Digitalist North America

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a premium real estate developer based in Vancouver. I am a senior business analyst here in the IT department.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digitalist North America?

The initiative was to build a customer web app solution that can help us to connect with our customers more directly. We hired them to provide UX/UI development and web app development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team uses JavaScript to develop the client’s web application. Their work is mostly focused on UI/UX design and development. They’re still adding new features to the application, but we’re about to launch pretty soon. Usually, we have our requirements set from stakeholders. However, during the development phase and as we present the integrated features of the product to our stakeholders, they give us feedback — which becomes the basis for new development features. 

What is the team composition?

We've worked with their director of technology, director of design, and another designer on board. We also have 2–3 full-stack developers working with us on the project. 

How did you come to work with Digitalist North America?

There was a variety of reasons why we chose Digitalist North America. First, our project had a fixed cost for the first phase and not a lot of vendors could accommodate that. We also heard good words about the company and we also got a recommendation from a colleague — and that was the reason why we chose to go with them. 

How much have you invested with them?

The two initiatives that they’ve completed for us costs $250,000 CAD (approximately $196,830 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership started in February 2020, and we’re still working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We really enjoy working with them and they provide resources with their industry knowledge. It’s very easy to work with them because they can provide expertise on UI/UX preferences and best practices. In addition, they’ve been delivering high-quality development work. We are also impressed by their accurate estimate. In addition, we use their experience to validate our ideas, so it gives us the confidence to stay on course to where we want to build or take our product. 

How did Digitalist North America perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management has been handled by us. However, they provide expertise and estimates of the parts they’re working on. We've invited the members to join teams and our project management tool is Jira. We follow agile methodologies in planning, daily stand-ups, and sprint reviews. 

They give us a heads up if something can’t be delivered or if they can help us with anything that we need. They’re also accommodating, and their responsiveness and transparency allow our teams to develop a close bond with each other. Overall, the project has been on track.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very friendly, flexible, and easy to work with. They’re really good at what they do and they have great team dynamics. Their work ethic is also impressive. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Whenever we design a solution and they give us feedback, they can be a little more critical about it. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I think they’re pretty good. They can work with any clients.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief innovation officer at a fuel logistics company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digitalist North America?

We needed help upgrading our online data portal to help our customers better manage our equipment through a self-serve system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They made it so customers could add and edit equipment-related information on our web portal, including importing, exporting, and reporting. The team also set the system up to integrate that data set so that we don’t interrupt our billing cycle.

What is the team composition?

We work with five people from their team, including a project manager, a database specialist, a designer, and a coder.

How did you come to work with Digitalist North America?

They were referred to us and did a similar project with our parent company. They did an RFP and their rates were more competitive than other options.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $750,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2020, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They were very organized and thorough. The look and feel of the UI are really good. Overall, it’s been really great.

How did Digitalist North America perform from a project management standpoint?

They had a good cadence to meetings. We use Azure DevOps and other software for project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very process-oriented and organized around their cadence to standard releases.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We missed some timelines because we didn’t fully understand the full scope at the start. I’m not sure if that was their fault or mine.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would highly recommend them. The group we were assigned has been really good.