Upsilon Labs

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the HR Manager of an information technology company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We specialises in the delivery of tailored and bespoke online web solutions for organisations from various industry

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• We can say that our goal is leverage their expertise in web development and Amazon Marketing to enhance our online presence

SOLUTION

How did you find Upsilon Labs?

Online Search

Why did you select Upsilon Labs over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost

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

2-5 Employees

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

We have some scope of work which includes: 

• Website Optimization: UPSILON was tasked with optimizing our e-commerce website for improved performance, user experience, and SEO. This involved enhancing page load times, fixing technical issues, and redesigning certain aspects of the site. 
• Amazon Marketing: UPSILON was responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive Amazon marketing strategy. This included keyword research, product listings optimization, advertising campaigns management, and competitor analysis. 
• Sales Growth: The primary deliverable was to increase our online sales through the improved website and Amazon marketing efforts.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The outcomes we can mention is that we did not see the desired measurable outcomes or progress from the project. Despite the initial promises and expectations, our website's performance did not significantly improve, and our Amazon sales remained stagnant.

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

I can say some about them because They consistently missed deadlines, causing project delays. Communication was also a challenge, as they often took a long time to respond to our inquiries and address our needs. This lack of responsiveness and punctuality hindered the project's progress.

What was your primary form of communication with Upsilon Labs?

Email or Messaging App

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

They have some impressive side which is the initial promise of their combined expertise in web development and Amazon marketing was not reflected in their actual performance. Their services fell short of our expectations.

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

They have to check all there aspects to be good again because they needs to significantly improve their project management to ensure that deadlines are met consistently

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

TAAP APP is an application which I've conceived and built. I am the founder of the company. The name stands for "Thinking About All People". At its highest level, the app aims to deliver an exceptional experience to people, wherever they are.

I have a son who used to be passionate about geocaching. Three years ago, we used to use geocaching apps in order to search for stuff, wherever we were. That usually took us on a nice hike, leading us to objects which were available to anyone with an app. We realized it would be neat if we could leave something for our family, which they could find at a later time.

Unlike geocaching where these experiences wait for any geocaching user; TAAP saw an opportunity to create more personal experiences for their community. These could be either one-to-one or one-to-many, using geolocation, time, or both of those attributes in order to create the experience. I may want to leave a physical object in Time Square, and whenever someone in my network is in the area, they will be prompted to find it. It can also be a digital object, like a picture or a video, which becomes available when someone from my network is within the area.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Upsilon Labs?

My idea for an app two-and-a-half years ago turned into a company around one year ago. I brought Upsilon Labs in as a development partner in order to build the app and make my idea a reality.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Upsilon Labs was brought in to build a beta version of the iOS app, and offer expert advice into the best ways of breathing life into it. Upsilon Labs only handled development and procured a third party for the design work. We were on a budget, and the user interface piece would have put us way over it, so Upsilon Labs found some people who could do it for us at a cheaper rate.

The next phase for us will be to build an Android version after we've completed beta testing on the iOS app. Upsilon Labs suggested that only building an iOS prototype would allow me to drive the changes I want for the final version, and save a bit of money.

Upsilon Labs built a very robust app which can put experiences together using video, photography (either legacy or created), or hide physical objects in specific areas, having them unlocked based on time, location, or both.

Aditi Madane, Upsilon Labs' CEO, is running our project. She has a project manager underneath her, as well as two to three developers working on the app.

How did you come to work with Upsilon Labs?

Upsilon Labs was recommended to me. We looked at a couple of other companies, but I got along very well with the CEO. She is an innovative thinker, and this was less about building code and getting it back to us, and more about a partnership. She spent a lot of time in the upfront process before the selection was made, telling me about how she likes to work on these projects. It meant a lot to me to see her personal investment in the success of our app.

How much have you invested with Upsilon Labs?

The cost of Upsilon Labs' work has been between $30,000 and $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Upsilon Labs in September 2016. The app is in beta testing at the moment. Upsilon Labs is actively involved in the process.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It's too early to deliver any metrics about the project. There is a small group operating the app right now, and we plan on growing it.

Beta users have loved the concept of the app. One user plans to leave things for special occasions like birthdays and wedding anniversaries, or even for normal days, in order to let her family know that she was thinking of them. The concept has resonated with people, and I think that Upsilon Labs' app has taken it to reality. People can see themselves using it in order to deliver experiences for others.

The kids that have used the app set up treasure hunts with gift cards which others needed to get to within an hour. That's an exciting use which we hadn't considered before.

I had another group of developers review the code, in order to check for its strength. After a three or four-day evaluation, they confirmed that the code looked tight and secure, especially for a beta version. They told me that Upsilon Labs was a good group to work with.

How did Upsilon Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Upsilon Labs has been very good to work with. Any delays were due to functionalities we added, and not because of a lack of execution.

Upsilon Labs uses the tools recommended by me, including Google Hangouts for weekly status meetings. One of our board members is based in the UK, so the tool has been a great way for us to collaborate over distance.

There were a couple of situations in which I felt that Upsilon Labs went in another direction than the one prescribed by us, or when we identified an element which had been overlooked. Upsilon Labs was forthcoming once we agreed that something hadn't happened soon enough, and didn't bill us for the extra hours spent fixing the app. It has been a great collaborative working environment.

What did you find most impressive about Upsilon Labs?

I appreciate the personal investment and the desire to create something which everyone is proud of. Aditi's personal commitment to excellence says something about herself. I am appreciative of the extra effort.

We had a patent drafted for the app and worked with a high-caliber law firm for this. They needed a number of specs to submit the patent. Upsilon Labs participated in these rather exhausting meetings with the law firm, including drafting documents and workflows of the code. They didn't charge us for that added assistance.

Are there any areas Upsilon Labs could improve?

No. I'm planning on working with Upsilon Labs in the future, and if I felt that there was something they could have done better, I would've taken my business elsewhere.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I founded a startup doing building energy analysis on new constructions. Our target market is architects and owners of new buildings under construction. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Upsilon Labs?

I was looking for someone to help develop our web app. Its main feature is running a simulation of energy usage, costs, and environmental impacts for the whole year of a building. There are 10 questions that the user answers, with 50 answers coming back. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I have worked with Upsilon Labs twice. The first time was not an MVP, but more of figuring out how the software works, how it would come together, which parts are possible, and how it would look. Consider it a basic version of an MVP. The goal the second time was to get an MVP. I wanted something that I could hand to clients for them to be able to actually use it and see its value.

For the first project, I came up with an idea of how I wanted the app to look. Upsilon Labs helped me outline what these pieces meant and what had to happen. We considered the look of the computer architecture, what information is where, and where it is going.

For the second project, the web app was developed. We kept the same architecture but involved databases. I did not involve them that much in the design, but I know they have that ability, which they used on occasion. Because the app is in a stack, a wide range of technologies was used—PHP, MySQL, AWS, and Python.

In terms of the resources that Upsilon Labs offered, the first project used a team of 3 or 4 and the second was a team of 3. Some were involved in both projects.

How did you come to work with Upsilon Labs?

I came to know Upsilon Labs’ principal from a business program we did together. Other than Upsilon, I did look at 3 other providers, but those developers charged too much for such a basic project.

How much have you invested with Upsilon Labs?

The total cost has been below $10,000 for both projects.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with them in February 2016, with the first project completed between February to March. We are in the second month of the second project and it is expected to be done in the next 2 weeks.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I am extremely happy. The app was built exactly like it was designed. It is very fluid, with all of the features I could have hoped for and more. The developer is constantly adding to the app. For example, he came up with this access code I could choose and put in people’s email for them to log in. I had never thought of that. A day or 2 later, it is on the page and it looks wonderful. I can now control who is using the app by adding or deleting them.

Another nice feature is verification. With the click of a button, a user can agree to send me their project and inputs via email so that I could verify them. It gives more clarity and comfort for our users to know that they can make sure that their numbers are correct. This is terrific for a small startup and for the nature of the work that I am doing. It is one of the strongest value propositions I have.

How did Upsilon Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication is great especially in this second round. There was another person in my previous build before who was good, but the new person is out of the park. Although there is a time difference with the lead developer, we email each other daily. I could not expect any more communication between him, the principal, and another manager.

What did you find most impressive about Upsilon Labs?

I love the transparency of the work. Since I know their rate, I can use as many hours as my product requires without being surprised about the cost. Their numbers are fair and the value is unbeatable. Their principal is great because she is local in Arizona. She is a wonderful, intelligent person with tremendous integrity. She is an expert in startups as well. She also has her own startup, which allows her to understand my circumstances. It is really cool working with her.

Are there any areas Upsilon Labs could improve?

It has been a longer development process than I expected, but the extra time has not been a big burden. If I had stressed the development time, we would not have come up with new features.