Cadabra Studio

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of a startup called Woglue, a marketplace for digital advertising. We install smart screens with webcams in small businesses like offices, bars, and restaurants. We can recognize if people look at the screen, for how long, and their age and gender. The advertiser pays for each view from their target audience.

What challenge were you trying to address with Cadabra Studio?

I had the idea for the product and I knew how to develop the technology, but didn’t have any experience in UI/UX design. Once I knew how I wanted it to look, I started to look for designers who could do the UI/UX, prototypes, and branding for me.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were only responsible for the design and branding, while also providing animation videos. I developed the website myself with my co-founder, but I used them to do some project management. After I developed everything, I could that the estimations they gave us were precise. They mostly worked on the UI/UX and branding. They use a lot of professional tools like InVision and Zeplin.

They worked on the desktop version of my platform. I’m planning to also build a mobile application and will 100% work with them.

What is the team composition?

I worked with four guys. There was a project manager for the designers, a UI/UX designer, a designer who worked on my logo, and a designer who worked on my promo animation videos. I was constantly in contact with Anastasia (Co-Founder, Cadabra Studio).

How did you come to work with Cadabra Studio?

I’m originally from Russia and wanted a Russian-speaking company. I found different studios on Dribbble, where designers provide their portfolios. I chose Cadabra because they showed interest and answered me quickly. After speaking with them, it seemed as if we could work together.

How much have you invested with them?

$10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2017 until September 2017.

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

Every time they send me results, I’m amazed. It’s a very high quality and professional website. It was very important for me to have something that was tailor-made and outstanding, which I received. I was able to immediately see how the UX would work. If I wanted something done differently, they made changes immediately. After we reviewed all the UX deliverables, they then did the UI very quickly. I’m very happy with the quality.

How did Cadabra Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

I was amazed that everything went really fast. They always provided me with a few examples and different styles to choose from, and we had biweekly Skype video calls with the project manager and Anastasia. They explained how it was going and proposed different approaches. If I had additional questions, I called them. Every week or every two weeks, they sent me a report from Jira, which showed how long the work took, what was done, and an estimation of the next tasks. When the main designer went on vacation, they provided me with another designer. It was very convenient for me because I had deadlines and didn’t want to wait.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re responsive and are available 24/7. I can even contact them in the late hours and they answer me. They cover all my needs­—if I need animation, the find someone who can do it. If I need, a logo, they immediately provide a professional who specializes in logos.

They deliver the results and don't miss deadlines. We finished earlier than they planned. It’s possible to not only develop a professional relationship with them, but also a personal relationship. From time to time, they ask how I’m doing, and when I asked them to do a one-pager for my company, they did it for free because they said it’s very easy and quick. I feel like they’re my friends now.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

When they first started, I didn’t use their services for development. I’m 100% sure that they are a one-stop shop and would do amazing work for a company who wants both development and design work. My advice is to consider them. They’re professionals who do an amazing job. They amazed me from the first email.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I own a development company that builds applications and websites for small businesses. We also do UX, strategy, and marketing.

What challenge were you trying to address with Cadabra Studio?

Currently, our business has more work than we have developers. To solve this problem, we try to create strategic relationships with multiple companies that are strictly application development firms. We use Cadabra Studio as a white-label partner when we have any overflow.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Cadabra Studio primarily does web and mobile app development for us, but they also have a creative team for UX/UI design. Most of their current project is confidential during development. They’re working on a web app for a religious group. The deliverable is the first piece in a four-application family of products. The team is also building iOS and Android apps as part of the first piece.

What is the team composition?

The team includes a UX developer, a Ruby on Rails developer, an iOS developer, and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Cadabra Studio?

We hired another vendor to complete a development project, but the partnership didn’t work out. We then asked Cadabra to make a bid, which turned great. They also had good UX designs.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them around November 2017 and the relationship is ongoing.

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

The quality of the apps is fantastic, but we also measure performance by the ease of communication and their ability to grasp a concept. Cadabra Studio excels at both criteria, especially given the language barrier. The team understands the motivation and context of new products, not just the technical specifications. To that end, they take ownership of deliverables. Their thought process and strategy are collaborative, which makes them a good match for our business.

How did Cadabra Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

I’ve used 30 partners on 50 projects and they are easily the best team I’ve ever worked with.

Among the eight vendors we’re currently engaging between Ukraine and Belarus, Cadabra Studio stands out for their sense of ownership. For the current project, the team has taken time to understand the app and its purpose, which helps them appreciate the specifications’ religious context. We use Skype and Slack to communicate. They use internal project management tools that I access occasionally.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Project management has been fantastic as we work toward the finished product. Impressively, they are bilingual and code in multiple languages. With the project manager’s leadership, the team double checks everything and asks great questions to ensure they understand the requirements. We’ve had a good experience with Cadabra Studio and only minimal miscommunications.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Most team members don’t speak English well, but they’re working on it. As an American, I appreciate that effort because we couldn’t do the project in Ukrainian. They're doing a great job.

Any advice for potential customers?

Trust the team because they have good instincts. Most domestic agencies approach international vendors with suspicion, which ultimately hinders the partnership’s effectiveness. The language barrier likely plays into that attitude. Cadabra Studio has some of the most forthright and honest people I’ve met. They’re reliable team players.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a media technology company focused on machine learning and AI. Though our primary market is media and entertainment, we also provide services to law enforcement, telco, auto, and other industries.

What challenge were you trying to address with Cadabra Studio?

We approached them to support UX/UI for a live-streaming platform for remote sensors like drones or underwater robots. It’s a web and mobile app for both iOS and Android.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I interfaced with them on the product side and went through a collaborative product development lifecycle. We had a discovery period to define user personas and then set up a workflow to suit the use cases. I created the wires and we adjusted them through an iterative process.

The platform reviews multiple feeds from different sensors and relays each broadcast back to a central hub. Multiple users can interact with one another via audio or text chat options. It also plots locations of human users and unmanned sensors on a map. It’s a fairly complicated, feature-rich solution.

What is the team composition?

We had a project manager as a point person and a team of designers. They handled creative elements and my team answered their questions and gave them feedback.

How did you come to work with Cadabra Studio?

We were looking for a team to work with and a team member in Kiev found them. Our development team is based in Ukraine, which is one reason it made sense to hire Cadabra. Communication with the development team would be easy. We had an initial discussion and a team interview with them. Everyone felt comfortable and we decided to move forward.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $30,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together between summer 2016 and summer 2017. The whole engagement lasted 8–12 months. We would like to use them again for future projects.

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

We built an MVP, so I was expecting the process to be iterative. We got to a good place and were getting positive market feedback that validated the work we had done and decisions we made. Overall, I was happy with the quality of their work and the impact it had on our customers.

How did Cadabra Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re good communicators. I don’t speak Russian, but their English is good and we achieved our goals successfully. They put a lot of nuance into the product and we never experienced any difficulty with a remote relationship. We had a lot of iteration and the whole process worked well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were well-organized and they cared about the work. They weren’t afraid of creative conflict and were ready to make suggestions if they had a better option. We debated some features and they proved they were willing to dedicate extra energy to improvements.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re only as good as we allow them to be. It requires a lot of focus on our side to make sure the requirements are clear and everyone understands them. Still, this was a successful project. I’ve worked with a lot of design teams and this was one of the best experiences I’ve had. I would definitely use them again.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’ve never worked with a remote team, there is some work to be done upfront. Make sure your requirements are clear and understood. A little bit of clear communication goes a long way.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the lead developer of Work Compass, a company that services performance management for medium to large companies.

What challenge were you trying to address with Cadabra Studio?

We hired them primarily for web app design capabilities which we do not have in-house. We also previously used them for some web development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Cadabra refined usability of our previously developed web app and updated its UX/UI.

Currently, they are helping the development of a new administrative feature for our application which allows managers to provide feedback to staff members. They are providing us the visual design, including the interface and chat bubbles. Their team advises us on functionality and how users will interact with certain buttons. They are molding the chat’s personality and developing an avatar to go along with it.

What is the team composition?

We work primarily with a project manager, but also provide a person in-house whose job is 50% support and 50% product design. They will assign another designer depending on the amount of work. When they helped us with development work, we worked with 2–3 of their designers.

How did you come to work with Cadabra Studio?

We work in a shared space with a couple of other tech companies and one of them recommended Cadabra.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started during the summer of 2016 and the engagement is ongoing.

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

Our executives are blown away by the quality of their designs and smooth UX/UI.

We do not have any measure metrics on the administrative feature’s usability as it has not yet been released.

How did Cadabra Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

We do most of the project management itself, but they will provide a detailed Google Docs and conduct a Skype conversation to kick off a project.

Communicating in person would be nice, but they communicate well enough over Skype, Skype Chat, and email.They are still very responsive and make sure we have everything we need. If we have any last-minute changes or need something by the end of the week, they work very hard to get it done for us on time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality of their work exceeds our expectations every time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They are overall very good and responsive even with our three-hour time zone difference. Perhaps they could still try to smooth out our conversations through Skype and email.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Try to start a project as early as possible with them, so you can set time for changes you might want to make.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO & co-founder of MyNetDiary. We provide an online weight loss service. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Cadabra Studio?

We needed some graphic design work done for our website and mobile applications.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We present concepts to Cadabra Studio, and they help implement those into motion design and animation. They’ve provided stand-alone art that they then implemented into our website and mobile apps, which are for iOS and Android.

What is the team composition?

There are typically 3–4 people working with us: two designers, a project manager, and someone from management.

How did you come to work with Cadabra Studio?

We found them through Upwork initially. We work directly with them now.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $10,000–$30,000

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together around February 2016, and it’s ongoing. They do work for us every month or two.

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

We’re very satisfied with Cadabra Studio’s process and the work they’ve provided. We’ve worked with several of their designers. The internal feedback is positive.

How did Cadabra Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

They communicate clearly regarding when they can begin and finish projects. Since they’re offshore, they have different holidays, and they always notify us ahead of time when they’ll be unavailable. We communicate mainly via Skype.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Cadabra Studio is a very professional partner. We trust them, are comfortable working with them, and work with them frequently. Whenever we call them up with work, even on short notice, they’re available to get it done. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think there’s much room for improvement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have clear concepts and starting points. Communicate, and be available to work with them throughout the project.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the IT manager at an insurance company. We offer property and casualty insurance and specialize in farm and ranch properties.

What challenge were you trying to address with Cadabra Studio?

We needed to upgrade our online portal where clients manage their policies. Although we had a small in-house development team, web design was not our strength. We hired Cadabra Studios to execute the UI/UX designs.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The UI/UX design needed to increase the range of functionalities for end-users. We knew that a better online experience would improve customer satisfaction and retention. At this point, we’ve completed the design process and will start development in May. We expect to launch later this year.

What is the team composition?

The Cadabra team includes a project manager, designer, and an illustrator.

How did you come to work with Cadabra Studio?

We found them via UpWork and have worked with them on that platform. They had an impressive portfolio.

What is the status of this engagement?

Work started in December 2017 and is ongoing.

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

The designs are impressive and meet the scope’s requirements. We rely on their design expertise to follow new principles and best practices, which they reliably implement.

How did Cadabra Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

The Cadabra project manager keeps us very informed of the project status. We communicate daily via email, Skye, and Teamwork, a cloud-based project management tool. They’re based in Ukraine and speak very good English. We haven’t had any communication issues.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re willing to help in any way to ensure our project is successful. The team is also cutting edge; they help us keep current with web design trends.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In addition to being international, they’re also in an urban setting, which creates some disconnect with our rural America based company. We explain some concepts more thoroughly because it’s unfair to assume they’ll understand our idiosyncrasies.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have clear parameters and goals before engaging a design firm. We weren’t totally prepared and inadvertently wasted some of Cadabra’s time. Specific instructions will help them get it right the first time.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a sole entrepreneur leading a small LLC, with a long term goal to create many mobile application products.

For what projects/services did your company hire Cadabra Studio?

I was looking for assistance with designing UX/UI for a mobile application from beginning to end. The main focus was to have the theme, or aura if you will, of the app convey the qualities being welcoming, securing, and supreme confidence.

How did you select this vendor?

I was searching through a refined list composed of UI/UX developers in Europe. I had experience with freelancers and wanted to work with a no games software development company. Cadabra stood out because of their five star rating, gold verified status, and the way the initial meeting went.

For me I felt secure in their expectations, pricing, and care for the best intentions of the client. I decided to work with Cadabra Studios because these qualities are extremely rare these days as it pertains to companies.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Weekly we would have planning meetings consisting of a PM and Designer. I came semi prepared than most with drawings in a form to help strengthen the documents provided for analyzation, followed by building process.

The communication through Slack was important, convenient, and clutch. Neither team member missed a beat and usually we were all on the same page. Weekly I would receive official updates, though I could have checked at any time.

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

My team directly work with a UX/UI Designer as well as a Project Manager.

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

The delivering of the UX is critical as is every piece to any project or puzzle helps being about the bigger picture. This allowed our team to clearly visualize the dashboard component of the mobile app.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

When it came to responding to emails, chats, and documents it was always pleasant because we as a team were always on the same page. The PM and designer would read my mind daily which is rare. In terms of timing there was never an unreasonable, valid, or extremely late response.

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

I would say the level of care for the individual and as the product. All of the experience I’ve had with team members so far those qualities standout. In terms of deliverables they never overs stepped the range on time, in face they were very precise in terms deliverable dates. Also, the team members had excellent suggestions that were at time implemented to strengthen the product, and thus the goal.

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

In terms of improvements the whole team and experience was great!

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a product owner at Aviakassa. My product is a service for online search and booking of air tickets. My product is built into the travel market in Russia and the CIS, which satisfies the main need of the client - the comfortable movement of the client from point A to point B. The air ticket office has existed since 2011 and is currently one of the top ten online travel agencies in Russia for booking tickets.

For what projects/services did your company hire Cadabra Studio, and what were your goals?

We started our acquaintance with Cadabra Studio with the redesign of the Aviakassa website. The site is hopelessly outdated and we needed specialists with a modern view on web design. Due to the new design and UX, we planned to increase the conversion of airline tickets.

After successfully working with the site, we proposed the next project - the development of the Alfa Travel mobile application for Alfa Bank. The development of a mobile application will significantly cover the travel market at the expense of Alfa Bank's clients.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We chose, looked at options, looked for a design studio. As a result, we came to Cadabra Studio via dribble. I liked the work with the interface, the approach, then communication and working with us as a team.

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

At the first meeting, I introduced my colleagues to the project. He spoke about his wishes from the design. Pointed out the required details. Draft layouts for the functionality of search and booking tickets in Zeplin were submitted within the agreed time frame. The design concept was accepted. Work on the development of layouts in the future was carried out in Figma.

The mobile application project for Alfa Bank was more difficult for us. Since at the approval stage it was necessary to go through up to 12 interested parties who left their critical comments. However, even in such difficult conditions, colleagues from Cadabra Studio found a compromise solution that satisfied all parties.

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

We worked with a project manager who split the workload between two designers.

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

During the AB tests, the customer retention rate on the booking page was increased by 8 percentage points, which was an increase of 80% from the initial indicator.

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

The main channel of operational communication was and remains Telegram. When there was a need to give feedback on the layouts, we called each other in Figma and edits were made online. Google mit was used to present the final layouts. All presentations were held in accordance with the agreed terms of the project.

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

A big plus was the complete study of the logic of transitions between layouts (UX). Together with the design, we received the status model of the project.

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

At the beginning of the work, all layouts were presented in the ground. The development team was not comfortable working with them. After pointing out these problems, Cadabra Studio quickly moved to Figma, which satisfied you.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Sake Verse.

What challenge were you trying to address with Cadabra Studio?

I’m developing an education platform for the alcohol industry. I already had some basic design concepts for it, but I needed a company that could help me bring it to life by designing its UI/UX.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I hired Cadabra Studio to design the UI/UX of the educational app that I’m trying to develop, which aims to spread information about sake, a Japanese alcoholic beverage, and help people make better purchasing decisions.

I provided them with a database of information on the products in the sake space and told them the functionalities that I need, which include math and list functions and product cards. I also gave them some examples of other major apps that had similar design features to what I wanted. After that, they created mock-ups for me.

They were able to build two different versions of the same product: an MVP and a mock-up of what I really envisioned for the app. I'll be taking the app to the markets and working privately with my would-be partners to see what they like and don't like about the MVP. I may go back to Cadabra Studio and have them do some more work to update it, but that will depend on the feedback I get.

What is the team composition?

I worked with a product manager, a project manager, and a designer from Cadabra Studio.

How did you come to work with Cadabra Studio?

I came across Cadabra Studio through a freelancing platform. They had great reviews, and it seemed like they had enough experience to be reliable. But the main reason why I chose them was that in their reviews, their clients talked about their creative nature and their ability to create something out of just an idea or a concept.

How much have you invested with them?

I spent somewhere between $10,000-$15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on this project from November 2021-February 2022.

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

Cadabra Studio’s ability to deliver an MVP based on just a concept was very impressive. I’ve heard great feedback on the products as well. 

How did Cadabra Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

Cadabra Studio worked very well in terms of project management. We never had an issue with our timelines. We primarily communicated through Slack, WhatsApp, and Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Cadabra Studio did great all around. I used to work with bigger tech companies, and Cadabra Studio was one of the few companies that conducted themselves as more of a corporation than a smaller company. It was very interesting to have video calls with their entire team instead of just talking to a single point of contact throughout the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wish they were more upfront about their pricing on the freelancing platform because the price that I was given when I first signed down versus when we started working was about 20-30% more. I also wished they took more time with estimating the final cost because we ended up going 50%-100% over our estimated cost for the project.

Other than that, I’d say they were still worth the money because they were able to address all of my needs for this project.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to be prepared to have more work than you initially expected and to be more responsive.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a CEO of an independent freight forwarder & customs broker and an experienced live animal & pet shipper. We offer a personal and transparent service from pick-up to delivery.

For what projects/services did your company hire Cadabra Studio, and what were your goals?

We required a backend developer to build an acceptance management system from scratch to further extend our personalised customer service and streamline our operations.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We found Cadabra Studio online and conducted an interview call where we discussed all details of our project. The meeting was productive and very informative, the CTO and business manager clarified all the details and removed all the concerns that we had in a professional manner. Following the meeting we decided to hire the team in Cadabra Studio.

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

It was surprising that the Cadabra team conducted an in-depth interview to clarify what we specifically required and sorted out all the challenges. Only after that, having an understanding of the price and terms, we signed a contract.

After signing the contract, the main stages of our project were: the creation of architecture and UX design, then the visual part and the development with testing. We agreed which tech stack to use and everything went according to plan. The estimate stretched a little in the process of work, but this is fine, since we agreed to add new functionality that was not initially agreed.

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

A project manager, designers, back-end developer, QA.

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

We launched the management system as a result the number of referral reviews increased and the acquisition of new customers facilitated through automation.

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

We had a chat where we could communicate with the project manager and other team members. Every week we conducted a meeting to discuss the updates, plans and next steps of the project. The Cadabra Studio team has great attention to detail, is strong on communication, and furthermore very proactive.

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

The Cadabra team was very responsive, flexible in managing our day to day tasks, and adaptive based on our feedback.

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

The project was quite complex as we had to connect our existing database of clients to the new system. When some small issues appeared we were warned about them and the development team provided us with the solutions that were successfully implemented.