404 // Software crafters

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and an executive of an agriculture technology services company. We provide a platform for agriculture production management and digitization.

What challenges were you trying to address with 404 // Software crafters?

We hired them to develop our platform.

What was the scope of their involvement?

404 // Software crafters is in charge of building our platform, including the web and mobile versions. The platform is an integrated management system with different modules that helps solve agricultural production processes from beginning to end. It has modules for task management, finance, etc. Their team uses Java and Python for development. We already launched the platform in 2021 and are still collaborating with them.

What was the team composition? 

We work with several people from their side: the product owner, the CTO, a senior software developer, and a couple of software engineers.

How did you come to work with 404 // Software crafters?

We worked with 404 // Software crafters in the past, which was how we first got in contact with them.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent about $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in June 2020, and our engagement is still ongoing.

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

After launching the platform, we’ve acquired about 7,000 users.

How did 404 // Software crafters perform from a project management standpoint?

Despite dealing with changes in terms of our product’s functionalities, their team manages to work in an organized and neat manner while still meeting our deadlines. We communicate with them using WhatsApp and email. For managing tasks, we use a project management tool that’s similar to Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

All of their knowledge and extensive experience in development have given us endless ideas to innovate and improve our original plan.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we are satisfied with their work. It’s been a very challenging project, but they’ve been able to adapt, especially when the COVID-19 pandemic hit us in the middle of the development process.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Work with 404 // Software crafters — they’re excellent professionals and have great expertise.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I design software languages for users to access textual materials. 

What challenge were you trying to address with 404 // Software crafters?

These days, websites are getting much more complex, and people are designing software based on how they think about it — they’ve forgotten about the end user over the years. As a result, 404 // Software crafters helps us organize our software items in the most natural way possible. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

I work with 404 on UI/UX design tasks, and there’s so much complexity in terms of what we want to present. Our principal point is to provide our end users a vast number of features, choices, and ways to dig into articles without overwhelming them. 

So far, we’ve designed a medical software program for doctors to access medical information. We’re currently working on a news software where end users can access news and business analyses. 404 works on the frontend development of both of these projects. 

What is the team composition?

I work with Andres (Co-Founder) and Nicolas (Co-Founder & CTO) very closely. Then, 2–3 programmers work under them. 

How did you come to work with 404 // Software crafters?

I was looking at a couple of freelancing websites, and Nicolas posted on those sites. While other developers wrote about their qualifications and knowledge in specific programming languages, Nicolas wrote about how he loved to play the piano, read philosophy, and be a dad. I told myself that I had to meet him; anybody with that much confidence in their knowledge must be impeccable.

He was also a man who read philosophy, and that was good because some of the things that I had to describe were abstract. I needed somebody who could think for themselves — Nicolas was that person. As a result, I hired 404. 

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent around $80,000 between the two projects. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2016, and the engagement is ongoing. 

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

I don’t have any external metrics, but I’m very pleased with 404’s work. I check whether the software they create gives end users what they want and if it gives them access to information that they’d otherwise not have access to, and the programs have been working well so far. 

Anecdotally, the 404 team is brilliant, and it’s been wonderful to work with them. We have very specific features and needs, and they have the exceptional ability to conceptualize what needs to be presented and to find the means to do it. Overall, what they have to offer is top-notch. 

How did 404 // Software crafters perform from a project management standpoint?

The 404 team members have worked with people outside of their company, and they’ve done that extremely well; it’s marvelous how they can coordinate with another company. In fact, they’re working with a company that I’ve worked with before, and their collaboration has been seamless. 

Moreover, we use Trello for project management. Meanwhile, 404 uses other internal tools that I’m not necessarily exposed to. Then, they set specific guidelines and goals in sprints, and they hit those goals. They’re very accountable that way. I’ve also learned from Nicolas. He has his own mode of working in terms of UX design, and he can create an entirely functional program that knocks my socks off. Andres works more on the business side, but he’s also an absolutely brilliant designer. He’s marvelous to work with. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive thing about working with 404 is their ability to see the larger picture and not just the deliverables. They look at what I want as a customer, they listen until they understand what I need, and then they produce something according to what I’m asking for.

On top of that, they’ve worked for the collaboration in ways that they don’t have to. When we have difficulties with the business, I find myself talking to Andres. That’s not a part of his job, but he has an interest in the business itself. I ask him how we can move forward, and he starts the discussion — it’s amazing. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We worked on so much data off of the backend, and all of it had to be organized and presented in a consumable way for the end users. This was problematic when we were programming the frontend, so we had to work out the coordination between the front- and backend development sides. That was when we were bogged down by things; we didn’t quite have the right coordination. 

However, we've overcome that challenge. It has required a lot of teamwork and biweekly meetings, but we’ve managed it. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Enjoy and appreciate 404, and listen to them. Nicolas is very much by the book, and Andres knows exactly what he’s doing; don’t ever think otherwise. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a project manager for an oil engineering company.

What challenge were you trying to address with 404?

Our technological solutions department was tasked with creating a social networking tool that empowered users to share, organize, and group everything they wanted. We needed someone to develop the system.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The developed our solution, which is comprised of an Android mobile app and a web app. After developing wireframes based on requirements we gave them, they built the web app using a PHP, Symfony 2 framework. They introduced a PostgreSQL database with web services for the native Android app, which they developed with Java.

Along the way, they delivered a beta version using a waterfall methodology, did QA, and then proceeded to full development. We used an agile approach for the final development with around 15 sprints in total, which took 3–4 weeks.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a general lead, a part-time system administrator, and 2–3 developers, who were rotated in and out depending on the phase we were in.

How did you come to work with 404?

The vendor who was leading our project brought them in during development. While we didn’t have much success with other companies, we were quite satisfied with 404. Therefore, we decided to continue with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $400,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from early 2015 until 2016.

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

They built the app as specified and according to project requirements, delivering every sprint on time. We’re about to start a new app development project and we’re going to make sure they’re involved in the pitching process.

How did 404 perform from a project management standpoint?

We handled project management, along with our lead vendor. The great majority of our communication happened through email and Redmine, the tracking platform we used. Otherwise, we met face-to-face, especially while defining requirements.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their quality and timeliness were quite good. They were professional and always willing to help, solving problems and maneuvering around roadblocks.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would benefit them to be a bit more flexible and open to last-minute changes. On the other hand, it’s now always advisable to be so.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I would recommend them for any job, especially web app development. Also, it’s always a good idea to have strong requirements before starting a project. This is true for any vendor.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the product manager and product owner at VeriTran. We’re a technology company that creates software—digital banking platforms and digital platforms in general. We have a platform that runs millions of transactions monthly.

What challenge were you trying to address with 404?

We have a team of experienced developers, but we had some products that needed to be created with new technologies and we needed additional help with architectural problems in our applications.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us with many projects, including a platform in an integrated development environment. They took care of the solution and ensured it would be compatible with our old solutions. They developed this application with us—we provided the backend services. It’s an evolving solution.

The second project they helped us with the frontend core parts of our mobile iOS applications and Smartwatch solutions. For the frontend development, they used HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. They worked with a lot of Backbone, Vue, and TypeScript, while the backend services are mainly in Java. They delivered us an application and we checked all of their work. We transpired and compiled the application. Then they did QA work.

They also helped modernize the UI of our platform. They gave us the wireframes, and we often discussed one or two iterations, then got into the phase of design. In some projects, they’re very iterative with us. One project we have a lot of work and we can call them to help. Other projects, we tell them there are parts we want to do on our solution. They’re very flexible in that sense.

What is the team composition?

There’s a project manager and three developers. On occasions, there are two UX/UI people.

How did you come to work with 404?

I worked for 13 years in a communications company where I was in charge of web-based application development. We worked with a lot of small companies and developers and I had a great experience with the people that work with 404. They were committed, responsible, and had good quality solutions.

In my current role, we first started working with them on small projects, for which they were successful, so we continued. They have good technical knowledge and they don’t promise things they can’t deliver. They’ve recommended good ways to do things.

How much have you invested with them?

$100,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2012 and the work is ongoing.

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

Our solutions were developed in a very short period of time with them as our partners. We can deliver more complex web and mobile applications, more quickly. We can make UIs with them and in half the time as before.

How did 404 perform from a project management standpoint?

We have some dashboards in Jira and use Kanban. We hold some meetings where we find the requirements and we refine. They gave us reports, I check them, and then we pay them. If we need extra support, there’s no problem.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have quality solutions, are committed, and deliver on time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If they had a bigger team, we could give them more work. It’s difficult to find the quality people to work in this business though. It’s not easy to grow here as a technical company. They’re growing slowly so that they’re focusing on the quality, which is the right thing to do.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of the Innovation Lab at Greenpeace in the Argentina office. Our unit develops new technology to find innovative methods for activism.

What challenge were you trying to address with 404?

We’d started an app development project with a different agency and hadn’t been pleased with their performance. We needed a team staffed with attentive people who could produce a higher quality product. When we switched providers, we hired 404. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our Greenpeace Activist application is for our supporters and those with a general interest in environmental topics. 404 coded native versions for both iOS and Android. It presents daily proposals to participate in environmental campaigns. Users can swipe left or right on these cards if they want to participate. Using this interface is relatively unique in our sector. The entire app is gamified with levels and badges to keep people engaged over time. 

One way to support a cause through our app is taking a selfie and adding one of the preset frames and a hashtag. Using an automatic sharing functionality makes it easy to post to social media like Twitter or Facebook.  By storing information in the app, users can sign petitions without having to fill out forms for each new campaign. There's also integration with a petition platform our company runs. 404 built the software that connects the two. 

I took the lead in product conceptualization and direction in close consultation with 404. As we discussed feature development and how to extend the concept, I regularly sought their input. It was beneficial to have their support thinking through the best options for our user community, rather than 404 limiting themselves to executing coding. They helped me polish promising ideas and discarded others as we prioritized, then executed on the design and development we'd planned. 

What is the team composition? 

I mostly work with the two founders. Andres (Owner, 404) was more of an account manager, but his background enabled us to have technical discussions as well. I only interfaced with the primary coder, Nico (CTO and Co-founder, 404), when he was unavailable. Another programmer and graphic designer supported our project, but we weren’t in direct contact.

How did you come to work with 404?

404 was a recommendation I received from my network of contacts. We evaluated several agencies, and they ended up winning the contract. I brought the co-founders to our office to discuss technical concepts, and both seemed fit for our requirements. They were very forthcoming and tried to put themselves in our shoes. 

At the same time, they didn't over-promise. Another agency simply told us what we wanted to hear, which seemed unlikely. They didn't come across authoritatively like 404, who seemed to genuinely qualified. We had a high-level relationship and collaborated productively. They don't just try to flatter me. If I proposed ideas that were misguided or too difficult, they were never afraid to tell me so. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent anywhere between $500,000–$1,000,0000 ARS (approximately $17,000-$34,000 USD) on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

404 has been working on this project since the handover from the other agency in 2016. So far, we've run through four releases together and have an ongoing engagement led by my successor.

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

Greenpeace Activist currently is by far the largest app for Greenpeace worldwide concerning user community downloads. This success is due in no small degree to 404's work. We have many daily and monthly active users, but I don't have exact metrics since I'm not currently managing the project. Always reliable, 404 addresses any bugs or crashes within a timely fashion.

Qualitatively, whenever I showed off the app, it was universally praised as very beautiful and intuitive to use. It's even been called revolutionary. Other organizations have told me it’s the first mobile app for activism they think will actually work. I've heard only good things about the final product. 

How did 404 perform from a project management standpoint?

We had regular in-person meetings at our office. Depending on the intensity of work, we'd meet either monthly or bimonthly. In the meantime, we'd communicate via email and WhatsApp as well. We had a very fluid relationship. I could always rely on 404 responding to virtually anything within a tight time frame. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

404 is a team of honest, straightforward, and serious experts. They’re keenly informed and cared about our mission. Greenpeace is not a franchise chain. As an NGO client, we had a specific set of needs that 404 always took into careful consideration. 

They put their all into making our partnership the best it could be. The agency before them took on as many clients as possible to the detriment of individual partnerships. I never had that impression from 404; they essentially became part of our team. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

After I left the project, I believe they had an influx of new work. The time 404 took to respond got a little bit longer. As far as I understand, however, they're looking for more resources to support their team. This is just a secondhand observation I've heard. When they were working with me, there was nothing I could think of that they needed to improve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I suggest sitting down and getting to know 404. They will listen carefully to what you need. I trust that if they don't think they're the right team for your project, they'll tell you so. Once you're on the same page, I encourage future clients to go forward with confidence.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the communications advisor for the international communications office within a government agency.

What challenge were you trying to address with 404 // Mobile & Web Apps?

We needed an Android and iOS app for use in an international forum event. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

They started with wireframe design and development for an event management app. It has sensitive institutional information and very specific requirements related to participants. They developed partitions with access codes to protect private information for separate audiences of delegates and press participants. We’re currently on the third version of the app.

They took seed content from our Ministry of Modernization to develop our web and app services. They developed the whole user experience from scratch and improved the content after every event. They’ve made little tweaks throughout the process and helped us add new sections. They were very helpful with the designs—which were based on our brand guidelines—and came up with innovative options.

What is the team composition?

We manage the project on our side but work with one developer for Android, another for iOS, and a designer from 404.

How did you come to work with 404 // Mobile & Web Apps?

We put out an official request for proposals. We selected them based on a recommendation and their ability to deliver a finished product within a tight, two-month deadline.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around September 2017. The first version launched toward the end of that November and we will continue to work with them until the end of 2018.

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

In the first eight months, we’ve had over 1,500 downloads on Android and iOS. Since our audience is international, the bulk of downloads are to iOS devices. We have a large event scheduled for the end of the year and expect more downloads ahead of that. The app condenses a lot of information that would be emailed to delegations. Users find it to be very useful and feedback is good for both the functionality and design.

We’ve experienced minor crashes when users try to download images or PDFs, but 404 is professional and address any issues quickly. We can make improvements or changes for both the app and the web services we built rapidly. They’re really helpful.

How did 404 // Mobile & Web Apps perform from a project management standpoint?

Our project manager was in constant communication with our point of contact. They have daily tasks and give daily updates. They respond quickly to maintenance needs or last-minute requests. If we have any issues, they fix them before our next event.

Several companies were unwilling to develop this kind of app so quickly. 404 was always helpful did an excellent job.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Though they hadn’t done anything exactly like this before, they met our tight deadlines and were open to new things. They were responsive and professional and made improvements wherever we needed them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we had a really positive experience. We had to go through specific government processes that were different from what they were used to, but they were accommodating and able to adapt.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re fairly straightforward. With any provider, I’d recommend giving as much detail as possible at the beginning. Have a clear idea of the user experience and story you want to portray. They are really helpful with structures and wireframes and establish real teamwork.