Cogent Labs

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there? 

I’m a country launcher for Trella, an IT company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Cogent Labs?

We needed to outsource the development of a mobile app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Cogent Labs developed and designed a native Android app. We provided the UX flow, and their team created the UI. In addition, the team created a data warehouse on Redash that allows us to extract all the data we need.

Customers can invite their vendors to join the app by adding their names and phone numbers. The vendors will then receive an email with a link to the app and a password to log in. Our customers set their asking price and lowest accepted price, and the vendors are notified of available shipments for bid.

Vendors will also receive notification if there is a lower bid made than theirs, and they’re given an opportunity to bid again. Customers can see the data of the shipment from start to finish. The team continues to provide ongoing maintenance and support.

What is the team composition? 

Ehmad (CEO) is the project lead and our main point of contact, but we also interact with a software developer and a UI/UX designer.

How did you come to work with Cogent Labs?

Cogent Labs was recommended to us. We also met with three other vendors, but we felt the best connection with Cogent Labs. Overall, they understood our needs and goals and committed to the required timeline.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $8,500–$9,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together around October 2021, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since the app launched in January 2022, we’ve not had any issues or bugs. During the testing phase, the team has quickly resolved all bugs that arose. The product is smooth and its functionality is top-notch. Overall, they’ve exceeded our expectations.

How did Cogent Labs perform from a project management perspective?

They’re proactive, keeping us informed of any possible delays or changes. On top of that, they stick to our agreed-upon timelines and budget. We use Google Sheets and Google Docs, and we communicate via email, phone, and meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them? 

They can deliver quality products in a timely manner.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could use other project management tools instead of just Google Docs and Google Sheets. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Document everything so you can keep priorities as the focus of your project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Director of IDEMS International, a not-for-profit company devoted to development, education and the mathematical sciences.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We required extra software development support to support our in-house team on a large project for an international development organisation. The project required understanding of Python, Django and Wagtail for website development, and an ability to design for low-end devices, including feature phones with no JS. We mainly needed backend support, but also some front end design work.

SOLUTION

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

We found them through a freelancing platform. Our first interactions were promising and professional and we decided to give them a small piece of work as a trial. The relationship grew from there.

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

The work involved supporting the development of a Wagtail/Django website structure that would have multiple deployments. They were required to implement specific features in the backend, such as quizzes, surveys, language translation, commenting system and chatbot. They had to contribute via GitHub and discuss with our in-house team regularly.

They also supported some front-end design. All the work had to be available on low-end devices including feature phones with no JS which made the development challenging and non-standard.

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

Our initial contact was the lead developer and team manager. The success of their work led to a second developer joining the team, and then two front end develpers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to complete the development much quicker with the support of the team. We engaged several other individuals and teams but this is the one that performed best and we have continued to engage with. We grew from working with a single individual to bringing in more members of their team.

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

The communication was always clear and excellent. The team leader was on top of the tasks of their team. We communicated on tasks via GitHub issues and PRs and had discussions via Slack. They were also able to attend daily stand-ups during the peak period of the project.

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

They were an extremely reliable and thoughtful contributor to our project. They took time to understand the project and the requirements and always wants to ensure what he delivers was what's best for the project. They communicate well and have delivered under our tight deadlines. They are also able to be flexible based on our project needs and adapt their approach when needed.

We were impressed that they also actively asks for feedback on how they can improve which shows their commitment to his work. As well as being highly skilled software developers, the project lead ensured they had an understanding of the project as a whole and the specific needs and context that the we were working in, to ensure what they deliver is not only good quality, but highly matched to our needs. In our experience, this combination of skills is hard to find and we highly value this long-term collaboration.

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

While the more senior team members are always delivering high quality work, we recognise that it takes time for junior developers to develop their skills and at times the junior developers needed more support to deliver. However, the team was always open and transparent and we were happy to support their team development too.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a software startup building AI products for the talent acquisition and retention industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Cogent Labs to develop the front end of our SaaS applications. The also assisted with overall GCP optimization and provided consulting services for backend integrations. Our goal was to quickly develop and release our MVP solution for our early beta partners.

SOLUTION

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

We found them through a referral from one of our full-time remote software engineers. We tested them along with several other vendors and found them to be the most qualified, collaborative and responsive to our immediate needs.

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

The implemented wireframes and mockups for the front end of our web applications using react.js.

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

We have two people from the Cogent Labs team working with us. One in a management and oversight role (inclusive of consulting) and the other on the implementation side of front end development.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to successfully launch our MVP solution on time and within budget. They did an exceptional job of managing the project.

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

Their project management was great and accommodating to the tools we leveraged which includes Shortcut (project management) and using Google Meet for our team meetings. Their are strong communicators and worked well with the rest of the team.

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

We worked with the CEO of the firm who hand picked a developer to build the front end of our application. With his oversight we were able to move with speed and agility in a fast paced startup environment. They bring a host of skills and a deep bench of talent that we can leverage at any given moment.

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

The quality of their work was terrific. The only area that they could improve upon isnt actually a critique, the should be more vocal. They are really strong in the areas we leveraged them for and their opinions are valuable and would like to hear them more.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the co-founder of a B2B marketplace catering to a specific vertical for developing countries

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our goal was to develop an MVP for the product idea we had and gather customer feedback. We were looking for a services company that could provide us with end to end services for custom software development, ranging from initial UI/UX designs, developing the MVP, and supporting the product once it’s deployed in production.

SOLUTION

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

The founder of Cogent Labs Ehmad , and I were colleagues at a previous company, and I had seen his work ethic and quality of work before. This along with Cogent Labs willingness to accommodate our requirements in a time frame and a budget that suited us, made it an easy decision to select Cogent Labs.

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

The scope of the project included translating our product requirements document into a UI that was easy to consume by the end customer. Developing features for the marketplace, including notifications, quotation system, messaging platform, and an admin platform to manage all the listings on the marketplace.

The programming languages used:

• Python
• SQL
• HTML
• JavaScript

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

There were 4 people in the core team Including:

• a project manager
• a designer
• 2 developers

Other resources would come and go depending on the Project needs, e.g. QA.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project was delivered 2 weeks before the committed time-frame, and the deliverables were well tested before delivery

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

The project management was great by Cogent Labs. We had weekly google meet calls, along with an active Slack channel where we were kept up to date with the progress made based on those calls. We also had the opportunity to communicate outside of the weekly calls through the Slack channel to get any questions answered, on a previous deliverable

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

I believe the nimbleness is what impressed me the most about Cogent Labs. Having access to the whole team every week on our video calls, along with being able to message each person from the core team directly through Slack, ensured that any changes were catered for, and no requirements were lost in translation.

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

While the quality of the work was great, and the project was delivered on time, having our initial design mockups, presented in Invision or Figma, would have made it easier to finalize the complete flow of the application