DeveloPress

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a freelance photographer. I do portraits and business photos, but I mainly do wedding photography.

What challenge were you trying to address with DeveloPress?

I needed to implement a platform or plugin for my website to showcase the gallery of my wedding photography clients. I wanted something custom-made and very personalized. My clients needed to have a unique and different experience from galleries on other platforms, which are for the general public.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The first time I met with DeveloPress, we agreed on what the whole project would look like. Meeting with a graphic designer was very important because I had a particular design planned for this gallery. 

DeveloPress developed a WordPress website where I can log in and show my galleries, which is the main feature. Since some customers don't want to share their photos with the public, I can send them guest links with a password, and they can access their galleries.

DeveloPress added a report feature that provides me with very detailed statistics on which photos were downloaded. There is also a feature where the customer can select single or multiple photos, and I can print the image or an album.

What is the team composition?

I spoke with the founder, a project manager, and a graphic designer.

How did you come to work with DeveloPress the project?

DeveloPress did websites for my friends. When I was looking for web developers, my friends recommended them.

How much have you invested with them?

I spent about $11,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in the middle of January 2021. The engagement lasted for about five weeks, so we ended the project at the end of February 2021.

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

Even though DeveloPress finished the project a few months ago, I can't show any specific success metrics because tomorrow I have my first wedding of the season. After this wedding, I’ll make a gallery for my client. Before that, I only tested the site, so I can't say how the new features impact my business right now. So far, I’m happy with the results and the outcome of the project.

How did DeveloPress perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management was really good. We had appointments once a week to discuss all of the main project goals, and they were really prepared. Between those meetings, they contacted me about minor issues or ideas.

We communicated through Messenger and video calls. If we had a problem that required a meeting, we had a video call, but they were almost always minor issues that could be solved through email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The main advantage is that DeveloPress did what I expected them to do. They were really nice people to talk to. They listened to me and gave me feedback on some ideas that I proposed. Whenever my ideas were incorrect or we could do things differently they talked with me — that was really nice of them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don't think so. They were really good, and my product is great. We will see what my clients have to say, but I believe they will be happy with it.

Any advice for potential customers?

Just work with them. They are very talkative people, and they have many good ideas. I'm not a technical guy, but they could explain what they needed to do in simple words. At every stage of the work, I really understood what was going on with my project.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I help some of my clients to build e-stores

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

One musician decided to wanted to open an e-store where his customers can buy instrumentals which he has recorded and related sheet music.

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

Our choice was to work with WordPress and the WooCommerce plugin which converts a Content Management System into a fully working e-store. We were looking for a company which is very good in WordPress

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

We needed to build e-store. What was crucial for the music artist was to be able to restrict downloads only to those who have bought his products. Our choice was to work with WordPress and the WooCommerce

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

PM, one developer, and as far as I know, there was one tester

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

It is beginning of the e-store, so there are no data yet.

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

We had meetings bi-weekly. We used mails, slack and google meet for communication. For tasks management, we were using asana and SmartSheet.

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

They were real experts in WordPress

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

I think we went through this project very smoothly and there is nothing to change.