Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the two co-founders of Sath, and I’m currently the CTO. Sath is a cybersecurity consulting and products company and we have been in business for about 16 years. We do access management as well as cybersecurity projects and we are building our own SaaS solution which will be going live at the end of this year.

What challenge were you trying to address with Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd.?

We have pretty good developers on staff, and they have been working on product development for this product for almost four years. We needed to do a refresh of a new user interface, and we were doing a rewrite of our frontend and optimizing our backend quite a bit. We needed a partner to build the user interface and user experience for our product.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We engaged with Aubergine Solutions to help us out with this project. We were engaging with their designers and their developers to build our UX/UI design. It is a web application and their designers would build the wireframe, interaction, flows, and then give us the visual design. After the visual design, they would go ahead and do the frontend development for it too.

The frontend development is all Angular. I know that they used Swift, Photoshop, and other Adobe products as well. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with three designers initially, but right now there are two. 

How did you come to work with Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd.?

I found them through a reference. A friend of mine from college had already used them and that is how we got to know about them. I went to their offices and met with them and had a good feeling. Getting a good reference was a big part of it and then talking to the owners was something that gave me confidence.

How much have you invested in them?

We have spent about $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in December 2019, and our work is ongoing.

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

They have been great in all aspects of the project. They have been responsive, the quality has been great, and the products and previews have had good feedback. Without them, it would be extremely difficult to achieve what we have achieved so far. They are a critical partner in making this happen.

How did Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd. perform from a project management standpoint?

They are always on top of their communication. Our staff is happy, and the developers are happy. They are responsive, and they have met with us pretty much every time that we wanted. They have been amazing in project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I think the leadership is great. Working with their leadership helped to inspire confidence in me. They have been engaged and they have been responsive and amazing. What sets them apart is the quality of their work. They actually put in the time and energy behind making sure that the deliverables and quality of work set them apart.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not really. I have no complaints whatsoever. They have been a phenomenal partner for us and I can’t see us doing anything better than we already are. We are thankful for having them as our service provider.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would say listen to them. They have a pretty good hold on what they are doing. They have steered us in certain directions that have been beneficial even though they were not my intention in the beginning. 

Take the time to explain to them what you want because that is important. Don’t rush through the initial discovery phase. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CTO of CherryCircle Software. CherryCircle Software creates software for the life sciences industry to improve the manufacturing of products to improve patients' lives.

For what projects/services did your company hire Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd.?

Aubergine is our UI/UX provider for our flagship product, QbDVision.

What were your goals for this project?

We had received a lot of accolades from clients and prospects on our usability and we wanted to continue that tradition as we added new features.

How did you select this vendor?

We interviewed ~5-7 different candidates and companies. We created a number of metrics and scored the candidates based on those metrics.

Describe the project in detail.

After selecting Aubergine, we wanted to jump into designing screens, but they were great about first setting up the roles of different users, and analyzing the current design. They also spent more time than our previous designer ever did learning about our target market, including interviewing users and learning about their preferences and behaviors.

What was the team composition?

We engaged 1 UI/UX designer from Aubergine as well as their manager.

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

We've seen a many-fold increase in users, activity on the site, and sales since engaging Aubergine. Our product is fairly new to the market, so it's hard to tell if it's because people are just finding out about it or because of the latest functionality added. Either way, the work Aubergine has done has definitely contributed to our success.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Aubergine is outstanding at communicating with us. At first, it seemed a little heavy-handed, keeping notes on every meeting, etc. But I know understand why they communicate so much. It really helps when you're not sure why a decision was made later on or when you're not sure what the next steps should be.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I'm most impressed by our designer's ability to create engaging UX that is nothing like what exists today in the life sciences industry. The key to their success, in my opinion, is that they understand our clients and what they're trying to accomplish much better than our previous UI/UX designer did.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I have absolutely no complaints. They create beautiful designs in a very efficient timeframe while working with limited knowledge. I'm very happy we found Aubergine.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of engineering at Pronto Technology, a SaaS company that brings multiple enterprises together and allow them to collaborate on joint projects and partnerships. It’s a 100% cloud solution.

What challenge were you trying to address with Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd.?

We’re a new startup and wanted to find a company that could help us build our platform.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd. started with a very small project. We really liked the quality of work that they put out, so we went from a one-person team to about 15 people now. They’re developing the entire platform. We initially had them developing the frontend, and then we had them develop the backend. 

Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd. also designed the UX and did everything from UX mockups to a high-fidelity UX design. They published their designs in Zeplin and then converted them into the UI using Vue.js. They added all of the interactivity to it. They then wired it up to the backend, which is all Python. The platform is deployed on AWS and Google Cloud. 

The feature set currently allows 11 companies to register on our platform and invite other companies they’re partnering with. They can invite users from the other company to collaborate with these people in real-time. They can share documents and agreements, electronically sign documents back and forth, and kick-start projects. Users can also track the project’s progress, find metrics, and discover who’s involved in the project. The platform oversees the project from onboarding to completion.

What is the team composition?

There are about 15 people.

How did you come to work with Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd.?

We did an online search and interviewed a few companies. We chose Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd. because they are the only ones that stood out in terms of the quality of the work and support that they provide. 

How much have you invested with them?

My company has spent $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

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

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

Customers have said that the UX is awesome and that the UI is very intuitive. All of the feedback has been that it’s a great quality product for a startup; our platform looks like it belongs to a big company. Users don’t have a big learning curve to get on the platform, which is quick and responsive.

How did Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd. perform from a project management standpoint?

We have a plan in place and follow the agile methodology. We have weekly sprints and strive to meet weekly goals. Deadlines have been met 90% of the time, and the times we’ve had to move things around was not because of them, but instead because we kept changing the requirements. Being a startup, feedback from our customers causes our requirements to change at times. Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd. always delivers what we ask them to. They’ve been accommodating when we want to change something that’s already been built out.

They’re very forthcoming in communication and always make sure that they put out the best quality product. We like that they want to build a solution rather than just do what they're told. They take ownership of the whole thing. They’re not hesitant to pushback when we’re doing things that could be done in a better way. They also recommend better technologies.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It feels like they’re building the product for themselves. They’re very engaged. Whenever something breaks or doesn’t go as planned, they’re the first people to say that things aren’t working as expected. They give us feedback and are proactive about monitoring the system to see if there are failures.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’m happy with everything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re really responsible. Provide the right number of requirements upfront and tell them what it is that you really want. Overcommunicating is better.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and co-founder of Pedagogy.Study, a company that runs a platform and marketplace for TestPrep books, digital courses, and Test Series from publishers and educational institutes.

What challenge were you trying to address with Aubergine Solutions?

We wanted to build a user-friendly mobile app for our users that are preparing for various entrance exams. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Aubergine Solutions designed the UI/UX for the Android app, which allows students to register by scanning a unique QR activation code that’s placed on the front page of their TestPrep books. That code then allows them to view the book within the app. Students can read, practice, and generate online tests as well as review flashcards if they’re part of the course. The app also has some social features, allowing users to share their performance. 

What is the team composition?

I mainly worked with Bhakti (Co-Founder and Chief Design Officer, Aubergine Solutions), but I think there were a couple of other designers on the team. 

How did you come to work with Aubergine Solutions?

We were searching for UI/UX designers that could help us with the project and one of my co-founders found them online. We got in touch, looked at their portfolio, and did an initial proof-of-concept project with them. We loved Aubergine Solutions’ work and decided to take on the whole engagement with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Aubergine Solutions in mid-2018, and the project is ongoing. We’ve developed the Android app, but are still adding features. We’ve also tasked them with the design of our web app.

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

The best feedback is all the five-star reviews we’ve gotten for the app on the Play Store. Users like the features and concept, but a lot of them have explicitly expressed that they love the UI/UX of the app without being asked. Overall, the feedback has been pretty overwhelming.

How did Aubergine Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

They were exemplary in this regard, especially Bhakti. We’re more of an engineering organization, so UI/UX, although necessary for us, is not something we’re qualified in. Bhakti guides and pushes us to make hard decisions and to think differently. Aubergine Solutions delivers what they’re tasked to do really well, and are open to feedback.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Aubergine Solutions’ job was designing the UI/UX of the product but they got involved in the product’s conceptualization as well, which I really loved. They delved into the product strategy and gave us some great ideas during our brainstorming sessions. Bhakti encouraged meetings and made sure each one was productive. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s hard to think of something for them to improve. 

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I advise clients to trust Aubergine Solutions’ judgment in terms of UI/UX. We had our own views and relied on them for the UI/UX decisions. After we went to market, I remember having discussions where we gave them some pushback. Aubergine basically guided us and explained how things should be. We followed their guidance have seen that users have behaved exactly the way they predicted they would. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a product manager at Proto Banao, a technology consultancy.

What challenge were you trying to address with Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd.?

We were starting to develop a product with minimal design work completed. Our team was focused on the technology side and needed a team of designers to help with the UI/UX design.

What was the scope of their involvement?

With the initial product, we had a few designs made in a sketch file. Their team looked at those, but the designs evolved from that point. The product was functional when we brought their team on board. We started another project with them entirely from scratch.

We’re working with Aubergine Solutions on three different projects now. Our primary focus is on web apps, but we’ve had one mobile app developed in both iOS and Android. We may bring their team on board for development help. 

What is the team composition?

We work with around four people. There’s a primary designer that brings on additional people as needed.

How did you come to work with Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd.?

We found Aubergine Solutions through Upwork. After interviewing 12-14 design firms, we narrowed it down to two and assigned them a design task. We were impressed by Aubergine Solutions’ process and the questions they asked.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Aubergine Solutions in July 2018, and the work is ongoing.

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

Aubergine Solutions delivered more help than we thought we needed. Our team members love their design work. Whenever our developers have questions, they can reach out to the designer directly. We’ve received positive feedback from clients of the app we built. They love the simplicity and straightforwardness of the platform.

How did Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd. perform from a project management standpoint?

They have an excellent project management process. Their team is well-organized. We’ve adopted specific techniques they do into our process. We communicate through Slack and Google Hangouts. We're delighted with Aubergine Solutions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Aubergine Solutions has a combination of skills and experience. Their design work is beautiful. Their expertise with B2B apps helps us quite a bit. With a lot of the problems we face, we could see examples of their previous work and draw from those.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there are none that I can think of.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a product developer at an analytics software company. I’m responsible for designing and developing products for our clients.

For what projects/services did your company hire Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd.?

Internally, were a bit short in terms of UX/UI resources. We were looking for an outside vendor to provide design components for a complex web app with heavy data visualization elements.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed high-fidelity design mockups to use to gather feedback from potential and existing customers and to share with developers.

How did you select this vendor?

We considered over 50 vendors located all over the globe, but we only contacted about ten of them and requested price estimates from five. Ultimately, we chose Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd. for the quality of their past work, their experience in our field, and their overall value offering.

Describe the project in detail.

We had multiple weekly meetings with their team to help them understand the industry and the problem we were looking to solve. They asked a lot of questions and documented all of the information. After they had a good grasp of our vision, they started working. The team followed a well-defined process that included zone-flow diagrams, low-fidelity sketches, and visual designs, culminating in high-fidelity mockups and a set of development specifications.

What was the team composition?

We primarily interacted with the project lead, but there were at least two other UX/UI designers involved.

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

So far, feedback from customers on the mockups has been very positive. Working with Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd. on this project has provided our team with experience that we can apply to several other products that we’re working on.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Despite being located in different time zones, we communicated frequently and openly. Their team established a strict schedule and delivered everything on time. They were honest about their capabilities and their progress, setting realistic expectations and helping us manage our needs.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They’re very detail-oriented and suggest great ideas to improve our product. Our meetings often transitioned into brainstorming sessions, where their staff displayed their refined industry experience and knowledge.

Are there any areas for improvement?

All projects can be done quicker, but we’re happy with their team’s process overall. They delivered a quality design and gave us some tools to improve our internal skill set as we move forward.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Creative AI started two years ago and are still relatively small. Our primary mission is to offer every business the power of a dedicated marketing team. At the moment, we’re mainly focused on helping small and medium-sized businesses or marketing teams by providing them with content inspiration.

What challenge were you trying to address with Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd.?

We needed to implement some new ideas into our platform. Our biggest challenge was finding the right team to help us with design and development.  

What was the scope of their involvement?

Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd. designed and developed our entire interactive platform. We’re continuously working together. They mainly focused on frontend and backend development. We also work in-depth with Facebook and Instagram APIs. The project entailed extensive database work. 

We used Python for the backend, Angular 2 for the frontend, a Django framework, and a PostgreSQL database. The entire platform is hosted on AWS. Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd. helped me to understand some of these technologies. 

What is the team composition? 

We have a dedicated team lead.  Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd is very flexible about assigning the number of developers we need at any time.

How did you come to work with Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd.?

My co-founder had worked with Aubergine Solutions before and referred them to me. We didn’t consider any other companies.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $100,000-$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2017, and our engagement is ongoing.

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

We have feedback sessions from time to time to find ways to improve some of the points.

How did Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd. perform from a project management standpoint?

We work so closely together that Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is like a part of our team. The team lead makes sure everything is done on time, and the work is being spread around to other developers. We have daily SCRUM calls about all the updates. 

Communication is perfect. I can message the project lead or any of the developers at any time. The ideas come from our side. We share responsibility for project management, and they’re very helpful. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Our level of communication is impressive, especially since we’re located so far apart from each other. Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is very flexible about the work we do. They make all the changes we need at any point during the product development cycle.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of ClickmyBrain. We offer a digital innovation platform for mid-sized business that’s designed to facilitate their growth at every level. It also brings them in contact with high-end people in different fields, including our verified IT partners. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Aubergine Solutions?

We were looking for both full-stack development and UX/UI design services to build our platform.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Aubergine started by diving into the details and creating a scalable architecture that accounted for potential roadblocks. From a technical perspective, they used Angular on the frontend and Node.js on the backend. We have a PostgreSQL database, in addition to other open-source web technologies.

While the platform works in an agile manner, it also features a portfolio-management approach for clients that want to build their own roadmaps. Beyond being a piece of software, it’s also a community building tool.

What is the team composition?

We have a project manager on the UX/UI side and a dedicated development team, which has a lead that organizes all our sprints.

How did you come to work with Aubergine Solutions?

We were looking for an IT partner that could provide both development and web/UX design; we wanted the best of both worlds. I looked at many companies on Clutch and settled on Aubergine and one other. We ended up choosing Aubergine because of the work they’d done for other clients and the effort they spent on making their mark in the industry.

Our first contact was swift and comfortable, and I liked how they had strong opinions on certain issues. They challenged us in a positive way and wanted to be a part of our team.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost will be around $70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since February 2018. Our first release is planned for December 15th, so we’re going to begin testing in a few weeks.

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

Design hinges on communicating and expressing what you want to achieve, and we’ve built a trust with Aubergine that allows us to do that. We wanted to use abstract shapes poetically to describe all kinds of emotions, and Aubergine fully grasped this. They have tremendous social intelligence, which helps them understand our thoughts, ideas, and feelings.

How did Aubergine Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re transparent and professional. We receive all sorts of metrics about what they’re doing on a constant basis, including hours breakdowns between senior, medium, and junior resources. We have daily meetings to discuss project specifics and any challenges they’re facing. If a particular task is going to extra time to complete, they always make us aware.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They reach out and relate to us, which allowed them to absorb our ideas about how we wanted to design the product. We were looking for a completely original design, and they were great in helping us develop it. However, they didn’t do exactly what we wanted. Instead, they challenged us and experimented, which made them a true part of our team.

I love the technologies they use, including Elastic Search, and they’re constantly progressing to new ones. This ability to stay hungry and continue innovating makes them a valuable long-term partner. Finally, their CTO has shown a desire to learn and be inspired by things happening all over the world.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re going to need to continue to find the correct people to keep their quality up. This may be difficult, with their being a little south of the IT center in Ahmedabad, so they ought to open a second base somewhere with more IT leads.

As they grow, they need to ensure they’re putting quality above quantity. This is their hallmark now, but they might lose it if they grow too fast.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Clients shouldn’t hesitate to contact Aubergine and communicate new ideas. Though it can be intimidating to work with a company that’s far away, it’s important to not hold back a second or third agenda.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Pharma Pvt. Ltd. is a pharmaceutical manufacturer and marketing company. We market our products across India, and globally.

What challenge were you trying to address with Aubergine Solutions?

We were looking for some marketing tools to promote to our physician market. They helped us design an app solution to differentiate us from other pharmaceutical companies.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built a marketing tool that would help engage with doctors inside their clinics. We started by building a mobile solution, which requires a permanent internet connection. As we grow our userbase, we also plan to build a desktop version.

We were starting from scratch, so our marketing team came up with ideas and Aubergine did too. In the past, they had built a restaurant queue management solution for web students, and we took inspiration from that.

We asked Aubergine to customize the solution they’d created previously, in order to make a new app for us. It has additional features to give easy access to our products, as well as allowing management of patient databases and histories. There are also daily, weekly, or monthly connection options, which enable doctors to be more engaged with both their patients and our brand.

What is the team composition?

We dealt with 3–4 of their members, with one of them on a regular basis.

How did you come to work with Aubergine Solutions?

We met them at a networking event, while we were looking for some app developers. We then had a formal meeting at our office, reviewed their work, and started the collaboration.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost of the project has been around $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them at the end of 2016. The major part of the work was completed in February 2018, but we’ve continuously made modifications and enhancements.

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

The doctors we’re working with have been impressed with the interface and ease of use of the application. The end-users of our application are pretty happy with it, and the number of users has been increasing by word of mouth. We're meeting our expectations in our market.

How did Aubergine Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

Sarthak (co-founder & CTO, Aubergine Solutions) was initially the lead for our project; he interacted with us and managed the work, then assigned a project manager, who was always in touch. If there were any specific problems or inquiries, we were connected with the particular person in charge.

It was generally a smooth process. After the application went online, inquiries were solved within 2–3 hours and we had no problems. The timely response was very good, and the coordination among different team members was smooth. We didn’t face any issues or lapses in communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They not only have a development team, but also provide UI and UX design, which is not common with development companies. They combine both areas well and have a good amount of people in their team, which means the delivery time is not a concern.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could come up with more additional features on their side. We’re not technical, so they could provide us with more feedback on what additions we could make to our product.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the managing director of CompuBrain and the founder of Social Media 2.0.

For what projects/services did your company hire Aubergine Solutions Pvt. Ltd.?

We developed a scoring mechanism for social media known as CBScore. We hired Aubergine Team to help us with the UX design of this platform.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted an end-to-end UX design for the platform and create a scoreboard feature across multiple social media platforms. We also wanted users to have the ability to compare their scores and view trends in various industries.

How did you select this vendor?

We asked them for a one-page report design and were impressed with their speed and quality. We were convinced that they would do a great job.

Describe the project in detail.

Aubergine developed the UX and an online, responsive score feature. They configured the feature to allow users to look up their scores and compare them to industry trends on social media platforms. Design-wise, we started with one page, added a couple of interactions to it, and it gradually grew it into a bigger platform.

What was the team composition?

The team consisted of their lead designer and a UX designer.

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

Their team was very fast and easily adapt their designs to new requirements.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Aubergine team was always available to talk about challenges and new requirements. They listened to our feedback seriously and came back with all the changes that were requested. They also have clearly defined reasons behind all the decisions they took, even the smaller ones. They conducted meetings and kept us updated. Their team was professional and delivered everything on-time.

​​​​​​What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were impressed by their commitment to quality deliverables and delivering on-time.