Codepixel

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Project Lead at a Design Studio, we focus on brand & identity, design and digital deliveries for a range of businesses.

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

We were developing a rebrand for an animation studio who wanted to realise the brand refresh on the site as part of the brand relaunch. Codepixel were our digital development partners in this endeavour.

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

We were put in contact with Codepixel through a mutual connection. Our first chemistry meeting was really positive and we were made to feel very comfortable and at ease with the prospect of working together. Professional approach, strong communication and proven track record.

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

Kick off meeting to review UX and UI. Follow up meeting to review and confirm all scope detail and requirements. Heavy video content portfolio website in WP, quick initial delivery and flexible close of project work to accommodate clients and changes.

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

A project manager and lead developer were main points of contact and support.

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

Clients loved the flexibility in the solution. The speed of delivery and accommodating nature of the working partnership as the project was taken over the line. The development work has complimented our design work and the new site is already capturing a lot more attention than the clients old one.

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

We used Slack to coordinate. Weekly meetings for progress reviews and questions. Their management style was tweaked to fit the timeline, client's needs, and nature of the project. Made for smooth delivery.

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

They produced a professional, easy to use site with superior and logical edit-ability to anything the client had experienced previously. Working relationship was one of the strongest and easiest of any development partner or team we've had.

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

We wouldn't ask for anything different for the next project.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director of Airevo, a startup looking to use AI and machine learning (ML) to improve the commercial processes of airlines. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Codepixel?

We don’t have the resources or skills within our team to design and develop an app. We’re using Codepixel to supplement our resources and UI/UX design skills. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Codepixel is developing the frontend of our first product. It contains our second, third, and fourth products, demonstrating our vision. Meanwhile, we’re doing the backend, APIs, and other tasks in-house. 

We’ve worked collaboratively, starting with a low-resolution mock-up. They’ve created designs that we can review on Figma. Moreover, our team has conducted joint discussions over what works well and what doesn’t work. Their members have presented us with options, and we’ve selected what we like. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with 5–6 people from their team. Our members have worked with their CTO to ensure the frameworks we’re using for the backend and APIs are correct. Meanwhile, their project manager ensures we’re on track in terms of time, budget, and deliverables. Their lead designer helps us visualize what works for customers on the frontend. Moreover, multiple developers have taken our designs and used them in UI development. 

How did you come to work with Codepixel?

First, we looked at the price points in countries where resources had good English language skills. Our team knew we couldn’t afford the project using UK companies, so we benchmarked the salaries of UI/UX designers and developers relative to UK-based companies. We looked in countries like Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, Latvia, Moldova, and Montenegro, where the price point was much lower. 

For step two, we used Clutch and a couple of other things to search for companies in those countries. Our members needed UI/UX companies with good reviews that weren’t too big or small. This step helped us narrow our choices down to two companies in Montenegro. 

Finally, we talked with the teams and asked for proposals while discussing their approach, methodologies, and plans for the specifications we’d given them. In this step, Codepixel impressed us the most. They were technically savvy, responded to our questions quickly, and brought a small team together to talk to us. We believed their responses more and trusted that they could deliver. 

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve invested around $27,000. We’ll have spent around $45,000 by the time we finish. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our collaboration started in February 2022, and it’s ongoing. We completed the first phase of the development in May 2022 and started the second phase in July 2022. 

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

Codepixel has good design skills and can turn concepts into something nice that end users will enjoy. We have two-week sprints and balance the number of tasks within each sprint based on the man-day budget — we’re mixing the agile and waterfall approaches. 

We use these as our success metric; we estimate 10 tasks with two developers in a two-week sprint and judge the time it takes to complete those tasks. Moreover, our team records which tasks require any rework. 

Overall, Codepixel’s work has been truly good. By and large, the level of contingency we have to set aside is below 20%. They produce high-quality work on our budget, so everything is great. In other words, we judge them in terms of cost, time, and quality, and they’re great across all three. 

How did Codepixel perform from a project management standpoint?

Codepixel’s project management is quite good. We use GitLab to manage tasks within sprints. Apart from that, we’re also using a product that lets us provide high-level specifications. Meanwhile, their resources use Figma to convert high-level designs into prototype designs for developers. We mainly communicate through GitLab, but we use Slack if necessary.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They care about the project and deliver impressive results. While they’re hard to negotiate with as they stick to their pricing, they’ve shown flexibility regarding start dates. On top of that, they keep a lead designer and a lead developer consistently throughout the project. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve had to make changes between the first and second phases. Our teams hit a couple of bumps in the first phase. We were slightly more removed from the design and development team. This was good when they understood everything well, but it took quite a while to resolve problems when they didn’t understand some things. It wasn’t because they lacked skills but because the project manager was in the middle, and we didn’t have direct conversations with the designers and developers. 

We've requested to do things slightly differently when we started the second phase. As a result, we’ve been given direct access to their chief designer and lead developer. We aren’t losing anything in translation; this method works well for us, and the results come quicker and better. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have good and well-written concepts. Codepixel will take those ideas and make them better. If you simply start a conversation or with a black sheet of paper, you won’t get the best out of Codepixel. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner and the chief editor of Kriptofakt, the first regional (Balkan) online news magazine.

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

Before reaching out to Codepixel, Kriptofakt’s only channel of communication with its readers was through social media. To take it to the next level we needed a custom website that is sorting out major news in the crypto world by categories, as well as provide information to the users about the current values of cryptocurrencies, in real time. We sought in a company that had experience in building such websites, that anticipate high visit numbers, for similar media outlets.

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

Codepixel was recommended to me by an organization with which they have collaborated previously. They gave them high praise.

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

In the beginning Codepixel created an implementation plan with key milestones, using the waterfall model. We started on the project by jointly working with them on the research and strategy phase. We provided them with our goals for the project and in which direction should they lead the design, and later the development.

In the strategy phase we outlined the full sitemap and the key pages that are intended to keep the user engaged. Our first feedback (design review) session was one week after the design phase kicked off. After that, we had a series of short feedback rounds where we basically polished the design and minor details. Both teams were very engaged in the process and communication was on point.

With our approval of the full design, for mobile and desktop, Codepixel started developing the interface, as well as WordPress administration. We weren’t involved in this phase much, as we had confidence in their expertise to deliver. And deliver they did. The administration was developed to enable us content management across all pages and to onboard new editors without difficulty.

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

One project manager, one designer, and a web developer.

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

Right from the get-go, the news magazine had many early visitors and its launch was advertised on the Kriptofakt’s well-known social media channel. It received big props from its first users, while we promised to roll out some new and interesting pages in the post-launch period. Our goal in the future is to increase the number of visitors, as well as bring more marketing incentives by advertising businesses and people who work in the crypto world.

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

Very effective. We had regular feedback sessions and quickly resolved any obstacles.

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

We were impressed by the quality of their work and their ability to analyze what is needed from a stakeholder by turning it into a clean interface, with the expertise on the technical side.

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

No, as far as I’m concerned.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of Operations in a boutique hotels group.

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

We needed a company with experienced and innovative developers who could efficiently deliver on our project requirements and create a solution that will bring new gains to our company and make the business processes more fluid. Codepixel delivered complex HR software that enables us to manage our employees in the most efficient way with an effective time-saving solution.

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

The company has built a credible image in the hospitality sector in Montenegro participating in several successful projects . The services they provided met all our expectations. The comprehensive and agile team delivered every request.

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

For years our company used Excel sheets to keep track of the current employees and to have a base of job candidates. The tricky part was that, as a coastal line hotel group, we often fluctuate in the number of employees and our needs for extra workforce during summer time compared to the winter.

The sheets provided us with an overall overview, but it is very difficult to browse and not have the ability to use advanced search tools when you need them most, as adequate candidates are very difficult to fetch and interview during busy periods.

That's how we came up with an idea to build our own digital solution that will serve as a base and be a key tool in the HR sector of the company, but also to scale it up in the future and possibly apply the solution to other hotel chains.

We wanted to fully streamline the register of employees and job candidates, enable easy onboarding and build a part of the software that will stop us from heavy manual work of inserting data, but transfer those activities to the job candidates themselves as they will fill out the info and upload CVs.

The project started with a full analysis of our sector and how we conduct certain processes, which gave Codepixel's team a chance to disseminate those into software requirements. Following that, they engaged their solution architect and user experience designer to complete the system design and the logic behind key functionalities, which was later handed to their developers to build the whole thing with a clean code.

We were very satisfied with how the entire design and development process was documented, and when we arrived at the pre launch phase, their team showed great expertise in terms of conducting proper user acceptance testing. With the launch, I can safely say that our HR processes have been significantly streamlined, which saves us a lot of time and provides efficiency to the company as a whole.

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

Their team was led by a project manager, software architect, one designer and 2 developers (front end and back end).

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

After the MVP was rolled out we immediately started using it in our daily work. We are able to generate more CV applications from outside of the company but also to manage our in-house employees (employee register, contracts, salaries, register of job candidates, advanced filters, etc.)

It gave us a push in the time-saving sense, but also we are now able to better organize the whole company’s HR responsibilities and at the end of the day generate more revenue from us being efficient on all levels in the company. We are definitely looking forward to expanding the features and scaling up the solution, so many ideas come to mind in the growth phase that we plan on building further.

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

We were in constant communication via emails, Google Meet and phone calls. Moreover, we held regular pre-scheduled feedback to discuss every major component of the software.

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

The most impressive is their ability to understand some tricky requirements that we wanted to be part of the system and to successfully develop them into the features of the software. They led us through all product development phases such as discovery workshops, UX/UI design, development and user acceptance testing, to later growth phases.

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

Not that I noticed, the team was very good.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a communications specialist. I work for the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, a development cooperation agency.

For what projects/services did your company hire Codepixel?

Our website was outdated when it comes to design and functionality. We hired Codepixel to support the relaunch of the website.

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

We researched suitable Website agencies online and found the Codepixel website. Their portfolio and stack convinced us so we picked them as a candidate for our tender process.

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

We started with discovery meetings to make sure that we are all on the same page. We shared our requirements regarding the new website's design and desired functionalities. Then, Codepixel started developing designs for each page of the website. After some feedback rounds, we agreed on the final design of the website. Once this was done, Codepixel developed the actual website.

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

In total, we worked with 3 persons. A project manager, a designer, and a developer.

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

The overall look of the new website is very modern. It is a clean and impressive design that meets all our needs

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective. Everyone knew what he/she had to do to reach out common goal. There were no hiccups.

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

They are flexible when it comes to designs and functionalities. Whenever we needed a solution, Codepixel provided it.

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

No, everything from the initial sparring to the development of the website went very smooth.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I was engaged by UNDP as a Local Consultant to support gender equality and women’s empowerment. The team had a task to develop a custom web application that featured an interactive map displaying important data on gender equality in the country and raising awareness about the issue.

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

Our goal was to find a company that could provide us with resources to complete the development of a web application and launch within 1.5 month, which was our hard deadline. We needed full cycle development which included custom design, development, testing and subsequent maintenance.

As we worked with the fixed timeframe we also wanted the company that had the experience of implementing the waterfall approach.

How did you select Codepixel and what were the deciding factors?

We had very good cooperation with them on some of the previous projects and felt like they were the only ones who could deliver within the strict deadline, for a budget we proposed. Their team even worked outside the standard working hours and gave immense effort in order to complete each phase of the implementation plan that we set out.

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

The main goal of the project was to develop a custom interactive map with specially designed infographics that would provide visitors with a very unique and interesting navigation experience.

Also, this online platform is to raise awareness and continuously monitor the impact that Covid-19 has on all levels of Montenegrin society, highlighting the findings of numerous studies that indicate different realities of life of women and men in Montenegro, especially the challenges posed by the pandemic. with themselves, and among which are certainly gender-based violence.

The Gender Map of Montenegro represents an innovative approach to a complex socio-economic picture of society in various spheres. The map offers a wealth of data, analysis and other content, which enables decision makers, civil society representatives, researchers, the private sector, academia and the international community to learn more about certain social trends, but also about the problems that determine the further development of our society.

The design of this web application went through a couple of gruesome feedback sessions which featured many different stakeholders who gave their input, as the topic was very sensitive, but the final concept was produced and they were satisfactory to each of the stakeholders. Later phases included development of the front end part and creation of administration for management of the application.

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

Their team was led by a project manager who managed a team of 2 designers and 3 developers.

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

We presented the project to the general public at several conferences and via major online media in Montenegro. The feedback we received from our visitors was great and we were applauded for displaying gender equality issues in such a way that every audience is able to grasp it. Codepixel helped us a lot in terms of launching the app at the right time and handling all technical challenges that came from lots of visitors on the app within a short period of the launch.

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

Our communication went through group online calls and we also used online chats for faster problem solving. The project manager handled our requests to the development team exceptionally well.

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

Outstanding effort. They understood at the start that we have a clear hard deadline that cannot be extended and they still came through by working tirelessly. They handled issues and feedback with professionalism and expertise.

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

I think not.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the marketing and communications associate at Strategist, a Montenegro-based communications and CSR company that works with top brands, both in Montenegro and abroad.

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

Our company is one of the organizers of the exhibition presenting the life’s work of Kana Radevic, the most renowned female architect in former Yugoslavia, at this year's Architecture Biennale in Venice. Kana was one of the first female architect in Montenegro and this exhibition aimed to showcase her exceptional life and work, most of which was unseen by the public until now.

For the purpose of displaying the exhibition online as well, we needed a website that would present the project, Kana and her works, help us communicate with the stakeholders and achieve good online presence. We required a company that had the expertise to develop the custom website and design it in such a way that would reflect the unique style of brutalism that follows and is in line with the work of the architect herself. Moreover, we needed the website completed within a very limited time frame due to the peculiar timeline of the exhibition itself.

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

We have collaborated with Codepixel in the past and liked the way they do their job, particularly the fact they are very reliable. The references they have, across different industries, made them a perfect fit for this project.

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

The project kicked off with a design phase where we had several meetings and feedback rounds to make sure each page corresponded to our vision of the project, particularly having in mind the sensitivity of the exhibition and our perception of how the online presentation should look like. Their team constantly advised during the whole process and we communicated well and on a continuous basis throughout every step of the way.

After the approval of the final design concepts they started coding desktop and mobile versions of the website, which later on they have inserted into WordPress CMS. The administration of the website was really constructed well and it enabled us to manage the content of the website with ease.

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

Their team consisted of a project manager, an interface designer and a WordPress developer. Our communication mainly went through the project manager, which was perfect in order to ensure there is one person we can interact with at all times.

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

Codepixel’s approach and quality of work is really high. They have always delivered on time and with precision. They were excellent at helping us launch the website in time and staying within the budget. When the initial press releases went out when the exhibition itself opened in May, we gained a lot of positive feedback and even some bookings through the website, although it is free to visit the expo.

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

We had very efficient communication over emails and online calls. We also communicated in some of the collaborative tools Codepixel team has used to complete the project.

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

The most impressive thing about this exceptional young team was their professionalism and how they handled issues that were of technical nature. Moreover, their implementation process was on point and we were in the loop with the project’s status at every moment.

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

There is always room for improvement but in this project we certainly got a big and good quality value for our budget.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am an architect and co-founder of BOQ Invest (now Sokla d.o.o.), an architecture company that also does business in the real estate industry through investors and the general population.

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

We needed a company that had the expertise to develop the web application from scratch, based on our requirements. The service included a full-cycle web development using the agile approach, over a period of several months.

How did you select Codepixel and what were the deciding factors?

We have cooperated with the company on different projects in the past and gained a lot of trust in their capabilities and expertise. Moreover, one of the reasons for selecting Codepixel was the appreciation of their young core team members which are flexible to adapt to changes in the ongoing development, as well as their work meant using the latest web development technologies to cover all technical requirements.

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

The project started by constructing an in-depth technical specification which contained all the details regarding the process of development and our requirements for the application. What followed was the UX/UI design phase of the admin panel and user application, providing us with the fast revision process by using the Figma design tool.

Due to constant changes in the ongoing development and prioritization of the backlog, Codepixel team suggested agile development. They have set out 3-week long sprints, after each one we did a sprint review and tested a certain functionality of the platform. Before an MVP (minimum viable product) was finalized we’ve gone through about 4 sprints before the launch phase.

When fully tested and prepared for launch, the platform that was developed contained the following functionalities: intuitive real estate listing cards, interactive map, integrated 360-degree view of the real estate, advanced filters and forms, tailor-made admin panel, mobile-friendly design, cloud scalable hosting, etc. We achieved our goal to make the web platform pages load fast and be easy to use while providing a nice user experience.

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

The project’s team consisted of a product owner, project manager, a UX/UI designer, 2 front-end developers, and a backend developer.

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

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the real estate industry hard but our entrance on the online market was opportune. The conversion rate has started to rise gradually and we gained a lot of leads, as well as visitors to the platform itself.

It is our plan to expand the platform further in the future and add new functionalities, thus increasing our revenue in terms of sold or rented out real estate.

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

They loved being a part of the agile process. In addition, we had constant, sometimes daily, communication via Slack or other communication channels. We also had review meetings in person at the end.

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

I am amazed at how seriously and thoughtfully Codepixel conducts its best development practices and communication. It was clear that they wanted to make us very involved in the process and act fast whenever some issue came up that needed to be prioritized.

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

We couldn’t find any.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Marketing Manager at Allegra Cruises, travel agency that is specialized in cruise industry. Our company was established in 2010 in Montenegro, with offices in Bar, Kotor and Tivat and since 2016 in Belgrade, Serbia.

For what projects/services did your company hire Codepixel?

We launched our company website in April 2017, with integrated booking engine, that included pricing and availability in real-time. Over the past couple years, as business started to grow, and many our passengers have used our booking engine, we started to see some disadvantages of current design, so we hire Codepixel for complete redesign of website, with added many CMS features.

What were your goals for this project?

Our main goal is to help our passengers with choosing the right cruise, so they can make a hassle-free booking and ease process for them and for the agency. Also, we wanted to share our knowledge to larger audience via blog articles and introduce them to cruises and cruise industry.

How did you select Codepixel?

We made our first contact through a mutual friend from the IT industry and since then our communication has been excellent. I realized that we think similarly, that Codepixel works with modern technologies, that they are a young and ambitious team and considering that, our company made the decision easily.

Describe the project in detail.

The redesigned website will be a hybrid of the WordPress platform and the booking engine. The WordPress platform will be in charge of custom cruise packages, and the booking engine will display cruise offers directly from cruiselines. Because WordPress part of website and booking engine are hosted on different servers, the design will have to connect them into one whole Allegra Cruises website.

What was the team composition?

The team working on our project consisted of a front-end developer, a back-end developer, a UX/UI designer and a Project Manager. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, meetings were usually conducted via the Zoom platform, but we also visited their headquarters in Podgorica several times.

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

Due to coronavirus pandemic, we haven't launched website yet, so we have additional time to tweak it and make the best version of it. Right now, we are in final stage, where we are setting everything up and making plans for the launch.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had a weekly Zoom meetings and email communication on daily basis. In addition to that, we had a couple major meeting in their office in Podgorica. There was no and downtime in workflow between our teams.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Codepixel is a team of young people, we are similar in age, and I was most impressed by the ease of communication between us. Also, each of our tasks were equally important to them. They approached it with the greatest possible attention.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I think there is always room for improvement, but at this point we have all given our maximum on the project and pulled the best out of all of us.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the company founder.

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

We wanted to develop a taylor-made school management information system from scratch.

How did you select Codepixel and what were the deciding factors?

We found them through a referral and selected them over several other companies because of their good references.

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

We wanted to develop a tailor-made school management information system from scratch, for school leaders and office staff which provides the tools needed to efficiently manage school life.

We needed something that is efficient, secure, easy to use and saves everybody valuable time so that schools can focus on improving the quality of teaching and learning.

The end result is software applicable to independent and international schools and at the moment offering the following professional solutions:

• Student
• Staff database
• Attendance
• Reports.

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

There was a:

• Project manager
• Front and backend developers
• A designer.

A total of 4 people.

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

We started implementing the software at our school and user feedback has been outstanding.

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

We communicated through Zoom, Jira, as well as in person. The support and management style has been excellent so far.  

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

They implemented all the desired features and came up with their own suggestions which further improved the product.

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

I have no objections.