Cubicfox

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder/CEO of Ultimate Budapest

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a tourism business offering tickets and passes for popular tours and activities in the city.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Cubicfox to accomplish?

• Build an app for our customers to more easily benefit from our services and shop our offerings

SOLUTION

How did you find Cubicfox?

Referral

Why did you select Cubicfox over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

The app pulls all dynamic content directly from our CMS and all product information from our BackOffice, all built and managed by our own team. All sales generated on the app also get reported back to our BackOffice for ticket tracking and management. The features that were built out in the app included

• Geotracking-based self-guided city walks 
• City information in both FAQ accordion format and detailed articles
• Interactive map of the city showing a variety of locations such as bars, restaurants, clobs and attractions, each with their own end page showing details about that location 
• An ongoing list of events and gatherings happening in the city 
• A webshop offering tickets and passes to a range of activities popular among tourists 
• A ticket wallet allowing users to view and cancel their booked tickets

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The delivery of the app according to the project scope, within the deadline given.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They were very communicative with us throughout the project, provided detailed descriptions of the actions needed from our team and demonstrated a good ability to understand our specific aims and requirements for the deliverable app.

What was your primary form of communication with Cubicfox?

Email or Messaging App

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

They impressed us from the very beginning with their planning and execution of a 2-day discovery workshop aimed at giving them a full and complete understanding of our audience, their needs and desires, and our vision for the app. From this simple excercise, we got to click with them as people and professionals, and it also helped a lot to build our trust in them, seeing how much focus and professionalism they showed in trying to get to know our company and audience as thoroughly as possible.

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

I can't really think of anything. We were very happy with the delivered services.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of Angolutca (Webtréner Kft.)

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We teach busy adults how to learn English.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Cubicfox to accomplish?

develop an application for our existing English flashcards

SOLUTION

How did you find Cubicfox?

Online Search

Why did you select Cubicfox over others?

• Great culture fit
• quality of communication

How many teammates from Cubicfox were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We needed an application for our existing English flashcards, and educational videos that develop speaking skills. The highest priority was a fresh, trendy and exciting design. Beforehand, we only had an old webapp that looked and felt boring. The new app came out amazing, our customers love the look and feel of it. 

It was delivered promptly, and throughout the project we received exceptional support, and guidance in how to create an app that users love. We had zero experience in this field. We decided to continue to work with Cubicfox on further developing the app, and on support as well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Our goal was 1000 users subscribing by end of year (2023), which we reached by June, 2023. The application is easy to market. Also, the user feedback was suprisingly good, and so far, we're leading the Application of the Year contest in the number of votes received.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Project management was impeccable. Before starting, we were afraid that the project would drag on, based on previous bad experiences with other companies, but Cubicfox turned out to be different. Initiative, agile, dedicated to and even passionate about the project. They also proved to be flexible and helpful.

What was your primary form of communication with Cubicfox?

Email or Messaging App

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

Their dedication to results on our side, and impeccable project management and communication skills. I must highlight their designer's work as well, and her flexibility to cater to our brand style and needs.

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

No. There were several problems and mistakes on our end, but they handled them beautifully.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Hungary Foundation is an independent, US-based non-partisan and non-profit organization committed to strengthening the understanding and cooperation between Hungary and the Unites States of America. I am a communications associate.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

The HuGo app was already existing for the iOS platform, we wanted to develop it for Android devices as well. CubicFox helped up update the app, and develop it for the new platform.

SOLUTION

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

Responsivity, attitude, experience and cost/value.

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

HuGo needed new features, such as push notifications, in/app donation possibility, and a better UI experience. CubicFox helped us guide through the steps, they had valuable suggestions that they could give us based on exprience. The app turned out to have a fresh look, which had a great welcome, and Android is now up and running.

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

About 5 people, pre/production and during as well. Our account manager, Odett is great, she is very responsive. The developers, and design team is also very solution/oriented.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app doesn’t have many features to measure, but we received lots of positive feedback on the new look, and the features.

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

Everything was excellent. Quick responses, solution oriented. Very helpful, and great to work with.

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

They thing with us on the project. How could we make the app better? Therefore we included them in the decision making plenty of times.

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

Keeping track of the requests, and their completion. But this is already in progress.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Co-founder at Munch that is responsible for managing IT.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We needed to develop a custom API that serves our e-commerce application.

SOLUTION

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

We found CubicFox through a referral at the city they operate in. They did an amazing job at the introduction, created a timeline and an accurate estimate, and the whole package was delivered in a well-designed PPT. This was the first moment when we knew that we can only expect quality work from CubicFox.

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

Firstly, we had a brief discussion about our business requirements, they were keen to know every important details. They lead the interview with directed questions so that they could become familiar with our needs. Then, we had a discussion with a bigger team, where they introduced the product owner and the developer to us. Here, we went into the technical details a bit. Then, based on our documentation, the team sent a description of the projects' scope, which was sufficient at the first time (thanks to the amazing interview process).

Then, when we accepted it, the work began. We had a discussion and a status update every week. Everything went well, they fixed everything that was missing or wrong, and the final product was fully usable and in working condition. Finally, we had the opportunity to provide them with constructive feedback.

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

We had five people in the beginning in the initiation phase, when we built up the project. Then, a product owner and a professional backend developer worked with us to create the API.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We launched the project 1 month after its completion (it was well-done, but we needed to do some refactoring in the application to implement the changes). They delivered everything on time, just as specified in the schedule proposed in the beginning.

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

The communication is smooth, they're proactive and they reached out whenever they needed some additional information. When we had questions, we could reach out to them anytime. They were pretty flexible.

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

The synergy that exists there is pretty amazing, they found young but professional people to work with. The team is quick, when we're talking about response time. They're really flexible. If someone looked for youth, proactiveness and flexibility (while keeping themselves to the predetermined schedule), CubicFox is a good choice.

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

For smaller projects, sometimes the product owner's presence is not necessary (for technical meetings, for instance). However, this is an external point of view, probably they needed this for their internal processes.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Head of Digital of Roxer Kommunikációs Kft. a full-service advertising agency. We offer holistic communication solutions to our clients from event to development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We were facing the problem that train crashes are continuously a serious problem in Hungary not just to those who are using cars but all the commuters. The brand's low engagement factor was the true barrier to why the users have not focused on them.

SOLUTION

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

We solved this tension by creating an interactive CSI themed video, where everyone could face the result of an accident and could figure out what would cause the problem. With this solution, our goal was to break the barriers of advertising noise and to involve the target audience in the problem.

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

The scope was to create a responsive microsite where the user could play with the interactive 360 degrees video both on desktop and mobile. Give them a significant experience and prove to them that with a bit more caution all the accidents could be preventable.

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

A project manager was our main contact, who has been supported by a scrum master. We've worked with 3 developers and one UX/UI designer to craft the final look and features.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The results were far over than expected: the number of players was 1500% than we planned.

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

Email, Miro, Keynote

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

They gave us the support, flexibility, and confidence through the whole project - even in the toughest times.

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

Minor issues with describing the scope, but they handled it flexible and professional to give the best solution

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a hungarian media and e-commerce website, called Naptarak.com, which is a free on-line calendar and date and time calculations aggregating website. We have a huge collection of free printable calendars on our website.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We needed a full stack developer company for the following tasks: re-coding the backend, changing its platform from Drupal to Wordpress, also making it fully responsible and re-designing its frontend.

SOLUTION

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

We met the developer company at an e-commerce conference in Budapest. Their references and development experiences were so powerful, that we asked them for a meeting. After this meeting there was no doubt, we were going to work with them.

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

After the initial meeting the developer company set up a beta website for our new webpage. Wireframe and first mock-ups were created, then after a couple of on-line meetings the look of the user interface matched our visualizations. At the same time back-end coding was also started behind the scenes.

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

At the first couple of initial meetings the company''s CEO was also present. Participants of all our meetings were defined according to the project steps. There were separate meetings with the webdesigner, and the back-end developers. It is worth mentioning that a junior business development manager was allocated to our project, as a contact person, who was present at all our meetings in each stage of the development.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are very satisfied with the new website. Now it fulfills the modern design and responsivity needs. To tell the truth, it has a brand new frontend, so visitors have to get used to this new interface. But its better funcionality overrides all the unfamiliar things that our returning visitors may experience.

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

There were regular meetings on our project each time for about an hour revealing the current stage of the development. Each important question was deeply discussed with us, we were informed about every single step of the project. Communication was very flexible using Google Meet online platform.

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

Their spiritful attitude was very impressive toward our project. I know that they have a lot of big companies they are working for. Our company is very small but we felt that they took care of our project the same way as they do for big companies. They have a friendly and professional communication.

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

There is just one thing, but this is not a real area for improvement, as I know that the high-quality is accompanied by higher costs. For our small business we had to put some extra effort to raise the money of the development. But it was worth it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director and owner of a one-person company for business investors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Cubicfox?

I became an entrepreneur six years ago and started projects with other entrepreneurs, freelancers, and consultants. Right now, I’m working in the e-commerce marketplace, handling webshops and online businesses. I needed a reliable team who could turn my ideas into reality in a more efficient and cost-effective way, so I hired Cubicfox.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The designer showed me some of their own templates for our specific B2B marketplace, and, after a brief period of back and forth, we had settled on a design for the website. Cubicfox did not follow WordPress templates, but instead created something unique using Laravel. They have worked on both the back- and frontend development from scratch. 

Along the way, we have also shared ideas regarding the website’s functions, button sizes, and colors. We would conduct some rounds of testing to make corrections before moving onto the next phase of development.

Cubicfox has also developed a hybrid application for our website, through which users could take photos or videos of their product and post them on our global marketplace. They’ve found a way to implement a verification function as well. The app functions on both Android and iOS.

What is the team composition?

I was working with a product owner, but he has left the company, so Peter (CTO) is now our main point of contact in the team. Cubicfox also has a UX designer, backend developers, as well as someone who created our logo and graphics.

How did you come to work with Cubicfox?

I got to know Cubicfox through a recommendation. 

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent between $15,000–$25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project around April 2020 and we’re still working together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their design work is great and everything functions perfectly. Working with Cubicfox has been absolutely positive. The website is not live yet, and I do not have any metrics for what Cubicfox has contributed since they were the ones to develop it from square one. I simply gave them tasks, which they would then deliver on. 

How did Cubicfox perform from a project management standpoint?

I would call their team on the weekends and they would always pick up the phone to address my concerns. They don’t just take my money because I’m a customer; they really engage with me, share ideas, and maintain a kind of personal relationship. I could always reach out to them at any time.

Cubicfox uses Kanban, Trello, and monday.com as project management tools. Our tasks are neatly listed and organized, but since I prefered having more time and explanation, I wouldn’t frequently use the project management tools. Instead, I would create a Word document with a scope and illustrations to hand over to the team before testing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I always felt that, besides being cost-effective, Cubicfox cares about my product. They give great ideas and are unafraid to tell me if my own are not good. I get the whole package with them; they cover everything, which is one of the reasons I’m still working with them. I don’t mind collaborating with them for a couple more years because of the way they treat their clients. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wouldn’t say anything negative about them. We’re working with other software developers, and it’s just part of the business that everything is all over the place. Whenever I’ve had a problem, they’ve always been able to fix it.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You can trust Cubicfox to work hard, ask questions, engage your problems, and deliver on their promises. Their services won’t even cost a fortune. If you want something done, describe it in good detail, because it will consume a lot of time if you are not precise enough. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a small agency delivering explainer animations. I was the founder, and apart from that, my role is mainly business development, project management and creating screenplays.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Cubicfox delivered us a unique CRM tailored to our needs. We needed software that offers industry-specific features among classic CRM functions, which was not available on the market. Our goal was to integrate and digitise the entire sales process in one software, including screenplay creation which we base our quotations on.

SOLUTION

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

We found them via a google search. The main deciding factor was their initiative, customer care and ideas they brought to the table at the very early stage. The way they treated us and envisioned the infrastructure of the software was convincing. It was also helpful that Cubicfox has done the feasibility check and helped us decide which features are essential or not compared to their impact and costs.

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

The CRM aggregated the complete sales process from lead status through screenplay creation to quotation. Since that was industry-specific, Cubicfox started the work with a discovery phase to understand our working way. This phase's outcome was an information architecture and wireframe to visualise the user journeys and a developer specification they based the backlog on. Then they released a core product which was another major milestone then we moved from features to features.

An intense test phase followed the completion of the software, and we were done. Since they integrated us entirely into the process and we always knew what's going on, there was no need for a big reveal nor surprises at the end. Technology-wise the back-end is powered by Phalcon, a PHP framework, and they used VueJS on the front-end resulting in a super-nice UX on tablet devices.

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

They provided a Product Owner who was in charge of communication, a Scrum Master for maintaining the framework and a team of 3 developers. In the beginning, a UX/UI designer was involved as well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The system was pretty straight forward and easy to use, which spared us tons of time. Thanks to its intuitive interface, the clients could instantly use it; therefore, it had a serious role in customer experience at the very beginning. It made our life and collaboration much more effortless and gave a very professional impression to our clients. I believe indirectly it caused us to win some clients as well.

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

The process was very agile, with a great product owner who guided us through the process and dedicated to making it successful. I liked being involved in sprint planning meetings every two weeks, which provided excellent transparency, allowing me always to know what's going on. They used Miro, a super intuitive tool to visualise processes, user journeys, and taking notes, and I received designs and prototypes in Figma.

We usually kept in touch by e-mail and Google Meet. The communication was very organised apart of the releases of the features and plannings at the end of sprints we talked about 1-2 times a week. The entire development took about six months (12 sprints), including the discovery phase and testing.

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

The professional customer care how they treated us and empathised with our problems was stunning; the agile framework they worked with proved to be very efficient and transparent. I took part in developments before, but I've never felt delighted because there were always some minor things we missed. Thanks to the high level of our involvement, Cubicfox met our every expectation.

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

I was amazed by the effectiveness of the entire process and the outcome, so I cannot mention any improvement areas. I would happily work with Cubicfox again.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of VIMAGE, a graphic design firm. We have a photo editor and cinemagraph animator app available on iOS and Android app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Cubicfox?

We were developing a backend system that would serve our team, and we went to Cubicfox because we wanted it to be cost-effective and scalable.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Cubicfox is developing our backend system as well as our Android and iOS app. The backend is based on the previous one, but with a lot of new features and enhancements.

What is the team composition?

Gabriella (Digital Product Owner) is our main point of contact, and we had one scrum master and three developers.

How did you come to work with Cubicfox?

I asked one of my friends for a recommendation. Cubicfox had the right technical background and team to deliver our task.

How much have you invested with them?

The first part costs around $30,000, and the second part costs around $130,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Cubicfox in March 2020, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The backend makes it much more convenient to configure the digital assets we provide to users, and it’s also more resource-friendly. Most importantly, our server costs have dropped by 20%–30% per user.

How did Cubicfox perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve held my hand throughout the collaboration, not only on the technical side but also with project management. We’ve worked in two-week sprints and we appreciate that they're very reactive. Although we’re based in the same country, we’re working remotely.

Their product owner is there whenever I need information; Gabriella’s working only on a couple of projects, so she can focus on us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What impresses us the most is the smoothness of our communication and how quickly they understand my business needs and delivers effective solutions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not every task in our sprints has been delivered, but that’s the nature of the work. I don’t know if it can be improved but have been miscalculations at times.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

They should go ahead and do it. If the client has a problem involving technology, Cubicfox will find a solution. They deliver great custom software.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a digital marketing agency called Social Media Direction. We’re a social media marketing platform for franchise and small business owners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Cubicfox?

We needed their team to develop our company’s software.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Cubicfox has developed our software from scratch — they’ve created our server using AngularJS. As our custom development partner, they set up our entire cloud-based platform and continuously provide us with software management services.

What is the team composition?

We worked with around seven people from their team, including their developers and project manager.

How did you come to work with Cubicfox?

We initially hired a different development team to work for us, but they ended up not being able to deliver their services to us. Cubicfox then came into the picture when they were referred to us by a colleague. Coincidentally, their project manager used to work for us when he was still in a different IT company. After conducting interviews and finalizing our contract, we decided to give their services a shot.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $50,000 so far, and our yearly contract amounts to $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in December 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve assigned a massive project to Cubicfox’s team, but they’ve developed the product quickly despite its challenging code work. This platform is integrated into our social media accounts and would’ve taken two years had another team taken the opportunity, but Cubicfox just delivers what we want while keeping their promises. We’re already looking forward to working with their team again on other projects that can open the biggest opportunities for our business.

How did Cubicfox perform from a project management standpoint?

Cubicfox members are professionals when it comes to communication and project management. They use a scrum framework to handle and allocate tasks among their team members. What I find more amazing is their ability to flexibly use different platforms to address any issues that may hinder the progress of our work. They’re also prepared with documentation and schedules that streamline the entire process — everything just flows smoothly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Cubicfox’s professionalism really stands out. They understand our needs, and they always go out of their way to support us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing I can point out at the moment. There was a minor issue at the beginning of the project when we had miscommunication problems, but it was easily resolved.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ensure that you create decisions that are right for them. They’re a professional team, and while they may not have the most affordable pricing in the market, their expertise will highly compensate for that.