Valtech

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m head of L&D and lead the global training team at a fintech company that offers different methods and solutions for online payments. We have offices in the US, Canada, Latin America, the UK, Austria, Germany, and Bulgaria.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Melon?

As a company that handles many online payments, we’re subject to several compliance regulations across different countries and globally. These regulations indicate that our staff must undergo mandatory regular updates on different pieces of training like anti-money laundering, anti-fraud, Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards, information security, etc. We hired them to help us create custom web-based training.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Melon designs and develops e-learning modules for us as interactive web-based training courses. The team provides instructional design, customization, and functionality building. When we need to create a new course, we first work with our internal stakeholders to define the content and requirements. Then, we work with Melon to translate that content into e-learning. 

They start by making the instructional design, and we collaborate on the user flow, the slides, and the interactions inside the course. The team provides consultancy on how to make the solution interactive. After we’ve defined the structure, Melon develops the course and then embeds it into our system’s backend. 

What is the team composition?

We usually work with an account manager who then distributes the work to at least 2–3 teammates from Melon. This team usually includes an instructional designer and a project lead. 

How did you come to work with Melon?

My company established a relationship with Melon long before my time here. However, I believe we chose them because they’re the best company for e-learning design and development in the Bulgarian market.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend $10,000–$50,000 annually, depending on the project. In total, we’ve spent more than $100,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them around January 2013, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The courses Melon has built have more than a 95% satisfaction rate on average. Overall, we’re very satisfied with their work and have no complaints. 

How did Melon perform from a project management standpoint?

The team is fast and reliable. As for the timeline, they deliver on or before the deadlines — that’s why we keep working with them. Moreover, they know us very well, so they can adapt and understand our needs. We communicate via email. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Melon’s instructional and e-learning design is outstanding. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they need to improve; we’re very satisfied with their service. If I were to give them any advice, I’d say they should keep delivering amazing work and getting better at instructional design. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I highly recommend Melon and advise you to approach them personally. They’re reliable experts, so you’ll be in good hands — go for it!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief digital officer of a media company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Melon?

We needed help with designing our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We first provided Melon with our brand guidelines and some websites from our affiliates that they could use as a basis for the design of our website. They then proceeded with the design process while implementing additional features to the site. After completing the site, their team conducted QA testing and provided maintenance support.

What is the team composition?

We worked with about 50 people from their team, including a project manager who was our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Melon?

An old colleague of mine recommended them to me. We also looked at other companies, but Melon gave us the best possible offer, and we felt confident that they could finish the job on time.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about 100,000 Bulgarian lev (approximately $50,000).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together on this project from June 2021–April 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We cannot disclose any specific metrics, but this collaboration had a positive impact on our business.

How did Melon perform from a project management standpoint?

Everything was delivered on time and within budget. Their process was very laid back, and the project manager was helpful. They were also responsive to our feedback. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were most impressed with their communication skills. They were also very helpful.

Are there any areas they could improve on?

They could improve their QA process, but everything else they did was great.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We definitely recommend working with Melon, especially if your project has a tight deadline. They can get things done faster than expected.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the technology manager for a school communications company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spire Digital?

We had a Flash-based application, and nobody at the company was aware that Flash was going away. We needed to get our UI fixed, and we had December 31st as our deadline.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In the beginning, Spire Digital helped us create a website. Then, they worked on UI designs, and we decided to go with them to build our entire UI. They came up with the design portion.

The app was a UI software to communicate emergency responders with district personnel in Colorado. It used Node, Express, React, and PostgreSQL as the stack.

What is the team composition?

They were acquired two months into the project, so we worked with 20–25 people from their organization, ranging from VP to frontend developers, web designers, and project managers.

How did you come to work with Spire Digital?

The company had already started talking with Spire Digital and building the website before I was brought in, so I’m not sure 100% how that process went. However, when it came down to selecting a company to build the application software, I used Clutch as part of my presentation to make sure my president and VP understood the rundown of each company.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $257,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began the project in May 2020. We were aiming to finish it by November 2020, but we technically never finished.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did your relationship with the vendor evolve?

They were supposed to help us move from a Flash-based THP stack to a modern, mobile-compatible stack. However, the solution didn’t work, and we aren’t satisfied. 

How did Spire Digital address the challenges that arose?

From a customer satisfaction standpoint, their ability to solve problems was zero. It was beyond frustrating.

Describe the impact this engagement has had on your business.

The app doesn’t work. It can’t support multiple users logging in at the same time, and I don’t mean 100 users; I mean four or six. It’s a huge flaw, and multiple developers have confirmed to us that the app is broken.

Spire Digital’s answer was to tell us that we could pay almost the same amount we already paid to fix it or go to other firms because they didn’t have availability.

How was project management handled?

Before the acquisition, it was actually great. From what we saw previously, I’d like to think that they would’ve been on the ball to help us fix it.

With the acquisition, we had three different project managers. They’d come through, and then we’d have someone new on the meeting saying they’d take over. We lost our lead developer and engineer because the acquisition made them unhappy enough to leave.

Is there anything that the vendor did well or that you would consider a strength?

The designs, UI, and wireframes were beautiful. They looked great.

In what specific areas can they improve?

Out of the three projects, two of them had issues post-deployment. Therefore, they absolutely need a new QA team to ensure the solution will be helpful.

What advice do you have for clients with similar needs to yours?

Research well. We looked at some companies that were used to dealing with corporate business, so they didn’t know how to work with a small company.

Company Responses

The vendor responded on November 18, 2021. 

First off, we love this company and its mission. Second, we’re surprised by this review.

As noted, this project ended in 2020. The client then came back over a year later in September 2021 to let us know of a problem they encountered. Despite the amount of time that had transpired, we made it a priority to provide support. We invested time in hands-on troubleshooting at our cost, but could not recreate the problem in the test environments provided to us.

Unfortunately, the client could not enable our access to their production environment or on-premise deployments to continue troubleshooting. These deployments differ by district and include key variables outside our control. Each district, for instance, has its own server, which may well be outdated/underpowered. Likewise, we didn’t have access to the radio towers that are a key component of these deployments, so our team instead tested on 400 simulated radio towers. 

As a next step, we offered to execute an hourly agreement for a yet-to-be solidified scope of work, as it’d be contingent on a more complete diagnosis (looking at the whole system, not just the app we built). We didn’t have immediate availability based on the skill set needed, so we provided a list of other firms that could potentially help sooner.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of business development for Raven Health. We’re a healthcare tech data company that’s focused on improving the interaction between healthcare providers and patients.

We’re going to release an app for the applied behavioral analysis field to help clinicians acquire rapid data using a tablet.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spire Digital?

We needed a full-stack team to help develop and design the UI/UX of our mobile app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Spire Digital’s involvement can be broken down into four steps. The first step was the introductions to the team and stakeholders, the second step was the discovery, third was MVP development and design, and the last step was the delivery of the product.

How did you come to work with Spire Digital?

We found them through Clutch and we started working with them because their team dynamics connected with our values as a company.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March–October 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One of our challenges was conceptualizing and developing an app that didn’t really exist in the marketplace, but Spire Digital was able to succeed in bringing our vision to life. They created a responsive mobile-focused app that implemented their tech-driven knowledge and innovative design.

They were just really receptive to our needs and we appreciate all their efforts in meeting our requirements. This partnership helped us understand what our next steps should be as a company moving forward.

How did Spire Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

They were exceptional from a project management standpoint — they did really well in sticking to the timelines and budget. We mainly used Zoom to communicate and Miro for the intensive discovery work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were really impressed with their talented and personable team. They delivered high-quality work and they had well-rounded project management skills — it’s hard to find someone who’s as professional and creative as the Spire Digital team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had a really good working relationship so there’s nothing they could’ve done better.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Candidly, I would highly recommend them. They’re a great team, they will care about your industry, and they will work with you to build a solid partnership.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Fulfilld, an enterprise software company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spire Digital?

We’re a startup needed an expert to help us with the initial UX design for our web and mobile app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We leveraged Spire Digital in a multitude of ways. They designed the screens for our web and mobile apps. From there, they created the frontend UX design schematic, and built out the designs in Figma. That provided the foundation for the development. After that, they also developed a started website for us.

What is the team composition?

Spire Digital had a team of seven people, more or less, including project management, designers, and developers.

How did you come to work with Spire Digital?

They’re well-known in our area and have a great reputation. They do great work. Additionally, we’ve worked with them in the past.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Spire Digital from August–October 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Spire Digital delivered high-quality work on budget and on time. I’d use them again in a heartbeat.

Their engagement, professionalism, rigor, and transparency were all top-notch. Spire Digital created the foundation for the product we’re now developing. None of their work needs to be redone. I recommend them to everyone.

How did Spire Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

Their management was great. They used Jira to track the project from start to finish.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They felt like an extension of our team, and they were mindful of our budget. They treated the money as if it was their own. We completely trusted them, and we never felt overcharged.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they need to improve.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

If they’re looking for a high-quality and transparent team within the space, I’d highly recommend Spire Digital. They have expertise in specific disciplines and industries, but that’s not a requirement for them to do great work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CCO of USA Swimming, a 400,000 member organization. We’re the premier organization for the sport of swimming in the US.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spire Digital?

We had an existing public website that was used primarily by the members of our organization, and it needed a complete overhaul in UX. The navigability and design were poor — it didn’t look or feel good at all. Thus, we looked for help to redesign and reskin our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Spire Digital created the new look and feel of our website, including a redesign of our UI/UX, which helped us align the site to our brand standards. We provided them with all of the content, and they did the complete redesign and layout of our site.

For the new site, we needed an improved navigation experience. We needed it to be laid out in a much more user-friendly way, so our members and visitors could find resources much easier.

We have a heavily resourced site, and, usually, people interested in the sport come in to find up-to-date data about it. The navigation experience to find that data was critically important for us. This enhancement included a much better top menu navigation and page scrolling, so it would be easier to find things from multiple points within the site.

They also worked on the responsiveness of the site. We need it to be more responsive than before to new and dynamic content, including videos on-demand, so people could play videos and watch races.

Spire Digital used our existing CMS because all of our content was already on the backend, so they had to integrate it into the new design. For the designs, I believe they used InDesign because that’s the tool our internal team uses.

Throughout the project, they let our technical and creative teams get involved from the initial designs all the way through the final designs and the implementation. Once we launched the site, they stayed for a bit on a consulting role to make sure that the site was working well.

What is the team composition?

We worked with maybe a dozen people from Spire Digital. We had a project manager, as well as designers and developers involved.

How did you come to work with Spire Digital?

Spire Digital was a personal recommendation. We issued an RFP to quite a few organizations to help us with this project, including them. They responded to the RFP, and we had a meeting where they pitched back at us.

They came to us in person, pitched their thoughts, and showed us what they had done for other companies. Pretty quickly, we knew that they understood our organization and the type of work that we were looking for. We had great working chemistry, so we assigned this project to them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent over $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around October 2019, and the project was delivered around May 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen a great response to our new site. People are using it more, and there has been an improvement in the attitude towards it.

With our old site, we were getting a lot of negative attitudes and feedback because it wasn’t easy to use. Now, people can navigate and easily find the information that they need — we’re all enjoying the redesigned site.

How did Spire Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

Spire Digital’s project management was excellent. They were responsive and lovely to work with. They knew what they were talking about at every turn. We communicated mostly via videoconferences.

What did you find most impressive about them?

When doing an RFP process, the goal is to compare various agencies to see which one is the best. Spire Digital certainly distinguished from their competitors in their creativity, which was important to us. They brought something new to the table that we hadn’t seen before.

They were also very adept at the technical aspects, as well as very affable. We could tell from the beginning that they were going to be easy to work with and put us first.

Are there any areas they could improve?

From my perspective, there was nothing Spire Digital could have done differently. If I had seen anything, I would have corrected them on the spot. They were extraordinarily responsive, and they didn’t delay any request.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make yourself available and be vocal about what you want. There’s no particular way to engage with them, they’re easy to work with, and they can drive the process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and co-founder of DifferentKind, a digital health startup that helps people transform their dental experience.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spire Digital?

Spire Digital developed a web app. They validated our hypotheses and built a prototype.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

At the beginning of the project, we spent two days working with the Spire Digital team to identify what an MVP would look like and create a story catalog. We explained the problem we were trying to address and they did their own research before outlining a solution and recommending a tech stack.

From there, we went through a design phase where they started mocking up the ideas. Once they did that, they created a clickable prototype on Figma and did some user testing.

What is the team composition?

There were three people working on the project — the director of product delivery, a designer, and Sara (VP of Operations).

How did you come to work with Spire Digital?

They were recommended to me by a friend. The president of Spire Digital is also on the board of an organization that I trust. Ultimately, we decided to work with them because they were local to us in Colorado but have expertise from around the globe. We figured it would be helpful to have their perspective.  They provided a small startup experience with the expertise of a global company.  

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $24,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in March 2021 and we just finished our current scope of work with them in April.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We wanted to create a clickable prototype and we succeeded. On top of that, we were able to see how that prototype was received through their user testing.

We’ve been incredibly happy with their work. They have a team of really experienced and empathetic people.

How did Spire Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

Things went exactly as we would have hoped. They finished on time and on budget. We were able to define how we wanted to collaborate, so we consistently checked in with them and provided feedback. We were easily able to schedule calls with them and we used Google Docs to track where in the project they were.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They felt like members of our team. They were as committed to the goal as we were and were always willing to do more work if it needed to be done. We wanted a team that believed in what we were doing and could help us reach our goals, and they were perfect for that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We should have had a discussion about the specifics around the deliverables. Until we got a little bit into the project, we didn’t know what the final product would look like. We still ended up with a better product than we expected.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open to the process because they have a really good team that can approach problems from a bunch of different angles. When we were able to go with that, we were able to meet our goals. I don’t think we would have designed it the way they did, but we still ended up with a great result.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of a full-service agency. We develop any type of digital products from chatbots to mobile apps and we also provide services like SEO and design.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Melon?

As a business, we work a lot with partners and we really like working with specialists. For this reason, we engaged them for SharePoint development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Melon provides consulting services, which include finding out the best ways for solving problems for our clients. They design the look and feel and manage everything from development to deployment and support.

What is the team composition?

I work with about four people including a project manager, one or two developers, and the director.

How did you come to work with Melon?

We went to Bulgaria several times and met with several partners. It was more of a lucky guess, but we decided to work with them. We worked with them here and there and then were no longer working together for a bit. I was asked by my fellow directors if I knew anyone that worked with SharePoint and I thought of them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about £30,000–£40,000 (approximately $42,000–$56,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with them around March 2020 and the partnership is still ongoing. At first, it was an ad hoc collaboration, but now we have retained services.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our clients have given us positive feedback many times regarding their work.

How did Melon perform from a project management standpoint?

In terms of technical project management, they’re the best team I’ve ever worked with. They communicate well and are very detailed and organized. After their delivery, I can’t remember anything other than minor fixes. They use Microsoft Excel, Jira, and Microsoft Teams. The project manager is great, adapting to the tools we use and being methodical.

What did you find most impressive about them?

In my experience, most agencies have some sort of project management without full supplies tend to lack some accuracy and productivity. This particular skillset they’ve provided us with allows for no surprises. I don’t have to question or check; I trust them implicitly. They always deliver, do the right thing, and never overprice. I can rely on them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re not super cheap, but that’s more of a pricing point.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend them for sure.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

bexio is the biggest SaaS book keeping solution for SMEs and Accountants here in Switzerland. I work there as Product Owner for multiple areas like mobile app development, APIs and our Accountant Platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Melon?

We already worked with Melon before the bexioGo project. Together we developed multiple mobile apps before: bexio Scanner, bexio Contacts and the bexio Timetracker apps.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal of the bexioGo project was to merge the existing apps (Scanner, Contacts, Timetracker) into one single app and with this, having a stable base for future developments and reduce costs for support and maintenance.

SOLUTION

How did you select Melon?

As bexio worked with Melon before I was hired for the job at bexio, the partnership was already existing. I could get a good impression about Melon when we did the maintenance work for the "old" apps before we started with bexioGo. And as we liked very much what they did and how they did it, it was a natural choice to proceed with Melon.

Describe the project in detail.

bexio provided the high level business concept of how these apps can be merged together into our new app bexioGo. Our UI/UX designers provided all the detailed screens and user flows. Melon took over the concept/screens and developed the whole app A-Z for Android and iOS in a very transparent and agile way.

What was the team composition?

On bexio's side: 1 Product Owner (me), 1-2 UX Designers, 1 Quality Assurance / Tester. On Melon's side: 1 Project Manager, 2 Developers, 1 Quality Assurance / Tester. It showed that the initial setup of people is fully sufficient for the project so we had no need to change team size over time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We released the initial bexioGo app in June 2020. Since then, we are steadily improving the app with new features and functionalities. There were no major issues from the get go. Of the over 40k customers of bexio, over 6k of them are using the bexioGo everyday now and are quite happy with it. As the app was tailored especially for our customers on the Go (hence the name "bexioGo" ;-) we get very positive feedback from that target audience.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We defined clear roles and responsibilities in the beginning of the project, as well as how the project should be managed (communication, tooling). This worked out really well. Melon proactively made suggestions for improvements on their own and worked out concepts how a specific issue could be solved. All our inputs and feedbacks were processed very fast and the discussion was always very constructive.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are very professional on every level: company partnership, project management, and the whole phase cycle. I always had the impression that they deeply care for the project and for bexio as a company - which was not always the case for other development partners I worked with.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We had some smaller quality issues with the UI development for the "old" apps. This was discussed with Melon before the bexioGo project and they reacted and improved on this very quickly. So there is not much room anymore for further improvements in my opinion.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Technical Lead and responsible person for the technical realisation of Custom Software Development products at one of the big four audit companies. Within our department we focus on customer experience and customer-centric products and solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Melon?

Given the current global and federal state management and business continuity solutions are an important instrument to fight the current COVID-19 pandemic. We developed a COVID-19 business continuity solution, including a platform to safety manage company sites and protect employees on-site.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal of this project is to develop a market-ready solution to be used by large enterprises to enable their employees to return and work in the offices in a safe and risk-controlled manner.

SOLUTION

How did you select Melon?

Melon is one of our preferred partner on Custom Software Development in the native mobile domain. We hold a long-standing relationship with Melon and selected them for support and collaboration on this strategically important product development due to the established trusted relationship.

Describe the project in detail.

The project realizing this product is a long-running initiative with an overall project team size of 20+. The project is set up in multiple areas of expertise, where my and Melon's focus was sorely on the product development. The project is running in an agile, SCRUM based working mode with major releases at least every quarter.

What was the team composition?

The team was composed intercompany and interculturality. The product development group consisted of up to nine experts of different expertise (architecture, native development, design, qa, information security, ..) and was working in a full remote environment.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With the support and collaboration from Melon the product development team was able to launch the product from an initial idea and prototyping to a market ready, launched product within two months. Up until today the solution is in the market, operated and constantly improved.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their workflow and the overall working mode were very efficient. Onboarding took less than a week and after the onboarding phase there was not gap or any other aspects signalling a difference between internal team members and the colleagues of Melon.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The open and honest, though constructive and pragmatic culture especially when rapid changes in the project setup are required and/or small inefficiencies do occur are a differentiating aspect of Melon.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Talking about areas of improvement, one can only name the speed of onboarding to be further reduced, even though it's already very fast and the further closing of language barriers. Though the latter is not an issue at all, further investment in that area would potential result in even greater efficiency.