OCDLab

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner, and our goal is to give a platform to Non-profits and local businesses to network together. They will create reciprocal relationship where the Non-profit will promote local businesses that are donating to them to their supporters and the business will offer a donation back for every sale made.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire OCDLab?

My vision was a new idea that has not been done and OCDLab was able to consult with me to bring to life what I was trying to do. The were able to capture the vision and build on the concept to create a great tool.

What were your goals for this project?

To take a concept and bring it to market.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I was referred to OCD from a close friend. After a few meetings about my concept they were confident that they could build it, and walked me through how the process would work. They set good expectations so I understood what to expect and we moved forward.

Describe the project in detail.

We set milestones and discussed the progress regularly. If there was a question in any aspect they were quick to get my input. They did not skip a beat and the design was all I expected and more.

What was the team composition?

I had open dialog with team and utilized a message board for quick communication. From start to finish I dealt with project manager and developers when ever it was necessary. Team was constant and understanding and extremely responsive to every need.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our app in launched and now it is up to me to sell the concept.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

seamless!

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their creative design and ability to see my vision and build on it stood out to me.

Are there any areas for improvement?

they did everything I asked for so.... no.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a startup that solves business problems for small and medium enterprises using technology and data science.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire OCDLab?

We've worked with OCDLab on multiple projects, including a React Native real estate app for open houses in the U.S.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a polished, easy-to-use interface, a simple setup process, and a unique notification and messaging component.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found them via Google, initially. In the beginning, I was a bit skeptical, as they’re located in California, and I like to meet my vendors in person. However, after talking to them several times, I realized they really understood us.

When it came time for this project, I pitched them the app. They took our concept and came up with a complete plan, adding value while keeping it simple. Once I saw their first proposal, I immediately decided on them and stopped interviewing other companies.

Describe the project in detail.

Their first reply had a lot of great ideas. The initial discovery process took almost four weeks and a few meetings. At the end of the discovery phase, they presented a detailed document with wireframes, user stories, and screen flows. It was comprehensive and well-researched. After the signoff, we started UI/UX design and development. They sent us builds periodically, and we returned our feedback.

What was the team composition?

Marty (Business Development Director, OCDLab) and Maheep (Founder, OCDLab) handled the initial communication. After the discovery phase, our primary point of contact was a project manager. Two developers worked on our project, along with a part-time quality assurance person and a graphic designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I can't say enough good things about the quality of the work. The UI designs and finished product exceeded our expectations. I enjoy creating UI mockups, and as soon as I saw their idea, I knew we’d continue to work together. We had a tight budget as a startup with limited financial resources, but they never made us feel that our project wasn't important.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

I give them five stars for communicating well and meeting the timelines. We received weekly updates throughout the project. They met release dates for beta testing, and production builds, and they always responded in hours. We’ve worked with dedicated resources for a fixed price and leased resources. I have no complaints about either of those approaches.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was impressed by their planning, UI/UX design skills, and communication. The ideas they contributed were highly valuable.

Are there any areas for improvement?

They could expedite the initial discovery and specification process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a co-owner of SoSimple, a gaming app with a profit-sharing component. To our knowledge, it’s the first app to give users money back made from ad revenue.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OCDLab?

My partner and I were not developers, so it was imperative to connect with someone who was to develop our product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

OCDLab developed our app from scratch for Android and iOS. We had a few preliminary phone calls to define the concept, scope of work, and everything we wanted for the app. We negotiated a GDD [game design document]. Once it was signed and agreed to, they proceeded to move forward.

They built a platform by which someone could enter their PayPal information and receive money for winning the game. OCDLab also built a lateral invite system by which users could text their phone contacts en masse.

More as a courtesy than a paid service, they guided us in the direction we should pursue. They were willing to give us references, people we could reach out to about different items. OCDLab also helped us with the app store submission process.

What is the team dynamic?

We worked directly with their CEO, Maheep Gupta, who reached out to the team in India. It was sometimes more economical to speak with the team members directly. Occasionally, we would be directed to one person in particular in order to expand on a topic and provide whatever information was needed.

How did you come to work with OCDLab?

My business partner found and chose them after reviewing OCDLab’s previous projects. We had a few phone calls with them and decided they would suit us best.

How much have you invested with them?

According to the GDD, the cost was around $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with OCDLab around July 2016 and finished in January or February 2017. The apps have been launched.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The product is the easiest result to measure. It is great, but what OCDLab did for us went beyond customer service. We had some complications with people hacking the Android version, and we lost some money. OCDLab was accommodating and helped us remedy those situations. We learned that it’s commonplace in the industry to have teams of people protecting the backend of an app—there is no one-stop-shop solution for stopping hackers. OCDLab was patient with us since we had no idea. Our lack of knowledge in the industry definitely hurt.

When we first launched, we targeted the Spanish market. There was a popular YouTuber on South America who made a video for us, which led to us getting 80,000 downloads. Unfortunately, this was also when all the hacks started happening, and it killed our momentum. We haven’t had a similar push in the United States, but hope to make a resurgence with it.

How did OCDLab perform from a project management standpoint?

We received updates every week or so, as well as beta versions of the app. We communicated through email and phone.

At first, they were delivering results in a timely fashion. As we progressed, we got into the complexities of the app and started hitting some roadblocks. OCDLab did their best to recoup and meet our needs. The timeliness decreased, but it wasn’t their fault.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Maheep first came across as a casual, laid-back person. At first, I didn’t even know he was the CEO of the company. Our first phone conference was with him and his project manager. Because of the personality of that other person, I assumed he owned the company. Whenever we had an issue and I was becoming impatient, I would want to speak to that guy. Lo and behold, he was not the CEO.

Maheep had a soothing way of going about conversations and could bring the confrontation level down. He kept things at a logical level and suggested reasonable solutions. Other coders and app development companies could handle the technology, but Maheep was a selling point for his company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was a communication gap of about 1–2 days because of the time difference with India. They were awake when we were asleep and vice versa. I don’t know what can be done about this, though. Beyond this, I don’t have any comments.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We repackage dates in local markets, buying tickets for power boarding and sky diving, movie and concert theaters, package them with restaurants, and sell them at a flat rate.

I am one of the co-founders of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OCD Lab?

We needed development resources for building our concept.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

OCD Lab provided mobile development for our iOS app.

How did you come to work with OCD Lab?

I met with OCD Lab's team a few times, as well as with other companies. They seemed to be a good fit, judging by the way in which they ran their business. OCD Lab was flexible in scheduling meetings with me, and it was very easy to find a bottom line for the process.

How much have you invested with OCD Lab?

I’d rather keep that confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with OCD Lab in May 2016 and launched the platform in the second week of September.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

So far, we've sold around 27 dates in our 4-week operating time. We only have around 255 downloads, but we focus more on the market. We can only grow as fast as the number of locations we can sign up. We are in the beta phase and are making adjustments in order to reach a wider scale. As opposed to other apps, we can't simply flip a switch and expect growth. We're extremely happy on the development side.

How did OCD Lab perform from a project management standpoint?

OCD Lab was successful in this regard.

What did you find most impressive about OCD Lab?

I appreciated OCD Lab's speed and the fact that we were made a priority.

Are there any areas OCD Lab could improve?

Any tech company should provide a visual portal for ongoing tasks. I want to see all active items being worked on.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I have a couple of different companies that I worked with OCD Lab on. One of them is a financial data mining company, and the other is a manufacturing company.

What is your position?

I am the owner of both companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was the business challenge that you were trying to address with OCD Lab?

For the stock company, we needed someone who could create fast, well-built algorithms for data mining purposes. We were looking for someone to write that code for us, and it eventually turned into them doing a lot more work for us as well.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

OCD Lab primarily built the database architecture for the financial company. They also did a redesign of our website, including some onsite and offsite SEO, social media management, content marketing, and a mobile friendly WordPress integration.

How did you come to work with OCD Lab?

OCD Lab was referred to me initially by a friend. I had been working with some other developers but I gave them a small project to test them out. They did a great job on it, delivering quality results ahead of schedule and under budget. So I started giving them more and more responsibility, until we got to the point where we are now. They’re now doing web development and SEO for me.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

This project was in the $50,000-200,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with OCD Lab about three years ago. We are currently in the middle of a mobile redesign for one of my companies’ websites.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

They are very good. I can tell you that our site impressions were increasing by around 10 to 15% after they did their SEO work. From a user standpoint, their coding was great. They’ve been able to speed up the algorithms without sacrificing performance. Queries that would take 3 seconds before, now take less than a second. They know what they’re doing.

What distinguishes OCD Lab from other providers?

I would say one of their key strengths is speed. They have good turnaround times and I could always count on them to deliver on schedule.

Is there anything OCD Lab could have improved or done differently?

Nothing really. The only thing they could add would be more of a US presence, to help alleviate the time zone issue that comes with offshore outsourcing. But that’s relatively minor.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We provide consultation for app and e-commerce website development. We work within multiple industries, including e-commerce companies and telecoms. A lot of our operations, like testing, implementation, and business analysis are done on-site.

What is your position?

I am a co-owner of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with OCDLAB?

We needed additional resources for design, development, and deployment of our software.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

We've worked on eight or nine smaller projects with them. Our first project was for a local telecom operator. We needed a prototype for a commercial app.

We also worked on an app for a law firm. It could retrieve laws in three different languages. It was our most complex project.

How did you come to work with OCDLAB?

They were referred to us by an acquaintance who knew their owner personally. Local development work is far more expensive than using an offshore provider, and they had multiple skills available. For example, we could be using Ruby on Rails on one project while the next one would require JavaScript or Microsoft technology. We cannot personally keep up with this diversification. The team at OCDLAB was fantastic in this respect. They had experience with e-commerce content management systems, and also with mobile development. The good reference they received, combined with the vast skillset they provided, prompted me to work with OCDLAB.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The total development cost for all our projects is around $200-300,000. One of our biggest individual projects had a $30,000 price.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been working with them for 6-7 years. We're currently working on the requirements for a new project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any feedback from this engagement?

The overall experience with OCDLAB has been positive. We've had minor issues on our more complex projects, which invariably occur within this type of work. Some of the issues we've had involved the customer changing their requirements, or their team not receiving the proper documentation.

There were moments when the quality of work was not up to par, but the reason I've continued to work with them for six years is that they offer a lot of flexibility and they focus on the customer's needs. We've never had a failed project or even one where the customer was dissatisfied.

How did OCDLAB perform from a project management standpoint?

There have been delays in their delivery throughout our collaboration. Overall, I'd give them a 6 or 7 rating out of 10. In terms of customer focus and flexibility though, I'd give them a rating of 9.

What distinguishes OCDLAB from other providers?

The relationship management between our teams is very good. We've been through thick and thin, working on great projects and on ones where the customer is very difficult. We've continued to work together throughout. Their technology stack and capacity has evolved within the last couple of years. OCDLAB's technical strength and customer relationship management are their biggest positives.

Is there anything OCDLAB could have improved or done differently?

The whole development process relies heavily on our team. Testing and general quality could be a bit better. Sometimes we only realize that there is an issue when the product has gone live.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My company is dotTBA. We launch new top-level domains and handle business cases and financial plans involved in the process of bringing them to market.

What is your position?

I am the CEO of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with OCDLAB?

I needed a number of marketing materials and a website to be created for an upcoming launch. I needed to find a company that I could trust.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

OCDLAB handled the web development and creation of the marketing materials necessary. They didn't develop an app for me on this specific project, but we've worked on an app together when the iPad was first launched. It was one of the first apps launched on that device.

How did you come to work with OCDLAB?

I found them through the internet after researching about 20 different companies, trying to figure out which would be the best match for my needs.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The average cost per project is usually around $10,000 to $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our last project was called .love. It was started in May 2015 and finished in September.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The general feedback I have is that OCDLAB are awesome. I've used their services for more than 10 years. They're the first company I go to for any work, and I've recommended them to many people. No one has even come back to me with a negative comment. They're available 24/7, which is amazing.

What distinguishes OCDLAB from other providers?

They're a trusted partner and confidant for my company. If I want an opinion on something I want to improve, I can contact them, and they can achieve results without the need to have their hand held.

While other agencies require specific requirements for a project, I can simply talk to someone at OCDLAB about my idea, they'll come up with a list of items on how to improve it, and use their experience to get it resolved. Having an idea and being able to share it with someone who is cost-conscious makes a huge difference.

Is there anything OCDLAB could have improved or done differently?

Nothing comes to mind. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Blue Pony sells immersive solutions. When a company finds itself in the situation of needing to have an application for their trade show booth, or a solution to help their marketing team sell a product, or provide more information on it, we will provide either a touchscreen, Android or iOS application. We also offer many other out-of-the-box solutions. We employ a full design staff but also lean on OCDLAB to help us in developing our solutions.

What is your position?

I am the technical director at Blue Pony.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with OCDLAB ?

We have programming solutions for Adobe Flash, ActionScript and other types of touchscreen applications. When it came to developing in native Xcode for iOS or Android applications though, we needed to go outside of our comfort zone and reach out to an outside team. We reached to OCDLAB for a couple of projects in which we had no expertise.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

They offer iOS and Android work for us, as well as web development and Unity 3D, which is a leading game development platform.

How did you come to work with OCDLAB ?

The selection process was challenging due to the fact that we were a new company and were trying to figure out our requirements for an outside developer.

Someone who had developed an application in-house came across OCDLAB. We had reached out to a number of companies through Freelancer and Google searches, but we stopped the process once we talked to Maheep Gupta and he ran through what his expertise was, what OCDLAB's processes were, and how we would communicate when working across different time zones. We also needed a developer who would take ownership of the product. Our needs evolve as new platforms come out, and we depend heavily on the outsourced team to help us keep the clients' applications up to date.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The total cost was between $5,000-10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together three years ago, and have been keeping them busy ever since.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any feedback from this engagement?

We have very tight turnaround times, with little leeway. OCDLAB have always been receptive to this, despite the large amounts of pressure we've exerted on occasion. They've always delivered the work on time.

What distinguishes OCDLAB from other providers?

Their ability to communicate is unique. While working with other offshore teams, this can be difficult at times but it was never an issue with OCDLAB.

They also do a good job of adding an extra level of understanding to a task. For example, if I were to forget about a possible user interaction scenario, OCDLAB would simply make up for my mistake in their programming.

Is there anything OCDLAB could have improved or done differently?

Due to our fast work methods, there were times when they jumped the gun on developing certain features, even though I would have wanted to make modifications on the requirements. I would prefer that they pause the work until we've understood all the costs.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are mobile app and web developers, as well as internet marketers, operating in California.

What is your position?

I am the owner of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with OCDLAB?

As a full service agency, we use different vendors. OCDLAB is one of them. Early on, we were looking to better provide services for our customers without hiring someone in-house. Scalability was the original challenge.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

OCDLAB works on database, backend and mobile application development.

They develop mobile applications for iOS and Android, with less emphasis on Windows Phone. We've done work using Unity 3D, a game platform that can be exported to Windows as well. Even if it is mainly used for games, we've developed kiosks for museums on it as well.

How did you come to work with OCDLAB?

We were approached by a client looking for some mobile app development at the early onset of the mobile market. We looked for a partner on Elance and found OCDLAB, who were a preferred vendor of Palm. We established a relationship early on.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

Each project has a different size, so this question is not that relevant. We've worked on $500 dollar projects, as well as $50,000 ones. There is no average. If we both can make money, we will.

What is the status of this engagement?

We've been collaborating for seven to eight years.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The quality of their work is very good, which is the main reason we use them. We can take the work they do and send it to the customer, without reviewing it at all. This is uncommon in the outsourcing world.

How did OCDLAB perform from a project management standpoint?

As an agency, we've had to better understand how to integrate them into our project management style. For example, if we work with Agile, and they use Waterfall, some of the elements will be hard to sync. Keeping everyone on the same page has been our biggest challenge.

Even so, we have twenty users on our project management software that are OCDLAB employees.

I'm always happy with their results. Sometimes, things can take a bit longer, but I would prefer that a task is done correctly, than being rushed and incomplete.

Is there anything OCDLAB could have improved or done differently?

Although this is not a huge issue, it can be hard to pinpoint where a project lies in terms of scope. If we estimate that a project will take eight weeks, on the seventh one, we might discover we need an additional two. Projects don't drag on though, and OCDLAB is very thorough in making estimates. We will usually be the ones that suggest the eight weeks, with them playing along.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We provide mobile solutions for security and property management for the purpose of workforce accountability. When providing security guards or property management services, you will want to ensure that the on-site workers are where they are supposed to be, as well as taking care of the property in the manner you expect. We have one hundred clients in three different countries.

What is your position?

I'm the Chief Technology Officer and a co-founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with OCDLAB?

I was looking for a company to outsource development work.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Our first collaboration was for a text message monitoring project. Consumers could place a piece of software on a mobile device, and that information could be uploaded to a portal. It could expand to GPS data and call logs. They handled the mobile development for Blackberry and Android, and also fixed some problems on the web portion, which were left by another vendor. This is how we became tight-knit partners.

We also worked on a wedding-related platform, where users could upload photos, display them in a scrolling fashion, export them in bundles, and so on. It enabled participants to attend the wedding virtually.

I currently own a services-based business with which OCDLAB are a partner. It's a helpdesk system for which they've done all the application program interfaces [APIs] as well as the frontend development for the content management system.

Another project with them was for one of the first ever geospatial messaging apps. From there, we worked on a number of other web projects together. 

They're mainly PHP-focused, but they also developed a Windows app for me in the past.

How did you come to work with OCDLAB?

I found them through Elance.com. My business partner and I interviewed 20-25 companies that bid on our project. OCDLAB were one of the few that understood our requirements without the need of a lot of documentation. They were very easy to work with, and could communicate what we needed to their team.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

For a normal project, the total cost would be under $50,000. A basic mobile application can cost under $3,000, with Android being a little more. PHP work is very economical. The enterprise product that we worked on over the course of 2015 cost a total of $25,000. I do have legacy rates with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

I first approached OCDLAB through Elance in 2009. We’re still working together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The text message monitoring project was consumer-based, aimed at people who do not have control over the device on which they're installing the software. We have entered perhaps ten million text messages in our database, and one hundred million GPS logs; through all of these, I did not have one single issue or problem with the app.

Sprint was looking to outsource text messages. You could log into a portal and look at the body of a text message, not just the metadata. We were selected to provide that functionality. Legal issues killed the deal, but their product management team evaluated our product and didn't see any issues.

How did OCDLAB perform from a project management standpoint?

Their quality is overall good. The more direction you give up front, the better. I have a personal relationship with the company, which allows me to get a bit looser with how I ask them to do things in terms of cutting corners and moving faster. Also, I have experienced people in the US review the code once in a while.

What distinguishes OCDLAB from other providers?

They work well without the need to be directed constantly. This is a major factor when doing offshore work. Having every single detail mapped out, and going through many lines of questioning can be a chore.

It's enough for me to put a list of requirements together, and have daily communication with their team there. OCDLAB will even challenge me when they feel I'm missing something. They’ll make sure I'm thinking it through properly, and guide me if I'm going in a wrong direction. It's helpful to have this, as opposed to doing everything I say.

Is there anything OCDLAB could have improved or done differently?

They could offer more communication in terms of timelines, when invoices are going to be issued, and so on. I am talking from the perspective of an established, personal relationship with OCDLAB.