The Kirin Lab

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and CEO of SG Assist, a for-profit social IT enterprise.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Kirin Lab?

We needed help with mobile app development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us create native iOS and Android apps with the hope to match up volunteers with people in need of assistance. We did a brainstorming session on the flow of the whole app, and some profiling of the different users that could be using our app. They have a good understanding of what we do and how life is in Singapore, since they’ve been here for many years.

After that, we decided on some of the proposals that they had and eventually went into the phase of developing the app. We then did a lot of testing and launched the app — even after launching, they continued to help us debug the product.

What is the team composition?

Michael (CEO) is our main point of contact. He brings forth the leaders in the team that specialize in UI, the backend, etc. He would connect us to them for effective communication on top of project management itself.

How did you come to work with The Kirin Lab?

Our CTO spoke with various teams in Vietnam and India. He said The Kirin Lab offered a very valuable price for their services. They’re also self-motivated and have good project management.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2019 and our partnership is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of their services is really good. They follow up with any queries or issues we’re facing. They’re very trustworthy and have our interests in mind, so any client will feel comfortable enough to entrust their project with them — we’re in good hands with them.

How did The Kirin Lab perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re really patient with us during the testing phase, especially since we gave them a lot of changes to implement. They’re also very accommodating and professional in how they handle our questions and queries. Communication is really good as they even explained the various options of how the app would or wouldn’t work.

Additionally, project management isn’t one-sided. There are times we delayed getting back to them on decisions or information, but they would consistently remind us to keep track of our timelines — especially during critical parts.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have really good knowledge of our culture and behavior in Singapore because they used to be here. A lot of people in Singapore outsource their app development to Vietnam and to find one that not only has good communication skills but is also knowledgeable of Singapore, really helped in getting our message translated across effectively.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Any startup faces limited resources, and there are boundaries as to what level of maintenance they can provide because of it. Despite all that, they still perform well. They put in a strategy and are upfront in letting us know what they can and can’t do — it’s not a constraint they want, but it’s just an issue startups face.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

In order to get the most out of the partnership, you have to be really honest and share your vision of the product that you want to see. The Kirin Lab offers a very good discussion strategy with your team that works well with your budget.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of a digital mental health company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Kirin Lab?

We wanted to build and enhance our mobile app, which is we use to deliver our services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Kirin Lab built our prototypes and MVP, and they continue to scale the product across different countries and clients. The scope of work involves the mobile app’s backend development using React Native and PostgreSQL databases. The team also built a dashboard that gives us information and insight into the app’s usage. 

The app is available on both iOS and Android and has already been launched. We continue to engage with them for further development of new features.

What is the team composition?

We started with three people and eventually expanded it to four. In the future, we’re planning on having five people. The team usually has designers, full stack developers, and backend developers.

How did you come to work with The Kirin Lab?

The Kirin Lab was referred to us. The key thing for us was to have someone with whom we could solve problems instead of just working as a delivery partner.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2019, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The Kirin Lab is timely, and the quality of their work is excellent. They’ve helped us to grow our user base by over 50% within the year we launched.

How did The Kirin Lab perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication has been excellent, and everything’s always been handled promptly. We have very open and collaborative discussions via Telegram and Slack. We also use documentation tools like Notion and Trello. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed by their ability to collaborate and think outside the box with us. The Kirin Lab team isn’t afraid of things they haven’t done before. Furthermore, they always find solutions and discuss the best way to approach them with us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing I can think of that they could do better. There are certain things they’ve not done before and some challenges when it comes to deployment, but they’ve constantly helped us improve the way they deploy and test. Additionally, the team always considers our feedback and improves accordingly.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get a good grasp of what you want so you can have a smooth process. It will also help the team to move forward much quicker if you have a clear idea of what you want, which saves you time on the back and forth.