Levels.Digital

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of AddyCar, a company that helps companies place ads on privately owned vehicles.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Levels.Digital?

We wanted to build a mobile application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Levels.Digital developed a mobile app for iOS and Android. The app tracks the driver’s route from start to end and calculates how many people might have seen the app. The owner of the vehicle is then paid according to how much they drive.

The Levels.Digital’s team also developed a website as an advertising platform.

What is the team composition?

We worked with six people: a project manager, a backend developer, a frontend developer, an iOS developer, an Android developer, and one designer.

How did you come to work with Levels.Digital?

A friend who had worked with Levels.Digital referred them to me. I liked that they understood our goals for the project. On top of that, they submitted a good proposal, so we decided to go with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent £80,000 (approximately $114,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March–July 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The deliverables satisfied all of our expectations.

How did Levels.Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly communicated via Slack. They were organized and met my expectations regarding timeline and budget. We worked in two-week sprints. Their team took my feedback and made all requested changes. We had some bugs early on, but they fixed them all.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They made suggestions when they felt something didn’t make sense technically. The people they brought in were experienced and with great technical skills. Moreover, they executed every task perfectly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re not the most affordable, but we got what we paid for.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t approach them thinking everything must be done a certain way; instead, treat them as a partner and be open to their feedback and suggestions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the deputy director of a logistics company based in Russia that specializes in customs clearance for e-commerce parcels.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Levels.Digital? 

In April 2020, we secured a deal with a prominent international e-commerce company to perform customs clearance for parcels from their platform into Russia. The issue was that they started sending huge volumes straight away, and our existing processes couldn’t cope with that amount of parcels. We wanted an organization that could help us streamline our processes, and we eventually went to Levels.Digital. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We wanted to increase the number of e-commerce parcels that we could process every month to as high as 40,000 parcels a day. Once we onboarded Levels.Digital, they analyzed our existing processes to find bottlenecks, and they gradually automated every aspect of the processes. 

One particular challenge we faced was that the product names we received from the international e-commerce firm weren’t fit to be used for customs clearance. To solve that challenge, Levels.Digital created an AI program and automated the process using Python. 

Another problem we faced was related to our efforts to get in touch with customers. We had to reach out to them to collect their personal data, which were required for customs clearance. As a result, Levels.Digital built a web portal using JavaScript on the frontend and Python on the backend.

The first major automation product was completed in September 2020. At that point, most of our processes were automated and streamlined, and there was little manual work left. Since then, we’ve worked with Levels.Digital to monitor the KPIs that the e-commerce company has given us. They’ve also provided incremental improvements to our system. 

What is the team composition? 

We work with Daniil (Founder), and he works with three full stack developers. Another developer is in charge of the customer web portal. They also have one designer. In total, six members from their team work with us full-time. Occasionally, they involve two additional people to do QA testing and infrastructure automation. 

How did you come to work with Levels.Digital?

Our CEO previously worked with Levels.Digital on another project. They were one of the few organizations that we spoke with in April 2020, and they provided a clear plan of action. That gave us confidence in their ability to take on our challenge. They also promised that they would increase our throughput almost immediately after working with them, so we went with them. 

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent around $150,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Levels.Digital in May 2020, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Levels.Digital has been great. They’ve released the first automation tool after a month of integrating with our team. That tool has allowed us to scale our throughput to 10,000 parcels a day. By September 2020, they’ve brought us up to our desired capacity, which is exactly what I’ve been hoping for. They’ve since continued to execute against the initial plan they’ve set up. 

How did Levels.Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

For project management, they use JIRA. We have a weekly call with the project manager, who keeps us updated on the developments that have happened in the previous week. They also tell us what they’re doing in the current week, which is helpful because it keeps us in the loop. It also gives us confidence that the throughput of our system will keep increasing. 

Overall, their project management has been transparent, and we know exactly what they’re working on. Moreover, they use the agile methodology, so at the beginning of every sprint, we have the chance to review the work they’ll do in the next sprints. We can also provide feedback about the customs clearance industry, which is a very specialized field. My team provides input about this field. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve managed to stick to the development plan that they’ve set out, and that has been quite impressive. I’ve worked with tech partners before, and there have always been situations where the timeline gets delayed for one reason or another. By contrast, Levels.Digital has stuck to the timeline while delivering exactly what they’ve promised, which is rare. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. The whole experience has been absolutely positive. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Work according to the project management setup that Levels.Digital proposes. 

For context, when we began working with them, they proposed a structure where they could use their project management tool and conduct weekly meetings to keep us updated. At first, my team was against the setup because we were trying to reduce the number of our meetings. In the end, we used the setup they proposed. It has since worked perfectly well, and the results have been worth the time that we’ve been spending in our weekly meetings. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a SaaS company that connects event organizers with event suppliers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Levels.Digital?

We needed someone to build, design, and maintain the site for our startup concept.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our company first provided them with a wireframe concept and a number of design briefs. Levels.Digital worked on the website architecture, including the design and UI/UX aspects. After the team finished building the systems, they passed them through test environments. They continuously maintain and develop the site and use various tools to track user experiences and navigation.

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager, who has a team of specific developers and designers with different fields of expertise. 

How did you come to work with Levels.Digital?

They were a business recommendation. I chose them between two other providers who were under consideration because Levels.Digital’s team had already been involved in a project similar to ours. They had the level of experience and knowledge I was interested in. 

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested around $75,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement started in December 2019, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Levels.Digital has been very good to work with throughout the process. The website functions as we wanted to and the users have met the site with positive feedback and made suggestions to optimize it. 

How did Levels.Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

The team got the brief right and is very calm, diligent, and organized. We have in-person meetings and communicate through email and video conferences.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their most impressive aspects are their intelligence and good attention to detail. The team over-delivers and goes the extra mile to constantly improve the site's functionalities. They also fix issues in a canny manner. I’m happy with what they’ve done.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any particular area for them to improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear and accurate in the brief from the outset.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I have a few media and technology organizations, including 1185. We do a mixture of film marketing and post-production finishing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Levels.Digital?

The challenge we’ve been facing on our day-to-day was to get our customers to trust our site. The Vimeo backend gave us a little bit of trust, so they wouldn’t believe it was a Vimeo backend. We needed Levels.Digital to help us develop a frontend to look more sharp and appealing. We also needed them to help us develop our websites. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Levels.Digital has worked with us for both of my companies. For one company, we’ve been developing something that hasn’t been done in this way before, which they’ve been brilliant at. We’ve had an OTT backend, which we use for Vimeo, and we’re trying to improve it with the frontend developed by Levels.Digital. I think they’ve used HTML, Java, or CSS for it.

They’ve recently started revamping the 1185 website into a WordPress platform.

What is the team composition?

There are a few people involved, but the project manager has been my main point of contact. 

How did you come to work with Levels.Digital?

It was word of mouth from a colleague who suggested we should try Levels.Digital. I had a conversation with them, and we took it from there. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about £8,000 (approximately $11,000 USD) with them back at the start, and we’ve probably doubled it by now.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in October 2020, and it’s ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Through what we’ve done, we’ve got much more retention of our customers and clients. The job they’ve done is not perfect, but nothing is. I believe it’s not about being perfect, but about what is done to resolve issues when doing a job like this. It’s about having a quick response and attention to the client, as opposed to working straight away all the time, because nothing works this way. In that sense, Levels.Digital work is amazing, and they’ve resolved issues very quickly, so I don’t have any complaints. 

Moreover, we’ve been having challenges throughout the project, and they’ve risen to it and solved the issues that have come up, so I can’t ask for more. They’ve been great partners, which is why we’ve worked continuously on both of my companies.

How did Levels.Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

It depends on the projects we’re working on, but we tend to use Trello a lot, which seems to work for us. Instead of using Slack or something similar, we use WhatsApp to create groups, which is easier because more people are on it. 

We tend to do simple communication through WhatsApp and the complicated management on Trello. When it’s more major than that, we communicate through emails. I haven't personally got a system that integrates the whole management. We’ve been looking to change to Monday, but we haven’t decided yet.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Levels.Digital is straightforward and honest. They are willing to be part of the team rather than being the client. We've become part of a team. The fact is they partner quite well, and they'll always go the extra mile.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I haven't had that issue yet, and I'm sure there will be because we keep pushing the boundaries, but at the moment, it's looking fine. The only issues we’ve had on both sides have been when something hasn’t been properly explained or briefed. But whenever this has happened, we’ve been able to fix it quickly.

Any advice for potential customers?

Understand what you want and brief properly. Create a scope that works. Changes can obviously occur, but it’s important to know how to conduct business. You get what you put in, so give good instructions to get good results. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the director of a company that develops and oversees websites and applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Levels.Digital, and what were your goals?

We required a machine vision system that could interpret physical test results from images and communicate via an api.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We selected Levels as Daniil came across as very credible when we were speaking with various vendors in this space.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We provided a large sample set of images. The initial steps took around six weeks. Before we had developed the accompanying front end, we were provided with a web UI to test the efficacy. Several improvements have been made to the accuracy over the course of a few months including after the project went live.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

1 - Daniil.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The solution has allowed us to reduce human labour in this area by almost 90%. It has also allowed us to offer a faster product.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Communication was solid.  All timelines were met or exceeded.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Communication and ease.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No