Mobile App & Web Portal Dev for Global Research Company
Featured Review- Mobile App Development Web Development
- $50,000 to $199,999
- July 2020 - Ongoing
- Quality
- 5.0
- Schedule
- 5.0
- Cost
- 5.0
- Willing to Refer
- 5.0
“They have a very can-do attitude, and their project management has resonated with us.”
- Other industries
- New Delhi, India
- 1-10 Employees
- Phone Interview
- Verified
Wow Labz is designing and developing an iOS mobile app and web admin portal for a global research agency. They’re working on an Android version and building the app for use outside of the company.
Wow Labz has translated the client’s idea into a functional, well-designed product that has the potential to benefit businesses and individuals around the world. Creative and prompt, the team takes ownership of their work and facilitates a seamless engagement. They provide high value for cost.
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
BACKGROUND
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the founder and director of Cutting Chai Content, a global research and documentation agency.
OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE
What challenge were you trying to address with Wow Labz?
In mid-2020, we encountered a problem with our field processes. The problem was largely related to our agents having to work under pandemic circumstances. We decided to build an app to solve the problem.
SOLUTION
What was the scope of their involvement?
We gave Wow Labz a one-page brief on what we were looking for, and they just ran with it. They showed us what our imagined solution would look like, and they had a pretty good shot at it from day one. We collaborated with them closely in order to stay aligned on the problem at hand.
The key deliverable is a mobile app that our internal teams can use around the world. The app is supported by an admin web portal. The current version is just for iOS, but there are iterations in the works for an Android version as well.
We’re very particular about how the app looks, and we have an in-house design and content team. We had specifics in terms of branding, and we supplied the logo, color scheme, fonts, and so on, along with the justifications for all of those things. We gave Wow Labz very specific details and requested an intuitive design that could be used without requiring too much explaining. They built around and for that need, and we’ve never had to correct them.
They’ve delivered the first version of the app. We’re currently working on the second version, which will be launched globally to businesses and independent users outside of our company.
What is the team composition?
They have a well-oiled machine supporting and assisting us. We work with Amit (Founder & CEO), who’s become very close to us as a result of this process. They also have a project manager and a project lead, along with a host of expert developers and designers.
How did you come to work with Wow Labz?
We’d worked with a US-based development company with an Indian footprint. We went through one iteration of a separate app with that company, and the current solution came to the fore. However, that company was not able to execute what we were looking for. We became really sensitized to the fact that we needed to do our research. We weren’t in a hurry, so we searched across the internet and our network.
We reached out to 3–5 other firms, and what we liked about Wow Labz was the experience they brought. Also, they were a company that reflected our spirit. We’re an India-based company with a global footprint, and they seemed really brave, just like us.
We had an initial call with Amit, and he seemed to get us and what we were trying to do. He had a can-do spirit. Wow Labz wanted to innovate and be challenged, and they weren’t afraid to say that it was going to be a long, iterative process. We started the project just a week after our first discussions.
How much have you invested with them?
Our operations lead would have a better idea of this, but I estimate the cost at this point to be around $75,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working with Wow Labz in July 2020, and it’s ongoing. We’ve signed on to collaborate with Wow Labz in the long term.
RESULTS & FEEDBACK
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Once it became clear that the app could have a bigger footprint, we continued the collaboration with Wow Labz to see how it could work in the real world. It’s gone from a small in-house solution to something that has big potential, which we didn’t expect. Wow Labz backs our solution, which is really nice.
I don’t think there’s ever been a time when Wow Labz didn’t execute on our exact brief in terms of the look and feel of the app. They’ve provided a lot of positive enhancements for us, and that is due to the fact that they’re the experts in this area. A lot of us can come up with interesting, creative solutions, but we don’t all have the expertise to implement them. We certainly knew what we wanted, but Wow Labz made sure that that actually reflected in the app, instead of being a figment of our imagination.
Testers from around the world have provided feedback over the last few weeks. Wow Labz is collating every single bit of feedback. It’s caught me by surprise that another company cares as much as we do.
How did Wow Labz perform from a project management standpoint?
Some of the developers and designers have been really loyal to our project. Despite their various commitments on other projects at Wow Labz, they continue to donate their time to do this for us. They’re a well-spirited team, and they’re really hands-on across the board. Amit is constantly checking in with us. He wants to make sure that his teams are aligning internally, but also in the way in which we should be collaborating as teammates.
We’ve had a feedback round with one of their developers. We’re very particular about text, and we went message by message on that call. It was interesting to me that the developer had understood our style and was flagging messages that didn’t fit it. They were very thorough. We made it clear how we wanted to do it, and they did it like that.
During our initial call with Amit, he seemed able to conceptualize the timeline. We got the sense that they’d done this before and were really serious about it. He was very good at estimating things for us. Sure enough, the project fit the outline he made really nicely.
The engagement has worked like clockwork. We would’ve probably walked away from the collaboration early on if it hadn’t. Everything has been timely and prompt. Never once have I heard Wow Labz say that they didn’t have the time for an extra request that we had. They find the time and change the timeline to reflect the addition. They have a very can-do attitude, and their project management has resonated with us.
What did you find most impressive about them?
We went through a design phase with one other agency. What Wow Labz does really well is actually owning the project. They’ve had developers who didn’t want to leave the project, and that’s really quite phenomenal.
Are there any areas they could improve?
We begged and pleaded with the previous agency to take on our creative idea for a month, and we had radio silence from them for most of that time. They just didn’t care about it.
That’s where we were coming from. Then, we got Wow Labz, and they were so enthusiastic and eager to figure our idea out. We’ve really had no drama. It’s been totally seamless.
Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?
One thing that really helps — and that they’ve commented on with us — is the clarity of the brief. We were very clear on what we wanted, and we were mindful of what we wanted the app to look and sound like. They had a thorough vision from us to work with.
Being in the business of working with client briefs, we get how important that is. I don’t think that this applies to just Wow Labz. It’s common sense that if a client provides a clear brief, the people working on it won’t just deliver, but excel and surpass it. Even when there were questions about the brief, they were very quick about them.
RATINGS
-
Quality
5.0Service & Deliverables
-
Schedule
5.0On time / deadlines
-
Cost
5.0Value / within estimates
"We looked around the market. Not only was Wow Labz competitive, but what they’ve delivered is beyond bang for buck."
-
Willing to Refer
5.0NPS
"We wouldn’t want anyone else to take them from us, but we wish the world for them.
