GLOBALDEV

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and CEO of Kreditech. We're active in the field of consumer lending.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with X1 Group?

We wanted to very quickly hire an experienced engineering team. Germany is very competitive, so it can be difficult to recruit talent in the field of software engineering.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

We wanted a team of backend and frontend engineers who were experienced in certain technologies. X1 selected the candidates, recruited that team on our behalf, and then hosted the team. We had to clearly define profiles before they recruited for us. 

It took a couple of weeks from the initial kick-off to having people in place. It was a little difficult to find people due to them not having the biggest span of technologies, and I wanted to participate in some of the final interview processes.

We built a complete software stack for our consumer lending business, which operates in multiple countries and consists of the frontend, backend, and a whole range of microservices.

What is the team composition?

We started with a small team of three people, which then very quickly grew because the model was working successfully and we were very happy with the results. We mostly communicate with the founder and CEO who has been the key lead for managing the relationship. We interact with him for all matters of our general partnership and business-related terms. In the day-to-day business, we interact directly with the engineers, which includes the leads and almost all the engineers. They interface very closely with our technology.

How did you come to work with X1 Group?

We were referred by one of our investors who worked with them before and highly recommended them. We were in the process of speaking to various other software outsourcing and nearshore companies, but X1 really convinced us because their services were adjusted to the specific needs of our company. We were able to establish our relationship very quickly.

How much have you invested in them?

We have a fixed rate per engineer per month, which depends on the seniority and skillset.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in February 2012 and have an ongoing relationship.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The entire infrastructure that our company runs on has, to a very large extent, been built by X1. We're happy with the overall quality of engineering, as well as the fact that it's scalable for us so we can source additional capacity to our team. We have a certain amount of flexibility during the time when we need additional engineering capacities.

How did X1 Group perform from a project management standpoint?

We don't have a classical outsourcing model and the actual management of the team happens on our side. The responsibility for the project management and management of the delivery directly sits with us.

We've built a very good relationship with the team. We feel that the team identifies with our company and very quickly scaled all the way up to 40 people after three years.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We're still working with them today because we're very happy with the quality of people and the amount of support we receive. It's been unique, compared to the model that many other outsourcing companies provide.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you set up a team with X1, make sure it's a fully functional team and that they have all the roles you need them to work on. We found a fully functional team consists of a product owner, a technical lead, a couple of engineers, and QA who form a comprehensive scrum team and are able to take up their work independently. That works well and was a key lesson learned.

Another important part is to closely integrate people and make sure that they get a sense of what is happening in your company, what is important, and what the priorities are. Over time, we treated our team from X1 like a business unit, involving them in our own meetings and engaging them with our company. You have to be in a position to manage an engineering team, with a good understanding of the type of workflow you want to establish.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the head of engineering for a fintech startup based in Germany. We provide services to freelancers and small-to-medium-sized businesses. At the moment, we primarily provide factoring, short-term invoice financing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with X1 Group?

Our challenge was to scale our remote team as fast as possible. This was not possible in just Berlin, so we needed an outsourced hiring team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

X1 Group seamlessly integrates as a remote hiring team in Ukraine. Their team interviews and hires professionals for our remote development team. They conduct calls daily and throughout the day to update us on our new developers. They’re providing office spaces and all the technical equipment for our employees located in Ukraine. We also work with their HR team approve vacations and other low maintenance management issues.

What is the team composition?

We work with their CEO and HR team.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in December 2017 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their hires speed up our development significantly and are experienced senior developers that always produce quality software.

How did X1 Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They're always responsive and contact back within seconds on Slack. Even on weekends, they communicate with us on upcoming deadlines, which we really appreciate. We also use Google Hangout and Zoom video conferences. Their English is great, and our remote collaboration works well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their focus on quality is amazing. They get our hires up to speed really fast, and the developers they hire are ready to work on the same day. They're really focused on excellent delivery, meeting business goals, and improving our development.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s sometimes tough to deal with an outsourced company. It would be nice if they were located in Berlin, but they’ve actually been pretty good thus far. We’re absolutely happy.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Actually use them, as they are great providers. Be prepared to answer a lot of business-related questions. Because this will help them figure out how to bring your business success.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the Founder and Director of an events company. Users can create an event, hire venues and additional services, and sell tickets, all on our platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Steelkiwi?

We had an idea of how we wanted the website to work, but, because we hadn't physically had a website before, we didn't know what features would or wouldn't work. That’s why we needed a company to actually create it for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We described our website to a sales manager and their them, and then they told us what they thought would or wouldn't work, and how they would go about creating it. We had our logo already created prior to getting the website made, but outside of that, they’ve done the rest of the design work for us. 

We wanted it to be easy to give users as many different options as possible. So, if a user wanted to hire a venue, they could do that quite easily. If they already had a venue arranged somewhere else, they could post the location of the event and then hire additional services. Being flexible in creating the event was most important to us.

There are pages within the website where registered users track data themselves. If we had avid event creators, they could see all of the different events that they created and understand which ones were popular, which ones had the most guests, or how much money each one made. Likewise, businesses who list their venues or their services–whether it's catering companies, or security companies–would have a breakdown of all the statistics of when and how their business was used.

What is the team composition?

We initially talked with a sales manager, but then our team of seven or eight people was led by a project manager.

How did you come to work with Steelkiwi?

My business partner and I researched a number of different web companies. Initially, we approached Steelkiwi and were going to go with them, but then we spoke to another developer who we decided to go with. The other developer made us believe that they understood our idea more than Steel Kiwi initially did. We had meetings with the other developer, but when it came to actually starting the project, we realized that they didn't understand what we wanted. So, we went back to Steel Kiwi. We had a in-depth conversation with a sales manager and other people on the team and they really helped us understand that they knew what we wanted.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $50,000–$60,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since August 2017.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a startup that’s developing a mobile app that uses heat-map data in order to display the attendance rate of different nightlife venues.

I’ve been working in this industry for a long time and am often asked about good places to go out. I always look on Google and check the live data on how many people are visiting different locales. Eventually, I came up with the idea of displaying the same type of attendance data but displayed on a heat-map so that everyone knows how popular a place is and its peak business hours.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SteelKiwi?

We needed help with creating the app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed my app for both iOS and Android platforms. I had designs created by an Upwork freelancer, but that person’s work was messy. SteelKiwi started out with redoing the designs while we gave them wireframes and a project backlog.

The core features of the app include a filter system. Because partying is different between cities, instead of having tens of global filters, we made it so that only the filters with at least one result behind them would be visible between different locations. It’s a flexible and adaptive system meant to make the app more user-friendly.

What is the team composition?

They provided a designer, an iOS developer, an Android developer, a backend developer, one or two testers, and a project manager.

How did you come to work with SteelKiwi?

They were extremely reactive in their sales process and listened to the challenge I had. I was searching for a team that would truly understand the product and who would be likely to use the app themselves. I felt that SteelKiwi was the right team for the project. They had the spirit for it.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost of their work was $55,000, though this figure is not quite representative of the overall project since there always are several adjustments and smaller features that need to be addressed.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with SteelKiwi in January 2018. The app has been available for about three months on iOS and one week on Android.

From my experience, I know that one version of an app should be finished before starting work on the other one, given that there will always be mistakes and change requirements after testing it on users. I didn’t want to correct everything twice, so I started on the Android version quite late in the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

SteelKiwi has done very good work in terms of design. I’ve tested the app and have had very good results with Facebook Ads, attaining a cost per acquisition of only €0.20 ($0.24 USD) per new user, which is quite a good result but we’re working on making it better.

We’re currently in the process of launching a promotional campaign so that we can generate informative metrics for potential investors. I want to prove that the app can have good traction and a good retention rate, which isn’t all that good at the moment. I’d also like to implement a notification feature in the future so that people feel compelled to come back to the app.

How did SteelKiwi perform from a project management standpoint?

I was flexible in terms of deadlines, to begin with, and we mainly used Slack for communication. I know I was a bit annoying at times, given that I changed my mind a bit down the road.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I made few mistakes by being a bit too flexible. On their side, they should have been more clear with the exact features coming next, but I’m happy with SteelKiwi’s services. For the price, their performance was perfect. I know that had I made this application in France or England, it would’ve cost two to four times as much. They were also very flexible and continued the work even when I was late with payments.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There have been some small misunderstandings at times when they don’t get in touch when a feature requirement isn’t clear.

Also, I’ve entered a lot of data for the places on the map, such as the kind of music a locale has, what the dress code is, the price range, and so on. In order to test the data entry feature, one of their testers entered a lot of data to various places. The tester left the team, as well as his data on the main public server. I’ve asked them to clean it up, but they haven’t, which is quite annoying. It’s possible that I still have one or two places with weird information.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

If they want to work with SteelKiwi, clients need to be as specific as possible, including drawing every detail themselves before asking for features. Their members are developers, not business people.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company is working on a collaboration platform powered by blockchain. It provides tools for managing projects, sharing tasks, and delivering notifications. The company was founded specifically to launch this platform, which we are planning to launch in the autumn of 2018. I am the founder and CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SteelKiwi?

We’re based in Austria, and needed developers who were proficient in a specific area to address a development challenge. After reviewing several companies, it turned out that SteelKiwi was a good partner for us. They had adequate pricing and the specific attributes we required. It was a good choice for us to work with a company based in the U.S. and Ukraine.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We developed the platform concept locally and gave SteelKiwi a fleshed-out concept from which to start. They supported us in planning features and wireframing the platform. We planned the core features, but they helped us refine and augment them. The platform was built using React.js and the Solidity blockchain programming language.

Implementing the blockchain functionality was a particular challenge. The platform is blockchain-powered, so SteelKiwi has brought in some experts who are proficient in this technology. We've also brought some extra people on our side. Overall, the project has gone smoothly.

We’ve had some organizational challenges, but nothing technical we couldn’t solve. The challenges came from having a decentralized approach. The team from SteelKiwi is in one place, but we’ve brought in collaborators from the U.S. and Canada to work with us. Since developers didn't work from the same office, we had communication issues.

What is the team composition?

The size of the team has fluctuated. Including quality assurance (QA) resources, we’ve worked with up to 15 resources from SteelKiwi.

How did you come to work with SteelKiwi?

We prepared a short brief about the project, which was a retrospective of the weightier brief. The concept has huge innovation potential, so we didn’t want to send it to dozens of companies in its entirety. We received different responses from different providers. Some didn’t reply, while others just wrote an email.

SteelKiwi was quite eager to talk. We immediately organized a meeting with their sales agent, who was motivated to find out about the project. She prepared a convincing quote document that assessed the whole project, then based a detailed quote on what we sent them. This document—along with SteelKiwi's personal, communicative approach—was a big factor. Their price was also relatively competitive. They refunded the initial wireframing later, as a little bonus.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with SteelKiwi in 2017. We have finished the minimum viable product (MVP), and are continuing to develop additional features. We are 65–70% complete.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

So far, SteelKiwi has usually delivered on time. We recently launched the landing page of an initial coin offering (ICO) we’re performing, a side project advertising the platform. We’re very happy with the design and functionality of the platform. Creating the MVP was a huge milestone.

How did SteelKiwi perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve had some issues, but they have been resolved quickly. They mainly stem from us bringing in external people to work on our blockchain smart contracts. SteelKiwi has adapted to our situation quickly. Nothing is unsolvable, and nothing blocks the process.

We have a lot of Skype meetings, and we also use Slack. They use great tools that made it simpler for us to collaborate on the project. They are always forthcoming, coming up with good solutions for us to improve processes. They are always reachable, remaining in contact throughout the day through Slack and Skype. The collaboration works well. I wouldn’t give them a good review if I didn’t think they do a good job. They are helpful in every regard.

Are there any areas they could improve?

A common problem with many development studios is adopting too many communication channels, like email, Slack, and Skype. At one point, we had to dial down the number of channels we were using.

As the amount of information grew, the channels also grew exponentially. We’ve had to simplify communication a bit and remove some channels to make the information flow in a more structured way. We resolved it quickly. It wasn't a major gripe or a permanent, specific problem with SteelKiwi. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a startup called Your Living-room Trainer. It’s basically an online gym with profiles for trainers and trainees, and the service matches compatible exercise preferences and processes payments for individual sessions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SteelKiwi?

We needed to design and build a site that would support the platform and all the features we were looking to include.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SteelKiwi created the site on Drupal, and handled all aspects of development including design, UX/UI, and backend work. We initially provided them with a series of sketches/ideas for the look and feel, but they took the lead on design execution. Throughout the project they used Django, Python, and Amazon Web Services for hosting. They also set us up on Google Analytics.

What is the team composition?

We primarily worked with Kristina Malik, who acted as our project manager. Yvette Mosiichuk lead UX development and the design process. I also worked with two developers on occasion.

How did you come to work with SteelKiwi?

I originally found them on Google. I interviewed quite a few other agencies, but none of them were a good fit.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested under $50,000 on the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May of 2017, and concluded in January of 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The design of the product was very clean and well-done. It’s simple to use, and the user flow is great. We’re still waiting on user feedback, but we’re very happy with the end product and looking forward to seeing how it’s received.

How did SteelKiwi perform from a project management standpoint?

They were top notch; Kristina did an excellent job. She was communicative, organized, and attentive throughout the project. They were very responsive. We used a combination of Slack, Jira, Confluence, and Skype for communication and tracking progress.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication was very impressive, and they worked very well as a team. Also, during the project, I had some personal issues due to Hurricane Irma, and they were very understanding and were willing to work around my schedule.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I was a bit nervous about the number of bugs that came up during the testing phase, but they fixed them efficiently at no extra charge. They could also be more communicative around pricing, because they’re charging more than their initial quote.

Advice for potential customers?

They’re an excellent company to work with, and the customer service is great. Be open and communicate with them. Make sure they know exactly what you’re looking for, and I’m 100% sure that they’ll do everything they can to make it happen.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Jezter, a parental-controlled children’s entertainment and education app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SteelKiwi?

We needed to outsource a company for mobile app development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, we discussed project specifications and negotiated a price. Then, we were assigned a project manager who laid out a timeline. They provided a beta version that we then had tested. Once that was complete, SteelKiwi resumed development. We received weekly builds and provided feedback until the product was complete.

Essentially, they developed an iOS app that aggregates kid-friendly online content like YouTube videos, web games, and comics. This included building a backend server that we upload content too, and designing the app’s final UI. The finished product features a catalog for users to easily discover content. Alternatively, parents can manage what their kids view by creating playlists and limiting screen time via in-app functions.

What is the team composition?

We worked with the account manager and project manager, but never interacted with the developers.

How did you come to work with SteelKiwi?

We found them and 5–6 other companies on Clutch. After interviewing all potential vendors, SteelKiwi was the most professional and had the best prices.

How much have you invested with them?

This project cost around $27,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement took place May 2017­–November 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve had 200 beta testers, and 20–30 have sent positive reviews. Parents are impressed with how easily they can manage their child’s screen time.

How did SteelKiwi perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated via Skype and email, while using Trello and Jira to assist with project management. They’d respond to questions within an hour, or at least communicate when they’d have an answer if the question was difficult. However, the 7–hour time-zone difference was challenging in terms of deadlines, but that’s the drawback of outsourcing overseas.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The final product was delivered above expectations. The UI is great and functions completely without bugs. We’re fully satisfied and plan to work with them on future developments.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The project manager’s English wasn’t perfect, and that sometimes caused miscommunication. However, the account manager is almost fluent in English, which is impressive.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

SteelKiwi is great for startups with a fluid vision. They did a lot of research to help us decide where to take our product.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder of Hashtag Hound, an app that helps find hashtags for Instagram.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Steelkiwi?

We needed to find someone who could develop an app they haven’t done before. A lot of companies just want to do something they've done in the past. No one could guarantee us that the algorithm we wanted to build will actually work. Steelwiki was the first company that said they could definitely do it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They worked on everything involving the app. They built it for iOS and Android. They built the user interface. They drew illustrations for use inside the app and created the icons and logo designs.

The user logs in and sees categories that they can choose from that relate to their photo. They can choose the date, location, and language, and the app provides the user with a list of the best hashtags that are suitable for their photo. The user will be able to get the relevant audience that will see the photo. The app isn't on the App Store yet, but it's almost done. We are testing it now.

What is the team dynamic?

There were 2 developers on each platform. We had meetings with the whole team working on the project whenever it was necessary, but I dealt mostly with the team leader.

How did you come to work with Steelkiwi?

I was browsing websites and portfolios of different companies. Steelkiwi attracted my attention because of the designs of their apps. I felt like it was suitable for our purposes. At the initial meeting, I saw how involved and passionate they are. They understood me straight away, and they seemed genuinely interested in developing my app.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent around $40,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them since April 2017. We're testing this particular build of our app. Once we get feedback from the users, we'll look at it together, fix the app, and then launch it on the App Store. They'll provide the support afterward.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The feedback has been positive so far. For people who haven't had help with finding hashtags for Instagram, they're happy and excited. People who are using other services or apps have concerns that it doesn't work the same way as other apps, but they're happy with the design, and they like the interface. The main complaint is that the selection process for the hashtags is not as fast. We might change the technical selection process.

How did Steelkiwi perform from a project management standpoint?

They were incredibly reliable. I have no complaints whatsoever. They worked so fast that I didn't expect the project to finish this soon. That created a few problems for me in terms of management, because we weren't prepared to launch in terms of marketing. I wish there was more communication on that part, but their general strategy in terms of project management is to over deliver as opposed to under deliver. When it comes to time, it's not always convenient for a client to have the project ready sooner rather than later, but that's my issue.

We used Slack to communicate. We could also see all the details of the process on JIRA. I met them in person at the beginning, but because we're in different countries, we communicate online.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're very organized. Every issue that came up was solved straight away. The level of planning that goes into every task was ridiculous at times. We sat down and they explained every detail in the process. Eventually, we had to simplify that because it was too much for me. That impressed me; their style is very linear.

The way their developers work together with UX designers is very efficient; I'm glad I didn't go with my own UX designer. It was perfect. It happened so quickly. They did everything exactly the way we wanted.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their timing could be improved, which also impacts financing. If you're not sure when they're going to finish the project and how quickly they're going to work on it, then you're not sure how much you have to pay them every month. Their initial quote was correct, but it was a hard to put together the finances necessary for this project as quickly as they were developing it because I expected it to last longer. They finished it 4–5 months earlier than I expected.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of three founders of a startup company that does business and location intelligence. We have a web application that looks at worldwide demographics.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with SteelKiwi?

SteelKiwi redeveloped an app for us. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

SteelKiwi helped create an API and the framework for the backend of our application. We already had a functioning version of the app written in ASP.NET, so we had SteelKiwi redevelop and modernize everything for us.

How did you come to work with SteelKiwi?

We had used SteelKiwi before to develop a webpage while we were doing work with a humanitarian aid company. We wanted to hire stateside for this project, so we probably looked at three different companies stateside. We also looked at individual developers, but we decided to go with SteelKiwi. We had the previous experience with them, and they had done good work for us before. Cost also was a consideration.

How much have you invested with SteelKiwi?

We’ve probably spent a little over $20,000 with SteelKiwi.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’re still working with the humanitarian aid company, so we have an ongoing relationship with SteelKiwi. I think we originally started working with them a little less than a year ago. We started on this specific project probably 3–4 months ago, so around January of 2017. We’re not quite finished with the project yet. They’re wrapping up a few things for us on the backend, and we’re considering some additional functionalities. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The communication with SteelKiwi has been good and easy. They use a bunch of different platforms, including Slack and JIRA. They’ve also been accommodating in terms of the time zones. We’re in Colorado, so we had a time difference, but they’re pretty good at dealing with that.

How did SteelKiwi perform from a project management standpoint?

Not including the project manager, I would say five developers from SteelKiwi worked on our project. That includes the quality assurance person. We basically let them assemble the team that would work with us, but we used some of the same members we’d used on our previous project.

What did you find most impressive about SteelKiwi?

We were really happy with what SteelKiwi did for us. We didn't get too much into how they conducted their business. I guess they do have a live video feed where you can see them working. I thought that was interesting. We didn't really dive into how they operated, though. We let them do their work.

Are there any areas SteelKiwi could improve?

One difficult area has been in terms of billing. We’ve had a little bit of confusion in trying to get the billing correct or fully clarified. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My business is AppLab. I’m creating a travel app for friends. It’s similar to TripAdvisor and Foursquare, but mixed with Instagram.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SteelKiwi?

I wasn't into apps in general. It's not my main job; it's just a hobby for now. I just had an idea that I thought it would be great to create something because the app that I had in mind doesn't exist. Every time that I was traveling, I would look at TripAdvisor reviews, and I always made mistakes because the people who review different hotels, restaurants, etc. are not my friends, and don't have the same taste as I do. I was also reviewing existing apps, such as Foursquare, which I found very difficult to use. I wanted to develop something more personal and only for friends.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

My app is very simple. It's based only on images for now. I think an image speaks 1,000 words, and there’s no need for detailed reviews. If I see my friend visited that restaurant when he was in New York, I know his taste and I know it's a good place to try out. 

The main feature is image upload. The profile is done through Facebook. So when you sign in, you sign into Facebook. Another feature were map pins, which are very important. If you're trying to see the places your friends have visited, you login to the map and you would see all those places. You can also find a direction to each place.

They helped me with the requirements for the app. It's not something I did by myself. I had a clear idea of what I wanted, but since development is not something that I do, I wasn't sure I would be capable of translating what I had in mind to the actual app. They helped me a lot because they understood right away what I was looking for.

I had a project manager, a designer, and two other members on the project. I was always in communication with the project manager. She handled everything, and I had to meet a few times with the designer. I didn’t interact much with the developers. We had two to three calls to resolve small issues, but I assume five developers were working on the app. It was really the designer and the project manager that I was in contact with.

The app is still being tested because of a few issues that I noticed. While we were developing the app, everything was done well. Issues that we are having now can be fixed once the testing is done.

How did you come to work with SteelKiwi?

I went to Upwork and posted there what I was looking for. Before I decided on SteelKiwi, I was in contact with five developers at the time. There was one in India, but it was really hard because of the time difference. I was looking for someone that's closer to where I'm at in Italy. Then I had another company from Moscow.

However, SteelKiwi was local, and they offered a better price. I wasn't even considering the other companies. One did a quote that was triple from what it should have been. I think the Indian company was a great company, but the time difference would be an issue.

SteelKiwi were just better than anyone. They just convinced me, and Kate was really helpful. My first gut instinct was to hire them because I really had a good feeling after my first interview with them. There was just no question that I would choose them.

How much have you invested with SteelKiwi?

The total was $16,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in November 2016 with wireframes. I was delaying the entire process for a month or two, because in Italy it's better if you have your own company if you're doing something like this. Bureaucratic things in Italy are so long, so I'm still waiting to have my company set up. It's something that will happen in the next few weeks or so. For that reason, I couldn't move forward faster because all the invoices need to go through the company, and if you don't have the company you can't put all the expenses on the company. I'm sure we would have finished everything at least two months earlier if it wasn't for those bureaucratic parts that I had to deal with.

The app is live. I'm testing it with a few of my friends because it has my first and last name underneath because I don't have the company yet. I'm just waiting for that to happen. I can't go live with my name because to be honest, it looks weird. It's live for users, but I haven't started with marketing or any initiatives that were supposed to happen after the launch. I'm just waiting for that to be determined.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Every time I have to travel, I always have those long emails of places. For example, I'm traveling to Abu Dhabi tomorrow. I had a friend who was there a week ago, and he sent me a huge email with places I have to visit, but I think that will be easier to have that through my app. Then you can check the images and details, so it's definitely something that will be more useful for users and me. Based on this idea, I think it will have a positive reaction.

Of the three users using it right now (my husband and best friends), the reception has been positive. It's still in the beginning, but I think it's something that can be developed into something bigger since my initial idea was an app that was more complex than this one. I have to say SteelKiwi were pretty honest, saying it's better to start with small, and then if you see a positive reaction from users, we can definitely build it up to be what I had in mind in the beginning.

How did SteelKiwi perform from a project management standpoint?

It was really good. I don't know about other project managers, but mine was really perfect. She was available 24 hours a day even though I wasn’t. I never had an issue in communications with them. We used Google Docs, Skype for conference calls, and email.

What did you find most impressive about SteelKiwi?

They are very detail-oriented. They push your limits, saying "You have to think about this, and you have to get back to me tomorrow." They're really pushy but in a good way. They're trying to make you think more than you have time to do. 

Are there any areas SteelKiwi could improve?

I spoke to them about it. I think the only thing to improve is their invoicing. Every time they would send an invoice, I would have a list of what has been done that week or month. Since I'm not a developer, I don't know anything about apps, so it wasn't really clear to me. Every time I had to go back and talk to them about it. They were completely transparent, and I don't think there was an issue there. In terms of the description of the invoice and what has been done, they also agreed that that should have been more clear for someone who’s not a developer, or someone who doesn't understand those terms.