Browser London

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior stakeholder manager of Transport Focus. We’re a public sector organization funded by the Department for Transport. Essentially, we’re the transport user watchdog. Our role is to make sure that everything to do with transport in the UK is as good as it can be for those users.

In my role, I do lots of different research around rail, buses, roads, and so on. My job is to influence relevant organizations to make changes for the benefit of those transport users.

What challenge were you trying to address with Browser London?

We wanted to refresh our corporate website which hadn’t been changed for about 5–6 years. Our team wanted a newer look and wanted to ensure we were engaging all of our stakeholders. The site would be a place that the public could go to get advice and information about transportation as well as view the research we do.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, the scope of the project was for performance and a discovery phase. We talked to internal staff, internal stakeholders, and then to the public about what they needed from a new website. That then transferred into a design phase. Browser London came back with ideas about what we could do. Once that was agreed upon, we implemented the design.

Their team worked with us to build each of the pages with different bits of content. Then the website was launched. Since then, we’ve been tweaking minor issues. Now, we have a separate contract with Browser London where they handle website maintenance and support.

What is the team composition?

Over the course of the engagement, we were assigned anywhere from 2–5 team members. There may have been others working behind the scenes.

How did you come to work with Browser London?

We went through a procurement and tendering process because we’re in the public sector. Browser London was our existing supplier so they were on that list of suppliers we informed about the tendering process.

We received quite a few bids from different organizations which we then whittled down over the course of a short period with Browser London coming out on top for quality and price. We scored all the organizations that provided bids and Browser London scored on top for time scale, understanding what we needed, and technical skill.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around £65,000 (approximately $90,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in May 2020, and the website was launched in December 2020. We’re still working with Browser London as they provide maintenance as needed.

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

The investment was good, and we achieved what we needed to. We’ve done testing with stakeholders and internal staff and have received very positive feedback. Some of the testers also included members of the public who didn’t understand who we are, what we did, or what our organization was all about. They went onto our old website and then went on our new website after it was launched.

They’ve come back and told us that we solved the problem because they now understand what we do. People have commented that the site is better to look at and has accessibility features. The difference between the new and old website is really helpful to users. They can go in and search for what they needed a lot easier.

How did Browser London perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is pretty good. We utilize Basecamp to provide feedback. This allows us to talk about issues we run into and ask questions. Delivery of the website was a little bit late and but it was due to a tight timeline. There was some urgency due to the quick turnaround we needed.

We didn’t want to have lots of different contacts and people to go to. So having a single point of contact was important to us. Our teams also communicated through Microsoft Teams, Zoom, phone calls, and Google Meet.

What did you find most impressive about them?

During the procurement exercise, Browser London stood out because they understood what we were looking for and who we were as an organization. They were spot on with what we were after in terms of building something completely new for us.

We paid heavy attention to the discovery phase because that was the make or break for any of their competitors. It was the discovery phase that got rid of a lot of Browser London’s competition. That really stood out to us. We didn’t want them to come with preconceived ideas of what our new website would be about, and Browser London provided that for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There could have been more urgency in some of the communication. Sometimes, we hung on for a bit to find out what was happening. General communication was fine, but the element of urgent communication could definitely be improved.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Look at the products they deliver. Look at their past work and get some examples of the discovery work they do. They brought in a separate consultant to do that so that'll provide a fresh pair of eyes. Speaking to their satisfied customers makes a lot of sense as well.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of an e-commerce multi-vendor marketplace.

What challenge were you trying to address with Browser London?

I tried to build the site myself, but realized I didn’t have the technical know-how. I approached Browser London to help me build the platform. It’s a video marketplace that allows people in the fitness industry can sell video content.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I outlined the requirements and user stories, and they built the rest of the platform on the framework that I gave them. They used WordPress and a variety of plugins. The platform needed to be able to showcase videos and be very mobile-friendly and easy to use.

What is the team composition?

I worked with René, who worked on the project management side, and Matt, who did all of the technical development.

How did you come to work with Browser London?

I did quite a bit of research online. I narrowed the list down to seven different developers, and then out of that, I got quoted from three of them. After speaking with René, I was confident that Browser London was the right choice.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about £15,000 (approximately $20,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August 2020 and we’re close to finishing up.

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

I’ve been checking over their work as they go, and I’ve been pleased with the quality of their work.

How did Browser London perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve communicated well. We have pretty regular video calls on Google Meet. At a minimum, we met weekly, but often spoke twice a week. I think they normally invite the client into their office, but because of COVID-19, we’ve had to do everything remotely. It still worked out very well. They were regularly in contact with me, easy to reach, and very responsive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their approach is very professional. Everything seemed slick and nothing seemed to phase them. They had an answer to every question I had. Some of the other developers I spoke to seemed daunted by this project, but for Browser London, it seemed like a walk in the park.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re quite expensive. Their pricing could be cheaper.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I wish I started working with them sooner. In the long run, I think I wasted money by trying to do things sooner. So, I would recommend that new customers reach out to them as soon as possible to flesh out your requirements.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of UniWrk, which is a recruitment platform. We connect businesses with students around the UK.

What challenge were you trying to address with Browser London?

At the start, I wanted to build an iOS and Android app. I realized that didn’t make financial sense. It’s a bit crazy to jump into building an app with only an idea. I found that it was best to start with a web app to build for proof of concept.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Browser helped to develop my idea. We went through a process to prioritize features called MoSCoW and created a list of about 750 different features. This helped us to understand what we had to have for the product to work.

Then, we went through the development stages. Their team suggested a payment system and helped to pick the best payment provider, which we decided was Stripe. They built location filters that also involved third-party integrations. Their team basically onboarded us and built the platform in about three months.

Recently, they updated the platform. Their team continues to support and host the application.

What is the team composition?

At the start, I worked with John (Strategy Director). Now, I regularly communicate with James (Technical Director) and Paul (Head of Marketing).  

How did you come to work with Browser London?

I found them through Google and actually used to work near their office. A day after we were in touch, I popped into their office.

How much have you invested with them?

The app cost £85,000 pounds (approximately $107,300 USD). In addition to the support, the total cost will be about £91,000 (approximately $114,800 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

I first met with John around May 2019, and our relationship’s ongoing.

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

The product’s what I wanted it to be, which is the greatest feedback I could give them. It’s still an MVP, but it does exactly what it says on the tin. We didn’t want to make anything too fancy because it's easier to build on a simple foundation than one that got ahead of ourselves. The app's simple and easy to use. 

How did Browser London perform from a project management standpoint?

I speak with them 1–2 times a week. Their team’s sharp and meets deadlines. I’ve never had issues with their reliability. Their communication’s good as well. The longest I’ve waited for an e-mail was an hour. They have multiple people who can reply to support e-mails.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Browser makes the development process simple. They charge per hour and estimate the exact number of hours a project requires. There are never any issues with timelines. When they say they’ll get it done, they’ll get it done.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think so.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Listen to them because they have experience. Don’t be stubborn and stick with your ideas because they can help to develop them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the assistant director of communications at Octavia, a nonprofit organization that operates solely in London. We provide home support and care for thousands of low income or vulnerable people.

What challenge were you trying to address with Browser London?

We felt it was time to upgrade our website, and we needed help doing so.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked with Browser London on a number of occasions. When I first started in this role, they produced several annual reports for us. The annual report is a key stakeholder document, which is our one connection, on an annual basis, to all of our supporters. The report provides an update on how we are delivering on our mission.

We progressed the partnership to them developing our website. We had a previous website, but they developed a bespoke website from scratch.

We moved toward working with them on a digital scale. Browser London provided an intranet for us. They also helped me in my role to communicate effectively and engage our broad range of stakeholders, which included donors, fundraisers, volunteers, supporters, and partners, all of whom we work with to gain funding and to provide services. Browser London helped us in various ways to do all of those things.

What is the team composition?

I worked with about four people. I was mainly in contact with Julian (CEO) if we needed anything.

How did you come to work with Browser London?

They were recommended to me. I checked out their portfolio and had an initial conversation with them. Since we’re a nonprofit, we have strict regulations on how we engage with any job, so we got at least three quotes and pitches from various people. We found Browser London to be incredibly easy to work with. They didn’t overcomplicate things, and they could break their work down for a lot of stakeholders. They went up against a panel of people, and we selected them as the best.

What is the status of this engagement?

The first annual report would have been 11 years ago, and the website was 3–4 years after that, from July 2012–June 2013. They did our intranet three years ago.

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

The main activity of our organization is providing homes, and it’s really important to us that we collaborate with residents and get their input. I don’t have statistics on hand, but we would have done a satisfaction survey with our residents to get their opinions on the finished website. The site was a significant improvement from where we were before, and people found it incredibly easy to use. The user journey was significantly shortened due to some of the basic functions they implemented.

They took a completely fresh approach to the website. They were really good at understanding our priorities and helping us to see what was possible; they aligned those so that we could make sure we weren’t just doing everything we liked, but what was really fitted to us and our business. They were very effective in that way. It was our first really functional website; prior to that, we’d had more of a brochure site.

We found Browser London’s expertise to be very helpful. They worked with our internal IT team to make sure that our site was self-serving, which was a really big move forward for us. I wouldn’t hesitate to give them a call if we ever need something that I think they could help us with.

How did Browser London perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was excellent; I haven’t found anyone better on that front. They were very good at keeping deadlines. They work in an agile way, but they drove the project and made sure that we kept to the timeframe. If we didn’t, it was usually because of our internal processes or data. They were really good at coordinating with the different stakeholders that were involved.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re really enjoyable people to work with. They know their technical stuff, and they make it very simple for you. They’re informal in a friendly way, and yet they still manage to maintain deadlines and conduct themselves in a professional way. They were quick to offer new solutions. They understood us and took the time to understand what we were trying to do with the site. I valued their input.

Are there any areas they could improve?

None. As a non-profit, we have tight budget and so it's not always possible to use London Browser, but that’s all I can really say on a negative front.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take the time to give them a full brief. I found great value in bringing them into the organization. They’re very good at building rapport with people. Give them as full of a picture as you can regarding your overall goals. They’ll really work with and alongside you to make it happen. They have huge expertise, and if they didn’t know how to do something, they knew someone who did. They’re very well connected and have lots of resources to get you the best option within your budget.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the technical lead of a social science unit within the university.

What challenge were you trying to address with Browser London?

We wanted to customize open source software but didn’t have the skills in-house to complete the task. It seemed more straightforward and time-efficient to employ someone who had those skills at hand. A teammate left, so we needed someone to maintain software while we found someone to fill the position.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Browser London customized software that we built in-house and made open source. Their team also supported software for the larger community. Both products annotate data in surveys so that they’re more comprehensible and structured. For one project, they used PHP. In the other, their team used Angular.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact was René (Founder).

How did you come to work with Browser London?

The university had a list of suppliers and I spoke to someone before who worked with Browser London on a similar project. I chose them based on a personal recommendation from a client.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between 25,000–50,000 pounds.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2019 and the relationship’s ongoing.

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

All of the work for the second project was done through GitHub, so we had a mechanism to know when bugs were fixed or needed to be fixed. It was a relatively small project, so we didn’t have an overly onerous monitoring system.

How did Browser London perform from a project management standpoint?

There wasn’t much project management to be done from their perspective because we had such a good relationship with their programmer. We worked directly with their programmer and only had meetings with the project manager on occasion, which meant they didn’t bill us for that service. That was quite nice because they only billed us for what they did.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The Browser London team is experienced and knowledgeable. It’s a pleasure to work with their programmers and project managers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I can think of.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Spend time getting them to understand what you want. Once they understand that, they’re able to find the right person to manage the project in the most appropriate way.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of product at a risk consultancy organization. We provide security consulting and intelligence to clients. Our company is comprised of about 250 people worldwide.

What challenge were you trying to address with Browser London?

Initially, we wanted to build a web application that’d allow clients to request projects and communicate with us. The app would also function as a way for us to deliver results, findings, and reports. It was essential that the app be secure and user-friendly.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Browser London built 3–4 web applications for us and is currently working on another. One of the platforms they built was an interactive risk map. They handle the front- and backend development of all our projects. Their team uses React for the frontend, Go and Symfony for backend, as well as a few sequencing and processing techs.

What is the team composition?

We worked with about 10 different people. Browser London has a full-stack development team with an attached design team. Jim (Technical Director, Browser London) ran initial MVP development and now handles ongoing development programs and support. Rene (Co-Founder, Browser London) leads the UX design efforts and discovery work.

How did you come to work with Browser London?

I was searching for web app specialists after a terrible experience with a different firm. After considering about 10 firms, I chose Browser London partly due to Jim’s pragmatism and ability to speak clearly about engineering problems. He understood our business problems. Also, Rene was a design-team king. Overall, their approach was suitable for our needs because they had good UX design skills and a strong technical team.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested over $1,000,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership began in November 2016 and is ongoing.

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

We don’t track any metrics. Browser London is a very good partner and has grown with us over these last few years. They understand both our problems and our users’ problems extremely well.

How did Browser London perform from a project management standpoint?

Our internal project manager has been impressed with their competency. Browser London is proactive and usually lands within 10%–20% of the target budget. It’s well worth the cost though because they’re very good at what they do. Their team is transparent when things go wrong.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I like that they’re a small, boutique firm. Their company size allows for a lot of one-on-one interaction. We’re very happy in comparison to experiences with other service providers. We have a great working relationship with Browser London.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t really any areas they could improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take them up on their offer to be interactive. Build a partnership and be as involved as possible. They work best as an extension of the organization, rather than a vendor.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We're a B2B SaaS intranet / internal communications company. We primarily do business with clients in the UK, US and India. Twine was started in 2014. I'm the marketing manager and have been in post since July 2017.

For what projects/services did your company hire Browser London?

Browser have been Twine's ongoing technology partner. They built the initial version of Twine that was launched in 2014 and have filled the gaps in our in-house dev team during new feature launches + UI changes.

What were your goals for this project?

Twine and Browser have been involved in several projects. The initial project was to design and build the first version of our application. It needed to be scalable, secure and performant.

Browser have also been involved in several ongoing projects to update our software and ensure we are still competitive. This includes: updating our frontend to improve performance, refreshing our UI/UX design and building custom integrations so we can secure more enterprise clients.

How did you select this vendor?

Twine's senior leadership team have a history of working with Browser at previous companies, so Browser became their go-to vendor when thinking about enterprise software projects. I should note Browser were selected as the technology partner several years before I started.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

As stated above Browser have been involved in several projects with Twine that include:

• Browser's designers did a big redesign of Twine's UI/UX
• Browser's teach team rebuilt Twine's frontend to fit the new designs and also trained our internal team on using React.js instead of Angular.js
• Browser's CTO worked directly with some of Twine's clients to build a custom integrations with Salesforce

What was the team composition?

The projects usually involve 2-4 people at a time, usually 1 designer and several developers. The designer would often only be involved in the research and discovery phase at the start of the project. We would then be in direct contact with the Browser tech team throughout the project.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

I suspect Browser will be our technology partner indefinitely. They've made it easier to launch new features quickly. This has helped us a lot when client's have told us that not having a certain feature is a dealbreaker.

As an anecdote, several of our competitors launched integrations with Slack and many of leads were asking if we had one on our roadmap - with Browser's help, we were able to quickly build an integration with Zapier which these leads could then hook up to Slack.

Having Browser on hand has also meant we've won a couple of enterprise clients because we had the capabilities to build custom integrations with their Salesforce instances.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We usually communicated directly with the tech team without the need for a project manager. Over the years we have built a strong working relationship, so project management has never been an issue. We usually communicate using a combination Slack, Basecamp, Jira and Google Meet. We also do face-to-face meetings a lot as both Twine and Browser are based very close to each other in Shoreditch.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The tech team are very responsive. I think this is probably because they are a small team so senior members of the Browser team can get very hands-on and invested in projects.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I'm not sure. As Browser is a small team, if they have other projects on the go it has been harder for them to find time for Twine bug fixes. I'm not sure if we worked with a technology partner that had more staff on hand whether this would still be an issue.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the joint managing director of a MedTech consulting company specializing in pharmaceuticals. Our main area of business is providing support to patients by generating information and insights from doctors.

What challenge were you trying to address with Browser London?

We were looking to develop a user-friendly platform to facilitate the development of research questions.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Browser London developed and designed the platform for us. The platform allowed respondents to submit anonymous questions to doctors who can anonymously send research and answers back to the users. Through a weekly review process, we proposed changes and amendments to the team’s work form the week. 

What is the team composition?

We had one project manager at Browser London, who was in direct contact with me and the other managing director at my company. 

How did you come to work with Browser London?

We were introduced to one of the directors at Browser London through a mutual contact. 

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested between $100,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing relationship with Browser London began in December 2017. While the platform was completed by October 2018, we continue to engage with them in different parts of the business.

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

The platform has been well-recieved internally in terms of its usability and how it addresses our business objectives. We have also received positive feedback from our clients, who receive quality research findings from trusted professionals. 

They’re a great team that is good at what they do. They have the talent and client management skills to produce results. The team remained engaged with us throughout the process and nothing was done without us being made aware of it. Browser London delivered good value from a cost-benefit perspective.

How did Browser London perform from a project management standpoint?

The project was delivered on time and budget. Our teams were in regular contact with each other through phone calls, emails, and a weekly face to face meeting. We were also able to view the status of the current sprint on a dashboard, and we appreciated this transparency. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Everyone on their team is communicative and informed. Our main point of contact was well-versed on the project, and we appreciated only having to go through one person. We also were given direct access to their senior development team, who remain active on the project. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, everything ran smoothly.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Give them space to think and be creative so that they can best link your business and your commercial objectives. Make sure they’re well-briefed on the project. Once they’re informed, they’re very good at running with it.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was a Director at a global risk management consultancy, responsible for digital product development. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Browser London?

We worked with Browser London to develop a risk management system for a set of clients.

What was the scope of their involvement?

After a consultative discovery phase, the Browser team put together an accomplished design for the product and managed the entire development of the web application.

What is the team composition?

I worked closely with a project manager. We also directly engaged with the technical lead and head backend & frontend developers.

How did you come to work with Browser London?

We found them online and after meeting with them, they won the contract through a competitive tender process with other firms.

What is the status of this engagement?

The relationship is ongoing.

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

We mainly tracked how they met deadlines. We had a pretty hard deadline for launch, which we committed to a number of clients. The system was delivered and worked impeccably. There were no significant bugs.

How did Browser London perform from a project management standpoint?

I think the overall project management was excellent. Every two weeks, we had catch-up meetings with the project manager and technical leads. The meeting structure was excellent. I always had access to the people I wanted to when I needed to.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their project management side was extremely impressive. We were also extremely pleased with the world-class platform they delivered. I’m not sure if another company would be able to achieve the same thing, but we always felt that Browser London gave our team good visibility into their process. The team went above and beyond to make themselves available to us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I was pretty pleased with it.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

When working with these types of agencies, you need to have a clear idea of your customers' needs before starting.  Browser London has a good discovery phase, which you'll get the most out of if you have that.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a senior policy officer at a government agency that supports small businesses to start-up, sustain, and scale. We do this through a variety of events and online websites.

What challenge were you trying to address with Browser London?

We needed o build a website and didn't have the expertise within our smaller team to do a WordPress site, since our team only specializes in Drupal.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They designed and developed a WordPress site for us with a number of plugins to support us with what we need to do for our projects.

For example, they've implemented Calendly as a booking system for our advisors. We also have an events calendar that allows small businesses to come onto the website and search for various events taking place in London. We have a business support search tool, too, that's a directory of all the different support schemes that are available, at a national level and in London. They also implemented a research library to help people find the support they're looking for. Each user has their own personal dashboard, where they can pin information that they've found across the site.

When we weren't too sure which areas of the site were working or not, they installed a heat mapping technology to address those concerns. We allow them to take the lead in the areas they know well, but they give us a broader context and some options to allow us to make the final call.

What is the team composition?

It varies from what kind of work we have to do, but it ranges from 1-5 people. Generally, we have a main contact for monthly maintenance, as well as backend designers, developers, and a strategy director.

How did you come to work with Browser London?

They were hired slightly before my time, but I believe we put out an RFP for this work, and they came forward to apply.

How much have you invested with them?    

We've invested $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in late 2015, and our engagement is ongoing.

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

Generally, we're very happy with the website. We are aware we need to do more with it, now that it's been set up three years ago. We haven't done it yet, but we will do a revamp with them later on down the line.

How did Broswer London  perform from a project management standpoint?

They're really good. We're a tricky organization to work with since we can't make any quick decisions, but Browser has been really understanding. They're really good at laying out deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They go above and beyond. They're a very friendly team and they've been a great technical expertise to rely on. They're always willing to help us with the smallest asks and we've definitely built a great relationship over the years. They're always ready to help us in whatever way they can.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing really jumps out at me for them to improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to go for it! They're a really good organization, and they're very easy to work with. They have a good level of various skillsets within their team as well.