RootQuotient

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a fintech startup, developing an innovative app for retirement planning. I am the founder and CEO.

For what projects/services did your company hire RootQuotient, and what were your goals?

We had developed the MVP of the app with another provider but there was a fair amount of work left to convert the MVP to a real application.

How did you select RootQuotient and what were the deciding factors?

Our top priority was the technical competency & communication skills of the team. We needed a team that could take over a "rescue project" and build on that foundation.

They needed to really understand our project in order to come up with a plan to take us from the MVP version to our final objective. They communicated those early steps well and offered to do the project at a reasonable cost.

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

The scope of the work involved:

• Code review of the current application
• Design/modify different UI elements to make the app more user friendly (Adobe xd)
• Addition of a page to the app to calculate and graph retirement amounts (Javascript)
• Moving the backend code from Node.js to Python Django
• Socked implementation to improve latency issues in the backend
• Adding user registration/login modules to the app
• Integration of backend with frontend via custom APIs

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

We worked with five people in total; the deliverables and scope were mostly discussed with the account manager and the project manager. But for specific items we worked with one designer and two developers.

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

The final delivery is happening next week but they have been able to deliver on the promise so far. In particular, we had scheduled a few product demos with interested parties and they gave us a stable product to demo which was very helpful in getting initial feedback.

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

We mostly communicated through Teams, with project updates in Excel. They use JIRA internally as well but they said this is a small project and can be managed in Excel.

In retrospect, that was a bad decision as it made it difficult to track the bugs and feature requests. Nevertheless, we have been in constant communication and we are on the schedule.

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

Access to the team, particularly in the design step, was a huge help in expediting the process.

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

I believe they could use a diligent QC to compare the development with design. We usually found typos or spelling errors after each deployment which could have been avoided had they followed the design documents more thoroughly. This has been communicated to the account manager and they are improving it.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of an early-stage startup. We’re trying to develop a social media app that facilitates competition.

What challenge were you trying to address with RootQuotient?

We’re currently looking for financing, so we contracted RootQuotient to develop a UI for us. We wanted to transform our idea into an actual product, but without spending the money to fully develop the app. We wanted to show people what it would look like and survey them before moving into the development stage.

What was the scope of their involvement?

RootQuotient is designing our UI. They’re providing us with 25 hours worth of work. We sent them design ideas, and they came back to us to consult our team. They worked on the design and gave us the first iteration, we consulted them again, and they did the second iteration. They’ve done all of this in Adobe XD. We still have a few hours left, during which we will give them our final design iterations.

What is the team composition?

There are two people: one manages the project, and the other is the designer. I’m generally in contact with the manager. He’s very responsive and easy to contact. He lets the designer know what work to do.

How did you come to work with RootQuotient?

I saw that they were rated well on Clutch. I ended up calling them six months ago when there were other products I wanted to work on. I didn’t want to put in the money until I was sure it was something that would work, especially since one of my projects got canceled due to COVID. I contacted them when I had this new idea.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve invested around $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership began in October or November 2019, and it’s ongoing. We have a few more hours left in the contract.

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

They’ve been quite excellent, and I’ve been very happy with their service. They provided me with a very solid product.

How did RootQuotient perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re extremely responsive, and they take feedback well. I really have no complaints. I felt like they were trying to get the most out of the hours. Even when I wasn’t paying them yet, they were responsive to my emails. They set up meetings very easily.

We typically communicate over email. They also use Microsoft Teams to communicate the project information and share documents. Everything is very easy and clear. They’d let me know when things changed. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They work extremely hard and respond to everything super fast. You can tell that they really put in the work, and they ultimately did produce quality results.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’ve been really great, so it’s hard to say. The only area I didn’t like was that at first, they designed the app with more of an Android feel. However, when I asked them to change it, they did. I think they’re more tailored toward Android. 

Any advice for potential customers?

When you have a product in mind, fully design it yourself and give them very specific instructions. That’s what we did, and I feel like that’s one of the reasons we got quality results. Make sure you’re very explicit with your instructions before giving them an idea. You need to think through the idea and the design yourself.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of an entertainment platform.

What challenge were you trying to address with RootQuotient?

We had an idea and needed a team to execute the technology behind it.

What was the scope of their involvement?

RootQuotient translated our requirements into mockups for our web and mobile platforms, which feature an administrative component. Their team iterated on a series of low-fidelity and then high-fidelity mockups. Then, they started to work on website architecture. Their team identified the best tech stack to use that includes Ruby on Rails, ReactJS, PostgreSQL, and Flutter. For the notifications, they're using Mailgun and Firebase. We’re now in the building phase.

What is the team composition?

We have a main point of contact and there are about 4–5 folks working on the project.

How did you come to work with RootQuotient?

I searched Google for development teams and read a lot of reviews including those on Clutch. I had initial screening calls with four different companies and gathered quotes. I was not only impressed by RootQuotient’s quote but also their team’s dedication. Before we even had a contract, they completed a lot of leg work to scope the project.

How much have you invested with them?

The contract’s around $45,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began the partnership in May 2020, and it’s ongoing.

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

So far, we're happy with their work. As we’re not live, I don’t have metrics yet.

Their team came with ideas that I hadn’t even considered. I haven't worked with developers who cared about the actual solution before RootQuotient. I worked with development teams that just executed on the requirements even if it didn’t make sense technologically.

RootQuotient didn’t let me accept a design that wasn’t exactly what I wanted. They didn’t mind revising it like 20 times. Their team gave us the time and talent to move the design forward without charging us more.

How did RootQuotient perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Azure for the development tasks. As a communication tool, we use Microsoft Teams. RootQuotient communicates clearly. They’re also responsive. Even if I ping them off-cycle, their team addresses everything right away. This has been the best development process that I’ve experienced.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve been most impressed by their talent. From scope, architecture, and design perspectives, RootQuotient’s the best team I’ve worked with so far.

Thoroughness is another one of their strengths. Their team cares about their work. Unlike my previous experiences, RootQuotient wanted to know our goals and then took the time to figure out an effective plan to achieve them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

At this moment, I don’t have anything negative to say.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would recommend them. Be prepared with specifications and mockups because RootQuotient will hit the ground running. I mostly knew what I wanted, which made the process smoother for us. However, their team seems to be able to work with a lot less.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

It's a startup e-learning platform in the healthcare field. I am the founder of the corporation. We provide preparation courses that provide materials, notes, and questions to help students prepare for exams.

What challenge were you trying to address with RootQuotient?

We're trying to build a custom e-learning platform. Instead of a standard LMS, we wanted to create an out of the box solution. But we had some very specific interfaces for multiple choice questions that our users have to go through in order to simulate the exam experience.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed a mobile-friendly website for us using Ruby on Rails and React for the frontend. It includes various material notes and questions for students to prepare for their examinations.

They’ve been able to adjust all the sort of multiple-choice questions or the sample questions to be viewable on a mobile and a web, which is difficult because they’re all in different formats.

What is the team composition?

I worked with a project manager, 2­–3 developers, and one designer.

How did you come to work with RootQuotient?

We looked for a company for quite some time. We found them online and read their reviews before deciding they were suitable.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $15,000­–$20,000, but our contract is at about $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May 2020 and the project is ongoing.

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

They started building the admin panels and ran into some problems there. It’s taking longer than they expected, but they’ve been able to implement a strategy to accommodate for all the changes and stay within the budget.

How did RootQuotient perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re always quick to respond to questions and update me as issues occur. Whenever we come across a challenge, they let us know how it will impact the timeline.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Other providers we looked at were about 25% more expensive. RootQuotient has been able to deliver an excellent product for a much lower price than other providers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We haven’t run into any issues with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Definitely have as much UX/UI functionalities laid out ahead of time.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a project manager at TransUnion, a global information and insights company. I support North American and European projects.

What challenge were you trying to address with RootQuotient?

We wanted to develop a survey application that would collect data from different companies. We wanted to extract those insights and integrate them into an existing application.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We gave them technical specifications, and RootQuotient gave us wireframes for the web-based app. After we approved them, they launched into development. They used Node.js for the backend and React Native for the frontend. They used another data processing software for the data analytics side.

What is the team composition?

We had one manager, a data analyst, two developers, a designer, and a software tester. My primary point of contact was an additional business analyst.

How did you come to work with RootQuotient?

We shortlisted a 4­–5 vendors in both Canada and the US. They gave us a better pitch than the other teams. We liked their approach and their detailed proof-of-concept. We decided to go with them then.

How much have you invested with them?

The investment was somewhere around $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2019 and the project was deployed in February 2020.

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

The application they developed has had a very positive impact on our business. It’s attracted more than 200 enterprise employers from different segments like construction, engineering, food processing, and more. RootQuotient provided a unique and effective approach to extracting data from employers while keeping the identity of the employer anonymous. The product also features a smart scoring system. We haven’t experienced any major issues at all.

How did RootQuotient perform from a project management standpoint?

Most of the project management was done on our end. We used JIRA. Their business analysts were helpful in addressing the backlog and maintaining constant communication. It was easy keeping track of the project progress.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a great team, so they’re able to come up with numerous solutions to a problem. They’ve excelled at supporting our own team for a timely deployment of the product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’ve been very pleased with the overall outcome.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d recommend customers to be flexible with them. They have great expertise that they can apply from ideation to deployment.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a marketing agency that does experiential marketing that allows people to connect with their brand. We’ve been around for about 25 years, and I’m a marketing coordinator here. I also handle technology-based activation that comes our way.

What challenge were you trying to address with RootQuotient?

They created a mobile application with a web-based stream.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The concept behind the app was that users could enter the solution on a tablet, go through a series of prompts, and have their story sent off to the backend. There, administrators could approve, decline, or edit pending stories. From there, the live stories could be played on a television. As they were approved, they’d be automatically pushed onto the live screen.

Their team also designed the live screen function so the content would cascade in with a story counter at the bottom of the screen, indicating how many were submitted in total. They built the solution for Android and iOS using Ruby on Rails. We provided them with general concepts and ideas at the start of the project. Then, they returned to us with a solid wireframe. After that, they got to the building, and we tweaked the product here and there to meet client needs. 

The majority of the product is complete, but we still put in requests for changes and adjustments as issues come up.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 2–3 people throughout the development process.

How did you come to work with RootQuotient?

I reached out to several different development firms and met with many of them. My goal was to select the provider that I was most comfortable working with. They were one of my top choices early on.

Their team seemed like they’d be able to make a product to serve my clients, and they would be happy to adjust it to our needs. The quote and hourly rate they requested ended us being selling factors for us as well. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $10,000–$15,000 on the work. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in December 2019, and our engagement is still ongoing.

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

The functionality of the solution is fantastic. When we were doing troubleshooting the product, they were able to fix issues on the fly. That customer service and responsiveness couldn’t be beaten.  

How did RootQuotient perform from a project management standpoint?

Our project manager was very closely involved from beginning to end, even checking on us now from time to time. Additionally, he encouraged us to work face-to-face, often taking the time to visit our offices to collaborate.

I appreciated that he made the effort to attend our meetings and show us his process step-by-step. They always keep an open line of communication and scope things realistically. We used Microsoft Teams chat and email to stay in touch.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They provided us with a personalized experience. Their team didn’t just speak with us over the phone, instead, they visited our offices in-person. It felt like they were working as part of our team instead of for us. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Off the top of my head, I can’t think of anything. They’ve exceeded all my expectations. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that you thoroughly read through your brief and requirements with them in the beginning. Additionally, we got much more done with them over the phone, when we were able to ask and answer questions directly.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a partner with Ma Gardienne et Moi, a babysitter booking app.

What challenge were you trying to address with RootQuotient?

We wanted to develop an app for babysitters.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed an app for iOS and Android that allowed babysitters and parents to have a profile and schedule babysitting services. They also developed the website for the app. All their work was from scratch; we just gave them an idea of what we wanted. They are finishing the app now, and then we’ll be able to test it.

What is the team composition?

I’m in contact with Rajendra (Senior Software Engineer, RootQuotient). There are two developers he is working with. When we have meetings, it’s mostly Rajendra and one other person we speak with.

How did you come to work with RootQuotient?

My partner did the research for developers, found them online, and had a conversation with them. Based on the feeling she had, we decided to go with them. They submitted a proposal of what they were thinking based on what we asked them. Finally, they understood what we wanted and were responsive.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $10,000-$25,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2019, and the work is ongoing.

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

We’ve done some testing, and we like it so far. They’ve responded to what we want and showed good initiative in the design aspect. I don’t have a strong background in software development, but they take time to explain exactly what they’re doing and how it’s going to impact our code and what the user will see.

How did RootQuotient perform from a project management standpoint?

I really like our interactions with them. We have a weekly meeting, and they’ve come up with multiple ways to keep us in the loop regarding what they were doing. We’ve been using Azure for coding and task requests.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re flexible in scheduling time to talk to us. It doesn’t matter if it’s during the week or the weekend, they’re available. They give an answer to every request we have.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’ve met all my expectations.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Our point of contact is good at understanding what we want and then conveying it to the team he’s working with. My advice is to talk to him. He has a lot of experience in understanding what the customer wants and relaying it to the programmer/developer. We didn’t know a lot about how we wanted to present or design our software, but he was able to understand what we wanted and redirect it to the team.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of Playmonk, an e-sports video game company. 

What challenge were you trying to address with RootQuotient?

We were looking for a technology partner to develop a fully functioning MVP of our platform.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed a social media and tournament solution for us. This included developing a web application and a mobile application for iOS and Android. 

We did the UI, and they did the UX conversion. We gave them wireframes for the general structure of the app as well.

They used Python, React, Angular, Node, and SQL. The mobile apps are native Objective C and native Android solutions as well. 

What is the team composition?

There were 7-8 people, and I coordinated with two of them.

How did you come to work with RootQuotient?

I heard about their work through LinkedIn, and their reviews were good. Also, one of my friends in the US said they were doing really well. 

We had a look at their case studies, and their tech stack lined up with ours. We began a small prototype, and there were no problems. So, we were happy and gave them the contract.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $120,000 and $150,000 for the MVP.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together from June 2019 until October 2019.

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

I’m happy with the results. The platform already has 70,000 users.  The number of bugs that came with the MVP is much less than normal.

They don’t feel like a vendor, but rather a part of our in-house team. Their turnaround time is fast.

How did RootQuotient perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was really good. We used Microsoft Teams, Trello, and Jira. They respond quickly to those channels.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They found major architectural flaws created by our previous team, which had been a roadblock for our scalability.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There could be more efficiency around feedback.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re a really good team. Other than just being a technology partner, they understand the impact that their technology has. They understand the business.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of The News Dart, a news aggregation platform.

What challenge were you trying to address with RootQuotient?

We had an idea but needed a proper implementation strategy from an experienced team.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided design implantation strategies for our mobile app and did the backend coding from scratch. It’s a news aggregation platform that’s cross platform for iOS and Android. The apps aren’t live yet as we’re still in the testing stage.

How did you come to work with RootQuotient?

We were referred by a friend who was one of their clients.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $30,000–$40,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July–September 2019.

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

Our investors are really pleased with the components of the app. The overall user journey is pretty simple, and user interaction with the newsfeed has increased by 23%.

How did RootQuotient perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was handled on our end using Asana. They were ready to join the team and help us track how the project should progress.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their expertise and commitment to continually improve the ease of use of the app is really impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have anything for them to improve. They’re the best at what they do.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d advise any startup team to share their roadmap and future ideas. This way RootQuotient can provide more suggestions around technical implementation.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of Bridge Classrooms, an education communication platform. We’re focusing on bridging the gap between schools, parents, and teachers for a better upbringing of children.

What challenge were you trying to address with RootQuotient?

A private tutor who we know told us the challenges that children face due to miscommunication between schools and their parents. My partner and I had the idea to build an application to solve this problem, but my co-founder and I didn’t have a technical background. We needed a team to build our mobile and web app and provide continuous support through all the product roadmap.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed our mobile and web applications from scratch. They’re using a cross-platform tool to create the mobile apps. We wanted to automate as many daily tasks as possible for the school’s management like tracking the attendance, maintaining the scorecards and report cards, obtaining the reviews from students for the teachers, ranking them, receiving feedback regarding their work from the parents, managing the school supply inventory for the school, etc.

They gave us a prototype after the requirement gathering phase was completed. The mobile app and web app for the same stakeholder have the same functionalities, but the features differ from stakeholder to stakeholder. They’re currently almost halfway through the project of the planned roadmap and we plan to launch this October.

What is the team composition?

There is a team of seven people. We’re mainly in contact with the project manager and one other member of their team.

How did you come to work with RootQuotient?

My friend had a really good experience with them in the past so I trusted their recommendation. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $20,000, but the estimate for the complete project is $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2019 and the work is ongoing.

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

They’ve really helped us in converting prospects. The prototype is very much like an actual application and we’re able to click through and do a walkthrough of our product’s process, which is really helpful. 

How did RootQuotient perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been really helpful right from the ideation stage. They clearly explained the process of the collaboration upfront. We had frequent calls in the initial 30 days and discussed a lot of ideas. We have a clear roadmap and everything is going smooth so far. We now only have a call once or twice a day. We’ve also been given access to track the development process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We like that they’re available 24/7 and are always within reach.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing I’d have them improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Listen to their suggestions. Giving them feedback on the designs or solutions right away has helped us do things quicker.