Digital Krikits LTD

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company is a photo edit service that creates editing software. Starting in 2012, we initially existed only for desktop computers within a web browser. Now, the company provides fun, easy photo editing software on iOS, Android, and Amazon Fire. There’s also a program for both Windows and Mac.

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Krikits LTD?

I engaged them to build an iOS app of our photo editor with the potential long-term goal of completing an Android app as well.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve delivered the app after managing the development and design of the iOS and Android apps. The solution is compatible with the iPad and iPhone, with a slightly different interface on each product.

They worked closely with me on requirements surrounding features and functionalities. Given that a photo editor’s functionality is very complex compared to other applications, we started out with simple, basic photo editor functionalities.

From there, we also implemented some more robust functionalities as well. While both apps are now live, they’re continuing to work on improving them to this day.  They now manage the mobile and desktop versions of the software, essentially taking charge of software development for my company.

What is the team composition?

Initially, I worked with a project manager, who would communicate with the developers on my behalf. At this point, we’ve taken things a step further. I’m now working directly with a product manager and have some contact with the project manager and programmers. Generally, I’m dealing directly with the product manager. 

How did you come to work with Digital Krikits LTD?

I got in contact with them through a freelancing website after some negative experiences with another company. At that point, I didn’t want to work with an agency because of the overhead associated with those relationships. 

Instead, I was hoping to work directly with a programmer. However, in my conversations with its founder, I was impressed with the company’s approach and convinced that it was worth spending a bit more to have their agency manage the project. It turned out to be the right solution for me. 

How much have you invested with them?

Over the years, we’ve spent over $500,000 on their services. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement started in June 2015, and it’s still ongoing today. In fact, their responsibilities with me are growing.

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

Digital Krikits LTD have become like a family to me. I trust them and speak to them every single week on a conference call, truly viewing them as my partner in the future. Overall, they deliver top-notch quality because of the excellent programmers that they’re able to recruit. 

I’ve never had a problem with code not being up to my standards. They’re a unique and talented company with a personal, friendly approach to their work. Most importantly, they understand the project as a whole. They recognize when there are underlying problems or urgent issues that need to be addressed.   

How did Digital Krikits LTD perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re always transparent with any delays and why they’re taking place. I always know why things are taking the time that they are. Software development takes time because its a complex business. 

Digital Krikits LTD does a great job of managing the complexities of developing an ambitious project like mine. They’ve helped me set realistic expectations by communicating with me when things go wrong, working with me to discover a resolution. I enjoy working with them on these projects. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have the ability to take ownership of projects, treating them like their own. Because of that, they take our project very seriously. That allowed us to let go of the leash on our business and let them take it up. Customer service at that level is priceless. It helped us focus on higher levels of our business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’re responsive to our feedback. They’ve always listened to my input and taken it into account. For that reason, I don’t have anything that they need to do to improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re very experienced in the field, so let them drive the project as much as you can. There’s no need to micromanage them. They can handle a good-sized project.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of an emerging technology company. We help develop apps for third-party clients, and we also provide consulting services.

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Krikits LTD?

We lack the resources to build apps in-house. We outsourced development for an app to Digital Krikits LTD.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The project had two planned phases. For the first phase, we asked Digital Krikits LTD to provide six deliverables, including a list of technical and development specifications, a compliance checklist, an RFP of the project’s code specifications, mobile app screen mockups, and an interactive visual mockup. These materials would guide the second phase: developing the actual app. Digital Krikits LTD promised to produce the discovery phase deliverables within three weeks.

What is the team dynamic?

Digital Krikits LTD assigned the discovery phase to a summer intern, who received guidance from Jasson (CEO and Founding Partner, Digital Krikits LTD). 

How did you come to work with Digital Krikits LTD?

Their team was referred to us by a group of colleagues that we trusted.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent £5,000 (approximately $7,000) as an upfront fee. We planned to spend over $100,000 on the second phase.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2018, and the project lasted five months.

How did your relationship with Digital Krikits LTD evolve?

I felt uncomfortable with trusting our discovery phase materials with an intern. However, Digital Krikits LTD assured me that they would meet their delivery time of three weeks. The team did not meet that deadline. They gave us various excuses over the next few months for their delays that seemed flimsy to us. Five months later, Digital Krikits LTD delivered two of the deliverables—the static app screens and the interactive mockup. They refused to refund our upfront fee, and we ended the relationship.

Describe the impact this engagement has had on your business.

We’re late in delivering this app to market because we did not expect a five-month delay. The mockups that Digital Krikits LTD produced are of decent quality, but without the code specifications, we can’t direct another developer on how to build the app. As a result, we need to restart a discovery project with another vendor. Lastly, and most importantly, the delay led to our investors pulling out their funding. Without cash on hand, it’s hard to see this project moving forward anymore. 

How was project management handled?

Based on the three days I spent at their office, the intern was learning the craft while working on our project. The resources that Digital Krikits LTD invested in the project did not seem to match the amount we spent on their services. I watched over her screen and gave my thoughts on what I liked or didn’t like. Jasson occasionally came by to provide coaching and offer best practices. After that, I only communicated with Jasson. I had to constantly reach out to get any updates on progress. It was to an odd and unprofessional set-up in our eyes.

Any advice for potential customers?

Ask for a formal introduction with who will work on your project. Digital Krikits LTD has two in-house developers with many years of experience, but make sure they’re assigned to your project. Talk over Skype or in person about their CV and experiences. After that, pay for a three-day workshop to get familiar with their work style and ability to understand your project. This process will save you money if their skills don’t meet your needs.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

LearnerLab is a communications consultancy. We have a product that helps organizations curate and collect experience stories from customers, employees, and fans. I’m a founder of the company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Krikits?

We were looking for a development company that would do more than follow instructions; one that would be more of a partner for us, helping us through the development process of our first product.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They're developing a software as a service (SaaS) platform for us. It’s available to users as an app and to administrators to manage its content from a web backend. We came to them with designs, on which they also provided support. The UX and app flow designs were consultative processes.

It basically replaces an interviewer and video crew going out to capture people’s experiences in a recorded format. It allows organizations to create interview structures within their administration systems, then send that to their audience via the app. The user can watch some coaching videos to help them understand the context of what they’re supposed to be talking about, or they can use the framework the organization provides.

The app breaks down complex stories into bite-sized chunks; it typically uses five or six 30–50–second blocks of video, then stitches them into one piece, with no editing involved.

What is the team composition?

Jasson (CEO and Founding Partner, Digital Krikits) is our main point; he looks after the project for us from a project management standpoint and brings all the teams together. They limit the number of people we’re communicating with, but through Jasson we connect with the rest of the team.

How did you come to work with Digital Krikits?

We found them through Upwork and chose them over other providers because they walked through the consultative process with us.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2018.

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

The success of our work depends on their ability to deliver bug-free assets on time, in response to what our customers require. We measure it on whether they’re able to deliver what they say they will, at the promised quality and times.

The collaboration’s been going well. It’s not the most complicated project, but it has encountered unforeseen challenges that they’ve had to fix in the background. We have a good working relationship and we’re happy to continue it.

How did Digital Krikits perform from a project management standpoint?

Everything is kept simple. They've tested processes that we work with, the communication is really good, and they’re responsive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The amount of experience they have in the team enables them to plan how they build things, in a way that makes it flexible and modular enough to meet future needs that even we didn’t anticipate.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing we would push for in this respect, at the moment. We’re pretty happy with how things are going.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I’d keep my brief to Digital Krikits focused on the objectives that need to be achieved, and let them come back with what they believe a solution for that would look like. They’re definitely capable of providing end-to-end design through to production, going from needs analysis into the UX design and development. They have the skillsets to cover all of those in-house. We did much of that frontend work ourselves, but, the more Digital Krikits is engaged, the better value we’ll get out of them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Kyooz. We offer queuing services across London, queuing on behalf of people at London’s most popular locations.

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Krikits LLC?

We needed help building an iOS app for our queuing business.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We came to them with a sketch prototype and they helped to bring it into reality. We wanted to make our booking process as easy as other apps, such as Uber.
We needed two apps, one for the customers and one for our employees. They were very helpful in terms of giving us advice on what was the easiest route. They also assisted in terms of design and UX. We submitted what we had in mind with the prototype, then they were very proactive and gave us advice on the best approach.

We were very happy with the results because they made it very convenient. They reduced the number of clicks needed to place an order and generally they did an excellent job with it. It is an iOS app, but we are planning on rolling the app out on Android soon.

What is the team composition?

I had one point of contact who distributed the work amongst the team and provided me with updates. I also spoke to the CTO. I’m not sure how many people were in charge of my project, but I know some of them were in charge of the design and some of them were in charge of the coding.

How did you come to work with Digital Krikits LLC?

We found them through an online search. They were very helpful and really understood what the project was about. They made make suggestions on how to best approach it, which is something I really liked. Other developers just gave me quotes, which were awful, without really trying to understand what we are trying to do here. Digital Krikits approach was much friendlier and really made the difference when it came down to us choosing our developer.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from October 2017 until February 2018. They’re working on new versions and are also taking care of maintenance for the next six months.

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

We’re very happy with the design and the app works quickly. Their quote was very competitive—we were told by their competitors that paying a cheap price would mean having to pay twice. We were expecting the worst, but we got the best.

How did Digital Krikits LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They were super responsive to any of our questions or requests. Even now the work is done, if we have any follow up questions, they’re still very helpful. Overall, we’re very happy.

They were always very transparent when it came to the timeline and we had no delays from their side. Any issues were because we added things and had more iterations. When we signed the contract, we set up milestones. Each milestone corresponded to a key area and we had a very clear compliance checklist that we went through. There were on time with all of those milestones. Having the checklist was very helpful because it gave us an objective way of judging whether or not goals were achieved.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really appreciated that they took initiative. They really understood what we wanted the app to do, and came up with suggestions for new features. Initially, when we requested the first quote, they were very helpful at cutting down the features which weren’t absolutely necessary for the MVP. They also told us exactly what was achievable and the deadlines. It was very transparent and honest, which is something I really appreciated.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Hydromax is a professional services firm that specializes in engineering studies. We basically work with anything that has to do with pipelines: water, wastewater, and gas. We’ve also done oil and high-pressure pipelines for refineries and such. I'm the regional director for the West region, and I’m in charge of a large group of projects, the largest one of which is for an energy company in the Pacific Northwest.

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Krikits?

We had a specific need to develop an application to interface with a gas sampling center that took measurements of gas and air readings for a leak survey program. At the same time that it was sampling, we needed it to log the latitude and longitude of the device that was sampling it, and then do quite a few other things, all within an Android environment.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The app was internal for Hydromax’s team, and it’s actually integrated into a suite of other applications now. It’s our product for this particular industry, and it’s a total package solution that does everything you need in order to collect all of the data necessary for this program.

This particular app, besides the data processing, was 100% developed by Digital Krikits. Internally, we have lots of development capability. We have full-time developers for GIS, C#, Android, Apple, etc., but they were maxed out at the moment, and this was such an in-depth, specialized knowledge kind of project that we didn't have the capacity to take it on at the time. The client needed the solution as soon as possible, and the capacity was going to be six months minimum, so we reached out.

Digital Krikits provided pure app development in this case, and they had some good ideas. We were having trouble with integration in the beginning, and they had some good ideas for how to do testing. It was useful, but there was no market impact or anything like that for them to really give us any advice or strategy on.

How did you come to work with Digital Krikits?

Before hiring Digital Krikits, we had reached out to the manufacturer of the device and some other people about developing an app, but everyone basically said that they could do a part of it. We needed a one-stop solution to minimize the potential for error. I put out a request on Upwork and eventually found Digital Krikits. I talked to probably 40 app developers on Upwork and did not get past “Hey, here are the basics of what I need you to do.” Most of them didn't seem confident they could do the work, and their time estimates were just astronomical. Digital Krikits has been attentive to our requirements, they’ve done a great job with the integration, and they were able to do something that a lot of the other companies didn't have the technical chops to do.

How much have you invested with Digital Krikits?

I think we spent about $6,000 to launch the first iteration of the app. The first version did all the basic things we had originally asked for, so I thought that was a good price. Then, we probably bolted on another $5,000 in development time last year. This year, it’ll probably be another $3,500 before we’re done, and even then we might not be completely finished. It might be a whole other year until we’re done.

What is the status of this engagement?

I think we started working together in February or March 2016, and the first iteration probably went live in May 2016. We’ve gone through six or seven iterations since then, bolting on more specs, etc. We’re actively working on a more complex version of the app. We have an ongoing relationship.

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

Overall, I've been pretty happy with the app Digital Krikits has made for us. The manufacturer of this device has been working on an application to do what we’ve done with Digital Krikits for the last 10 years, and they still haven't released anything to the public. We spent less than a year working on the app with Digital Krikits, and we now have a workable app.

How did Digital Krikits perform from a project management standpoint?

Digital Krikits has done a good job; I’m been happy with what they’ve developed. The complexity of what we asked them to do was significant. There were certainly some things it did that I would’ve liked different, but nothing has been shocking. They’ve been quick to remedy any issues we’ve identified, and they’ve been receptive to feedback.

For the most part, I’ve worked with three guys from Digital Krikits: one for the user interface, one for the Android interface with the external device over Bluetooth, and then another one who’s kind of the ringleader that I communicate with all the time. The CEO has helped with interpretation and communication here and there as well.

Digital Krikits has done well from a project management standpoint. I don't know where their headquarters are, but the guys I work with are in Romania, and I know Romania has been going through some crazy stuff recently in terms of the political situation. However, they’ve still been good and responsive, and they are quick to get back to me. They have a faster turnaround than our internal team. I was happy with them.

What did you find most impressive about Digital Krikits?

The biggest thing that stood out to me was that Digital Krikits has a sort of assembly line setup for their people, which is good. They have specialized skill sets, and when they need a specific task done, they identify the person who’s going to do it right up front, and then they get the timeline from that person rather than trying to speak for people, which I've always been frustrated with in development. We’ve done a lot of development at Hydromax and we’ve had a lot of contract development done, and I've always been frustrated with getting an estimate from a project manager who’s not actually doing the job and who didn't actually talk to the engineer. With Digital Krikits, it was refreshing to talk directly to the person and ask them for their realistic timeline expectations. They get that feedback for me right away, which has allowed us to skirt around a lot of potential roadblocks.

Are there any areas Digital Krikits could improve?

A kind of weird thing they did this time was that they added changes and extras to the app that we didn't ask for or need. It wasn't intentional on their end, but it might have been nice to know about it in advance so we could have told them to save their time. The fact that we’re on totally opposite time zones definitely wasn’t conducive to that, because usually, I don't get an update until the next day. They were relaxed about it, but it was kind of odd and not something they had ever done before.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an online photo editor. I’m the director.

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Krikits?

The online photo editor which we run has seen a lot of success on desktop and laptop computers. Our users have been asking for us to create an app over the last three years. We had several failed experiences with creating the apps before finding Digital Krikits.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The app allows users to create collages and edit their photos on mobile devices in a sophisticated way beyond the inbuilt functionality that phones provide. We wanted something different from the other photo editing apps on the market. The app is free, but there’s an in-app purchase to unlock some functionality. Digital Krikits built the apps for both iOS and Android, and we have a dedicated interface for iPad devices because it’s really useful to have a larger screen. They provided all the designers, developers, project manager, and a QA person for the project. Because we had an online photo editor, we already had something to work from. I also provided a lot of screenshots and links to other apps related to what I was looking for. Digital Krikits isn’t providing marketing directly, but they’ve discussed possibilities and given me ideas. They’ve helped out with analytics within the app to identify what parts of the app people are using the most.

How did you come to work with Digital Krikits?

I found Digital Krikits through Upwork. We received a proposal from Digital Krikits before I used other developers. They were a little more expensive than working directly with freelancers, so I first used other developers. In the end, I ended up using Digital Krikits anyway.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them 15 months ago, and the iPad version launched four months ago. We’re still polishing the iPhone and Android apps and hope to launch in the next few months.

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

There have been 38 legitimate reviews posted online. There’s 32 5-star reviews, one or two 4-star, and one or two 1-star. One of the poor reviews was someone who ran into a problem and couldn’t edit a photo. The other one was a mistake. They said it was a great app and they’re enjoying using it.

How did Digital Krikits perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall I’m very pleased with the project management Digital Krikits have provided. I’m shielded from the stress of dealing directly with developers, QA and designers and so am able to take a higher level perspective of the project. We haven’t had a strict deadline as this is something users have been asking for and the sooner we provide it, the better. We have set some general guidelines to launch certain functionality and we have gone over those dates by a month or so, but I take responsibility for that as a perfectionist who has pushed for functionality to be included that perhaps could have been left for a later phase. As the product is somewhat complex, this is also to be expected as we tweak our results prior to launching them. Overall, I would class them as good when it comes to deadlines and exceptional when it comes to overall project management.

What did you find most impressive about Digital Krikits?

Digital Krikits is a professional agency where you’re dealing with friendly, intelligent people who want to see you succeed and want to see you happy. Your success is their success. I always feel taken care of. I don’t have anything bad to say about them. I’m now friends with the CEO and project manager, and I really enjoy working with them.

Are there any areas Digital Krikits could improve?

In retrospect, I probably would’ve pushed for a smaller product and got it to market quicker with more iterations after launching, but in the end I am responsible for that decision.

Please describe your organization. What is your role and responsibilities?

My company is Get Busy Living, a blog and podcast on inspiring others to lead better lives. I’m the lead writer for the blog.

What was your goal for working with Digital Krikits?

I needed an agency to help me develop a few app for projects related to my blog and podcast. I had initially partnered with another agency, but had to let them go because it seemed like my project was their lowest priority.

Please describe the scope of your partnership.

In addition to mobile app development, Digital Krikits helped bring ideas and suggestions to help improve my apps. Digital Krikits has been maintaining and adding features to my apps for the last four years.

What was your process for selecting Digital Krikits with which to work?

I initially found Digital Krikits on Elance but it seems that they have grown since then. I put up an ad and something about their response drew me to them. Their profile looked really professional, I talked with their team via Skype, and I felt the most comfortable partnering with them out of all the other agencies I was considering. I’m really glad I decided to choose Digital Krikits.

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative in dollar terms or a personnel work-hour figure?

I’ve been working with Digital Krikits since 2011. My partnership in total has cost in between $20,000 and $30,000.

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

There was an initial peak in user downloads since then Digital Krikits has been instrumental in keeping the apps relevant in the App Store. There’s been good user feedback about certain features I’ve added over the last couple years.

Is there anything unique or special about Digital Krikits that really makes them stand out compared to other business partners?

I’ve dealt with a lot of different companies developing different apps and I like Digital Krikits because of their communication efforts. With outsourcing outside of the United States, the rates are cheaper, but sometimes there’s a barrier in communication. With the Digital Krikits team, they have really competent English. Feedback is really quick. I’m never worried about them taking my money and running with it. They’re in the business to build apps for their clients, not take ideas and build them themselves. I have trust in them. I like the work they put in and the work they do to test the apps on different devices. It’s reassuring to know they’re not just testing it on one device, and then sending it to the App Store. 

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

Their rates have gone up, but that’s expected with a growing company. I guess with more experience and more customers they’re able to increase their rates. Sometimes, they get backed up and things take a little longer than they should. They apologize for that but it has not caused any major issues.

Please describe your organization. What is your role and responsibilities?

I’m the founder of a company that enables people to share resources within their personal communities.

Please describe the scope of their work.

I needed an iOS app developed. There were some things that I wanted to build that were extensive and complicated. I needed a company that had experience developing GPS functionality and messaging functionality.

What was your process for selecting Digital Krikits with which to work?

I found Digital Krikits through Elance. They were one of the companies that had a very specific strategy and plan that was very well thought through. When evaluating them I looked at some other work they did and I compared pricing. They seemed to be the best value for the money. That’s how I ended up choosing them.

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative in dollar terms or a personnel work-hour figure?

The project was somewhere in the $10,000 to $50,000 range.

Is there anything unique or special about Digital Krikits that really makes them stand out compared to other business partners?

They performed very well. Their communication skills are excellent. They were able to stay on top of everything and keep everything on track and on schedule.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

There were some delays, but nothing major.

Please describe your organization. What is your role and responsibilities?

I am the founder and managing director of a mobile app development company.

What was your goal for working with Digital Krikits?

We partnered with Digital Krikits to develop a large social networking app on both iOS and Android operating systems. We wanted to find a company that could not only support the project, but also had the expertise in all aspects of the project.

Please describe the scope of their work.

The project with Digital Krikits involved the creation and development of UX [user experience] wireframing, UI [user interface] design, programming, and testing for our social networking app in both iOS and Android operating systems.

What was your process for selecting Digital Krikits with which to work?

We contacted a number of companies. Digital Krikits were more than happy to go above and beyond to get details about the project. The Digital Krikits team was proactive in coming up with suggestions and ideas to improve the product. We were confident in their ability. We knew that they could handle everything that the project needed to succeed.

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative in dollar terms or a personnel work-hour figure?

The size of the project was in the $50,000 to $200,000 range.

When was the work completed?

Our partnership with Digital Krikits is still ongoing.

Do you have any statistics or metrics to track improvement from the project?

There aren’t any specific metrics. However, the feedback that we have received from our clients has been excellent.

Is there anything unique or special about Digital Krikits that really makes them stand out compared to other business partners?

The Digital Krikits team is very good at communicating effectively. They made sure that everything was clear and accurate. Also, other companies that we have worked with were very quick to charge extra. Digital Krikits was very understanding. They want to have a good relationship with the client.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or that you might do differently?

Overall, Digital Krikits did a good job. However, Digital Krikits’ adherence to deadlines could be a little better.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of our company, which makes Android-based hardware devices for consumers.

For what projects/services did your company hire Digital Krikits LTD?

Digital Krikits did ongoing development on our most important Android application.

What were your goals for this project?

Ongoing development, with very high quality standards.

How did you select this vendor?

We interviewed several agencies, and Digital Krikits seemed like the most compelling and cost-effective choice.

Describe the project in detail.

Digital Krikits led app development of an Android app which was displayed on a dedicated hardware device in the home for hundreds of thousands of people.

What was the team composition?

Primarily one Android developer, with a project manager assisting as needed.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We launched several new releases of our app over 2 years, with high customer satisfaction.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Generally very effective. The only challenging aspect was being on the West Coast, with a 10 hour time difference from Romania. Generally it was not a problem, but when we needed to work on stuff synchronously, it could be tricky to schedule.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They had strong development chops and good communication.

Are there any areas for improvement?

As our weekly or monthly needs became quite small, it became hard for Digital Krikits to prioritize it. This is always the challenge with agencies if you do a major project and then have less to do after -- agencies in general are not well suited to ongoing small feature fixes and bug work.