EXDERA - UI UX Design Agency in Bangalore

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a co-founder and the CTO of Bidcoins, a blockchain company with three custom cryptocurrency assets. Our ultimate aim is to make the secondhand markets of the world more accessible and easier to trust, by providing some easement to the earth’s natural resources and such. Our intention in launching the brand is to focus on the niche of luxury auto markets—supercars, imports, and things like this

We can use the blockchain to qualify bidders, but still leave their anonymity intact. For example, a seller can only allow bidders with X amount of liquidity or with a particular license to bid on vehicles. We can off-chain verify those data points and, if satisfying those conditions, allow that bidder to pass into the auction anonymously. They’re qualified, yet participating anonymously.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Earning Designs?

I’ve known Hari (Director –Product Design & Digital Strategies, Earning Designs Private Limited) for going on 10 years, and he is an insane, insane designer. They’re responsible for not just our interface, but everything from the logo to the user experience, gesture work, and the flow of participating in an auction was the work of Hari and his team. He’s worked on aesthetics and understanding the user story.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Scoping is another area where Earning Designs stands out. Traditionally, a provider might interact with the client verbally to an extent, after which they will come up with some wireframe concept. Wireframes show us placements, but there are really no aesthetic elements such as the animation of a button click or switch toggle.

At the wireframing stage, Hari actually came back with functional, high-fidelity designs. If we didn’t know any better, we’d actually think that the application was built. We could click things and flow through user stories stylized with nice, beautiful graphical interfaces representing our brand image. They gave us a comfortable feeling that our goals were understood and possible to articulate. I’ve been at this for a long time, and I believe Hari is the only one who’s done this process for me. It was information gathering, followed by wireframing and hi-fi prototypes. We went through 1–2 reiterations at each stage, based on the feedback of what was delivered.

 I’ve brought Hari in on a lot of projects, and everyone’s commented on his skills and experience.

Our scope with Earning Designs so far is comprised of logo design and brand guidelines. They’ve done our web interface, as well as user experience guidelines. They’ve also done the frontend design work, including button animations and how they scale for different devices. They’ve also done our website design, and they’re about to release a new design, which is more lightweight and sophisticated. They’ve also done the mobile interface of the platform, which is not quite released. Hari’s team is also handling our event materials, such as fliers and banners. I’m a keynote speaker at Blockchain Powerhouse in Tokyo on August 10th, and Hari is taking care of all our fliers and banners.

 What is the team composition?

I’m working with 3–4 people from Earning Designs, aside from Hari.

 How did you come to work with Earning Designs?

My first experience outsourcing software work was in 2010. I went on Elance and posted a small project, and company from India replied. I was a novice back then, and I was a little nervous, so I consulted a friend from the industry, who told me to give the company a bit of work and have him audit the code. I sent them the task, they sent back great code, and that was the beginning of giving that company more and more work. About a year and a half in, I went over there and actually spent some time with them. Hari was the one who picked me up from the airport, and I went to lunch with him every day. He’s an amazing guy.

 He moved on and I moved on, but we always kept in touch. We got back together around a year and a half ago, and he filled me in on Earning Designs and a couple of other projects he was working on. It was good timing, since I was just launching Bidcoins and needed a designer. I was thoroughly pleased that I made the decision. I have him on 7–8 other projects now.

 How much have you invested with them?

We’re spending $3,000–$4,000 per month on their services.

 Being a blockchain company, we deal a lot in our own coin asset as well, so it’s kind of hard to quantify a stated value. Earning Designs is based in India, which is a questionable place now, when it comes to cryptocurrencies. Citizens of India aren’t allowed to buy and sell cryptos, at least while they’re in the country. Hari trusts me, but I don’t have everything in paper for giving him those coins yet, given the current financial ecosystem there. Speaking candidly, our cryptocurrency is quite valuable, and so will his stake. We could actually s ay we’re in the $20,000–$50,000 range per month with them, just based on that.

What is the status of this engagement?

For Bidcoins, we started working with Earning Designs in March 2019, and we have around 750 hours committed so far, for the entire team. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our developers are now in the process of distributing our application to the Stellar public blockchain. We don’t have users yet. We’re going to go through a soft launch, after which we’ll go back and reiterate.

 I already knew this, but the feedback that solidified my belief came from one of our blockchain developers. He was in his early 20s and already a successful developer with his own exits. He’s done forensics hacking for law enforcement and government agencies. He loves Bidcoins; it’s one of his favorite projects that he’s worked on. Him and his team rave about Hari. Between all of us, there’s probably a century’s worth of technology experience, and all of these people are impressed and go out of their way to talk about Hari and his skill. Everyone who’s come into contact with the project is becoming a client of Hari’s, just based on what they’ve seen of his design work, deliverables, and charisma. He’s a rock star, but a humble one.

 How did Earning Designs perform from a project management standpoint?

I’ve taken some cues from them in terms of SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) and ways of handling stuff. They’re always available. I always ask Hari if he sleeps, and I don’t think he does. They ensure that their understanding is accurate and that they’re not making assumptions. I think that’s the biggest frustration and cost in technology: people assume and, after the work is done, we have to go back and redo it. If they all would’ve spent a little time in the woodshop with their father, they’d know that you measure twice, cut once. That’s rare, though, and it’s nice that Hari goes miles beyond, just ensuring that it’s understood.

 We don’t use any collaboration tools outside of WhatsApp. Anyone doing international business is probably a WhatsApp user, but it’s particularly big in India.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s the end result. He’s just thorough, and he’s far above average in every checkbox, in terms of being on time, being thorough, being polite, and, the designs themselves surpassing expectations.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I think they should charge more for their services. I have the benefit of the fact that Hari is just in the breakout stage. Two years from now, he’s going to be much more expensive.