroid Labs from seven possible vendors because the team was flexible and had an innovative approach. They were enthusiastic and ready to work.

Describe the project in detail.

Our in-house designers provided all designs—including previews and guidelines—and Rubyroid Labs were responsible for development. They used the app’s previous structure as a template to build the new version from scratch for iOS and Android.

What was the team composition?

We worked with two developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app had top rankings in the App Store and Google Play for more than a week. Downloads were high and crashes were lower than in previous years.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We worked as one team. We used messenger tools to solve urgent matters and Google Docs to store the content upload manual.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The team was timely and performed well overall. We quickly implemented all of their suggestions.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No. Everything is fine.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a SaaS business that connects car-wash business owners with potential clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Rubyroid Labs?

We have been working with them for the past four years to develop, maintain and update our business solution.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal is to increase profits for car washes and reduce management troubles. We also want customers to benefit from queue elimination and be able to book for a specific time.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We were looking for an experienced Ruby on Rails development company, who were located in the Commonwealth of Independent States. It was important for us that our partner could communicate in person and was within the same timezone.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Rubyroid Labs helped us to understand the basic steps of development. After a discovery period, we separated the development process into 3 phases: preparation of technical documentation, the creation of an MVP, and future improvements in accordance with user reviews. Throughout the project, Rubyroid's team showcased themselves as professionals. They fixed bugs really fast and implemented features in accordance to our time and price estimates. They're currently helping us with maintenance and new features.

What was the team composition?

We work with three full-stack developers, one UX/UX designer, one markup developer, and one project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The product they delivered was extremely high-quality. For the last five years, we expanded our business to multiple countries and helped more than 100 car wash owners automate their businesses. We saw businesses increase profits from 40% to 350% and constantly hear positive feedback from clients. 

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Rubyroid's project manager leads us step by step through the development process. They also answered with competent estimates and responses to our new ideas. Their development time and prices always coincide with our expectations.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They can always find a solution. It doesn’t matter if we need to implement new complex functionalities or fix a difficult technical issue, they always find a solution. That’s why we're still working with them, even after all this time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a cruise company that operates in the Adriatic region. We were the first company to enter our specific market and have grown quite large since the company started. We’re a family-owned business and try to maintain the standards and traditional aspects of our company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rubyroid Labs?

We were struggling with our reservation process and were getting far too many inquiries to handle through email alone. We wanted a more organized way to handle bookings and needed a system that would allow our staff the time to provide the level of customer service we expect.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve helped us expand and improve to handle a larger number of customers. We started working with them on an hourly basis, which has since changed to a contract. They helped build and improve the system in Ruby on Rails. They’ve written and fixed code for us and added functionality to the site, such as bulk check-ins. Most of our check-ins can be done through the CRM now, as well as any emails we send out. They implemented a feedback system that allows us to get a lot more information from our customers on our services. We’re also looking to move our hosting to Amazon soon.

What is the team composition?

We currently have two developers dedicated solely to our project, one at the senior level. I’m in contact with both developers and we have an account manager who is in constant contact with us.

How did you come to work with Rubyroid Labs?

We initially had another company building our CRM system for us that closed. We needed someone to quickly pick up where they left off. Rubyroid approached us in response to an advertisement I posted for a replacement. They seemed like a good, quick solution that would allow us to continue working on the system without downtime.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around March 2016. Our work is ongoing, and we will continue with them for at least another year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don’t have a lot of statistical information I can provide from their involvement, but the feedback system we added has been very helpful to us. We don’t own the boats we use, so the personnel on them is a mix of service providers and our staff. The feedback helps us maintain our standard of quality, patch loopholes, and improve our service. We can quickly and efficiently respond to customer needs.

How did Rubyroid Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Our account manager makes sure we’re happy with the service. Since they’re in another country, all of our communication is through the internet. We’ve never met in person. We have Google Sheets where we manage projects, and talk over Slack or Skype whenever necessary. We have regular meetings to catch up and make sure everything is running smoothly. They’re very responsive and will address problems whenever they arise, even on weekends.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very proactive and bring up issues before they surface. They’re very reliable and work all the time. I get a very good feeling from them and we get very good customer service. The company we worked with previously wasn’t as communicative as they are.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any negative feedback for them, they’ve been excellent.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They will be proactive to find work inside a project and fix things where necessary. It helps to stay on top of providing work for them and staying organized on your side.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

My wife and I are the owners of the largest yoga center in Luxembourg that runs more than 40 yoga courses a week in seven locations. Hundreds of students register online for our courses, classes, and workshops. We offer a summer term, weekend workshops, pregnancy yoga classes, and single-class attendance.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Rubyroid Labs?

At that time, our online registration system accounted for 65% of all registrations, but it had never been updated to include newer registration options. Everything had to be administered manually.

In addition, our automated emails and e-newsletters were getting stuck in spam. Our automated emails were sent to individuals taking action on our site, usually students, to confirm their registrations and give payment instructions. Meanwhile, our e-newsletters were sent to thousands in order to prompt subscribers to register for the coming term.

What were your goals for this project?

First, we wanted to establish a more stable network administration than previously existed. Second, we needed to reorganize our mailing system to ensure all of our emails end up in inboxes, not in spam filters. We also wanted to make our registration system more robust and encourage student participation by providing different registration schemes.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Before Rubyroid, we were dependent upon a single Ruby programmer who built our site over six years. Eventually, he lost interest and was unresponsive to critical problems and the need to modernize. Preferring broader support from a professional company, I searched on Clutch.co. After I narrowed the field to seven top-flight Ruby development companies, I began an exhaustive vetting process.

In the end, it came down to communication and organization. Rubyroid was the quickest to respond at each level and had the most detailed estimate. During the selection process, our conversations were always in a team setting. They were warm, professional, and clear.

Describe the project in detail.

The team familiarized themselves with our legacy coding and quickly gained a deep understanding of our business operation. They successfully integrated all of our desired features into our core registration system quickly, creatively, and efficiently. Seeing their level of expertise, I began requesting highly customized options that have since reduced my admin time considerably.

What was the team composition?

The CMO assigned one project manager and one full-time developer to the project over the course of three months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As far as impact, we certainly have seen an increase in student usage of the single-class system as well as the pregnancy yoga system. I would be happy to share screenshots of the various registration systems to show the quality of their work. I feel very supported and much more secure with the enhancements and stability of our website, which is the engine of our business. Based on my confidence in Rubyroid, I’ve also assigned to them the development of an iPhone app that was running into difficulties with another vendor.

How effective was the project management?

The work was done swiftly within the time parameters needed and at a reasonable cost, with detailed time logs kept at Redmine. I worked directly with the developer on a daily basis through Skype messaging, which ensured clear communication and immediate feedback. The legacy programming of the site had been highly customized to meet our specific business needs, so having this direct access to the developer resulted in a highly efficient workflow. The project manager and CMO did interject as well to provide creative solutions. It was evident to me that they were always up-to-date regarding the project.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I had an incredible experience working with everyone from Rubyroid. Everyone on the team was professional, responsive, and positive. They have a friendly, team-oriented culture. If someone I wanted to speak with was unavailable, someone else would get back to me to make sure all was covered or to forward messages.

What tips or recommendations do you have?

On an intellectual level, I think they enjoy being challenged to come up with creative solutions to difficult problems, so don't be afraid to ask for what you really want.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a startup providing a Kickstarter-like platform for beauty products. I am the CEO of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rubyroid Labs?

We are a collaborative beauty brand and have built a platform where women can submit ideas for new beauty products and vote on existing ones. We get a variety of submissions from regular women, bloggers, chemists, and product developers.

We had to build a website that could handle the data on the backend, help us put the products up for voting, and aggregate the votes. The concept behind our company is that we only launch products that our community has submitted and chosen. We're a crowd-sourced beauty platform in that sense.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We came to Rubyroid with our concept and had them build it. Rubyroid was critical in helping us think through issues such as whether we should accept votes and pre-purchases in the initial phase and how the demand should be aggregated. We used Rubyroid to think through the more fundamental steps in the process; not only did they build the frontend and backend of our site, but they also helped determine what we should and shouldn't be built.

How did you come to work with Rubyroid Labs?

Rubyroid had worked with a friend who had a Ph.D. in engineering and was a rock star in his domain. He ended up selling his startup and had the greatest recommendations for Rubyroid. I didn't have an engineering background, so his recommendation carried a lot of weight.

How much have you invested with Rubyroid Labs?

This is confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started building the beta version of the site in May 2015, launched the voting part in July, and the e-commerce section in October. We're continually refining the site using Rubyroid and learning from our interactions.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Rubyroid has been consistently reliable and responsive, which has been great, especially since we're working remotely.

In August 2016, we had our television network debut in a full-hour show. The station reaches million households, so we went from being a startup to a nationally-distributed company within months. Rubyroid made sure that everything would work well on the site and that we could handle the inbound traffic. It worked flawlessly with no issues.

How did Rubyroid perform from a project management standpoint?

I've worked with our project manager mainly. He is well-organized and able to handle the millions of things to do and fix when working with a website. I can always trust that he will take care of anything that I forward to him.

Rubyroid uses Redmine for project management. I can use the platform for logging issues and new projects, or I can simply email our project manager. There are multiple ways in which Rubyroid can take care of the work.

What did you find most impressive about Rubyroid Labs?

I appreciated Rubyroid's responsiveness and how on-the-ball they are. We are in communication regularly, and Rubyroid is integrated into our day-to-day operations. As a startup, we work with many third-party providers, including digital marketing agencies, our growth hacker, and suppliers. Rubyroid has been the most integrated agency with our team. They work as our in-house developer and simply happen to be located in Belarus.

Are there any areas Rubyroid Labs could improve?

I have no complaints.

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

Every team needs to find its groove. Working with a 13-hour time difference will mean that the work won't take place during US business hours. For me, this was frustrating at first but ended up being fantastic because Rubyroid is making changes when site traffic is low. Not being able to immediately request a button design or similar change can be a challenge, but logging in tasks and triaging them can make the collaboration work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I work for several organizations. One of them is a company called Juhll. It's an advertising agency.

What is your position?

I am the CTO. I am responsible for all technical solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Rubyroid Labs?

I've been working with them for two years now, and every time it's for IT [information technology] support, product development, web development, and other tasks related to general IT. There's been everything from QA [quality assurance] to design and implementation.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

They handle website development, application development and some back-end services that may not have any front-end at all because they just are pulled data or pushed data from system to system, in addition to services that have a front-end used by thousands of customers on the web. As the name implies, they do a lot of Ruby development as well. They also have helped me with Angular projects.

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

It varies - a lot. On the low end, there has been work that required just a couple hours. However, our largest project was upward of $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement is definitely ongoing – there are many different projects in process.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The reason I keep working with Rubyroid Labs is that actually all of the projects they've done have been successful. I can pick the latest one that we did, for example, MasterCard. Rubyroid did an excellent job implementing the architecture that I designed. Then, they supported it after it went to production because there were several different kinds of tools that needed to be implemented that complement the product. In particular, it had to do with the fact that once the product was introduced at a conference and people started signing up, we wanted to access more people who were present at the conference. Getting that data is not so easy. Again, Rubyroid came through and created a list of more than 70,000 customers for us. It was an arduous project on its own because some of that data was not complete. They had to hunt for emails and other pieces of information.

How did Rubyroid Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

For project management, they have a system where they keep all the tickets and change requests that come in, which is called Trello. Then, they communicate with all the stakeholders. In addition to that, they also use a system called Redline where they keep all of the work that they've done broken down by hour and date so that they can make invoices and quickly justify the time spent.

What distinguishes Rubyroid Labs from other providers?

I guess it would be their responsiveness. They're super quick to respond and take on responsibility for delivery. They'll go above and beyond. Just yesterday [August 2016], I needed to copy a failing server, and we had quite a few pieces of information missing from documentation about the database and how it was set up because it was before my time. Just like that, I called one of the owners and he spent two hours working on it to recover the system and make a copy of it – nothing planned, nothing predetermined. Just an ad hoc request, and he spent a lot of time on it. It helped me a lot.

Is there anything Rubyroid Labs could have improved or done differently?

No – not really. I work with many different outlets, and they do a good job. I'm really happy.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a startup developing a web based application. We are based in New York City and are a startup.

What is your position?

I am the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Rubyroid?

We handled prototyping ourselves, as well as the market research, but we needed resources for frontend and backend web development.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Rubyroid built our web application based the designs we provided. We did look for a developer which had general knowledge about what designs can be used in each context, even though we didn't hire Rubyroid for design.

How did you come to work with Rubyroid?

I posted an application on Upwork with my specifications for the prototype. Rubyroid's project manager provided us the most details in the proposal and showed that he did his homework. They also flew over and met us in New York. I assigned Rubyroid a test project which was completed well, so we started working with them.

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

The estimated cost for the development with Rubyroid for 2016 is $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Rubyroid at the end of January 2016. Our product has been launched, but we have an ongoing relationship with Rubyroid.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Rubyroid conformed well to our specifications and we had a collaborative process. We bounced ideas off each other, and Rubyroid came up with good input for our project.

How did Rubyroid perform from a project management standpoint?

Startup projects will always be more difficult than enterprise ones. Project management is much more intense and dependent on user feed-back. Rubyroid did a great job of handling this. They have developed their own issue tracking system which has helped us account for the hours they spent working on various tasks. We found Rubyroid's tool more helpful than using Basecamp, for example.

What distinguishes Rubyroid from other providers?

Rubyroid takes care of its own marketing. Their Chief Technology Officer has written some interesting blog posts showing that they really care about the work and don't just do this for money. Rubyroid is passionate about the coding languages which they use. They’re not only developers, but also smart business people.

Other clients may have a hard time differentiating between what needs to be quoted in the beginning and what can be left until later. Some preliminary knowledge in communicating with programmers would be beneficial for working with Rubyroid. They could improve in this respect, but Rubyroid is better than other companies I've worked with.

Is there anything Rubyroid could have improved or done differently?

I hope that Rubyroid can continue to hire good talent in Europe so they can grow their team of talented developers.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Operations Manager of a golf concierge service company.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a golf tee time concierge service.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Rubyroid Labs to accomplish?

• Keep up to date with systems to provide seamless worker and client experiences.

SOLUTION

How did you find Rubyroid Labs?

Referral

Why did you select Rubyroid Labs over others?

• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Rubyroid Labs were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Built a custom golf booking engine that enables users to search availability, reserve tee times, and manage bookings through an intuitive interface.  In addition, they integrated third-party APIs to connect external services, streamline data flow, and enhance the platform's functionality.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

API integrations would show impact through reduced processing time, system uptime/reliability, number of successful data exchanges, and overall improvements in operational efficiency or revenue tied to connected services.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

• met deadlines
• communicated effectively
• quickly addressed any issues or feedback

What was your primary form of communication with Rubyroid Labs?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

• communicates proactively and transparently
• Rubyroid Labs offers strong post-launch support, monitoring, and continuous improvement

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

more detail in timelogs

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Owner of Unconscious Moderation

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Health and Wellness app to help people moderate or quit drinking alcohol through hypnosis and journaling

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Rubyroid Labs to accomplish?

• Functional application
• New features like drink tracker
• One signal integration

SOLUTION

How did you find Rubyroid Labs?

Referral

Why did you select Rubyroid Labs over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Rubyroid Labs were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Full renovation of exsisting app with all code from React Native

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We now have a totally functional app that looks and works great!

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They delivered everything on time with better quality than expected.

What was your primary form of communication with Rubyroid Labs?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

I worked directly with Ana a d David who put their heart and souls into our project.  I am forever grateful for finding them.

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

I truly think they were A+ to work with all around and extremely knowledgeable.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder of a SaaS business

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

SaaS startup business

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Rubyroid Labs to accomplish?

• Ruby on Rails development

SOLUTION

How did you find Rubyroid Labs?

Clutch Site

Why did you select Rubyroid Labs over others?

High ratings

How many teammates from Rubyroid Labs were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Rubyroidlabs provides us Ruby on Rails developers to help us accelerate building a first MVP and then getting our first customers.
Obviously, everything depends on the individual skills of the developers.

After conducting initial tests with several developers, we proceeded with the most skilled RoR developer(s), who have been delivering excellent work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

A working MVP which is looking good, working nice, well tested (automated tests), and has the right balance between quality code and pragmatism (avoid endless finetuning).

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

As founders, we are doing the project management ourselves.

What was your primary form of communication with Rubyroid Labs?

Virtual Meeting

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

When faced with problems (e.g., the quality of one of the developers during initial tests), they act quickly and to the point.

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

So far, it's all been good...