Magora

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

We’re still working on customer engagement so I don’t have any metrics so far. Magora’s work looks good overall. We had some issues with design in the beginning, but they sorted those out. A highlight is that they did a good job of understanding the market and gave us a lot of suggestions and options on the data process.

How did Magora perform from a project management standpoint?

This is one of their strongest points. They have everything in a well-structured manner. We use Trello to outline the project scope, provide timelines, and track feedback from my side.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The way they structure sprints within their project management is their most impressive skill. This has given me a good feeling about them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything. I’m pretty happy.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I don’t have any specific advice. They’re flexible and immediately change anything we don’t like.

Describe the impact this engagement has had on your business.

R1: They told us that the app was done and we should do UAT testing. During that time, if the core functionalities of the app were not working, then they’d revaluate UAT testing. The two core functionalities of the app were video and tests, and they weren’t working during UAT testing. When we told them this, they said that it was working, and we should try it another way. I remember going crazy at the time, thinking that I was doing it wrong. I just didn’t understand what was going on.

I’m not a techie; I just have a passion for mental health, psychology, and helping people. I don’t really know these things, and I doubted myself. I told them to just be honest with me and tell me if they’re having issues. I used that approach more than anything, and I think that that’s why they felt it was okay to continue this. They told us that it was because of our devices, and I kind of believed that.

R2: We got a very bad deal from Magora. Right from the beginning, the verbal agreements were never executed properly. For example, we were never told that it would be a bunch of freelancers working on our projects, and not Magora’s staff. Basically, Magora was doing nothing but subcontracting the whole project to a bunch of freelancers, which wasn’t good for us in any way.

R1: They were charging us something like $60 or £60 per hour. I remember that the name of one of the freelance developers came up during a conference call. I looked him up, and he was charging $20 per hour. I asked them why they were charging us this much and asked for a discount, given that the quality was so low, but they told us that that was the usual price of development. I told him I looked him up on Upwork and he was $20, and he told me he had nothing to say about that.

R2: The core problem was that we were promised a lot and nothing was delivered they committed to deliver. I don’t know how, but they have a very good reputation and reviews, and we were carried away by that. It was a very bad experience. An app that should’ve taken around six months to complete took more than a year and still wasn’t completed. We’ve had to rework a lot of functionalities.

The architecture was a mess because, since it was made by freelancers, they weren’t coordinating between themselves very well. Different pieces of code were written by different people in different ways.

How was project management handled?

R1: Sometimes, people who are in higher positions, especially men, tend to pressure you in a way, when you’re younger and you don’t understand. It’s been two years and a half, and I feel I understand the business better, and I’ve learned a lot of things.

I just felt like they took advantage of the situation. They saw me as someone that’s vulnerable, and they took advantage of that.

It’s been two years, and I’m still kind of traumatized. I just moved to another application company, and they’re great. Comparing the two of them, I think everyone should have the same kind of experience I’m having with the new application company.

Is there anything that the vendor did well or that you would consider a strength?

R1: Valentine (Senior Product Manager) was the only person I really liked, and who I felt was suffering with us and didn’t know what to do.

In what specific areas can they improve?

R2: The freelancer structure was the root cause of all our problems. Neither did the quality come out well, nor were our requirements plotted out and executed in a fashion that we wanted. Everything went haywire because they weren’t committed to delivering what was promised. Everything was a mess.

What advice do you have for clients with similar needs to yours?

R2: We also took proactive measures in finding solutions, rather than breaking off. What happened was that many of the issues happened toward the end of the project, and the time and cost for fixing them went beyond any acceptable means.

We were running out of time, and each change request would increase the cost. We were trying our best from our side to proactively help out, but it really didn’t work. The last six months was just trying to work out things, but it never happened.

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

We are currently in the process of building the community of practitioners that will be using the platform. Our global board of directors has said that the website is a great first step for what we want to accomplish. Before we just had a static website so this is a big improvement. The board thought it was the ideal foundation for us to build upon.

How did Magora perform from a project management standpoint?

Magora does a very good job of managing projects. We had a very tight timeframe from the beginning and they were able to deliver on that. Their communication was very prompt. After every call, they would send a summary of the feedback and action items. Magora is open to feedback and adapts accordingly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to take our ideas and concepts and figure out how they could be accomplished stood out. Magora consistently tried to understand our vision and translate it accordingly. They are able to take conceptual ideas and make them into something that really works. They would even map out specific examples. We were very pleased with the amount of detail they were able to extract from our concepts. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We did have to provide them feedback early on because they use very technical terms that we weren’t as familiar with. We were looking for a simpler breakdown of the budget and let them know. Within a few days, they were able to provide us with that. At first, we wanted more communication between teams but once we let them know, they provided us with more insight into their process. Overall, it was a great experience.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Spend more time on the front end describing your overall vision for the website during the data collection phase. Don’t rush into the actual development. Magora shines in their ability to help you think strategically about your business model. Take the time to get the most value out of the experience.