Wizeline

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CMO for Fitz Frames and we are a custom eyewear company that is set out to solve for eyewear for parents and kids. Fitz enables a custom fit, measuring over 1,000 points on each face - all via app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Wizeline?

Augmented reality technology was critical in delivering a custom fitted experience. Wizeline helped our team build a solid UX workflow and built our mobile iOS application that was featured as the App of the Day on the Apple Store in April 2002. Many competitors offer a virtual try-on experience but Fitz is the first company to deliver an entirely custom fitted experience via camera measurement technology. This required selecting developers who were experienced in both consumer and mobile app products and one that had a strong grasp of the "future" of AR.

What were your goals for this project?

Launch a mobile application for a custom eyewear fitting experience. This included virtual try-on for product styles, colors, measurement and a series of push notifications post purchase.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We searched for several engineering teams and were unable to find a services firm who could really deliver the experts we needed. This wasn't a project for a few front-end engineers - we need back-end, front-end, user experience, project managers , QA and Wizeline was the only company to offer end-to-end product delivery.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we selected Wizeline, we had a series of discovery meetings to share our initial prototypes and drill into additive manufacturing. This lead to product work sessions to determine the overall user experience and from there, we storyboarded out the application and series of sprints.

What was the team composition?

Wizeline offered a pod approach that included our ability to interview engineers for the project. We were introduced to a project manager and a pod of people that included designers, engineers, quality assurance and solution architects. The size of our team requirements definitely changed over time and what was great about Wizeline was their ability to quickly staff up other engineers on the project. We appreciated their approach in communication and hustle on the weekends.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We launched on schedule, were featured in Tech Crunch and Fortune magazine for the innovative app and measurement solution. Apple reached out to us to feature on the App store and we have had a steady 5 stars there since!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Seamless. We used Asana for projects and Slack for 24/7 communication. They were extremely professional and delivered. Working with Wizeline kept us in the same time zone with English speakers.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their hustle and innovation stood out. They truly came on as a technology partner and advisor. They cautioned against certain approaches and explained the roadblocks. The app is better because of their guidance and expertise.

Are there any areas for improvement?

When we first started, they didn't have a support engineering offering but towards the middle of engagement, they built out this practice and we still use this person post project. They took the feedback and hired a team to do this.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Pet Insight Project is a pioneering research initiative to collect and interpret the health stories of hundreds of thousands of dogs to improve the lives of pets everywhere. I lead product & marketing on a small team of data scientists and software developers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Wizeline?

We hired Wizeline to develop a user-facing web dashboard to display behavioral data from our wearable device and collect user feedback.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed additional resources to quickly develop an experimental feature that we could test with beta users to inform further investment in a second iteration of the feature. We were looking for a cost-effective way to bring in an additional full-stack engineer that could take a product requirement document and wireframe and implement it with limited supervision overhead.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were recommended by a friend. The salesperson was able to immediately show us a qualified developer with all of the prerequisite skills who was able to start almost immediately. The cost was reasonable, and a quick call with the developer confirmed that he was a good fit.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

The Wizeline team took a clear product requirement document and frontend mockup and implement it with limited supervision overhead. This included developing the endpoints that surfaced the required information from our data processor, as well as the front-end work to surface the data visualizations to users and then collect and store their feedback into a database.

What was the team composition?

The project team was one full-stack developer, as well as a salesperson/delivery manager checking in to make sure we were on track and getting what we needed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Wizeline was able to deliver the desired deliverable to the specification and in the amount of time they had originally scoped. The developer got up to speed quickly, and we were able to manage the process through regular daily stand-ups.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The salesperson acted as an attentive project manager. When we had some concerns about qualifications with certain Python packages, they arranged a call with the developer and help facilitate a good discussion that made us comfortable with the skillset.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The speed at which we could get started from the initial inquiry. We received a resume of a well-qualified developer who was able to start within a week on the same day that we reached out to Wizeline. Wizeline also offered flexible terms on rolling the contract from month to month, which made it easy to say yes.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There are inherent challenges with one-off projects when contract developers don't have prior familiarity with the architecture and specific conventions of the core system. The work was completed quickly, but it was not written in a way that was compatible or sustainable with our production systems. However, this was in-line with the expectations and our objective of developing an experimental/beta feature for the purpose of small-scale testing.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a lead data analyst for a commercial refrigeration company. My work includes technology integration for a data platform and generating algorithms to improve decision-making.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Wizeline?

We wanted them to help us decide which platform we would use between Amazon, Google, and Azure.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They gave us consulting services on platform selection, specifying the most important features of the platforms and how each of them could assist our needs as a company.

What is the team composition?

We worked with four people.

How did you come to work with Wizeline?

I had worked with some of their staff at my previous position and I knew their work very well, so when this need came up, I suggested that they could be a good fit.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent less than $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in March 2019 and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They delivered a document of around 130 pages, wherein they described in detail everything we did during this foundation workshop. They described methodology, definitions, proposals—basically everything we needed to make decisions.

How did Wizeline perform from a project management standpoint?

We had daily 30-minute calls where we defined our scopes and needs. That worked very well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication techniques flowed very easily and they used very good definitions. They are very well-prepared.

Are there any areas they could improve?

At first, we had people with different focuses, so it was complicated to communicate. We ended up dividing the groups and it worked well, but at first, it was complicated.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I serve as the Associate VP of Cultural Relations & University Events for the University of Southern California, a private research university in Los Angeles.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Wizeline?

We needed help to create a new web experience for our football tailgate reservations.

What were your goals for this project?

Internally, we wanted to reduce the time spent working on tailgate reservations. We also wanted to streamline the process for the external audience.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were referred by a friend in the tech industry.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Wizeline works with our team to scope, design, build, and evolve our tailgate reservations system. The new system gives us the ability to accurately plot the tailgates into a map that is to scale.

What was the team composition?

We work with a team of 6–8 on the technical side and two people from the sales side.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The reservations received from the system have increased dramatically. The map function increased the occupancy of the campus and allowed for more reservations to be placed. The biggest impact was time savings. We went from two staff members spending 60 hours per week on reservations to one person spending 15–25 hours. Though we are not a revenue dependent group, the revenue for reservations pays for the system and part of a staff member. Additionally, it’s now a better experience for the fans.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We have a project manager from the sales side and one on the technical team. They work in concert and make sure we’re taken care of throughout the process.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The way they work to conceptualize the product is different — and better — than other teams I’ve worked with before. By creating personas based around the needs and stories of our system, they came to really understand our business and our needs.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Timeline was the only thing that got a little lost in the process. Overall, we’re happy with the result and their flexibility of resources to make it all happen.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our team organized the Rugby World Cup Sevens (RWC7s) 2018 tournament in San Francisco, which took place last July 20–22. I was the VP of regional partnerships for this event.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Wizeline?

RWC7s hired Wizeline to create a local tournament chatbot.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to provide easy-to-find event information that would enhance the fan experience, including tournament schedule, updates, and general stadium facts.

SOLUTION

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

We spent ample time researching the project and defining the scope until we determined feasibility. Wizeline then developed, designed, and implemented the local tournament chatbot through USA Rugby's Facebook Messenger platform. They handled everything, from the project timeline to getting approval from Facebook to activate the bot on Facebook Messenger. Wizeline also provided weekly updates and demos on the status of the local tournament chatbot in real time.

What was the team composition?

Wizeline’s project team was comprised of 8–10 people from their San Francisco and Mexico offices. They provided expertise in development, marketing, and design.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had 1,100 unique users recorded on Facebook Analytics, of which 1,090 or 99% returned to the bot every day. The chatbot received 4,015 messages during a four-day span. Over 400 messages were specifically for men's matches, our most popular topic.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They took the lead in all aspects of project management, so our team did not have to worry about it. They delivered everything within a fairly tight deadline. Their project management was extremely effective and essential to our success.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

One of the biggest benefits of working with them was their hands-on approach. The team communicated proactively from start to finish, so it was extremely easy to work with them.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

If we had more time and resources, we could have developed a strong promotional campaign around the bot to increase our numbers. However, this was the first time USA Rugby ever used a chatbot for an event of this magnitude.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior vice president of product at Jitterbit, a cloud-based integration Platform as a Service (PaaS) for enterprise companies. We provide access to various data sources and applications via APIs, synchronize data between systems, and compose business process orchestration to manage data. I’m responsible for the product strategy, product management, R&D, engineering, and QA.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Wizeline?

We wanted to leverage machine learning (ML) and AI more effectively in our products. We wanted our customers to be able to take their data from disparate sources and feed them into a commercial AI engine that would synchronize the data into whatever ML platform they use. We didn’t have much experience in that field, but we came up with a few ideas and needed an outside expert to validate our offerings.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Wizeline didn’t do any development; we just had them look over our idea and let us know what was good and what needed to be improved. We wanted market validation for a data scientist persona and what they care about. Wizeline gave us a high-level breakdown of what an offering should look like on a data integration platform and what the product should include. Their final deliverables were a report and presentation along with the persona documents. They helped us establish the baseline concerns and capabilities that a data scientist would have about our minimum viable product (MVP).

What is the team composition?

I had an account rep, project lead coordinator, and a team of 5–7 other people who ranged from UX designers to data scientists and architects. The coordinator was my main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Wizeline?

Our board of directors recommended Wizeline. They’d use them at some of their other portfolio companies, and they’d done great work.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted for two weeks in April 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They validated that there was an open space in the market that we could fill. They also gave us ideas we could consider for the product that would make it a much more compelling offering.

How did Wizeline perform from a project management standpoint?

They had some of the best project management I've seen. They were responsive and had extremely open communication. The documentation was also excellent.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They delivered on their promises and let us know if something would be late. Out of all the vendors I’ve worked with, they’re definitely one of the top three. They have a prescribed framework, which makes things simple and organized. We knew exactly what the plan was, and everything went smoothly.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

They don’t know your particular market or product, so make sure you can succinctly and sufficiently explain what you want. If you don’t clearly tell them your goals and expected outcomes, then it becomes hard for them to deliver a high-quality product.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

At the time of the project, I was the lead Emerging Information Technology engineer for a prominent home building company in the United States.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Wizeline?

We’re constantly trying to improve our customer experience. We thought that a chatbot could tell guests the story about our company and take them on a tour of our facilities.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They conducted extensive research into not only how we wanted the chatbot to function, but also why we thought the chatbot was the right choice for our company. They helped us build out that idea. They built us custom chatbots that are native to Android and iOS, as well as a web app, that leveraged their core platform but were customized to our needs on top. The bot development incorporated machine learning and natural language processing technologies. They added a layer that allows the chatbot to utilize beacon technologies to recognize the geographical boundaries of our campus and operate therein.

What is the team composition?

Their developers collaborated in small groups or pods based on the technologies they worked with, and there was a project manager that oversaw their progress. There were also several other layers of oversight.

How did you come to work with Wizeline?

We were in communication originally with more established technology companies, but their workflows didn’t align with ours. The bigger firms tried to sell us on what features our chatbot needed. Wizeline worked with us to determine why the chatbot would be useful, and then we collaborated on the features that could make it worthwhile.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent somewhere in the range of $700,000–$900,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement began in August 2017, and it is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everything was done for the right reason. The chatbot was built very intelligently. We consider the project a success, and we believe the product is scalable to eventually use to show customers around homes.

How did Wizeline perform from a project management standpoint?

I requested an extensive level of communication, and they exceeded my expectations. We had 15-minute daily standups with me and the rest of the team, video conferencing, and formal email updates. Their detail was extraordinary. They layered support on top of the support. They would have a project manager and a business relationship manager review work with a customer success manager and the director of customer success. They didn’t leave anything to chance.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Independent from their hard work on our project, I found that they spend a lot of time educating their community on the best practices for web development or UX or design thinking. They’re spreading knowledge for the sake of knowledge, not for any vanity reasons.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I would be hard-pressed to suggest any improvements. We had portions of our project that needed correcting, as most projects do, but the rate at which they addressed those issues was impressive. They corrected everything over the course of the project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the product manager of the internal content management system for an entertainment company’s digital consumer group.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Wizeline?

We hired Wizeline to help us maintain and improve our content management system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team initially spent some time getting to know our backend system, the content management system, our users, the UI, and building up proto-personas. From there, they have assisted us with multiple initiatives such as integrating Okta for single sign-on. We are currently making some changes to the UI and adding monitoring tools, and they continuously support us with ongoing maintenance. They work with React on our app and Node.js for other projects.

What is the team composition?

I work with a business contact, a team of developers, a designer, a tech writer, and a project manager.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend $120,000 on their services per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have been working together since October 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I have been really happy with them so far. They have quickly learned our system, made helpful suggestions, and been very collaborative. Anytime I ask them to do something, they pick it up and run with it. We are just starting on a big redesign, and I am very happy with the direction they are heading.

How did Wizeline perform from a project management standpoint?

They are very good at staying organized and communicative. Because I am a product owner, I have daily contact with the whole team, including daily stand-ups and chats on Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The thing I find most impressive is that the team has a real pride of ownership. They do a great job, take pride in their work, and never deliver unfinished products.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only complaint I have is that they have changed the people on our team a couple of times. I really built a good working relationship with them and was sad to see them go, but the people they were replaced with have been perfectly fine.

Any advice for potential customers?

Try and get as good of a team as mine, because they are really great.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the manager of digital product strategy for a news broadcast network. I look after all the digital products and platforms such as apps, TV, and editorial tools.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Wizeline?

We wanted to move to a new CMS and had specific requirements for the architecture and how to build it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We asked Wizeline to build a headless CMS solution, which isn’t bound to any one CMS platform. For example, this means the CMS the editors use to write stories isn’t the same as the one that delivers the page to the end users. Wizeline built out a layout manager and rendering engine to take the story from the tool and get it out to the public. The system is API driven, integrating various features such as the WordPress CMS, AWS, and Elasticsearch. Wizeline built and customized tools and did a full content migration.

What is the team composition?

We had a project manager and a team of about 10–12 people.

How did you come to work with Wizeline?

One of our partners recommended them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $1 million–$5 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

This project lasted from April 2017–April 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They worked well with our team, and we couldn’t have launched the project without them. They helped us hit our deadline and please our internal stakeholders. We’ve had few issues with this CMS compared to other firms’ solutions. We’re all happy with their work.

How did Wizeline perform from a project management standpoint?

Wizeline integrated well with our team, and the project managers were in frequent contact on Slack. They held meetings with our executive team every other week and had check-ins on a daily basis with our lead developers. We’re roughly in the same time zone, so that made them highly available and communicative.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were eager to help out and make a fantastic product. Our team was running behind schedule on a few things, and Wizeline asked what they could do to speed things up. They were highly invested in our project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re good at identifying risks, but they should be more vocal in presenting solutions before the problem gets too big.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

We originally just wanted them for an architecture solution, but they work best as part of your dev team.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CEO of Tax Lab, Inc. My product is called ThynkBooks.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Wizeline?

We hired Wizeline to create ThynkBooks, an AI-powered bookkeeping software that streamlines the software from bookkeeping to an immediate tax return.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal was to fragment a widely used accounting practice. We also wanted to use AI to speed up the categorization of the software.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I read articles about them online and liked their mission. I spoke to their employees, and they seemed to love the idea of my project.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Wizeline developed the front- and backend of the software, focusing on the UI.

What was the team composition?

We worked with a team of developers, a data scientist, a team lead, and project architect.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Wizeline created a phenomenal project that provides simplicity to users. It saves people time and money.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Our team lead who managed the project did an excellent job.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Wizeline gets work done. All things are possible with their team. They act as part of the staff and not an outside vendor. I was beyond impressed with their dedication.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Because I’m not familiar with tech, I would’ve loved for the sub-teams to work in clusters and include me. This would’ve saved time when the team was going in the wrong direction. However, they always focused on delivering results.