Salt & Pepper

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Managing Director of Novoda

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a digital consultancy studio in London.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Salt & Pepper to accomplish?

• Quickly replace an iOS engineer with quality
• Bring new thinking to the project
• Assimilate to the team and be productive

SOLUTION

How did you find Salt & Pepper?

Referral

Why did you select Salt & Pepper over others?

Great culture fit

How many teammates from Salt & Pepper were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

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

The engineer was integrated into our iOS team within the customer's organization, which is structured into five distinct teams. The primary focus was on enhancing the overall mobile development process by implementing robust Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, establishing a comprehensive mobile DevOps strategy, and contributing to the development and maintenance of the mobile application. Key Deliverables:

• CI/CD Pipeline:
  • Design and implementation of a CI/CD pipeline tailored for iOS applications.
  • Automation of build, test, and deployment processes to ensure seamless integration and delivery.
  • Configuration of tools such as Jenkins, CircleCI, or GitHub Actions for continuous integration.
  • Deployment scripts and workflows to streamline app releases to various environments (staging, production).
• Mobile DevOps:
  • Development and integration of DevOps practices specifically for mobile development.
  • Monitoring and logging solutions to track app performance and identify issues.
  • Implementation of security measures and compliance protocols within the DevOps framework.
  • Collaboration with the IT and security teams to ensure secure and efficient operations.
• Mobile App Development:
  • Active contribution to the development and enhancement of the iOS application.
  • Code reviews, bug fixing, and feature implementation.
  • Ensuring code quality and adherence to best practices in mobile development.
  • Coordination with cross-functional teams to align development efforts with business goals.
  • The engineer's role was crucial in optimizing the mobile development lifecycle, reducing deployment times, and improving the overall quality and performance of the iOS application.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The engineer receives huge amount of praise for their work.

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

The engineer used agile methodologies, delivering all items on time and maintaining clear communication. They were highly adaptable and collaborative, meeting all project needs and ensuring high-quality deliverables.

What was your primary form of communication with Salt & Pepper?

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

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

Their value and communication were impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Salt & Pepper could have done differently?

None.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the chairman of Federatia Tinerilor din Cluj

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Activities and programmes for youth development. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Salt & Pepper to accomplish?

• Website
• Technical expertise
• Hard skills development

SOLUTION

How did you find Salt & Pepper?

Working with Salt and Pepper team members previously

Why did you select Salt & Pepper over others?

Company values aligned

How many teammates from Salt & Pepper were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Salt and Pepper, as experts in web development and youth skill development, delivered a comprehensive program tailored to equip young individuals with essential hard skills for the digital era. Their curriculum included hands-on training in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other relevant languages, culminating in the creation of fully functional websites or web applications. 

Additionally, they provided interactive workshops, tutorials, and real-world projects to reinforce learning and foster practical experience. The deliverables included personalized feedback, certificates of completion, and a portfolio showcasing the participants' newly acquired abilities, empowering them to pursue rewarding careers in technology.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Measurable outcomes from the project included:

1. Increased proficiency in web development languages, demonstrated through pre- and post-program assessments or coding challenges.
2. Completion of individual or group projects, showcasing practical application of learned skills.
   3. Participant satisfaction surveys rating the effectiveness and relevance of the program.
   4. Job placement or internship opportunities secured by program graduates, indicating market demand for their skills.
   5. Number of websites or web applications developed by participants during the program.
   6. Growth in participants' confidence levels, assessed through self-evaluations or peer feedback.
   7. Increased engagement with technology-related extracurricular activities or communities post-program.
   8. Employer feedback on the quality of work produced by program graduates during internships or job placements.

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

The collaboration with the S&P team went smothly and it really helped us to achieve our goal. 

What was your primary form of communication with Salt & Pepper?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting

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

I'm impressed by the company culture and creativity of the people involved in the design process. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Salt & Pepper could have done differently?

N/A

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director, Senior Product Manager of HID Global

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Powering Trusted Identities (Physical Access Control)

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Salt & Pepper to accomplish?

• Develop state of the art Mobile Application for Mobile Access solutions
• Build Demo solution for ability to add Badge to Apple Wallet (mobile credential)
• Ensure we maintain code coverage

SOLUTION

How did you find Salt & Pepper?

Other

Why did you select Salt & Pepper over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Other

What was the size of Salt & Pepper’s team?

2-5 Employees

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

As we were short on time to meet our target date, HID decided to engage with external vendor to complete our deliverables and the revamp of the new HID Mobile Access app. The previous design was outdated and the scope of work included;

• Revamping the proposed UX/UI design and align it with current best practices
• Develop the UX/UI including new functionality such has Favorite Reader
• Build a hidden feature in HID Mobile access in which users can add a Badge to Apple wallet (first App in the world to be able to do that)
• Ensure we maintain proper code coverage 
• Ensure high quality of the deliverable with no medium and high bugs
• Ensure proper handover is doen to the HID team for continuation of the support and development activities
• Conduct proper retrospective to help HID understand the pinpoints of working with HID Origo SDK something that proved very valuable.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Beta App was delivered on time
• Meet the Apple event and the ability to showcase Badge in Apple wallet
• Production date

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

The project management played a key role in the success of the project. The project manager was very pragmatic, structured and punctual ensuring everything is prepared for each sprint, all alignment done, clear outcome defined and delivered in timely fashion. Amazing work!

What was your primary form of communication with Salt & Pepper?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They were very easy to work with and essentially became and were regarded as integral part of the Mobile team. Everyone from senior leadership, project managers to Developers and testers were very professional and always delivered on time as promised.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Salt & Pepper could have done differently?

As the project extended for several months, there has been some rotation in the S&P team but in all honesty S&P managed this seamlessly without impacting the target dates.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are selling online tickets for concerts, clubs, pubs, theaters and any other public or private events that needs a ticketing platform. I am the general manager of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Salt & Pepper?

We have hired Salt & Pepper for developing our online ticketing platform and our ticket scanning mobile app.

What were your goals for this project?

Our main goal for this project was to develop a self ticketing platform. Here the promoter or the event manager can create an event and can start selling tickets with no technical knowledge needed. In under 3 minutes the event can be up and running.

Also, another main goal was to implement a split payment process between our commission and the remaining sum from the ticket price which is automatically transferred into the promoter bank account in 3 business days.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

There were two other vendors, but they didn't have the experience and the knowledge to develop such a complex platform. Here we found a great team, always willing to improve our app and with great ideas.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They made the entire project, design, configuration, development and so on. I have presented my idea, and once we approved the mockups and wireframes, the production began in the form of 2 week sprints. Also, I was always in touch with the team and I was there if something was unclear.

What was the team composition?

The team has about 6 members. We have a project manager with whom we are in direct contact, but we are interacting with the developers and the designers too.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We can easily say that this project is our business core. The entire activity of the company is developed around this ticketing platform developed by Salt & Pepper.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We are having a junior project manager who is trying his best and we really appreciate that. We had some little timeline problems, but overall everything is ok.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The team is always coming up with new ideas to improve the platform and always when we are having some problems in production, they are here to help as soon as possible.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Given the fact that the company is still at a very young age, you can see some blind spots in regards with their employees seniority. I think that they will need to think about investing in hiring more experienced or senior software engineers.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO of the company currently called FastOrder, we provide SaaS solutions for the hospitality industry. At the moment we have a product for online food ordering and another one for virtual concierge in luxury hotels

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Salt & Pepper?

We are launching a new product for corporate lunch, called Group Order, where corporate employees can easily order food together for delivery, the food being delivered at the same time so they can eat together without waiting for all the deliveries to arrive and without the hustle of organising a group order

What were your goals for this project?

This project should be a tailor made food ordering app for corporate lunch, taking in consideration the work environment and how employees interact with each other during lunch time, as well as consider that work related issues can come up during lunch that we have to handle in the app so that it doesn't affect the whole group

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We chose Salt & Pepper because besides having the best design portfolio we've seen, they can also guide though the process of discovering all the user flows and behaviours through the ordering process.

Describe the project in detail.

At the beginning we've had a detailed briefing about our expectations on the project. Following our expectations, Salt & Pepper came up with new ideas and also suggested we give up some of ours which was a good thing and we agreed to most of them. They went beyond the design process and also came up with marketing ideas that could be tied up to some decisions. Once we've had all the details in place we've moved on building the wireframes for the whole up, afterwards we've agreed on the design guidelines and finally they've extended the design to the whole app and prepared the design and branding guidelines book.

What was the team composition?

There were 3 team members from the beginning until the end: the design team lead monitoring the project and intervened when necessary, the designer that executed the project and a project manager which made sure all the deadlines were respected or adjusted the deadlines and budgets when necessary

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had very high expectations for this project which were reached. Besides the clean design, user friendly experience, we are most happy for their idea of designing this product similar to other tools corporate employees use (Like Jira, Gmail, Slack) so that it fits among them

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We've been using Jira and Invision. The workflow was comfortable for us, we've always felt things are in control and also everything was transparent. Also deadlines were always met

What did you find most impressive about this company?

What we find most impressive, being also the reason we've chose to work with them, is that they go beyond the technical product into understanding the whole business and user context and experience, and they contribute on multiple areas leading to a comprehensive product

Are there any areas for improvement?

We didn't find any major areas that are worthed for improvement. Maybe the communication could have been a little bit easier but considering that we've started this project together with the corona virus crisis and everyone was adapting to the new way of working, I think everything was allright.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Cittago is a digital agency in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. We help clients find cost-effective solutions to their needs. We offer them branding, design, web design & development, consulting and full marketing services. My position in Cittago is Sales and Project Manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Salt & Pepper?

We started working with Salt & Pepper since they started the business. We have been collaborating on many different projects, the biggest ones are: www.vieco.de - Web design + Corporate Identity www.executiveitaly.com - Web design & development La Villa Mobile App - Design, development and maintenance www.suculviu.ro - Web design & development And others... When it comes to big projects I know I can rely on their services. What I love most, is their quality in the design area, but also I love the fact that we can rely on them when it comes to tight deadlines. In any case their company has never let us down!

What were your goals for this project?

1. Cost-effective solutions; 2. Quality in details; 3. Precise Deadlines.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

At the beginning we started with some small website projects, after we saw the quality of the results we knew that we can do bigger projects together.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They offered us different services: - Business analysis - Product Development - Project Management - UI / UX Design - Frontend & Backend Development - QA Testing

What was the team composition?

For Vieco.de, Adrian was the Creative Director drafting the Website wireframe. Radu Mihai and Catalin designed the corporate identities for the 3 brands. On www.executiveitaly.com I don't recall the names of the website developers, I was keeping in touch with Cristin for the web development and with Adrian for the design part. On www.suculviu.ro, Adrian did the design mockup and Victor was in charge of the backend and Radu was the front end developer. La Villa Mobile App Radu Mihai designed the app mockups based on the wireframes (Screens) that we have agreed with our client. Vlad was the CTO helping with both Android and iOS coding. Ilovan was in charge of the iOS development.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I can only say that all my clients with who I have shared projects with salt & pepper are very glad of the work done from all points of view.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

All projects are going through a brief that we develop together with salt and pepper and our client. After salt and pepper gives me a price offer with a estimated timeline and deadline. We have not received yet any complaints from our customers regarding quality issues or deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The fact that when I involve salt & pepper and we start working together on a project, based on the experience of collaboration I am very assured that we will meet clients demands, offer great quality and also benefiting to work with creative young people.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I think every company has always space for improvement. Based on our experience working on different projects and we did non have any issues I don't have any suggestions. What I can point out is that month by month their quality on services grows becoming super professional, I know they never stay in the confort zone and that means they will keep on growing on quality.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Cambridge Exercise Technology, a fit-tech business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Salt & Pepper?

I needed a partner to create my AI-based fitness app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Salt & Pepper created my entire AI app. They created the UI/UX, the backend, the rules engine for the AI, the API, and the fronted.

The app is exclusively available on iOS currently, and we’re talking about expanding to Android very soon.

Our app creates smart workouts. The process is as follows: The user goes through our onboarding stage, in which we take in what equipment the user has, what goals they want to achieve, how often they’d like to train, and how long they’d like to train for. Once we have those parameters, the platform shoots out a workout. As the user goes through the workout, the app asks them how many reps they did, what weight they used, how hard they found the exercise, and how well they performed it; with that information, the workouts become bespoke for the user, and the system automatically updates any changes or progress the user experiences.

What is the team composition?

We worked with six people in total. Cristin (CEO, Salt & Pepper) was the head of our project. Adrian (Creative Director, Salt & Pepper) was in charge of everything involving design. Alexandru (Mobile Team Lead/iOS App Developer) was the head of programming. I mainly spoke with Adrian and Alexandru throughout the whole process.

How did you come to work with Salt & Pepper?

I first heard about Salt & Pepper through one of my advisors, who used them in the past. My business was awarded an innovation grant from the European Regional Development Fund. Salt & Pepper said they could do exactly what we wanted with the amount we were awarded.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested £10,000 (approximately $13,000 USD)

What is the status of this engagement?

This project spanned Mar. – June 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I think they boosted the quality of the product. From talking to similarly priced businesses about how they wanted to design the app, I got far more from Salt & Pepper than I was going to get anywhere else. I think the product developed more professionally than I would have gotten in the UK. I believe it’s been great from an overall functionality and reliability standpoint. We release into the App Store sometime this week, and the true test will be to see how the users like it.

They took exactly what I wanted, as a concept, and helped me curate it. There were certain pitfalls that we had to work through, but I think we created a better product, overall.

How did Salt & Pepper perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed very well in terms of project management. We were in constant communication throughout the whole process. They messaged me on Slack, in case they had any questions. In terms of fixing issues and communication, everything was very good.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I found them very impressive, in terms of responsiveness, even though we were in different time zones. If I ever had a question, it was almost immediately answered,

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think there’s anything on their end they could improve upon. Together we could’ve been a bit clearer about a couple of different things I laid out.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

There’s a large benefit in traveling out and meeting them in Romania. Additionally, having as much information as possible, and sending that to them in a very concise and easy manner, will make the project run very smoothly. Finally, as with any remote projects, constant communication is crucial.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Chairman of the board of Vivior

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Bringing innovation to ophthalmology and patients to improve vision.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Salt & Pepper to accomplish?

• Develop an App for Visual Behavior in combination with a wearable sensor
• Develop a platform for the healthy gamer

SOLUTION

How did you find Salt & Pepper?

Referral

Why did you select Salt & Pepper over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

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

We developed an app that took our wearable sensor data and represented it to the consumer is a useable fashion. User expiriense was imporatant with easy ways to educate the users.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Delivery in time, budget, and willingness to go the extra mile if time was critical.

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

They had excellent communication and alignment with our needs.

What was your primary form of communication with Salt & Pepper?

Virtual Meeting

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

Understanding of user needs and our product to help to build a high product market fit.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Salt & Pepper could have done differently?

Potentially help the clinient on market communication with early stage show cases

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO & Founder of Assetto Concept AG

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Fractional investment and co-ownership for high-value real estate assets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Salt & Pepper to accomplish?

• Develop mobile app
• Develop backend business processes
• Develop smart contracts for blockchain security tokens management

SOLUTION

How did you find Salt & Pepper?

Referral

Why did you select Salt & Pepper over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Salt & Pepper were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

The project scope was to develop, test and publish Assetto mobile app in Google Play and iOS, develop the backend with all the business rules we described in the technical specifications and to develop the smart contracts which will govern Assetto security tokens which will be minted on the Polygon blockchain.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Delivery time, bugs identified during the testing sessions, total cost of services.

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

The project manager assigned by Salt & Pepper coordinated very well the communication between their team and our team. Our requests were fulfilled in short time and we had very few dead or waiting times.

What was your primary form of communication with Salt & Pepper?

Virtual Meeting

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

Their flexibility and understanding of our business needs are impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Salt & Pepper could have done differently?

Maybe some more human resources would made them even faster in delivery and in starting new projects.