BOOTIQ

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We offer a digital onboarding platform for financial businesses, mainly, banks and other lenders. They use our software to create client interactions so that clients can onboard for an account, loan, or card without having to go into the branch.

What challenge were you trying to address with Blueberry?

We needed them to build the first platform for an end client.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did end-to-end delivery of a production system. We had our own UX person who worked on design and Blueberry’s team coded in Node.js and React. They built the first implementation and our team took it from there.

The features included collecting data from the customer, verifying the customer’s identity and cross-referencing them with some bureau data that we had, and then connecting with some underlying systems to make decisions on those applicants. The system can then provide real-time offers and contracts and collect digital signatures on contracts, leading to the disbursement of funds to the end customer.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 10-12 people in total, including developers, testers, QA resources, and project managers. One product owner managed the team.

How did you come to work with Blueberry?

They were quite popular in the local market, so we knew about them through word of mouth.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $250,000–$300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from February–November 2018.

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

They helped eliminate drop-off points and increased the baseline conversion rate. Our main metric was a tenfold increase in loans. It was made possible by the improved UX that they implemented.

The digitization of the process made a big difference in efficiency. Previously, the customer would go through an online process, but they’d always have to sign documents offline, speak to an agent, and so forth. By digitizing this, we saw a reduction in the number of customers who had to use a queue or a call center.  

How did Blueberry perform from a project management standpoint?

At the beginning, both parties were trying to find their feet. They did very well with a difficult project under pressure. We started with one-week sprints and tracked the project through Jira. We had daily contact for review toward the end.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very technically driven and look at modern approaches. It’s good to have that covered and not have to worry about it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would have been nice to have something more resilient as a platform for the future, but I know that wasn’t viable given the constraints of the project.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Leave them to be autonomous and just give them the right direction. They don’t need to be micromanaged.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and director of Weeducate, a company made for cannabis users all around the world. We go in-depth on places that sell cannabis, listing information about every strain that is available. We try to inform all the tourists that come to our country and show them what they’re using.

What challenge were you trying to address with Blueberry?

I was looking for a company to help me with app development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

My co-founder and I had made a lot of screens already. We wrote down all the designs and functions. Blueberry helped us create a new InVision look. Their designs were easy and user-friendly. and they mixed all the buttons up to make it look really clean.

They developed a mobile application built in React Native. One of the main functions is that you can look up any cannabis strain and see the information about it. For example, if you’re reading about edibles from the U.S., you can read the description, recommended dosage, and ingredients. We use a machine that measures how potent our products are to make sure they're ready for the market.

One of our other key functions is a map featuring all the shops. We have free tours, such as a walking route through Amsterdam. Users can view the walking route and the shops they’ll be able to stop at.

Another key function is the strain finder. For example, medical users who need a certain strain can search for it, see where it’s available, and read reviews.

What is the team composition?

I work with around 10 people. Our product lead was Marek (Head of Delivery, Blueberry). He did the estimations, guided the team through the project, and was our main point of contact. We had a lead developer who was really helpful. He really helped us with the thinking and came up with some suggestions that we actually took.

How did you come to work with Blueberry?

I hired Blueberry through my brother because he has been developing with them for quite a while. He told me Blueberry was the best, so I held a sit-down meeting with them. I thought they’d suit our project and they did.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from February–August 2019.

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

We’ve shown the app to many shop owners and people here in the industry and they really love it. It’s exactly what we needed. It’s very user-friendly and it’s perfect for us.

How did Blueberry perform from a project management standpoint?

In the beginning, we changed project managers because one of them left. We got an update every 2-3 weeks and could see the progress, which was really nice. They met the deadlines.

Their project manager did well and they were very helpful. We communicated through our personal phone numbers. If there was anything wrong, I could text them any time of the day. We did everything through weekly calls and WhatsApp.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re really friendly. Twelve people from their team came to Amsterdam and we took them out. We will continue to develop with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing I’d have them improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Plan everything out properly. We had a business plan, but we were missing so many things that we didn’t think of. During the project, we had to go over all the points again, which gave us some delay. That was our fault.