Core AI

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

BrightBeam Solutions is an app and web development company based in Norway. We love innovative projects, and are working on an in-house app called WishCatcher, which will launch soon. Apart from this, we have local and international clients for both website and app development. I am the founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Arty Geek?

I was looking for help developing the graphics for an app which we’d just finished building. It’s a project we’ve invested quite a bit into, and we have a clear vision for it. I was in contact with a few graphic designers which didn’t satisfy our needs, so I was looking for someone new, and found Arty Geek.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We are building a social app based around catching and sharing wishes with friends and family.

I’ve tried to keep Arty Geek on a strict timeline, since we had a tight deadline, and needed the graphics for the programmer. We were a bit overschedule for our 20+ screens. Arty Geek worked on all the graphics and user-interface design for our app. We had a UI already mapped-out, which I gave them as a starting point.

Arty Geek commented that they had some coding experience, but that service was not needed. They did have a good understanding in this area, which helped in the communication with our programmer.

How did you come to work with Arty Geek?

We were looking for a group which had its own style and input, and which would provide a fresh feel for our app’s graphics. I found Arty Geek through Upwork, and eventually decided to choose them. The communication was good, and I quickly felt that Arty Geek understood us and our requirements. They seemed flexible, professional and fairly reasonable, which fit the profile of what we were looking for.

How much have you invested with Arty Geek?

The cost of Arty Geek was over $4,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Arty Geek in May 2016. We worked over the summer, and the final delivery was in early September.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We’re starting a beta test with a larger group today. We ran into some trouble with the programmer and had to find a new one, so we’re just now finishing the app and testing it in-house. We plan to have an official launch in the summer of 2017.

How did Arty Geek perform from a project management standpoint?

Arty Geek was quite responsive and fast. We went slightly over our timeline on a few occasions, but there was nothing major, and it was understandable considering the circumstance. I had the feeling of not being Arty Geek’s highest-priority client at times, but, most of the time, we had very good service and communication.

From our first contact, Arty Geek was able to start the work immediately. We worked out the details and agreed on different parameters. Responsiveness was pretty good, always on the same day.

What did you find most impressive about Arty Geek?

I appreciated the creative input and effort given by Arty Geek. They tried several different aesthetics before we chose the final one, and I also asked for some extra work towards the end of the project. It was in Arty Geek’s interest as well, of course, but they delivered it well, without it having been discussed in the beginning. I also asked Arty Geek for a custom animation, for which I’m not sure if they had prior experience, but they delivered it well.

Are there any areas Arty Geek could improve?

The work was a bit overpriced, but this could be due to my lack of experience. It’s my only qualm regarding Arty Geek.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a co-founder of a startup called Psyball. We do event management for various sports.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Arty Geek?

We needed frontend development work done on our website, which matches individuals with sports teams that need players. There are also features for event organizers to open events.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did design and UX [user experience] work. We already had the concept for our user interface when we engaged Arty Geek. They came in with a collaborative approach and gave us suggestions to make it better. They did mockups in the beginning and provided their expertise to improve the UX. They used our continuous integration tools and adapted to our environment. It’s a pure Java application.

How did you come to work with Arty Geek?

I looked at different profiles on oDesk, including theirs. I made a short list and reviewed their references, then chose Arty Geek.

How much have you invested with Arty Geek?

I’ve spent $2,000–$3,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together at the beginning of 2016. The project is complete, but we’re considering engaging them again for a mobile application.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

They adapted to our way of working, which is kind of exceptional. I don’t have any metrics to share.

How did Arty Geek perform from a project management standpoint?

I had one contact person who coordinated communication with their team. If she didn’t have an answer to my question, she forwarded it to the correct person. Although she wasn’t a high-end, professional project manager, the process was quite acceptable. She was always accessible and willing to help.

What did you find most impressive about Arty Geek?

They worked to improve our business, rather than just implementing what is written in our request. They are experts in user experience.

Are there any areas Arty Geek could improve?

The project management can be improved to be more professional.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We provide an online drum lessons platform. I am a co-owner of the business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Arty Geek?

I had been searching for a company which could help my partner and I make our dream come true. We needed a system which could work for our audience and needed assistance on the development side, which is where we got together with Arty Geek.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I provided designs to Arty Geek for our responsive WordPress website, and they developed it. The site has 10–15 pages, some of which are constantly changing.

How did you come to work with Arty Geek?

In the beginning, we were working with some freelancers, who typically have their own boundaries and issues; they can become unavailable without notice and so on. We asked a few friends if they knew of a company that could provide a good service. My partner's friend told him about Arty Geek, and we contacted them. It was the fourth company we'd used, but we stuck with Arty Geek. They are amazing.

How much have you invested with Arty Geek?

The cost of Arty Geek's work has been around $2,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Arty Geek one year ago. The relationship is ongoing on a maintenance basis. We give Arty Geek's team batches of work regularly, and we talk on a daily basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Arty Geek strictly developed our website, so they haven't been involved in any analytics for it. Since I am the designer and I'm also responsible for user testing, its success will depend on me. Arty Geek completed the job on an amazing level, but we've just started marketing the site.

How did Arty Geek perform from a project management standpoint?

Arty Geek is the best company we've found in terms of project management. I worked directly with their manager, who was available most of the time and was always responsive and communicative. Arty Geek's approach gave me peace of mind.

What did you find most impressive about Arty Geek?

We have no boundaries in terms of communication with Arty Geek's team. This is an extremely important aspect for me, given my past with freelancers.

We don't have the most complex platform on the market, but I still appreciated never being hindered by Arty Geek's team in terms of design. I have no limits in this respect: I can design whatever I want, and Arty Geek will make it happen.

Are there any areas Arty Geek could improve?

No. Arty Geek is very good at what it does. The team delivered things on time and has been professional and nice to communicate with.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

ri'kroot'd is an online service which provides the ability for job candidates and seekers to rate and review their experiences with recruiters.

I am the founder and CEO of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Arty Geek?

I had created all preliminary designs myself, and was looking for an offshore developer to put them together. I needed professional UI [user interface] design help, although I have skills in this area myself.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I engaged Arty Geek for a complete UI refresh of what had been built to date. They also undertook frontend and backend development for the platform.

One reason for selecting Arty Geek was the fact that my project was developed for the Azure platform using the .NET framework. Arty Geek mentioned this as a strong area for them, which has proved to be true. We used HTML5 and AngularJS 2.0 on the frontend.

The initial scope revolved around building a simple landing page, recruiter-profile pages, and search results, along with insular elements like sign-up and sign-in screens. From there, we moved quickly and broadly out to include the job seeker profile pages, activity feeds, as well as footer components like About Us, Developer, and FAQ pages. We've also started building a job posting feature.

The platform has become quite robust in a short amount of time. The landing pages feature great and fast-loading animations, which is also true for the search pages. The recruiter profiles have a Net Promoter Score attached to them, which animate when search results come up.

We've built out numerous APIs, including a Google API for capturing user locations, a SendGrid API for outgoing email, as well as the basic frontend and backend APIs between the application and the Azure database.

Arty Geek has been managing the Azure infrastructure, replacing my previous database admin. They've also assisted in getting our Google Analytics set up. It's become a broad relationship, and it's my intention to make it a long-term partnership.

How did you come to work with Arty Geek?

I put out a job on Upwork and had several UI design companies come forward. Each one was asked to submit initial designs detailing the conceptual direction they were looking to take. I was particularly impressed with the work done by Arty Geek, so I selected them for the job. The look and feel provided in their work stood out among the various other concept designs I was given, and that's what was important to me. I wanted something dynamic, modern, and inviting, and Arty Geek nailed it on the first try.

How much have you invested with Arty Geek?

The estimate for the initial UI refresh was $26,000, but Arty Geek came in at $21,000. To date, I have paid them $32,830.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with Arty Geek in August 2016. They continue to provide support and ongoing development.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The site was launched in the last week of December 2016, so we're still fairly new. In the last month, from January 25th, 2017, to February 23rd, we have had 389 sessions with 236 new users. The average session duration is of one minute and six seconds at the moment.

After the initial period of having Arty Geek redesign what I had done, and after I explicitly took the leash off of them, the team started bringing in a lot of great user experience concepts to the table. Thus far, we've had nothing but great feedback from both registered users and people who have gone on to the site for a quick look.

How did Arty Geek perform from a project management standpoint?

We have a self-contained team, including a dedicated project manager as well as dedicated developers and quality assurance resources. The project manager has been amazing, able to keep the project on track, within budgets, and on time. Most of the communication, from a project perspective, has been done primarily through JIRA, but there's a lot of heavy communication done through Skype as well for everything from approvals to heads-ups. Arty Geek's team is highly communicative.

What did you find most impressive about Arty Geek?

Arty Geek's frontend development and design have stood out. This was the biggest reason for choosing them. Arty Geek is efficient in handling the work. The estimates were almost always over-delivered upon.

Are there any areas Arty Geek could improve?

We remained fairly communicative, but I've had to ask for more communication at times. This was really because of my current situation of running a startup with my own money. The project is my life, and I'm certainly keeping a high touch on it. I'm not the micromanaging type, but I like to be kept as aware as possible on everything. I have to ask for some higher-level communication from Arty Geek on occasion. They've tried to account for our 10-hour time difference, and not bother me while I'm asleep. There have been a couple of occasions when Arty Geek made decisions which should have been run by me but weren't. In their defense, they understood this to be the case and didn't charge me to get the work back on track. There are positives with every negative.

I receive daily reports from Arty Geek's project manager at the moment, and we also have a couple of Scrum calls every week.

Arty Geek is a UX/UI and frontend development company, even though they can handle everything else. Sometimes, I've felt it was necessary to argue for my requirements. This isn't a broad issue, but I felt I needed to mention it.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the president of a software development outsourcing company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ArtyGeek?

We needed help with JavaScript frontend development for a client’s project.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They are one of our assessed partner companies.

What was the team composition?

We worked with frontend developers, backend developers, and business analysts.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We handled project management. It was effective.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We appreciate their ability to find developers who satisfied our requirements.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

They could provide more senior resources.