Charpixel Technologies

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Activity Hub, a platform for parents to plan activities for their kids. We also have an operational and marketing solution for activity providers.

What challenge were you trying to address with Charpixel Technologies?

When I had the idea of creating this solution, I was looking for a development team with the right experience and skills to work on my product. We’re a mobile-first platform, so it’s all about having the latest and greatest mobile technologies in place.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Charpixel’s team has helped me with the mobile app and the Node.js backend services. They were my core development team up until recently. They contributed to the entire development process from the start. Their services were mostly on developing my mobile app, website, and backend services. The app was developed for Android and iOS.

The mobile app has notifications, listings for different activities, and account registration. The website has a secure login and account registration. 

The app was developed natively, with Swift and native Android languages. The backend uses Node.js, and some pieces of the website were done in AngularJS.

What is the team composition?

There were five people from Charpixel involved in my work. One developer for Android, one for iOS, one for backend, one for the website, and another one helping the four people focused on the main technologies. Based on their needs, they would have another resource jump in at times to speed up development.

How did you come to work with Charpixel Technologies?

I ran into their profile on Upwork when I was first looking for a team. I wanted a team that had skillsets not only in mobile technology, but also in web and backend. I had an interview with Charpixel, and I felt that they were knowledgeable and honest. I have a 15-year background in product management and software development, and I got the sense that they were giving genuine answers, and not just making a sales pitch. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent close to $50,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Charpixel in the spring of 2017 and it’s ongoing. I’ve been using them for most of my development work.

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

The team definitely has the talent to deliver good-quality work. Every software has bugs, but Charpixel always had proactive bug fixing. When we pushed code into production, we generally didn’t run into the scenario of having a lot of bugs left. They took care of most of the bugs during the development, so the overall quality of the work has been good.

How did Charpixel Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

We used Jira to keep track of sprints and development cycles. We never ran into a major issue with the development work. I think they’re doing well from a project management point of view.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The challenge with offshore teams is commitment and communication on delivery time, but that’s a problem I never ran into with Charpixel. We went over requirements and the estimates they provided me were mostly accurate, and we’ve met deadlines. I don’t like last-minute surprises, and that’s a challenge I’ve never had with Charpixel. Along with that, the quality of work is also good.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re a young team, and they’re still learning. There were a couple of learning curves, but that’s expected out of every development process. Even teams with 10–15 years of experience make mistakes. As long as we’re not making repeated mistakes, I think it’s good progress. 

Having said that, Charpixel has had some lessons learned, but I don’t see that as a major problem. I see it as an opportunity for growth. Those problems never happened to be that big that we couldn’t resolve them or that they’d impact the product.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

For people looking for work on mobile, backend systems, or on the website area, with AngularJS, Charpixel is a great, talented team. Making requirements and expectations clear will make things easier. 

It’s not essential to have too much documentation but to have some kind of requirements listed on a tool like Jira. Having that kind of structure in place will definitely make the development process very easy.

It’s important to have open communication with Charpixel. They’re good at answering and asking questions, making suggestions, and reporting their progress. If clients are open to those things, it’ll be mutually beneficial.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of a financial software company. We develop market software for the financial services industry.

What challenge were you trying to address with Charpixel Technologies?

We were looking for a company that could develop a high-quality platform on a short deadline. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

They completed a number of projects to support our entire system: website design and coding, backend server creation, and the development of the iOS and Android platforms. The applications have such features as geolocation, integration of financial wallets, and cyber security. They also provided the dynamic and modern design for the apps and the website. 

The majority of the UX/UI work was done by our team, but their developers supported our team and gave us some insight. They worked with MySQL, Java, Node.js, Xcode, AWX, and Swift. They've done a phenomenal job and we treat them like part of our internal team. 

What is the team composition? 

We worked with different developers, 5 in total, for iOS, Android, the website and the backend server.

How did you come to work with them?

I worked with them before and liked how they performed. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent in the range of $10,000–$49,000.

What is the status of this engagement? 

We started working with them in 2015, and we continue working together.

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

The results have been beyond our expectations. They delivered everything on time and had great guidance and structure. We had no issues with bugs.

How did they perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Git repositories for code and Slack for primary communication. Sometimes we use Skype for video chat.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team is dedicated to excellence, and they produce the results they're proud to show in public.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make the communication channels as wide and simple as possible, know what you want your project to look like, and be very specific and clear about your expectations.