111 Minutes

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior vice president of technology product management at Spry Marketing Technologies. Spry is a platform that connects companies of any size with PR service providers for an affordable price.

What challenge were you trying to address with 111 Minutes?

We needed a developer to build two UX's for the iOS version of our platform's app, which would allow workforce users to connect with clients. In addition, we wanted a team that could adapt to our company’s agile methodology. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

111 is one of one of two developers we work with to complement our own development team. They initially worked on Android and iOS develop but eventually transitioned to focusing entirely on iOS because our other developer had background with Android. They took part in our daily scrum meetings before integrating with the other teams to facilitate the development process. They used their expertise to build the iOS app, but they still offered their knowledge to improve the UX, code efficiency, and security, to name a few.

The app allows workforce users and client users to interact, and 111 developed the code structure and design for both types of UX. In particular, they streamlined the user’s brief experience on the client application, simplifying and providing options for how clients can submit their project proposals. They also helped implement upcoming dashboard features for both the client and workforce user. They helped with design and with code-compiling for iOS.

What is the team composition?

We have two developers on staff and work with our project manager to stay informed.

How did you come to work with 111 Minutes?

I had worked with them before when I was at a previous position. Since then, I’ve worked with them at other companies as well, and so decided to approach them about working together again.

What is the status of this engagement?

They worked on development from October 2017 to January 2018, when the app launched, and continue to provide ongoing support.

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

They don’t directly focus on growing the app in the marketplace, but they are able to respond to issues that affect the market in real time. If there’s a bug that impacts the overall stability of the application, for example, they respond quickly with troubleshooting or a new build. Their ability to stabilize the app allows us to maintain and grow the platform.

How did 111 Minutes perform from a project management standpoint?

We were looking for a team that could adjust to our flexible methodology, which is often difficult for development teams. Nonetheless, rather than insisting upon a strict project management time frame, 111 acclimated to the processes we had in place.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve worked with a few of the 111 developers before, so I knew how precise the team could be when creating code. They have the expertise to do the job we need, and their ability to repeatedly deliver quality work builds trust.

Though we’d never met the team in person, we knew we valued their partnership. As a result, we recently traveled to Kiev to meet with 111 and discuss our goals moving forward. We wouldn’t have made that effort if we didn’t consider them an essential part of our team as we continue to improve the app.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s always a good idea to risk over-communication than to assume you understand the needs of the project, and I think 111 could serve us better by being more communicative. More documentation of procedure or outcomes would benefit that communication, too, and create clarity for both teams.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We found we need to be very clear about the development we need. Their process is very transparent—what you define, they’ll deliver—but this means clients need to be extra meticulous in their explanations. For example, you might want an offshoot for a feature and assume they'll consider that, but that's not always the case. Clients should make precise requests and include the peripheral considerations they might consider self-evident, or that would come up in a discussion with a product manager.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the COO of Itrezzo, Inc., a California based company. We mostly work with government and public organizations. We mostly focus on contact synchronization behind a fire wall, which uses internal servers, and more recently, cloud servers. 111 Minutes helped us with the cloud solution that we offer to our clients, which is one of the major products we have.

What challenge were you trying to address with 111 Minutes?

Our goal was to create an iPhone app for a client. We needed 111 Minutes to create a solution that would allow browsing to be available to public folders that synchronize to GAL [Global Address List]. We also needed an advanced calendar that could browse through contact profiles. We had internal staff, but we were shorthanded and needed help.

What was the scope of their involvement?

111 Minutes helped us with our cloud solution. CiraSync is a server that manages your accounts, and it is used to synchronize accounts, calendars, files, folders, and all the other stuff for big organizations. Whenever someone in the organization of 10,000 people changes a phone number or home address, it is securely synchronized across the board and every other person in the company has the updated information on their iPhone or Android device.

The three major features were: browsing for available public folders, synchronizing the GAL [Global Address List] to user’s iPhone contacts, and working with advanced calendars. All of the events in these features were synchronized as well. We did group browsing for contact profiles.

The scope was planned initially very carefully. They took into account all of the risks and the pressing time. We were sending progress reports that included task stages, bug reports, and what was left to do. We also have weekly demos when some functionality was already tested by their team, and ready to implement. The process was smooth because of that.

What is the team dynamic?

There was the iOS developer, the backend developer, the project manager, and the QA. It was really easy because it wasn’t a big project, but we still had to deliver really fast. They delivered and the team was really manageable with 4 people. They did everything as promised. I was the acceptance manager above our project manager. I wasn’t involved in the day to day operation, but I was involved in all of the acceptance criteria. Whenever they were releasing something each week, I was present during those calls and demos.

How did you come to work with 111 Minutes?

Our project manager and some tech leads in our company heard about 111 Minutes before; we also have the Ukrainian office. They heard they were competent and we did some preliminary search on a website. They checked their reviews. We had a few calls with them and they sounded confident and professional. It’s always difficult to find the right vendor. For this task, we were lucky enough that our team had preliminary knowledge about a company. We had them on our radar initially, and we also looked at a couple of bigger companies. We decided to go with a smaller company because it was a boutique experience. We knew that we would get a small team and the team would be dedicated and the guys would be driven. We decided to go with this approach rather than going to a bigger company that has all the bureaucracy and process in place and would probably take forever to complete this. It’s not huge, but it’s a very precisely planned project.

How much have you invested with them?

$9,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2017 and finished in May.

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

The client that initially requested it from us was the Department of Defense. They were really pleased that we launched it on time for them. They had a campaign somewhere in the middle of May. They wanted to test run the iPhone application. They were really pleased that we did it, and we were really happy to deliver it to them. After that, we started offering it to other clients as well. The adoption rate is really good.  The feedback was good because the product was good. This iPhone application proved to be another step in the user experience enhancement.

How did 111 Minutes perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re fantastic. They had the most driven project manager that I have ever worked with. This guy was on top of things all the time. He was calling, texting, emailing, or whatever source he could use to get to us. Normally, with other companies, the biggest issue is with communications. With 111 Minutes, it was the other way around. He made sure that they were online and reachable every day. He started all these conversations and he was proactively pushing the updates and reports and everything. We didn’t really have to request anything from them once we started working. Everything was sent to us. As far as project management methodology, they used the basic scrum here with weekly demos and daily reports, which was a great choice because the project was short. It worked out really well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s so hard to find a quality company. The most impressive thing is they managed to start on the job really fast. They had something that they were working on, but they revved it up and delivered it so that they could help us. We emphasized that it was really important for us. They were able to start almost right away. It was a very hot spot we were in. They responded to the call and within a couple weeks they assembled a team with people who have the expertise for Azure. It was also impressive how dedicated they were to try to help us. You really don’t get that feeling anymore from vendors. These guys exceeded expectations and showed that they really care about delivering to our client, on time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not in this case. They did an excellent job.

Do you have any advice or recommendations for someone who is looking to use their services?

Use them as fast as you can. Jump on because so far these guys are driven and energetic. They are really a gem to anyone looking for product development. I’m not sure how good they are long-term, but short-term projects are definitely their thing. If you have a short to mid-sized project, this is your company. They really do everything for you. You don’t have to push anyone. They’re so proactive that we didn’t have to think about anything.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

BuyForMe is a sales platform which helps users find people who can go into a store, buy goods, and source a courier for shipping them.

What challenge were you trying to address with 111 Minutes?

I needed to create an easy-to-use app which anyone could utilize. This was my first time building such a platform.  

What was the scope of their involvement?

111 Minutes designed and developed my app for iOS from scratch, along with the backend server. I didn’t have any specific features in place; they listened to what I wanted to do, showed me potential functionality designs, and allowed me to choose one.

I worked with Tanya Kucherenko, the owner of the company, as well as with Evgen Vasilenko, who acted as project manager. He liaised the communication with the other members of the team. We spoke twice a day during the development.

How did you come to work with 111 Minutes?

They were recommended to me by a friend who had used them. I didn’t look at other options.

How much have you invested with 111 Minutes?

The cost of their work was $14,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with 111 Minutes in September or October 2015. The whole process took around 6 months, ending in April or May. We maintained communication for around 2 months after the completion, for the testing and bug-fixing period. The app was released on the app store in June 2016.

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

The app was completed and is working fine. People have made transactions through it. I am doing marketing for it, and have had around 8,000 downloads in the U.S.

How did 111 Minutes perform from a project management standpoint?

They were good in this respect. Everything was delivered on budget, but the timeline was extended after 111 Minutes proposed some changes which would make the app better. We would have finished on time with the initial specifications. We communicated via Skype. There were no time or language barriers. I speak Russian and so does 111 Minutes’ team.

What did you find most impressive about 111 Minutes?

They provided a lot of changes for free and gave me a special rate. I had a set budget for creating the app, but we made a number of design changes after it was completed.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with 111 Minutes?

Not specifically, but I would recommend 111 Minutes if someone asked me for a developer.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a project manager for a company trying to break into the healthcare space. We’re based in St. Louis, Missouri. Our projects focus on facilitating conversation and interaction between different stakeholders in the industry. One of our biggest projects is an application tailored to individual doctors. It allows physicians to schedule appointments for patients and keep track of medication. The app also provides a confidential and direct way for patients to ask questions outside of office hours.

What challenge were you trying to address with 111 Minutes?

We are in the process of launching a new product. It’s a social network for patients with chronic illnesses and people who have to spend large amounts of time in healthcare centers. The platform would let users connect, discuss treatment options, and share their experiences and stories.

We have a small in-house tech team, but they’re busy with our other product. Since it’s expensive to hire people in the U.S., we thought about giving other providers a chance. Unfortunately, we’d had mixed results with outstaffing firms before. We wanted to try again and find a more professional group.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We made a detailed spec in-house using our own developers, designers, and managers. They outlined our vision and created some wireframes. We wrote out in pretty good detail what we wanted and passed it on to 111 Minutes. After we gave the specs, 111 Minutes provided specific cost and timeline estimations. They also gave feedback, questions, and suggestions about the product.

The biggest functionality of our platform is that it would let users find peers by region and based on the chronic illnesses they suffer from. 111 Minutes helped us sort out how users could filter by location and condition, making it a clean UI [user interface] experience. With an app, there isn’t that much space for poking around, but they followed the rule of having only one feature per page.

They also suggested moving forward with an MVP [minimum viable product] on iOS. They put together a basic version of the application as well as a website mockup, both of which we liked. We decided to move forward not only with a full-fledged iOS app but also an Android one.

When we started, I was introduced to my counterpart from 111 Minutes. I believe that we worked with 5 full-time developers, some of whom may have been rotated during crunch times. We had 1 Java developer, 1 for iOS, a couple of Ruby on Rails developers, and a designer who also did frontend work.

How did you come to work with 111 Minutes?

We started asking our friends in the tech world who were facing similar challenges. Everyone has a horror story about outstaffing and outsourcing. After we sent requests for proposal to around 15 companies, one of our tech people brought in the name 111 Minutes.

111 Minutes was the strongest in terms of open communication and past work. We were surprised by how open they were. I’d worked with other companies where everyone said “yes” to everything and failed to deliver on it. 111 Minutes was open to telling us when an expectation could be challenging and if we should reorient our timeframe. Whenever there was a roadblock, they were upfront about it. They explained to us what the situation was and how they intended to resolve it. We use the Agile methodology in-house and felt that they were taking that ethic to the vendor-employer relationship.

How much have you invested with 111 Minutes?

So far, the cost of their work has been around $60,000–$65,000. We’ve been meeting our budgets, and we are happy with what we have. We’ve blown money before on providers who couldn’t deliver as well as on people who low-balled the estimate as a trick to get us to sign on.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with 111 Minutes in June 2016. We haven’t launched it yet, but the web, Android, and iOS apps are complete. We want to publicize the platform and make sure that we have enough users in place at the autumn launch. There is still some ongoing collaboration with 111 Minutes, but I’ve moved on to a different project so I can’t give specifics.

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

111 Minutes made the development process easy. Our tech team was allowed to interact with 111 Minutes’ people, give feedback, and help shape what was created. As a result, it will be a lot easier to maintain the application after launch and after we’ve started making changes to it ourselves.

How did 111 Minutes perform from a project management standpoint?

I interacted mostly with Katya, their project manager. Our tech team also connected with some of 111 Minutes’ staff, including their Ruby on Rails developers. They were open to this, which was helpful since I am not a technical person myself. Our developers could ask more detailed questions, give feedback, perform code reviews, and bounce ideas off of each other. I have no complaints about our project manager or any of the people she was managing. It was a straightforward process.

What did you find most impressive about 111 Minutes?

I understood where the team was every step of the way. Everything was clear. 111 Minutes was always upfront, open to suggestions, and not afraid to share if they had a better idea.

Are there any areas 111 Minutes could improve?

At this point, no. There may have been something to say along the way, but I have nothing specific.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with 111 Minutes?

If the client is looking for a group of people to become involved in long-term projects and wants to have interactions about those projects, 111 Minutes is the way to go. If one prefers to be more hands-off and give simple tasks to a team, it might not be a good fit.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a boarding school coordinator for the International Bilingual School, which provides high-end education for students from around the world in both academics and sports. We’re based near Marseilles, France. Since I’m involved in IT and tech, the headmaster picked me for gathering contacts and quotes and to act as project lead on behalf of the school.

What challenge were you trying to address with 111 Minutes?

We are not a tech company, so we needed a partner who could develop an app for our sports students. The product needed to help students monitor their training and nutrition in order to improve their performance. Our school competes in football, horse riding, and tennis, and we wanted to plan collective training for all students, as each athlete has specific needs in terms of nutrition.

What was the scope of their involvement?

111 Minutes developed our iOS and Android app for both phones and tablets. They used Swift for the iOS app and Python on the server side.

The app allows users to enter their age, sex, and practiced sports. Based on these variables, it will monitor students’ training and tell them what to do. We have dieticians, teachers, and kinesiologists who design training plans.

The app is meant for private use by 200 of our students, and it will not be launched on app stores. We have an NDA in place for protecting our data, but if the app is a success, we may market it in later years.

How did you come to work with 111 Minutes?

We had a tight budget for outsourcing, and Eastern European companies offer a big advantage in this situation. They usually provide complete teams at half the price of a French developer. I used to work in Ukraine and have some contacts in the region. I researched providers on Google, Upwork, and Clutch and contacted several companies, including 111 Minutes. The review system on Clutch was very clean, and 111 Minutes had good feedback on their page, so I picked them. I’ve been happy with my choice.

How much have you invested with 111 Minutes?

The cost of their work was $15,000, and it was delivered in 3 phases.

What is the status of this engagement?

The design process took 3 months, starting in January and ending in April of 2017. The project is concluded for now. We plan to start using the app fully later in 2017, at the start of the school’s next sports program. We may bring 111 Minutes back if our coordination team discovers any glitches.

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

We have notified parents and partner teams about the application on our website. Everyone has expressed excitement about it since individual training methods are much more satisfying than broader strategies, both for parents and the sports teams. The app also offers a commercial advantage for us over other for-profit schools. Even though we haven’t used the app yet, the simple fact that we have it gives us a better image.

How did 111 Minutes perform from a project management standpoint?

We monitored their progress through Basecamp, and I was satisfied with their progress and daily involvement. It was the first time we’d seen such transparency from an outsourced provider. For our website, we employed a French company that had a much less transparent approach.

The QA contact and project manager from 111 Minutes were always available to answer questions, and they respected their price quotes to the cent. As a test app, the project didn’t have an extended budget. 111 Minutes delivered all the features we needed within that budget and timeline.

What did you find most impressive about 111 Minutes?

We communicated several times per week with 111 Minutes’ sales team and CEO over Skype and WhatsApp. As far as I know, we were their first French customer, so they really took care of us. They were always available to talk, even at 11 PM. My boss is not a technical person, so when I had to explain details to him, they made sure I had the right words available.

Are there any areas 111 Minutes could improve?

Everything we needed was delivered on time and within budget, and they were always available. I can’t think of anything they could improve.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Austechsystems is a software development house mostly focused on backend and web development using LAMP stack, mainly PHP and NodeJS. We’re a mid-sized company working globally, including Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and the United States. I’m the managing director.

What challenge were you trying to address with 111 Minutes?

We didn’t have a mobile development department when we first hired 111, and I didn’t want to create one. We had a client from Hong Kong that requested a web-based application. We built it, but the decision was made to add extra features that required native mobile clients. We needed to find a reliable mobile team who could help us build that on top of what we already built.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have used 111 from time to time to augment our team. This particular application was built in PHP using a Yii framework. We built an API for the web client and MySQL was the main database. 111 had to work with the API we already had in place. There were minor adjustments, but overall, they managed to utilize existing infrastructure and API, and hooked up a new mobile client. It went really smoothly. This is a mid-sized project that’s for corporations but not for the public. It’s an enterprise intranet app which is redistributed internally. These types of projects require extra care and attention, but 111 did really well.

How did you come to work with 111 Minutes?

We needed someone who could deliver within a month using a preexisting infrastructure. We had already delivered the web application, which worked perfectly. When I tried to find a reliable team, even though I have a technical background, I still scouted through a few other contacts who are not technical, but business-minded. One of my UK contacts mentioned 111. We had a meeting and they started the next day. I was pleased that they were able to allocate a team for us with such short notice. Their portfolio and feedback from a few of their clients was really good. I also spoke with developers who used to work for them, and they said they have a good working environment.

How much have you invested with 111 Minutes?

We spent between $10,000 and $50,000 on the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2017, and the project was completed in March 2017. They have been providing support after that as well.

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

They had to request support from the backend developer five or six times, and the rest they handled on their end. We didn’t have to invest a lot of time babysitting them. We have a limited budget for the project, and they fit within our budget. They also kept to the deadline. They handled QA really well, and any bugs were discovered before it was released into production. There was nothing major discovered after it was released. They also handle change requests really well.

How did 111 Minutes perform from a project management standpoint?

They allocated one project manager. We communicated through Skype, JIRA, and phone, and the communication was good.

What did you find most impressive about 111 Minutes?

They managed to commit to the project after a couple meetings and delivered within our timeframe, which really surprised me. They delivered what we asked for in a month.

Are there any areas 111 Minutes could improve?

No. I hope they can grow and we’ll continue to work with them in the future. I highly recommend them as a mobile team.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the project manager of a crowd-investing company similar to Kickstarter. We work with projects and collect money for them.

What challenge were you trying to address with 111 Minutes?

We needed someone to make the program code and design for our website.

What was the scope of their involvement?

111 Minutes made the site from scratch. It looks like a mini bank system because we work with financial transactions. They helped us launch the site.

How did you come to work with 111 Minutes?

We were looking for a developer a long time because the technical part of this project was difficult. Our friends suggested them.

How much have you invested with 111 Minutes?

I can't tell you the exact numbers, but I can tell that we were paying them as we were planning. Without them, we couldn't do anything.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together for a year. They've already finished the project but they help us whenever we have questions.

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

Their work was really good and quick. We gave them some ideas, and they turned them into something practically perfect. We didn't need to spend a lot of time in explaining things. We can now actually see the statistics on our website.

How did 111 Minutes perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a good team.

What did you find most impressive about 111 Minutes?

They work very quickly.

Are there any areas 111 Minutes could improve?

I don’t think so. Everything's okay.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with 111 Minutes?

Don't be afraid to communicate with them because they are really understanding. You can give them just a brief idea and they will make sense of it.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the CTO of a Russian-based startup. It was like Airbnb for chefs—you could order the chef, and he would come to your house and cook for you.

What challenge were you trying to address with 111 Minutes?

111 Minutes did the web development for our product.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a technical team, but 111 Minutes also helped us build the core, so their work was related to architecture, server setup, and some frontend stuff. I can say that the project was completed between our technical team and theirs. They also did design, consulting, and support in addition to the web development and architecture work. We used Ruby on Rails and JavaScript.

How did you come to work with 111 Minutes?

Someone from my connections recommended them—I don't remember exactly who.

How much have you invested with 111 Minutes?

I believe we’ve spent approximately $50,000–$60,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July or August 2015, and we finished work in April or May 2016.

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

I’ve since left the company, but I was satisfied with 111 Minutes’ performance. We had a key date when we had to start, and this date was related to hiring chefs. I think we started to hire chefs for the project in November 2015. We had to do a lot of testing for phase one in November.

How did 111 Minutes perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was good. 111 Minutes provided a project manager and QA, though the project manager had done QA as well. They collected bugs themselves and reported to us what they found for us to prioritize. In general, I was happy with their QA system. There weren’t too many bugs. Our project was in its early stages and was not that big, but 111 Minutes did a good job.

What did you find most impressive about 111 Minutes?

111 Minutes had a good project manager who went into a lot of detail. We provided them good specifications, so they didn't ask too many questions. They reviewed all of the elements we specified, and I was happy with the reporting and delivery process. I believe the project manager did everything she could from her side to deliver fast, which actually happened. She was useful and gave us some advice. I was happy with 111 Minutes and what they did for us. They completed the project quickly, and I have done my exit quickly as well. I’ve also had a few conversations with their COO. She was very useful, and she tried to make my life comfortable. They’re a good team.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with 111 Minutes?

If you work with an outsourced company, you have to give the details from your side. You have to find the time to focus on the project and describe it to the team that is doing the outsourcing. You need to be careful with the details and try to keep track of them as well. You have to understand that they’re integrated into your company.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We're a premium meal delivery service for the purpose of weight-loss and nutrition. I am the owner of the business.

What challenge were you trying to address with 111Minutes?

All our business is done online, so we need a comprehensive and customized frontend and backend. We wanted to create a good UX [user experience], with a beautiful and easy to navigate interface, but the website also needed to do the work which used to be handled manually by our team. A different company rebuilt it initially, over a 1-year period. In the end, it was still not functioning properly, and it went 4 times over budget.

What was the scope of their involvement?

111Minutes provided frontend and backend development for our website. Over the course of a month, 111Minutes did more than what our original developer did in a year and a half. The experience was quick and efficient; it was unbelievable to work with 111Minutes.

How did you come to work with 111Minutes?

After breaking away from the old development team, I lost hope in finding another team. I found 111Minutes online through a dedicated portal and reached out to them. The response was professional, quick, and organized. 111Minutes also had an affordable price and seemed able to do great work.

How much have you invested with 111Minutes?

The cost of 111Minutes' work was $7,500, which is a much lower figure than our previous website build.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with 111Minutes in December 2016. The work is almost finished; we're rounding up the last bits. 111Minutes has done a great job, so we plan to keep them as an ongoing tech team. Our website is always evolving, so it's nice to have found a team which can handle this for us.

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

111Minutes moved quickly and did things right the first time. There was very little cross-checking which we needed to perform. 111Minutes understood the nuances of my business and were able to troubleshoot things on their own without asking me a ton of questions.

How did 111Minutes perform from a project management standpoint?

We were very transparent around what we needed to be done, and how 111Minutes should execute it. They gave us a project budget, which I appreciated. Many other web teams have hourly contracts, which can be tricky since we can never know exactly how much is getting done. If there are bugs in the work, fixing them costs extra.

Communication with 111Minutes is very easy, which is a big deal when working remotely. Our developer never changed throughout the project. 111Minutes also assigned a project manager, and everything was documented in Basecamp. I was given daily recaps of the work, so I could check it and give feedback. There were no issues to report on, so we didn't have a lot of back-and-forth with 111Minutes.

What did you find most impressive about 111Minutes?

In the past, rebuilding the website was the most stressful part of our business. I've been thrilled with 111Minutes' results. They do excellent work; they are very professional, polite, efficient, and affordable. I can't believe I found 111Minutes, and I wish I had gone to them years ago.

Are there any areas 111Minutes could improve?

My only complaint is that I have to wire invoices to 111Minutes, which has a $50 cost. It's a bit of an inconvenience which I have to incur on my end. Using PayPal or some other form of payment would be an improvement, but it's not a big issue.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with 111Minutes?

As long as they know exactly what they want to be done and communicate it clearly, 111Minutes will be able to run with it. This can save a lot of time during the actual process, and allow 111Minutes to take over the project.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder of Atomato, a new company focusing on aspects of home automation. Our main message focuses on home automation, which is a widespread topic at the moment. From our experience, being able to understand, install, and implement these kinds of tools requires a sophisticated user. We're trying to bring our products to less technically-savvy people.

What challenge were you trying to address with 111 Minutes?

We were at the point of needing to design our web interfaces as well as the rest of the public-facing company image. Since this undertaking is geared towards the general public, I felt it was necessary to invest in building an appropriate logo. I have been involved with other B2B [business-to-business] companies who have a maximum audience of a few thousand other companies, so they don't require their logo to have a widespread appeal.

What was the scope of their involvement?

111 Minutes developed a corporate identity and logo for my company.

How did you come to work with 111 Minutes?

I was in search of someone who could come up with good ideas, a visual logo, and a corporate identity, not necessarily just a website developer. Since we have an office in Ukraine, I scanned the local market.

I was pleasantly impressed with 111 Minutes' online portfolio. I was attracted by the sleek, unconventional, and fresh approach. I had used other design companies in the past who were able to design nice logos but were ultimately conventional. Ten years ago, every company tried to build its website differently, but now they all pretty much look the same: a large image and font on the front page and informational sections. 111 Minutes had been involved in some interesting and unique projects, so I made a note of them and came back when the need emerged.

How much have you invested with 111 Minutes?

I cannot provide an exact figure, but the cost was appropriate for two weeks' worth of work. 111 Minutes is not the cheapest option for this type of work within the Ukraine market, but the cost was worth it and I would definitely engage them again.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with 111 Minutes four weeks ago. We've had a short project, so implementation wasn't very difficult. The whole process of showing me prototypes, getting feedback on them and finalizing the work only took around two weeks.

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

I have been working in the software development business world for a long time. My understanding of it comes from an engineering standpoint: taking the time to evaluate if the required functionality can be built and actually developing it. My artwork project with 111 Minutes was very atypical for me; it didn't come with any guidelines or guarantees of a result. Much of it was centered on the art itself and whether or not I liked it. There is no measuring tool for evaluating if it had been done correctly. Even if these aren't expensive or lengthy projects, the uncertainty around the outcome remains in my mind.

Within this artistic chaos, I was impressed with 111 Minutes' structure. They went through a very thorough interview and wrote down goals, making me think about things that I wouldn't normally express. 111 Minutes collected and thematically organized a lot of information about what I was planning to do with the business, to whom it would appeal, and so forth.

I didn't like the first iteration at all. It was completely unlike what I was expecting. 111 Minutes produced a very quick correction, and the work that was done after our initial drafting week was pretty much the final result.

It was also a great educational experience in highlighting many of the technical elements that need to be considered when designing a logo. It's probably standard practice in the industry, but I didn't know some of these things after many years of engaging similar companies. We considered how the logo would look in monochrome, with a dark background, printed onto a binder, and so on. We tested all of these things with different sizes. 111 Minutes produced a guideline stating the minimum size at which the logo was printable in conjunction with other elements on the page before losing its clarity. 111 Minutes made ample documentation for as simple an element as a logo.

How did 111 Minutes perform from a project management standpoint?

For a project that was only spread over three weeks, I found it strange that 111 Minutes took the time to create a schedule and a lot of documentation. They applied the same organizational approach as they would have done for a larger project and followed it to perfection.

What did you find most impressive about 111 Minutes?

111 Minutes took what they did seriously, and I appreciated that. For that part of the world, it's less common to see this, so it was refreshing to have a professional approach.

Are there any areas 111 Minutes could improve?

No. 111 Minutes demonstrated their abilities beyond what I was expecting. In my experience, a short project like this one may not have required such management overhead, but 111 Minutes had a well-established structure.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with 111 Minutes?

I would advise clients to give 111 Minutes a shot. This isn't engineering, so there are no guarantees that 111 Minutes would be able to reproduce my own results. In this chaotic subjective field, 111 Minutes created things that offer some degree of confidence.