NERDZ LAB

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the acting chief of staff and strategic project manager of a corporate wellness and e-health software company.

What challenge were you trying to address with NERDZ LAB?

We needed a company that could help us build our new coaching product.

What was the scope of their involvement?

NERDZ LAB developed four interconnected software systems, which include a mobile app for iOS and Android, a web tool, and an admin panel. The solutions allow our users to browse and book one-on-one sessions with expert coaches. 

NERDZ LAB created the whole user experience, from visualizing features, browsing through coaches, using different filters, and scheduling. They also implemented a multilingual feature as well as an audio and video integration for conducting coaching sessions through the app.

Additionally, they created the web tool, which allows our coaches to manage their profiles and set up their own appointments. They also built an admin panel where we can manage things on our end. 

As for the web app and admin panel, NERDZ LAB took care of their design. They also provided our internal UX and product design team with guidance in terms of the mobile app’s design. 

We're still discussing continuing the work NERDZ LAB to implement some additional improvements.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 8–9 people from NERDZ LAB, but my main point of contact was their business manager.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around €50,000 (Approximately $53,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together on this project from October 2021–February 2022.

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

We’ve done user testing, and we’ve seen an NPS of 70, which we’re really happy with. We’ve also received very positive feedback from the people who have tried the app out, and we haven’t noticed any big bugs so far.

How did NERDZ LAB perform from a project management standpoint?

NERDZ LAB performed well in terms of project management. We had a bi-weekly meeting, and we worked closely with their CTO, who was involved in many of our meetings. They did a great job of keeping us in the loop about the status of the deliverables. We ended up adding quite a few new things to the scope, so we extended the project deadline for about a month.

We used ClickUp for project management and Slack and email for communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was most impressed with the efficiency and quality of work of NERDZ LAB’s developers. I really appreciated how they stuck by the timelines that we established and communicated effectively throughout the project. They responded to all of my messages immediately, and I never felt like I didn’t know what was going on in the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I haven’t seen any issues with the solutions’ functionality. Overall, I think they did an incredible job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to have weekly meetings with them and to provide them with a lot of sample designs in terms of what you’re looking to achieve.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a health and wellbeing organization specializing in fitness, mental health, mindfulness, nutrition, and motivation.

What challenge were you trying to address with NERDZ LAB?

They helped us with mobile app development and website creation. We’ve been going through a process of redesigning and redeveloping our app and web platform, which they developed initially. The app is for Android and iOS.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Starting with the app development, they’re working using Laravel and have developed admin panels. The frontend was done natively, and the web platform was done in React. We’re halfway through the rebuild.

The website is built from scratch as well. We’re going to be developing a web app version of the mobile app in the future, as well as releasing a frontend marketing website.

The user-facing website they’re creating is very straightforward; there aren’t many components or pages to them. We’re also building a secondary website that interacts with the app.

We lead the UX/UI, but they give input during review. They manage all the maintenance.

What is the team composition?

We have four dedicated Android and iOS developers:  two that act as project managers and two that are QA resources. Overall, there are ten people working on the product.

How did you come to work with NERDZ LAB?

We bought a platform that NERDZ LAB had originally developed so we came back to update it in this project. Their team is very proactive and stays in front of the technology world, recommending what we should or shouldn’t do based on their experience.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $500,000–$1 million. The total is around $35,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since February 2020.

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

We’ve partnered with some large organizations using the work and the functionality that NERDZ LAB has developed. In fact, a large telecom group is going to launch one of our projects to half a million users.

I’m 100% satisfied with the work they’ve completed.

How did NERDZ LAB perform from a project management standpoint?

We have weekly calls and a Slack channel to interact with the development team. We’re communicating every day at the moment.

They’re always on time and on budget, and sometimes even a few weeks ahead of the timeline.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their strong point is their communication skills. When you’re building projects of this scale and describing what you want and see, it’s easy to get a bit lost and end up not delivering the right thing. This leads to a cycle of rebuilding and wasting time. NERDZ LAB is very thorough in their technical specifications of our requirements. Their first iteration is usually pretty close to what we need — just a few tweaks are all it needs.          

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t know, actually. They’re one of the best vendors I’ve come across.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that they have a strong understanding of what you want to build and give them the information they need to achieve your specifications.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of a group of wellness companies. We have fitness clubs, apps, and live sporting events. I lead the operations side for the Fitness, Nutrition, and Wellness division.

What challenge were you trying to address with NERDZ LAB?

We inherited NERDZ LABZ when we took over a skeleton app that wasn’t really working. They had a lot of technology that we hadn’t managed before, so we’ve worked with them ever since.

What was the scope of their involvement?

NERDZ LAB has built the app from scratch using React Native. We initially reinvented the platform when it came under our management. Now, we’re constantly developing and improving the video player, profile section, app’s feed, explore page, and more. They’ve added a step counter, and we’ve worked on big projects. For example, they’ve created a Huawei app with a code that they hadn’t worked with before.

What is the team composition?

We have eight people on the team, including a project manager, an assistant project manager, two QA people, an iOS developer, an Android developer, and two backend engineers.

How did you come to work with NERDZ LAB?

They built the app that we bought, so we decided to keep them and see how they did.

How much have you invested with them?

We have a retainer of £35,000 (approximately $44,000 USD) per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in September 2018, and our relationship is ongoing.

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

We’ve seen an increase in download numbers. Every time we release a feature or make an improvement, we see a slight increase in the usability and retention of our subscribers. For example, they did an integration with body scan technology, and we had an increase in memberships and downloads when the technology went live.

How did NERDZ LAB perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is excellent. The response time is immediate, and they bring in more people as it’s needed. We usually communicate through Slack; we have different teams for different topics. I think that’s why we have such a good response.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Our previous tech team was more about the money than improving the service. Meanwhile, NERDZ LAB actually looks at the problem and doesn’t try to make the job more complicated. They understand what we’re trying to do, and the team creates the best product from that understanding.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there isn’t anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Use Slack and build a relationship with the project manager.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO for a reviews platform.

What challenge were you trying to address with NERDZ LAB?

We needed someone to build our mobile app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

NERDZ LAB developed our mobile app for iOS using geolocation and created a dashboard for it. The app's primary goal is to have a social aspect to the different reviews we make to the public places. They also help with the DevOps strategy and releasing the app into the App Store. We launched the first version of the app, and now we’re just cleaning up and preparing for the public release.

What is the team composition?

I’ve met with 4–5 people from their team, including developers and their CTO.

How did you come to work with NERDZ LAB?

We found them online, and we liked what they were offering.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent $40,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

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

We’ve tested and used the app with beta testers, and the feedback and reviews have been a success. We distributed the app through specific testers, and the response has helped us clean up the product for the initial release — now we know that users are engaged.

How did NERDZ LAB perform from a project management standpoint?

The team is responsive, and we have a direct communication channel with them; whenever we encounter specific things, we let them know, and they’re very communicative with us. We can also hop in a meeting quickly and discuss the problem, get it fixed, or offer other solutions — it’s been a great experience. We like that they’re always discussing the issues with us, and if something's going to take more time or money, they provide justification and explanation — we can trust them. In terms of tools and communication, we use Jira, YouTrack to manage the bugs, Slack, Google Hangouts, and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication is impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They work agilely and do a good job communicating, and they could involve the other team members in more meetings. They invited them into a few sessions, but all release and bug discussions meetings should include the other developers or team members.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of a digital marketing and development consultancy in the UK.

What challenge were you trying to address with NERDZ LAB?

We had challenges expanding our development team during the pandemic. I wanted to find a more flexible way of scaling our team, and we started looking for partners that could function as outsourced members of my team. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve worked with them on two platforms. On one project, we did the UI/UX design, and NERDZ LAB did the front-and backend technical development.

On the second project, we did the design and frontend development, and NERDZ LAB built the backend. They were completely integrated into our team.

What is the team composition?

We’ve had two people from NERDZ LAB on each project, and I’m working with three of them daily, including a project manager.

How did you come to work with NERDZ LAB?

I found them through LinkedIn, and I had a really good conversation with NERDZ LAB’s founder and one of their senior developers. We had some initial tests and conversations, and I got them involved in a project once I was comfortable. It went really well, so we continued from there.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent several tens of thousands of dollars.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with NERDZ LAB in June 2020, and our work is ongoing.

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

The products wouldn’t have gone live without NERDZ LAB’s work. I’m very happy with the output, and my team is very happy with the working relationship, which is the most important thing. They’re extremely open and collaborative. I can’t fault them. They’re a fantastic team, and I’m absolutely blessed to have found NERDZ LAB.

How did NERDZ LAB perform from a project management standpoint?

I’d like to bring them to the UK and work with them full time, but there’s no need, obviously. This has been a pandemic-friendly relationship, where everything’s been remote. Most of my team is working remotely in this current environment. So, in effect, it’s the same with NERDZ LAB as with the rest of the team.

They deliver on time and on budget, within the realms of what’s sensible. Projects change and budgets change, but NERDZ LAB is a very good resource from a financial point of view.

We talk to them every day, via either WhatsApp calls, Google Meet, or Slack. We use Trello boards collaboratively for activity management and scheduling.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their willingness to let their team effectively become part of our team stands out. Their openness to collaborate and communicate quickly and freely is also great.  They’re always willing to go beyond the call of duty; if we need NERDZ LAB to work long hours to get something done, they’ll get it done.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’m very pleased with NERDZ LAB . 

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Be as open with them as possible. NERDZ LAB understands the pressures and motivations that drive customer decisions, so they can actually add value and not just do what they’re asked.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a Dutch company based in Rijswijk, which provides tax advisory mainly to Eastern-European expats that reside in The Netherlands. Currently, we are a team of ten people. Myself, I am a Project Manager, who is responsible for planning, execution and managing the resources of any project ongoing within our company.

For what projects/services did your company hire NERDZ LAB?

We hired NERDZ LAB to create a mobile app, which would allow our clients to complete their tax statements entirely from their mobile devices. So far, there is no such product available on the market within our niche. The main challenge of the project was to make a rather complicated task (filling the tax return) as simple as possible for our customers.

What were your goals for this project?

Our main goal was to create a product, which would make the administrative lives of our customers much easier. Furthermore, as a company that has been active on the market for more than 10 years, we were willing to launch a product, which would stand out on the market. As a result, we are willing to ensure a future growth of our customer base thanks to innovative approach that we enhance.

How did you select NERDZ LAB?

First, a year before the project was actually started, I posted a project offer on upwork.com. A person from NERDZ LAB reached out. In the end, due to some practical issues on our side, we were not able to proceed with the project for the time being. However, the portfolio presented by NERDZ LAB stayed on my mind.

Once we were finally ready to start the project, the first thing I did was reaching out directly to NERDZ LAB to ask if they could help us with app development. The answer was positive, so we were ready to start.

Describe the project in detail.

After presenting an example of an online form, which our app was supposed to based on, we have received the pricing. After that, we adjusted the project to the budget that we had. Already here, I really appreciated the openness of NERDZ LAB to adjust the product to our needs and the resources that we had.

What really struck us a lot, was the fact, that the NERDZ LAB team had run countless tests on the form available on our website, to understand the logic themselves, instead of waiting for a ready scratch received from us. This is the type of initiative that you rarely come across.

Once we started the project, we had weekly calls to discuss the progress and adjust the very last details. In the end, we developed first an Android app only, since that was the most rational solution looking at our website's statistics. Also, there were relatively very few deliverables that I was responsible for (absolutely many less than I expected).

What was the team composition?

I was assigned to a dedicated Slack channel, where I mainly communicated with our Project Manager and a person responsible for Customer Relationship. Sometimes, yet very rarely, I had to contact someone else directly (e.g. a developer). However, my main contact person was our Project Manager, who was just a great bridge between our organisation and NERDZ LAB. He was always there for me and willing to help with any issue that we came across.

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

Thanks to NERDZ LAB, we have launched a product that no one else has to offer within our market. So far, we have collected a thousand of users (even though we are already past the peak period in our branch). So far, we have heard only positive feedback from clients who have used the app. Everyone loves the simplicity of the design and the intuitiveness of the app.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was so efficient and effective that I couldn't believe that working with anyone can be this easy. Since the very beginning, everyone at NERDZ LAB was open for ideas, feedback and negotiations. Since day one, I felt like every single detail was tailored just for our organisation.

We had weekly update calls and communicated through a Slack channel, what made the entire flow clear and easy to come back through. Since I am not a developer myself, what I valued the most, was the simplicity of our communication and the open-mindedness of our Project Manager.

Although the technical side of things might be tricky for a newbie like me, at NERDZ LAB you are assigned a Project Manager, who makes every detail clear and understandable even to a person with no technical knowledge.

Above all, our Project Manager was just a very nice and helpful individual, just like the rest of the NERDZ LAB team. It was a pure pleasure to work with these people.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

• Efficiency & effectiveness of communication
• Very organised way of taking on the project, moving forward with it to eventually wrap it up
• Making a seemingly difficult project feel achievable for a person that has no technical know-how
• Personal approach and willingness to provide tailored solutions
• Enormous initiative and always thinking a step ahead
• Kindness. After all, we spent a couple of months working together, and the kindness made it all easy and pleasant.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Believe it or not, but I cannot think of anything that could have been done any better. There was no waiting time, communication was unbelievably smooth, a lot of initiative on the NERDZ LAB's side, customisation, personal approach and just a wonderful working atmosphere. I have no areas for improvement, and I truly hope to come across more of such professional teams in my career (and not only).

Seriously, I think that NERDZ LAB should start a side business and just teach other companies on how to run projects and communicate with the client.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of operations at the company.

What challenge were you trying to address with NERDZ LAB?

Our client needed a web and native mobile app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

NERDZ LAB provided development services for native iOS and Android apps as well as a web app.

NERDZ built the Android version in Kotlin and the iOS version in Swift. The team built the web app’s backend in PHP and the frontend in Vue.js. The client provided the wireframes and designs, and NERDZ did the build from scratch. The app is for a large sports association, and it displays video and other types of content.

We’ve worked with NERDZ on other projects, both big and small.

What is the team composition?

There have been seven people involved in total. NERDZ LAB provided developers, QA testers, and a project manager. On the mobile team, we had one iOS, one Android, and one backend developer, as well as a QA tester and a project manager. On the web side, there was a backend developer, a frontend developer, and the same project manager and QA tester. 

How did you come to work with NERDZ LAB?

We were looking for a development team based in Ukraine. NERDZ was a partner of ours before I joined, so I don’t know the full details. We trialed them on a couple of projects, and this was probably one of the largest we’ve worked with them on.

How much have you invested with them?

The mobile app cost around $23,000, and the web app cost $10,000. Including some of the changes, the total will be around $35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I would suspect that the collaboration with NERDZ started in early-2020, if not a bit earlier. This project started in July 2020, and it’s ongoing. The work is nearly finished, but the end client hasn’t provided us with the API data yet. We have everything in place, and we’ve built a mock API.

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

The clients that NERDZ has worked for have always been happy. We do reviews and retrospectives with clients, and no one has complained about the quality of NERDZ’s development. They’re one of our go-to teams.

How did NERDZ LAB perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project managers are transparent in working with us and conveying any issues that come up. They work with other members of the team to get things resolved.

We required certain data from the client in order to finish the project, and NERDZ came up with proposals to get around that issue. They kept the team on hand, waiting for the data. They finished their bit in November 2020, and we’ve been waiting on the client since then.

We use Jira across most of our projects, and we communicate through a mix of videoconferencing, Skype, and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their reliability and value for money relative to the output set them apart. Also, their willingness to solve the client problem — as opposed to not helping us when it doesn’t suit their team’s needs — is impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be really hypocritical if I called out something they could’ve done differently in this instance. Many of the challenges we had on the project were unrelated to NERDZ.

As with every team, there are areas to improve, but the end output was good quality, and the end-client was satisfied with their work. They’re always pragmatic about how they spend their time. If there’s a blocker, they’ll look at what they can do to get rid of it, or they’ll do something else and wait until the blocker’s removed.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

If the client is open and honest with them, NERDZ will be open and honest with the client. It’s important to be transparent about where we are in getting the project ready for development, what budget we have to work with, and so on.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CTO of a startup developing apps to help people sleep.

What challenge were you trying to address with NerdzLab?

One of our previous developers couldn’t commit as many hours as we needed for our projects, so we decided to look for additional development and QA help to further the product.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided extra developers who handled some animations and other in-app features that we were working on at the time. The first project was fairly small and consisted primarily of adding an animation to our onboarding using Swift for iOS.

Since then, they have continued to provide ad hoc support on a variety of small feature additions and improvements to the core product. They wrote an entirely new web area for playing audio and integrated a couple of plugins including SnapKit.

What is the team composition?

We worked with about three members of their team, including a QA engineer, and a couple of developers.

How did you come to work with NerdzLab?

My co-founder came across them online, and we were impressed with their portfolio of previous projects. Our initial interviews went well, so we decided to move forward with them from there.

How much have you invested with them?

The project has cost around $4,000 a month, so around $35,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around December 2019 and are continuing to partner together.

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

We don’t have specific metrics resulting from their work since they have been pretty much fully integrated with the development work of our in-house team. However, we track the bugs in all of the features that we develop, as well as how many revisions we have to go through to make sure that everything is working, and for the most part, they’ve been up to spec in all of those ways. The initial code is usually a little buggy, but their QA has always been able to fix that.

How did NerdzLab perform from a project management standpoint?

They communicate well around all of the different timeline and budget aspects of the project, and they are good about making sure they understand everything and ask questions anytime they don’t. Our teams used Trello, Slack, and GitHub for managing the project milestones.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What impressed us most from the start was the quality of their animations, which are really top-notch. Since then, too, we’ve really appreciated their responsiveness to all of our requests and the organization of their QA process, which makes it really easy for us to navigate in iterating back and forth with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The initial quality of their code could be improved a little bit, but they always do a good job of catching any bugs in their QA process and eliminating before we launch, so it’s never caused any major problems.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

As long as you have clear specifications, regular meetings, and provide feedback in both directions, you’ll have a successful partnership with their team.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the managing director of WhatSalon, a marketplace solution for hair and beauty establishments.

What challenge were you trying to address with NerdzLab?

We wanted to develop several mobile solutions, both for salons as well as individuals operating within the beauty industry.

What was the scope of their involvement?

NerdzLab used Swift to develop an iOS platform for freelance beauty professionals. Functionalities included booking calendars to inventories, financial reporting, expense management, and client management. We then expanded the scope. The team has since built multiple applications for iOS and Android, which includes a rebuilt Objective C-based marketplace for consumers. NerdzLab also rebuilt the Android version for Kotlin. They now manage our backend development and services.

What is the team composition?

We interact with Volodymyr (CEO, NerdzLab), Vasyl (Co-Founder and CTO, NerdzLab), two mobile developers, and two backend engineers.

How did you come to work with NerdzLab?

We received 100 applications for our brief on Upwork and PeoplePerHour. Our team then shortlisted the applicants to 10 agencies and spoke with the heads of each vendor. We provided test cases to each agency before hiring NerdzLab.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2018 and the partnership is ongoing.

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

Testing proved the platform is robust. While we haven’t launched the market place yet, we continue working on support services.

How did NerdzLab perform from a project management standpoint?

NerdzLab delivers quality work ahead of schedule. Consequently, we’re confident in our long-term relationship and plan to expand the scope further. We use Slack during the business day and Zoom for daily check-ins.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They truly invest in their clients by proposing a variety of innovative solutions. The team even references competitors’ work or options we haven’t considered.

Are there any areas they could improve?

To be frank, no. They’ve been exceptional and the relationship is building momentum month-over-month. I’ve visited their office in Lviv, and found them to be exceptionally hardworking and sharp.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them. Prospective clients should give the team an opportunity to at least look over the project.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a GPS tracking mobile application. The platform serves to help users locate their friends at events.

What challenge were you trying to address with NerdzLab?

We were in the process of creating our mobile app but didn’t have the in-house resources available. To bring the app to life, we hired NerdzLab to help with development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

NerdzLab is developing our app from start to finish. We supplied their team with designs that our internal team created. After reviewing the work we provided, they made key suggestions to fix issues. They’re working on the iOS and Android versions and making improvements to the backend.

Their team is building live GPS tracking capabilities into the app. This tool involves creating a live map for users to utilize. To do this, they had to learn several frameworks and new libraries and incorporate them into their work.

What is the team composition?

I primarily work with Vasyl (Co-Founder & CEO, NerdzLab). There are about 4–5 other teammates working on the project.

How did you come to work with NerdzLab?

We looked online for overseas developers, especially for teams located in Ukraine as we have experience with companies from there. We used freelancer.com, Upwork, etc. and interviewed several teams. During our meeting, NerdzLab quickly gave us new ideas, a timeline, and a quote within 48 hours. We also liked their pricing structure, so we hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $30,000 on the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2018 and the engagement is ongoing.

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

We’re not tracking their progress yet since the platforms are still being developed. However, they’ve met all of our deadlines, and we’ll set KPIs in the future for the next version.

How did NerdzLab perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been excellent at managing the project; they’re more than willing to use our GitLab tool, even though they have their own in-house process. We’re able to track issues, make updates, and access code repositories if needed. They excel at communicating with our team—we primarily use Skype and have calls every few days. By the end of every day, we know what they’ve been working on or struggling with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The high quality of their code is unmatched—they put in the effort for our app to succeed. We never have to worry about other teams struggling with the code they’ve created because it's at such a high standard. They also have stellar communication skills and provide great suggestions to improve the product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything for them to improve on—everything has gone well, and their work is strong.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d recommend scheduling a consultation with their team and checking out their portfolio before selecting them for the project. Make sure your app is something NerdzLab have experience building and get their feedback on your ideas. In our case, they identified issues and made strong suggestions before even starting the work which was very valuable to us.