Deep Space Robots

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder, CEO of NextLevelFan.com

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Our software platform helps companies and high-net-worth individuals squeeze all the juice out of their season tickets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Deep Space Robots to accomplish?

• Software R&D (full stack)
• Platform Architecture
• Scrum Project Mgmt

SOLUTION

How did you find Deep Space Robots?

Referral

Why did you select Deep Space Robots over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Deep Space Robots were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Develop a web-based, mobile-responsive application for a two-sided market (admin users & event-goers). Key deliverables include:

• Setup a professional coding environment (local, staging, pre-production, production)
• Follow a professional methodology with internal controls for user stories, task creation, sprint point estimates, daily stand-ups, UAT, QC/QA documentation, Product Mgr approval and deployment
• Since 2019, I've experience great team continuity, working with the same back-end developer and just two different full stack developers. DSR was also able to scale-up additional resources for design and architecture discussions.
• Some key deliverables include: 
  • API connection to a ticket aggregator so we could manage ticket inventories like a Point-of-Sale system
  • API connection to an email/SMS platform so we could send calendered messages to event-goers
  • Built our own CRM
  • Developed a job-based system that runs perpetually in order to trigger certain actions to take place (messages, field updates)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Below are several metrics we gathered from our Scrum process, which helped us forecast future dev timelines. The Proj Mgr (me) and developers would work together to create user stories and estimate tasks with sprint points (1,2,3,5,8). Our goal is to look for solutions that are as close to a "1" as possible. A 5 or 8 isn't acceptable.

After we completed our Planned Tasks for the sprint, dev would begin. Once dev was ready for UAT (user-acceptance testing), then QC/QA tasks would come from that. It took 3-4 months of following this rigid process until we started forecasting with these metrics.

Avg. sprint points/day
7.4
(tells us approx. how many tasks could be completed in one dev day)
NOTE: Each developer was slightly different, so we took the average of both of them.

Avg. spring points/Planned Task
2.4
(combined with the # of Planned Tasks and avg. sprint points/day, this tells us approx. how many dev. days until we're ready for UAT)

Avg. % of QC/QA overage
71%
(tells us how many add'l tasks to anticipate after UAT is completed)

Avg. sprint points/QC Task
1.9
(tells us how many points to assign to the QC/QA overage tasks... helps us know when we think we'll complete the project)

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

We had a scrum master using ClickUp and best practices to setting up that environment.

Yes, they delivered on-time. Like anything with development, there's the plan and then there's the reality. And I discovered that the more features we shipped, the longer it took (incrementally) for the next project, since there were more things to consider.

They respond well to my needs and are always very attentive. I would use developers 2-4 days/week and wouldn't bother them much on the off-days.

What was your primary form of communication with Deep Space Robots?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their culture comes from Rob (founder). He's a fun, mission-minded guy with mouths to feed :-)

(I met some of his family at one point, either on Zoom or during an in-person meeting.)

Each of the guys they hire are very skillful and show that they care for your business, even though it's not their own. Makes you feel really confident that they've got your back.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Deep Space Robots could have done differently?

I don't have any significant feedback now that I haven't already expressed in the past.

Rob did some re-organizing in 2022 or so that helped to streamline project management and client account management.

Rob also took my difficult advice about one of the devs assigned to my account. That person ended up being asked to leave, which may have been best for all parties involved.

I feel very comfortable giving feedback to Rob and believing that he'll take action on it.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Owner of 100k Realtors/Steps Realty

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

I own a Real Estate brokerage and Continuing Education Provider for Realtors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Deep Space Robots to accomplish?

• Create a professional video training program
• Create a professional website to advertise training program
• Create an automatic order and deliver system for training program

SOLUTION

How did you find Deep Space Robots?

Referral

Why did you select Deep Space Robots over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Deep Space Robots were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

I wanted to develop a training program for Realtors that they can order online and then receive automatic weekly emails with the training videos and training information.  I needed a website, email campaign, and video production.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to film all the training videos in one day.  I was then sent sample video footage with editing, music, and text to see if they were on the right track.  Once I approved the sample video they sent produced all 11 training videos.  They made any changes I requested in a very quick turnaround and kept me in the know with target deadlines for each piece of the project.  

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

Everything was delivered on time and if they needed to adjust a deadline I was giving plenty of lead time and a reason for the change.  They responded to all my needs quickly and professionally.  Very organized and helpful.

What was your primary form of communication with Deep Space Robots?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The communication from start to finish was great.  They also help me break down the timeline for the project.  What needed to happen first and what needed to wait until the end to complete.  This helped me see the vision on how it would all come together.  It was extremely beneficial to see the different elements of my project get sent to me at completion of the task instead of delivering everything all at once at the end of the deadline.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Deep Space Robots could have done differently?

I was 100% happy with the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of In Field Operations of Unite Life

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

In a technology-driven world, we use it for the spreading of the gospel to the far corners of the earth. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Deep Space Robots to accomplish?

• Share the Gospel across the world

SOLUTION

How did you find Deep Space Robots?

Referral

Why did you select Deep Space Robots over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Deep Space Robots were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Deep Space Robots served as a full-service software development company for us on all of our projects. They provided all of our company needs from building custom reporting software to building multiple mobile apps and more. We would not have been able to operate without Deep Space Robots. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They have taken what was simply an idea and turned it into reality according to our needs and the result always turned out better than we could have imagined. Deep Space Robots has built a number of different tools for us to use, from apps to custom reporting tools, and they have continued to support us to maintain the software as we grow. 

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

They always were quick to respond to our needs. They took the time to understand exactly what we wanted and always delivered the highest quality of work. If there was a threat of something taking longer than expected they would always communicate and then work hard to hit the original timeline, often bringing in more team members to ensure it was completed on time. 

What was your primary form of communication with Deep Space Robots?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They were enjoyable to work with, extremely professional and produced the highest of quality work. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Deep Space Robots could have done differently?

DSR is always looking for little ways to improve and provide better service and products, so by the time you see something that they could improve on, they have already addressed it and are heading in the right direction. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VP of GCC Portfolio

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We help businesses drive relationships through award-winning print and e communications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Deep Space Robots to accomplish?

• To create a best in class personalization platform
• To continue to update and improve our platform based on customer feedback

SOLUTION

How did you find Deep Space Robots?

Rob was working for a company with whom we were doing business prior to opening DSR.

Why did you select Deep Space Robots over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Deep Space Robots were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We work with clients who were looking to personalize and send both print and electronic cards to their customers. DSR developed a proprietary platform which made this possible. The system has been further refined over the years and DSR has been able to make these desired changes, including our clients being able to include signature uploads, mail merge, mulitple languages, team members, headlines, and additional messaging.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The measurable outcomes would be reflected in our client retention rate, which is n the 90% range, and referrals from existing clients to new prospects.

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

DSR understands the tight turnaround time we need during our busy season and hae always gone above and beyond to deliver exceptional customer service.

What was your primary form of communication with Deep Space Robots?

• In-Person Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

I've always been impressed by DSR's kindness and caring. They are genuine people and very good at what they do.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Deep Space Robots could have done differently?

In the past, communication could be a bit slow. I know that they have focused on streamlining processes to make sure they are in touch proactively in case something might be falling behind.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Marketing of Nota

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Christian discipleship 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Deep Space Robots to accomplish?

• Develop & Launch Custom App
• Design Strategy & Execution
• AI Expertise

SOLUTION

How did you find Deep Space Robots?

Referral

Why did you select Deep Space Robots over others?

• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Deep Space Robots were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

DSR built our new app and internal admin dashboard from scratch, including design and strategy. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

DSR met deadlines and contributed significantly to the value offerings of the app. 

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

DSR is extremely responsive and completes tasks on or before deadlines. 

What was your primary form of communication with Deep Space Robots?

Virtual Meeting

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

Their creative contributions greatly improved our initial ideas and concepts. They really built a brand as much as they built the foundational and functional aspects of the app. Deep Space Robots' understanding of the project tone and goals is invaluable. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Deep Space Robots could have done differently?

No