many-to-many

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Director of Partnerships & Operations of a software company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a consumer insights platform for spirits marketers. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire many-to-many to accomplish?

• Drive (re)engagement through reduced blockers and platform stability
• Evolve the app to make the suer journey more fluid
• Expand the content and data strategy

SOLUTION

How did you find many-to-many?

UpWork

Why did you select many-to-many over others?

• Good value for cost
• Performed will on test tasks

How many teammates from many-to-many were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

many-to-many has serves as our primary development partner turning wireframes and concepts into web and mobile applications for both iOS and Android, and also architecting the backend platform to support optimal performance. 

Key deliverables: 

• app development for iOS and Android and web app 
• development of partner API
• ecommerce integration into app
• development of analytics framework
• design and development of backend architecture

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The ultimate success of our work with many-to-many was the launch of a stable, functional, and engaging consumer application that yields rich data and insights. Day-to-day success is measured by hitting deliverable milestones and staying in consistent communication - something that the company does very well. On-going success will be dependent on refining the current consumer journey as directed, and implementing additional features that are engaging to consumers. 

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The project manager provides detailed status updates (verbal and written) throughout the project, and is open with any blockers that could inhibit progress. Feedback from both teams is heard and incorporated. The project manager sets internal time line goals to ensure that deliverables are provided on or before the mutually agreed upon due date. 

What was your primary form of communication with many-to-many?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

• Management of multiple tasks. 
• Quality of work. 
• Knowledge of resources. 
• Communication. 
• Ability to scale. 
• Timeliness of completion. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something many-to-many could have done differently?

We have been very happy with the leadership and work product for more than four years we’ve worked together as the company has scaled/transitioned from Factorial Complexity to many-to-many. Feedback from both directions is heard and incorporated. Work continues to be completed be delivered timely and with high quality. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of a healthcare application provider.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Factorial Complexity?

We needed someone to take over our project and recover it, as well as continue to build it out.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They used React Native on this project. We wanted the user to be able to play and stream audio and video, and for content to be served based on a patient’s profile. We take information about the patient’s pain levels and duration in addition to other things, and we serve custom content based on that. 

Charting features are also in the app, so it is important that we are able to record the patient’s pain levels at different time periods and display that.

What is the team composition?

I've been working with a team of five people including a project manager, two developers, and one QA person.

How did you come to work with Factorial Complexity?

We found them on Upwork. I was a bit skeptical about the feedback on Upwork, so I also checked out their Clutch profile which reinforced their positive reviews.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent around $70,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in June 2019, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of their code is top-notch. Unlike unfortunate experiences I've had in the past, Factorial Complexity didn't cut corners and did their best. What sets them apart is that they put in the effort to produce the best results for the project.

How did Factorial Complexity perform from a project management standpoint?

When they initially took over the project, we were in crisis mode. They were great about getting us back on track. In the beginning, I received a couple of detailed updates every day. Communication was less frequent as the project got more under control. We mostly used Skype to communicate with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality and structure of their code are impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Like with most development teams, the clearer your requirements and the more open you are, the better the outcome will be.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My organization is called Pink Triangle Press, and I am a digital product owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Factorial Complexity?

We are working together with Factorial Complexity on a dating app called Guy Spy.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They have helped us to expand out the mobile development of an app that we took over from another development team. We have an in-house team working on the backend, and they are handling both the mobile and web implementation and UX/UI for both native iOS and Android.

For the most part, we deliver wireframes to them and they are responsible for executing those into practical items. We work in an agile environment, so we sort of go back and forth until we’ve worked from initial designs into a functional aspect of the application.

What is the team composition?

The team working with us consists of one Android developer, one iOS developer, a project manager, and someone who handles QA.

How did you come to work with Factorial Complexity?

Our CTO at the time sourced them out and decided they would be a good fit for our team.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $150,000–$200,000 with them per year, so close to $800,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement started around 2016 and is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our work with them has been an evolution, and we’ve made a lot of great progress over the years. Since they hadn’t been involved with the development from the beginning, there was a pretty significant learning curve.

One thing we’re still struggling with is that we don’t have a lot of insight into the two QA teams. I think we could do more to understand the exact QA process that they use and to increase the consistency of that process so that we don’t have as much to do once that’s completed.

How did Factorial Complexity perform from a project management standpoint?

The project manager that we have now has done an incredible job of staying on top of all of our work. We had a little trouble with the previous person we were working with, but since joining our team Liza (Project Manager, Factorial Complexity) has proved to be very detail-oriented and executed on the deliverables very well.

We mainly use JIRA and Slack to keep track of our individual stories and tickets and manage communication between the teams. One challenge we have is managing the different time zones we operate in, but we have weekly calls with them, so we stay relatively up to date on all project updates.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They take on a lot of work in a sprint, which helps to really maintain a good velocity for the work that we request from them. Quality is always something we strive to improve, but they do a good job of delivering on time or even ahead of schedule.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In general, although communication has improved significantly over time, we are still trying to get better at keeping everyone in the loop. In particular, we would like to have demos of features before they deliver the final version so that we can test them and provide feedback, and that is still something we are working to improve.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of Momentum Technology. We create mobile applications and have a heavy focus on privacy and protection of personal information

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Factorial Complexity?

We hired Factorial Complexity for mobile app development on both iOS and Android.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were to refactor a lot of the app, as it was outdated and in need of a lot of updates. Not only was this completed much more quickly than anticipated, but they also found numerous bugs by testing on their own which was extremely appreciated.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found them through a mutual connection and after dialoguing with them, we felt they'd be the perfect fit for our team.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we selected them, we had a series of meetings to discuss our goals and what the project entailed. We expressed a need for senior developers and Factorial Complexity delivered in a big way. Both our Android and iOS developers are top-notch and also bring an eye for design and QA to the table.

What was the team composition?

We have a project manager who assists in overseeing the team's time, as well as an iOS and Android developer. We're in consistent contact with the members of their team and they communicate regularly with us as to the status updates and any blockers they may have.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

When we first began the projects at hand, we outlined about a month's worth of work and were stunned when one of the developers finished a month's worth of work in one week!

The speed at which they work is incredible. Additionally, we've found they work hard to fully test things before sending them to us for review, which also saves our QA team time.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We utilize an Agile process and it works extremely well with their team.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

It's been extremely impressive to see how quickly their team works and the quality of work they are putting forth. Additionally, they've gone the extra mile to suggest design and UX changes and have the talent/ability to make these changes.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We've been very happy with their work. There aren't any areas I'd request improvement on at this time.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the project/Product Manager for tech products in our company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Factorial Complexity?

We needed modern apps (iOS and Android) to serve our customer base.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed an elegant way for our existing and future customers to get access to our audio tracks. The apps had to be beautiful and they had to work flawlessly as our users would be meditating while listening and needed rock-solid audio performance.

We were under tight budget constraints as we didn't plan to monetize this version of the app - just make our customers lives easier and reduce our CS efforts.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We researched react-native developers and narrowed the list to 5 companies. We reviewed portfolios and contacted references.

Factorial Complexity's (FC) customers we very satisfied and continued to work with FC. The references all stated FC was very fair and reasonable. Though their price estimate was not the cheapest of the companies I spoke to, FC's proposal was the most transparent and complete. And still a very good price.

Describe the project in detail.

We had a spec of what we thought the apps should do but were clueless on the backend of stuff. We knew we didn't want complicated back-end that only a dev could understand and we wanted to do as much on our own as we could once we got going.

We specified React Native for code so we could keep dev time down and still deliver iOS and Android apps of quality. They understood what we wanted but were also able to show us better dev ideas so the app works flawlessly.

FC was terrific in understanding our needs and suggesting really clever ways to make the back-end work for us so we have as much control as possible.

They were really good at reviewing what we proposed and when our ideas were crap - they had ready (and smart!) ideas that work great. They stepped up when we failed in the UX and helped us get a beautiful-looking app.

What was the team composition?

We had a project manager, 2 devs, technical leadership, and a QA tester. All hours were transparently tracked and available for us to see - really nice and clean.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Our customers love the apps. We get customer comments like "This is amazing and I want to thank you for developing this!! So grateful :)" and "This is great! I will be purchasing tracks." and "Wow wow wow! Thank you - this is such a great advancement in your tech. I love what you do and this makes it easier to access."

The apps are absolutely bug-free and work flawlessly at version 1. We're really happy and our customers are really happy and now we have an app platform that can help us grow and branch in new directions.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

FC is very transparent in their comms. They got us on Slack - I think maybe 1 email (by me!) was sent throughout the process. During beta, we used Redmine for bug reports which made issues easy to track and stay on top of.

Time reports sent bi-monthly kept us up to date on time spent. They've set up documentation so we can see how all parts are moving together in a clear understandable way. Really great comms and workflow.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

FC is really smart. They know their tech both front-end and back-end and were absolutely instrumental in creating a great system. They were great to talk with, and I felt like we had a real partner in creating this app.

They took the time to make sure they understood our goals, asked great questions to make us think through what we wanted, and then they went to work. Really impressed with the FC team.

So impressed, we'll use them for the next stage of our business - as in my eyes, they're our partners - and I'm looking forward to working with them again.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Of course, projects can go faster and resources could be unlimited but I'm really happy with FC's processes and work for us. They missed maybe one non-critical milestone by maybe two days - once. And never again. They always hit their promised dates. Even during Summer here in Europe!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the owner of a personal budget application for iOS.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Factorial Complexity?

I approached Factorial Complexity to help realize my own private initiative. They were responsible for building an iOS personal budget app with an accompanying backend. The app needed to store data in the cloud, which would enable future integration with Android and web applications.

What were your goals for this project? 

My objective was to design and build the application before publishing it to the App Store. I also wanted to provide technical support based on user feedback.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I chose them among several contractors on Upwork. 

Describe the project in detail. 

They designed and created a roadmap for my iOS app, which would allow users to track personal expenses, create budgets based on previous spending habits, and view reports with graphs and filters. All user data would be stored on the cloud, and premium users would be able to make in-app purchases.

What was the team composition?

I was introduced to their lead architect, head developer, and project manager. In addition, there were also junior developers and a designer involved.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

They created a design and a detailed plan to deliver the project, but, unfortunately, I had to stop development due to financial reasons on my end. 

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs? 

They were very organized, communicated clearly, and managed our expectations well. I was always confident that their team’s work aligned with my vision. 

What did you find most impressive about this company? 

I was impressed by their positive attitude and interest in the project. Rather than limiting themselves to delivering just the basic functionalities, they were willing to take the extra steps to fulfill my requirements. 

Are there any areas for improvement? 

No, not that I’ve noticed.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the COO of a company that provides e-learning technology solutions. We have a global client base with headquarters in Miami, Florida and Tallinn, Estonia.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Factorial Complexity?

We hired Factorial Complexity to implement customizations into our existing mobile apps.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to improve our mobile app with new features such as language localization and other custom additions. Our goal was to have a user-friendly platform.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I was researching Ukranian companies with expertise in software development. I looked at case studies from several vendors and was impressed by Factorial Complexity. The main reason I chose them for the project was their proven ability to produce high-quality consultancy and a great quote.

Describe the project in detail.

We started this project with a kick-off call to further discuss our goals and expectations. For the language localization feature, we provided their development team with the necessary text translations. They submitted iterations of their work and incorporated our feedback into the design. If we needed anything changed about the development, we were able to make requests during the process. During the implementation period, they fixed all bugs that occurred on the backend of the mobile app.

What was the team composition?

We have a dedicated project manager who handles the planning and monitoring processes. There are also iOS and Android developers who collaborate with us to solve issues.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We haven’t launched yet because Factorial Complexity is polishing the final product. However, we’re confident that we’ll have a strong app that will be successful in the market. They efficiently implemented the new features we wanted and the quality of the app is perfect.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The project manager has been highly communicative and attentive. We use Slack to communicate and discuss the details of the project. They respond to our needs quickly and clearly. Each step of the project is completed effectively.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The open communication and responsiveness of their team stand out to us. They are helpful in customizing our app and provide additional services that we appreciate, too.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Though there are some small issues during the process, we’ve been satisfied with their work and are eager to launch the app.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the president of Disrupt Studio, a mobile and web application design firm. We provide user experience design and user interface design. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Factorial Complexity?

Since we don’t do any programming, we work with partners like Factorial Complexity to handle the development side of our projects. I’ve had a lot of experience dealing with partners before. Depending on the type of project, I use different partners for different things.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Factorial Complexity is a mobile development shop so we go to them when we need to build a mobile application. They’ve done multiple apps for us throughout the years. Typically, we create iOS apps together. It really depends on the scope of the project because we deal with a number of partners.

How did you come to work with Factorial Complexity?

I think I learned about them through Guru. The first time I encountered them was when I posted a small project there. Factorial Complexity was one of the respondents. I’ve since come to know the guys, specifically Vitali.

How much have you invested with Factorial Complexity?

We have paid $10,000 to $50,000 for their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

I’ve worked with them since 2011. The engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I found that working with Factorial Complexity was quite easy, both in terms of communication and cultural understanding. It was an easy fit and it was natural to give them that type of work. I find them to be very competent especially on the iOS side of things. I haven’t had any about understanding and translating requirements. They are able to take those requirements and bring them forward. Their turnaround is very quick. That’s why I go to them for certain jobs and not others, depending on the turnaround time I need. They’ve grown in the last 5 years. They started off as a one-man show and now they have a full office of people.

How did Factorial Complexity perform from a project management standpoint?

It was good. I had a single point of contact, which was beneficial because there wasn’t a lot of cross-communication. We’re both pretty agile so our sprints would line up very well. We never really had any issues with that. We’ve had situations where we check in once a week and we’ve had projects that required more, such as daily scrums. There’s been a wide variety of engagement. From a project management perspective, I’m quite content.

What did you find most impressive about Factorial Complexity?

It’s a combination of quality and value. They’re not the cheapest provider I’ve worked with, but we’re at a level where quality has trumped all to a certain degree. I can count on them for good value and fair pricing. At the same time, I don’t ever worry that the quality’s not going to be there or the code’s going to be sloppy or things aren’t getting documented properly. I’ve had other value based partners in the past where I’ve had those concerns. I’ve never really had those concerns with these guys.

Are there any areas Factorial Complexity could improve?

I haven’t really had any problems. There have been slight communication issues from time to time but nothing that would warrant any major concern.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Our organization is GuideOne Mobile. We create mobile apps and other interactive programs for museums and cultural institutions. We've been doing this since about 2010. I'm a principal of GuideOne. I own the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Factorial Complexity?

We've worked with different developers either in-house as well as remote in the United States and abroad. We were just trying to find a reliable technology partner to implement our work because we produce projects, much of which comprises client relations and content producing and editorial work. We have some technical capabilities but, often, we found that we needed a partner that was strong and that we could trust to implement technical solutions.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They are what we would consider an offshore technical team. Having worked with offshore developers in different regions both in close long-term engagements as well as one-off projects, we're familiar with what you get and what's possible having time differences, language differences among other things. We wanted a team that was flexible and that could scale up and down with the flow of our work and could deal with cross-platform mobile work.

How did you come to work with Factorial Complexity?

I think I found them on what was formerly oDesk [now Upwork]. My vetting process was Skype interviews, looking at their portfolios, and understanding capabilities knowing there are geographic differences in strengths. We were looking for an embedded team because we also do development. We also do a lot of editing from the development side, so they seemed very open to that possibility of working with us and being an embedded team. We started on some small projects, and they were very reliable and have continued to deliver since that time, which was several years ago.

How much have you invested with Factoral Complexity?

It was between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started around 2014 or so. They are an embedded team for us but work with other clients as well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

That's a tough call because we're a contractor or subcontractor on items. I can say that some of the work we've done has hundreds of thousands of downloads or more, but it depends on the project. They've been very flexible at understanding our needs but, like any development team, we're very specific about what we want.

How did Factorial Complexity perform from a project management standpoint?

I would say generally pretty good, and when there's been issues their director or principal [Tatiana Danshyna] has been very willing to resolve them. We've tried different things. In some cases, we've been project managers. In other cases, they have, but there's always an extra layer, and they've been willing to resolve issues when they've come up from a project management point.

What did you find most impressive about Factoral Complexity?

I think there is a certain level of competency that we expect. They're not a 50-person agency with tons of producers and tons of nondevelopment staff. They are developers. That's why I think we work really well with them. What distinguishes them is the high level of technical competency.

Are there any areas Factoral Complexity could improve?

It's hard to know. It's an ongoing relationship, and we're still working with them, which I think speaks for itself but, obviously, there's been bumps in the road. At times, there's been staff turnover. I wouldn't say it's had a huge impact on the projects, but it's always one of those things where we have to make adjustments when they have staff turnover. We still work with them, and we're happy with everything.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the CEO and sole employee of Neem Labs. The company was a game publisher as well as a mobile e-commerce platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Factorial Complexity?

We worked with Factorial Complexity on 4 projects across different platforms. We were trying to build mobile native apps.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We came to Factorial Complexity with a game concept. Since we knew what game mechanics we wanted, we had a 1 or 2-page specs document. They advised us through the process, built the app, and designed the game art.

How did you come to work with Factorial Complexity?

We asked a number of agencies for their portfolios. I think we looked at more than 10. Factorial Complexity’s portfolio was the best, so we started a dialogue with them. We thought they were timely, trustworthy, and honest. That was why we decided to move forward with them.

How much have you invested with Factorial Complexity?

We paid $10,000 to $50,000 for Factorial Complexity’s services.

What is the status of this engagement?

The last project was completed about 6 months ago, in February 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The game has reached the Top 10 of 2-player games in the App Store. We’ve had hundreds of thousands of downloads.

How did Factorial Complexity perform from a project management standpoint?

Factorial Complexity exceeded expectations. There was no ambiguity about how long each of the features would take to build. They were always on top of it and we were always sure of where we stood.

What did you find most impressive about Factorial Complexity?

I’ve worked with them on over 4 projects. Factorial Complexity will give you an honest, trustworthy opinion on your project. At the same time, they’ll always let you make the decisions. Based on my experience, I can always get a sense of how difficult the project is, how long it will take, and any potential hurdles while working with them.

Are there any areas Factorial Complexity could improve?

Nothing comes to mind.