Boring Owl

Please describe your company and your position there.

Pure Alpha Investments is a Polish investment company. We support companies that can develop innovative ideas and implement them with our help. From 2019 to today, I am a partner and executive director in the Pure Alpha Investments.

For what projects/services did your company hire Boring Owl, and what were your goals?

We hired Boring Owl because we wanted to create tool for scraping and collect data from many sources. The tool created by Boring Owl helps us collect and analyze large data much faster and in one place. This allows us to create more accurate investments.

How did you select Boring Owl and what were the deciding factors?

Boring Owl's approach to the project was very professional from the very beginning. The company also has extensive experience in creating products similar to ours.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We started with product design sprint. During the “Product Design Workshop” Boring Owl experts analyzed our needs and prepared project documentation. After this part UX Designer created low-fidelity mockups of the app front-end and Lead programmer maked schema of backend architecture.

Then Boring Owl team designed high-fidelity mockups so they could started programming. They worked in 7-days programming sprints. Every week, they reported on the progress of the project and we discussed the next sprints.

How many people from the Boring Owl team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We had 1 x Project Manager, 1 x UX Designer, 1 x Backend Developer/lead programmer and 2 x front-end developers.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Our product works amazing and it meets all our requirements. Now our analyzes are prepared faster and more accurately. Everything works automatically. We saved lots of time gathering data automatically.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We used Slack for communication and Google Meets online meetings. All members of the Boring Owl team were involved in the project and answered our questions really fast.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The team's knowledge of application design and development was the most impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I think everything was done correctly. I don’t see any areas for improvement in their work.

Introduce your business and what you do there? 

I’m the co-owner of Grow Creator; we're an e-commerce-based company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Boring Owl?

We were looking to build a product wizard.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Boring Owl developed a product wizard system connected to our e-commerce shop; it's a platform that allows users to choose parameters, such as space they will grow plants in, lighting, ventilation, etc. Based on each step of parameters selected by users, a set of rules is applied, and the system recommends which products will work together to help grow their plants.

In addition to that, they've also helped us set up Facebook ads and Google Analytics. Currently, they provide ongoing IT support.

What is the team composition? 

We interact with around ten members of their team, including a project manager, a UX designer, two programmers, and the head of programming.

How did you come to work with Boring Owl?

We found them on Google, and we chose them because we liked their location and pricing.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent around $25,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working together since September 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

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

The system they created for us is heading in the right direction to pay for itself, so overall, we're satisfied.

How did Boring Owl perform from a project management perspective?

They do a good job, and always inform us if there will be any delays. In terms of tools, we use Trello and JetBrains, which is a ticketing system.

What did you find most impressive about them? 

They’re a smaller company, which allows them to focus on us and have the flexibility to accommodate our needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think there's anything they can improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know what you want, including your preferred technology.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a Co- owner and member of the board of start-up SHM Sp. z o.o. which create GreenTransit - a platform for digitizing and handling all documents in TSL industry.

For what projects/services did your company hire Boring Owl, and what were your goals?

Our goal was to create an easy-to-use and highly accessible system for many users with various permissions. Due to the many dependencies and complicated relationships occurring in the transport process, the key issue was to transfer them into the system structures. Boring Owl was responsible for creating the system from scratch and advising on the use of appropriate technology.

How did you select Boring Owl and what were the deciding factors?

During the search for a suitable software house for our project, Boring Owl was one of the first search results. We contacted several companies, but Boring Owl presented us the best offer to create a system.

In addition to the attractive price, one of the most important aspects was knowing that even during the first talks we already knew that they understood all the assumptions we wanted to achieve.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Our system is based on ReactJS and Django technologies, we also use AWS servers. The website on which the platform is located is based on PWA technology. The first step was to create a simple platform for generating and managing documentation, the work on which we spread over 5 months.

The created platform is the basis for the current version of the system, while the work assumed the creation of system documentation and build entire system infrastructure from scratch.

The next step was to introduce changes suggested by our clients and to extend the system's operation with additional functionalities that make up the current version of the system. The works lasted about 6 months due to the constant expansion with new functionalities. Currently, we are still developing the system in cooperation with Boring Owl.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

From the very beginning of our cooperation, we have contact with 2 people who manage the company and act as project managers. During the daily work on the development of the system, we talk to Mateusz, who deals with the back-end and further plans the work for the development team. In terms of positioning the site and promotion, we contact with Tomasz.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

At first, the project assumed much less functionality than it is currently, but throughout the period in which we were developing our system, the Boring Owl company advised us and implemented all things that we required. Despite the constant changes in the functionality of the system, with Boring owl we successfully brought it to the version intended for sale.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

We use a work system based on 2-week sprints and hourly settlement. Communication takes place efficiently using the project management system, in which we set the scope of work and their sequence. We use telephone calls and e-mails for everyday communication. The work schedule is properly maintained, and in emergency situations, we can count on efficient help.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

For us Boring Owl is not only a software house, but also a partner and business advisor. They provided good advice at every stage of the system development, and now they even participate in talks with our potential partners and are responsible for technological aspects during such talks.

Due to the period of time worked together and achievements, we have full confidence in the competences of the Boring Owl team.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I have no objections to the work of the Boring Owl team. Communication is efficient, work is performed on time, and the proposed solutions fulfill their functions. I definitely recommend them.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Co-Founder of Applover, a Full-Stack Digital Agency from the city of a hundred bridges. Our DNA is work on technologies for the most dynamic and recognizable start-ups on the domestic and global market. We started in 2016 as a group of 4 friends and technology enthusiasts, and currently, we operate as a group of 50 friends. Since then we developed more than 180 projects. Applover was recognized by Deloitte as a Rising Star in the CEE region in 2019 and ranked on the 24th spot in the Fast 50 category in 2020.

For what projects/services did your company hire Boring Owl, and what were your goals?

Boring Owl has a proven position on the market with its ReactJS frontend solutions. We decided to hire a team for making a Frontend for one of our clients. We were building a team for a project and wanted to deliver a cross-functional web application. It should be highly optimized for performance with advanced internal frontend logic.

How did you select Boring Owl and what were the deciding factors?

We had previous experience with Boring Owl doing a mobile application for them. This time we needed their services for one of our projects where high reliability was important. Our previous experience with them was smooth and they had good recommendations.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We have a brief from a client. Boring Owl prepared product design workshops with their graphic designer and created UX mockups for us. They have coded these mockups from scratch and connected them to the delivered backend.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with a UX specialist and 2 frontend developers.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Boring Owl met our expectations and delivered a high-quality frontend. It had automated deployment and testing scripts prepared. From the very beginning, the process of communication was highly standardized with daily stand-ups and weekly meetings.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

We have communicated with Boring Owl on Jira and slack. Daily standups were made on google hangouts.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

We were impressed with the quality of the frontend delivered by a Boring Owl. It had very high google performance metrics and a general good feeling about UX. We are still working on an hourly basis with Boring Owl.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Everything went as expected without any glitches. Boring Owl provides really professional specialists in Frontend and I can recommend working with them.