Yellow

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a Chief Technology Officer at Itexus.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Yellow, and what were your goals?

We needed a custom-made chatbot for customer service.

SOLUTION

How did you select Yellow and what were the deciding factors?

We were looking for partners on Clutch, and we found them in the Top Web Developers list.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We needed a multifunctional chatbot to assist with our customer service. The chat should be able to send automated prewritten messages, ask general questions about a client or a problem, take all the information in a database, and redirect customers to the real consultants.

We wanted to cooperate with a team that had the necessary expertise and experience in building chats and chatbots.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Our project manager worked with a project manager and two developers from Yellow.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Yellow truly exceeded our expectations. Their team is highly skilled, and their experience was able to completely meet our needs. They are also very proactive in communication and were honest with their reporting of the details and insights of the project.

We barely encountered any issues working with Yellow, and if we did, they put in all the effort needed to handle it as quickly as possible.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

Project management is one of their strong sides. We use Jira, Slack, Google Docs, and some other tools for internal communication, so the entire team is always updated and we are constantly on the same page with them.

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

They are fast, honest, and forward-looking. The Yellow team is ready to listen to your ideas and help optimize them for your audience. Yellow built a cross-functional team that can work together and self-organize.

They are not just developers, they are people fully committed to their tasks.

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

No, all the processes are smooth and transparent.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Dropby Inc. We work in access management for property managers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Yellow?

We needed a consistent, reliable, and reactive engineering company with whom we could get resources very quickly and achieve a predictable outcome.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve used Yellow on a consistent basis for multiple different projects, not just one at a time. The team works on both back- and frontend development. Some of the features Yellow has worked on include segregated building, so our customers can build each property individually. They work in Twilio. 

What is the team composition?

We have two or three engineers working at a time, depending on the project. We also have a project manager. 

Our CTO works with more members of the team on a regular basis.

How did you come to work with Yellow?

We’d tried one or two other companies before Yellow, but they weren’t a good match. When our CTO came on board, he’d had experience working with Yellow, which is how we started working with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $50,000–$60,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since July 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With Yellow, the features are getting done. If we ever have an issue with one of the features, they quickly fix it. 

We had one issue with an engineer who wasn’t up to par, but Yellow quickly replaced him for us. They have a database of engineers for us to choose from, which is great. 

In terms of feedback, people like the platform so far. It’s been a help to our business.

How did Yellow perform from a project management standpoint?

The CTO is using tools with Yellow more than I am, but I use Slack with them, which is really nice.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed with the fact they have many engineers, and they’re willing to change and adapt to our needs. 

I also like the fact that they’re always very open and honest about hiring their resources if we’re particularly impressed with them. We can hire them directly, and Yellow will charge us a hiring fee. The option to do that is pretty impressive and unique. It gives me confidence that if I work with an engineer directly, I might be able to bring them onto my own team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think so. Any issues we’ve had, they’ve been very quick to react to and solve them. There’s nothing that’s been consistently bad that we haven’t been able to deal with.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend working with Yellow. If, along the way, there’s anything you don’t like, they’ll be very reactive in fixing it. They’re always on top of making changes to make us happy.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of an e-learning company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Yellow?

We needed someone to develop a custom learning management system (LMS).

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed our LMS. Users can go to the homepage and create an account. From there, they can view video content and participate in tests. They’ve focused on creating a simple interface so it’s easy for the user to navigate.

Yellow asked what we wanted and they delivered a prototype. After that, they made adjustments to the design and developed the final product with us.

What is the team composition?

I worked with the CEO, CTO, a project leader, and an accountant.

How did you come to work with Yellow?

I knew of them, so I reached out to have a conversation about my needs. After talking to them, I had a good feeling. They were very helpful and extremely precise in their vision. They said they wanted to make things simple and easy to understand, which is what I wanted. On top of that, their pricing was good compared to their competitors.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $10,000–$49,999.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from May–September 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They worked very hard to deliver a solution quickly, and in the end, they designed a great LMS. They’re very skilled and extremely precise. As a result, the quality of their work is very good. They’re the best. They’re very helpful and over-deliver. I’m very happy that I decided to work with them.

How did Yellow perform from a project management standpoint?

Our original idea was too complicated to code, so they built a prototype to see if the optical view would work. From there, they planned deliverables for every two-week sprint and completed each task on time.

We had a weekly call with the project leader, and then he relayed our requests to the coders. We communicated via Slack, email, Skype, or whatever was the best option in that moment.

When we asked for feedback, Yellow responded honestly if they thought it would overcomplicate the product. They also asked several times a week how they could improve the prototype. This was very helpful because we were able to describe what we wanted the LMS to do and our project leader conveyed the technical details to the programmers.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Yellow put everything into layman’s terms so we could understand what they were working on even though we don’t have a background in coding.

They listened to us and brought our vision to life. They included every detail in the LMS that I wanted. It’s were very professional and always thought outside the box.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing they need to improve.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of Engineering for an app development firm. I match talent with software development projects we take on.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Yellow?

Yellow is my go-to resource for software development. They’ve done a few projects dealing with Twilio.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provide expert services and help us configure Twilio products for our clients. Recently, we started working with them on more development work. Yellow is helping us with a contact center solution with Twilio at the core. Our customer gives us tasks and we deliver on a two-week schedule. It’s very scrum-oriented. We’ve done several similar projects as well.

What is the team composition?

The largest team we worked with had two people on it, and then we usually interface with the CMO and project manager.

How did you come to work with Yellow?

We met them at a Twilio conference a few years ago. We have similar values and we got along well, so it was very natural for us to start working on projects together.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $25,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’m happy with the quality of their work. They’ve bailed us out when the expertise and skills required for a project have been outside of our wheelhouse. In those situations, it was great having them.

How did Yellow perform from a project management standpoint?

We work directly with their developers so we can manage and oversee the project. They’re very flexible and adaptable to our working style. They’ve been very patient with us on each project we’ve worked on together.

They’re very transparent and I haven’t had any issues. If anything was delivered late, it was our fault for not giving them requirements soon enough.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their engineering is exceptional.

Are there any areas they could improve?

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

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The better prepared you are, and the more defined your requirements are, the smoother the project is going to go. They’re pretty good about making sure you have clear requirements ahead of time.

Additionally, if you’re based in the US, you should be aware that they’re located in Eastern Europe, so you should be prepared to arrange your schedule around when you can reach them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a security and IT solutions firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Yellow?

We needed help with software development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They develop Android and iOS apps and the backend for web applications. We provide them with mockups and wireframes ahead of time for some of the projects. The majority of the time, they help us to put everything together.

What is the team composition?

There’s a project manager, a backend developer, an iOS developer, and an Android developer.

How did you come to work with Yellow?

I met one of them at a tradeshow in Toronto. Then I visited Belarus and had a meeting. We decided to use them as a subcontractor for our clients.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2019 and it was ongoing until the Corona Virus hit. We’re postponing it until further notice.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’m really satisfied with the work they did for us.

How did Yellow perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication has been excellent. We got weekly reports with a timesheet of how many hours have been spent on what. Every 2-3 days we communicated over WhatsApp. Everything is well-documented.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication and creativity stand out.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’re very satisfied.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to be very specific about what you want to do.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a social media platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Yellow?

We were looking for an external team to build a mobile application with us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We gave specific wireframes and mock-ups for the project. Collaboratively, we worked from there to develop the mobile app for iOS. They were in charge of mobile app development, working closely with me as I was the backend developer and had control of implementation. 

The app allows for sending pictures, videos and chats. There is a layer that generates finances, as well, setting our app apart from others in the space.

The app is only iOS compatible currently, but they will soon be working on a version for Android.

What is the team composition?

There was a project manager and one primary developer. However, an additional developer came on a few times throughout the project.

How did you come to work with Yellow?

We found them on Clutch and another site, both with positive reviews. We met with the CEO who seemed understanding and experienced with the platform.

How much have you invested with them?

We’re investing between $80,000 - $120,000. We have spent about $80,000 to this point, but the contract for the Android version will take it to roughly $120,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in July 2019, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're reached app submission stage and agreed to continue using Yellow for the Android version. Something we would have only done if happy with the iOS version. This is one of our longer-lasting partnerships which is in itself something due to our own high demands. 

How did Yellow perform from a project management standpoint?

From our perspective, it took a lot of pushing to get things properly managed. Admittedly it was agreed to be very informal as we only had one developer but that changed over time but the project management didn't. 

Yellow use Jira as the tool but the tickets would become mismanaged, not estimated and with no sprint review or burndown/velocity charts, felt like a critical professional aspect was missing in how the project was delivered. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have some exceptional talent there. Some of their developers are very committed to our project personally. Unlike other studios, Yellow has developers that work way beyond the paid hours and take on a personal endeavor to deliver an app they are also proud of. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

For us, it was the project management. Whilst we took on a less formal role, with how to run the project, there was some clear over-confidence within Yellow in the progress of the project at the beginning. In turn, we ended up running significantly over in cost and time. That said, we reached an amicable agreement with Yellow and because of that continue to use their services. Their CEO / Founder is an incredibly understanding and likable person.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I'm sure if you put your trust in Yellow to deliver the full life-time-cycle of a project they will exceed your expectations. If, you're developing the backend system like ourselves, then be sure to get the developers that are the right fit for you personally, and your expectations in code quality. Don't be afraid to say it's not working out too early. We hesitated in some of our decisions and costs us weeks of development time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO and founder of Coverium which is a website and community for cover song sharing. It is for people who produce popular songs and perform them in a unique way. The website has been up for about five years.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Yellow?

I needed some help with my project as I was getting more people involved in the community. I made a long list of features that I wanted to build and started to look for some external help.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

My website is a community and sharing platform for the most popular covers. We arrange YouTube videos by the number of views, likes, and comments and we also group them in charts by performance time, performance type, and how many performers. 

The website was working, but I had additional features I wanted to include. I built the specifications and provided them to Yellow. These features included the ability to chat with other users and YouTube synchronization. 

We also expanded the account options. There are three different types of accounts: free, tenant, and pro. Each account has different features based on how much the subscription fee is. 

It was a full-stack project consisting of front- and backend development work. I already had some backend, most of which was in Java Spring Hibernate.

Our frontend was developed using Bootstrap and jQuery. However, there were some pages where Bootstrap didn’t match the screen and elements were overlapping. They fixed those issues and built a more flexible UI. They also provided QA services.

What is the team composition?

I worked mostly with Ivan (Founder). I also had a couple of conversations with their tech lead and he helped me to make decisions when it came to technological specs and implementing certain things.

How did you come to work with Yellow?

I received a referral from a friend who is an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. He used their services for mobile app development. We had several calls and based on the information that they provided to us, we negotiated a rate and they assigned a developer to our project.

What is the status of this engagement?

I worked with them from April–June 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One of the most important metrics for me is transparency. When I assign a task, I want to be sure that I get updates every day in terms of progress and issues that might arise. Yellow exceeded my expectations. I was always able to reach Ivan by Skype and he was pushing the code on Bitbucket every day. I would wake up in the morning to see email updates and view their changes.

All the features that Ivan developed were appreciated by my customers. I have a feedback form and the feedback I received was positive. I was also able to pay off my investment because the new paid account options were quite popular.  

How did Yellow perform from a project management standpoint?

They have excellent project management skills. For example, there was one situation where a user submitted a bug fix request. There was a problem with his YouTube channel and the synchronization was failing. Ivan and I looked at the bug together and upgraded the source to give a better response.

I was able to provide Yellow with feedback and communicate with my developer on a daily basis. They felt like a part of my in-house team. We had ongoing open communication.

 We used Bitbucket to manage the project and collaborate, and we used Skype to communicate. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their performance was good. I didn’t expect that kind of performance from someone working offsite. I was happy that they completed the project ahead of schedule, so we had some time left to work on additional projects and improvements.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As a customer, I was satisfied with the delivery. If I could’ve hired more people, that would’ve been nice. However, for having one person and taking into account all the stuff that was done within my budget, I’m a happy customer.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Try to formalize the requirements for the project before starting out, or at least start by giving them some basic ideas that you have. It will allow them to better assist you. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and co-owner of a software development company, Hyvery inc. We offer several SaaS applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Yellow?

We were in the process of expanding our core SaaS application, and we didn’t have enough resources to meet the demand for our product. We decided to hire an external team to help fill in some of the gaps we had surrounding development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We brought the team onboard to build the 3.0 version of our application, while our internal team works to continue supporting the current version of the product. We provide Yellow with the UI/UX designs, workflow, and processes to facilitate the development of our iOS and Android applications. The team builds the actual apps, then uses our endpoints to connect the frontend to our main database. They utilize React Native, Java, and MongoDB, and GraphQl.

In terms of functionality, Yellow has implemented Native QR scanning, GPS coordinates, image uploads, and various types of form capture. 

Recently, we also turned over the web portion of the application to Yellow. 

What is the team composition?

Currently, we’re utilizing three of their team members: a project manager, a lead developer, and another supporting developer.

How did you come to work with Yellow?

Yellow was recommended to us from another development team we were utilizing in a different area. We pulled Yellow in for a test project, and we were impressed by the quality of their work, communication, and project management skills. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent just under $30,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began our engagement in November 2019, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Right now, we’re measuring their performance based on timelines. They’ve met each deadline we’ve set, and, measuring against our internal QA sheet, rarely make errors in their codebase.

Further, we never have to walk Yellow through the development process — we can give them tasks and feel confident that they’re able to fill in the gaps and run with it. That level of autonomy has been extremely helpful, especially given the tight timeline we’re working with.

Anytime we’re faced with a challenge, Yellow impresses us by coming up with a solution to overcome it.

How did Yellow perform from a project management standpoint?

Yellow has exceeded our expectations, especially in terms of meeting deadlines. There have been periods where we’ve had trouble keeping up with their team’s speed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Two main aspects have stood out to us so far. The first is their skill set in utilizing some of the latest technologies. Also, we're impressed with their ability to stay engaged with the project as a whole. When Yellow is working on a task, they understand how it will impact the product down the line. The team has provided great insight into our processes, making sure we don’t make small mistakes that will impact us in a larger way in the future.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’ve performed very well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you have the project scope and all of the requirements that go along with it ironed out. Have the work ready for Yellow when they come in, because they get to work very quickly. You need to have the project planned in the event that they outpace you in their development.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO at Driver Rehabilitation Institute, a small non-profit that specializes in crash reduction. It helps allow people to drive that may have medical issues that would keep them from driving otherwise.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Yellow?
The work we do is mostly done by occupational therapists, and there aren’t enough therapists to work with populations like returning combat veterans and people who’ve had a traumatic brain injury or a stroke. We were looking for a way to get the knowledge of occupational therapists out and widely available to the people who need it.

Our goal was basically to make a video into a video game and an app. We had driving school instructors throughout the US, Canada, and other parts of the world film in their local areas. Then, we wanted to go through the videos and made objects clickable, such as brake lights or traffic lights. We were looking for somebody who had an idea of how to do that. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They figured out how to do the clickable video before we started or needed to pay them anything. They delivered a proof of concept. Then, they developed an Android app with clickable touchscreen videos where users could touch items within the video. They designed the UI/UX and admin dashboard for it as well. 

Now, we’re working with them to develop a dashboard that somebody can look at with their clients (e.g. someone at a driving school or a therapist).

They used Google Cloud Platform and the Android platform. For coding our admin dashboard, they used React in the backend.

What is the team composition?

There’s one frontend person who takes our ideas and brings them back to the others in the team.

How did you come to work with Yellow?

Somebody on our board of directors that’s really talented in the tech space encountered them at a tradeshow. They felt they had an idea of how to do what we wanted. We were highly skeptical, but they built a quick prototype that showed us the technique they were thinking of would work.

First, we started on a smaller issue we had with an existing app. We weren’t hiring them for development work, but to fix something we had a problem with. Then, we engaged them in March 2019 to work on the main project in this review.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $125,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2018, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I was very impressed with their systems and procedures for doing the design spec, wireframes, and a prototype. They’re professional developers. The UI/UX was very pleasing to the eye and thoughtfully designed.  It was done very methodically and not ad hoc, which I appreciated. 

The initial response from the folks that are using it has been positive. They find it easy to navigate.  We just launched and don’t have a lot of users yet. We were going to go to a bunch of tradeshows this month to roll it out, but that’s been put on hold.

We’re doing a usability study at a university. They put 20 of their college students through it, and it provided pretty positive results overall. They had some little nitpicks with it, but we got pretty high marks. They understand how to design an app to appeal to a North American user.

How did Yellow perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is thoughtfully done. It shows me that they had some experience doing projects like this in the past. Instead of working with multiple people, we have one main point of contact. We use Slack and other project tools. Also, most of the folks speak English as well as us if not better. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

What attracted us to them is they weren’t just a code shop or website shop.They have an interest and talent for thinking outside the box. They were very creative in coming up with a solution for what we needed almost immediately.

For example, they’ve integrated AI so it’s possible to analyze our user’s behavior. They’ve come up with some clever ideas on how to do that, including how to analyze large amounts of user data. From that perspective, what sets them apart is their ability to not just use current tools, but to think outside the box by bringing in other tools. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing that comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

One of the things that benefited us was meeting the principals when they were here for shows. It’s always good to get to know the people that are working with something that’s really important to your company. Take the time to get to know them. Consider them a member of your company and treat them that way. They will deliver.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CTO and head of digital engagement for a company involved in the events industry, specializing in audience engagement.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Yellow?

We engaged with Yellow to develop an engagement platform for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked together to put together a UI/UX brief that laid out some of the fundamentals of the front- and backend of the platform. Their project manager then relayed that information to the rest of their team, and they handled the development on their own from there.

They created the wireframes and advised us on what they believed to be the best way to move forward. I’m not familiar with the exact technologies that went into the application, but I know that there are a lot of moving parts and different components that they had to take care of. The platform runs on a variety of platforms and can be used online or offline, and they chose technologies to meet those requirements based on best practices and future adaptability.

How did you come to work with Yellow?

Our CEO had a relationship with their company from a previous engagement, so we reached out to them, and after a few meetings, we realized that they had the trustworthiness and the technical ability to handle our project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in the middle of 2018 and are continuing to work together as we maintain and improve the application.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have been very satisfied with the project so far because they always deliver on what they say they will do. If there are changes to project parameters or if we have given them an unrealistic workload, they will communicate that to us, but in the end, we have full confidence in their ability to deliver.

How did Yellow perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is incredibly smooth with their team. We use JIRA, Slack, Google docs, and a few other internal communication tools to make sure that the entire team stays updated and we consistently stay on top of the work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are incredibly good at creating products from inception to delivery. Rather than just being code monkeys like a lot of development agencies, they can really take a blank piece of paper and create something that fulfills your goals as a business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think there’s anything they could have improved. They’re very good at what they do.