Rootstrap

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Project Manager of a non-profit company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

The organization provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Rootstrap to accomplish?

• Develop and launch a free mobile app for families of young children with and without intellectual disabilities.

SOLUTION

How did you find Rootstrap?

N/A

Why did you select Rootstrap over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Rootstrap were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Our team worked with Rootstrap to develop a mobile app that provides a personalized, curated experience for families. The app includes a back-end process that maps recommended items for each user as well as a chat functionality allowing users to communicate directly within the app. We have completed 3 development phases and 2 maintenance phases with the Rootstrap team so far, with more planned in the coming year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• App launch
• User growth
• Functionality

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

Rootstrap has always been on-time or early in their completion of deliverables. Their entire team is communicative, flexible, thoughtful and cognizant of our needs as a non-profit. Throughout the development process their team ensures we have a shared understanding of the goals for the project and the needs of our company's user base. Whenever an issue arose about the project or on the technical side of things, the Rootstrap Project Manager responded promptly and worked with the team to find a solution as soon as possible. 

What was your primary form of communication with Rootstrap?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

We have been thrilled with the level of open and thoughtful communication from all team members that we have worked with at Rootstrap. They have been flexible and creative in finding ways to meet our needs and requests for the app, while remaining within the outlined budget. 

We have also been impressed by the way the entire team has an understanding of the goals for the app. This level of care and understanding has made it easy to brainstorm collaboratively and ultimately result in a product that our user-base has been thrilled to engage with. We are really excited to continue work with Rootstrap, and have recommended their team's work to other departments within the organization.

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

N/A.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and CEO of Unity Companies. We are a holding company with two portfolios and three brands, one of which is a software development company in the investment phase. We also have a management consulting firm and a social media brand that produces a podcast where we engage people in debate about various topics. Our core mission is to provide better education and learning content for individuals and businesses alike.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rootstrap?

We needed to develop an MVP for our software company, which is currently in the funding and investment phase. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Rootstrap has designed our product and developed an MVP. The project started with a design deployment. We discussed the product's vision and look with Rootstraps, and the team worked using Figma. Rootstrap captured information during discovery and provided recommendations. Rootstrap has built our MVP according to the recommendations provided and has designed our MVP's core features. The team has also created a storyboard about how the project would look like.

Rootstrap builds a structure and strategy and implements Agile methodology to execute. Our MVP has AWS integrations into the backend's databases. Our technology is nuanced and requires developers to extract methodologies that have been deployed in the past and learn from them. We use different types of vector database structures and AI systems. 

Rootstrap has conducted beta testing and delivered our MVP. Within this release, there is an admin panel and a public-facing application, and Rootstrap is currently building a customer advisory board that is set to review the MVP. 

What is the team composition?
We work with around a dozen teammates from Rootstrap, including product managers, product designers, UI/UX designers, front- and backend developers, and full stack developers. 

How did you come to work with Rootstrap?

I contacted Rootstrap through a referral from a friend.
How much have you invested with them?

We've spent around $150,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?
We started working with Rootstrap in the fourth quarter of 2023, and our engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Rootstrap has launched our MVP internally. Our first experience with the application has been good, and the frontend is engaging and beautiful. Rootstrap offers recommendations and suggests features that are already on our development roadmap. Our company has decided to delay certain features, so it's good when the development team and I are on the same page and the feedback from our customers shows that we're thinking about this problem correctly. 

I've spoken to our investors about the problem we're trying to solve, and when I show them our MVP, their faces tell the entire story. We're potentially securing our seed round investment thanks to Rootstrap's work. We've invested all of our startup capital in the development of this project because of how effectively this engagement is going. I've decided not to hire internal developers, and we'll extend the engagement. 

Additionally, it's likely that I won't hire technical staff at all because of how effectively Rootstrap manages the project. I'm very appreciative of the entire Rootstrap team. I've asked for a list of all the teammates' names who have worked on our project, even of teammates I didn't meet directly, because I want to send handwritten messages to each person since Rootstrap's work has been very influential in my business. 

How did Rootstrap perform from a project management standpoint?

Rootstrap has built the MVP in less than three months and stays within budget. We have biweekly meetings where the team shares progress, and we also have weekly sprint meetings where we talk about development and how to overcome challenges. Rootstrap executes Agile methodologies and maps out the project on Jira. Overall, we have incredible communication with Rootstrap, who meet every milestone. Rootstrap has pivoted accordingly, delivering better quality than the originally expected output. 
Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

I want to highlight Tamara (Product Designer); at this point, I feel like she's part of my company because of how closely we work together and how much we talk. Julieta (Product Manager) has been very influential. Carmen (Senior Project Manager) is good at keeping our team in line. I also want to shout out Anthony (CTO & Co-Founder) because he's honest and collaborates with us regarding our financial situation. He has approached our partnership incredibly well from a business perspective. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Rootstrap has given very realistic feedback throughout the project. This is something I was initially worried about, and Rootstrap has been willing to have honest conversations about what is possible and what isn't, offering realistic expectations. We make effective decisions together, and I'm much more informed due to the way Rootstrap approaches our conversations. I'm never surprised by anything. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

On the top of my head, I can't think of anything for Rootstrap to improve. Everything we've talked about has been quickly implemented. 

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I suggest being honest about what you're trying to achieve and the problems you think will come up. Be willing to have an open dialogue and listen to Rootstrap's feedback — I think this will benefit your engagement. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the CEO and founder of an HR tech startup. Our company provides a software platform targeting US healthcare organizations and their clinical talent to help them bring data around their employees' licenses and credentials and continue education. Our software allows executives to make more effective workforce decisions, and doctors and nurses can save time not filling out paperwork and getting more specific data for their professional development decisions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rootstrap?

We needed to partner with an engineering team. I'm a technical CEO and needed to find a company with the required knowledge and expertise to help us go from our software's MVP to version one. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Rootstrap provides IT staff augmentation and acts as our engineering team. The team is responsible for building our product features using different AI tools and programming languages. The team understands SQL and MongoDB and knows how to manage databases. Rootstrap also supports our platform's users and provides strategic insights.

Rootstrap has redesigned our mobile application and continues to work on enhancements. Rootstrap has also integrated our mobile and web platforms and released our platform's first version to the public. Furthermore, Rootstrap manages our staffing as per the project's requirements. We don't hire internally and instead reach out to Rootstrap when we need extra resources. Rootstrap has provided additional technical talent with special skills, for instance, in machine learning and data areas. 

What is the team composition?
We've worked with Rootstrap's project manager, UI/UX designers, and software developers. 

How did you come to work with Rootstrap?

I found Rootstrap while looking for a software engineering company in Clutch. I was looking for a vendor with web, mobile, and AI development expertise and contacted companies with an overall score above 4.7. Rootstrap immediately responded to schedule a meeting, and we narrowed our decision to two companies. Rootstrap was able to work on our timeline and bring in different specialists as per the meetings' requirements. 

Rootstrap also provided customer referrals that we contacted. All of Rootstrap's previous customers said fantastic things about them. I have 20 years of experience working in product engineering design and UI/UX design, and I knew exactly what skills I needed from our service provider. 

We chose Rootstrap because their time zone was more convenient for us since we're in the US, and other providers we talked to were in Europe and had a big time difference from us. The second reason we chose Rootstrap was for their ability to recruit and bring additional teammates to our team as our project grew. 

How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent around $100,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Rootstrap six months ago, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Rootstrap has met our expectations throughout our engagement and delivered exactly what we needed. Rootstrap's staffing services help my company be more effective since we're a startup, and I don't have enough time to manage a recruiting process. The team also helps us have more predictability in our spending since we don't have the big budgets that many technical positions require. 

Rootstrap knows how to hire and find the appropriate profiles for a growing company, and I no longer have to worry about this. Additionally, Rootstrap works using innovative technology. We have an enterprise platform and needed a team of experts to build it, and Rootstrap has been able to find this team. We update our platform every two weeks, and the team resolves bugs and adds features.

The team is security-minded and looks after all details, ensuring we're in compliance with our business partners' agreements. We're in the healthcare industry, and there are different standards we need to comply with. Rootstrap is always double-checking and following best practices. The team has extensive accessibility experience, too, which is essential when building a complex enterprise healthcare app.

Rootstrap is an experienced company, and I've never run into a problem working with them. I'm truly impressed since I've had somewhat bad experiences with different development companies before. We've also previously worked with a service provider with an inexperienced team. On the contrary, every Rootstrap teammate I've worked with has been fantastic. I love working with this team because they're smart, funny, and kind. 

I'm grateful we found Rootstrap because they're an exceptional partner, and I couldn't recommend them more. In my 20-year career, I had never worked with a company as exceptional as Rootstrap. We're happy with Rootstrap's high-quality work. 

How did Rootstrap perform from a project management standpoint?

Rootstrap has met our launching deadlines and sometimes delivers work ahead of schedule. We have Agile stand-up meetings once a week and another weekly meeting with the UI/UX design team via Google Meet and Zoom. Rootstrap has never missed meetings and is constantly available — I've never waited longer than 24 hours when I've required a meeting with them. We use Slack for everyday communication and Jira for ticket creation and follow-up.

Rootstrap delivers exactly what we need and is cost-effective. The payment process is easy, and we pay Rootstrap like any other vendor in the US. Rootstrap stays on budget, which is essential for a startup like us. The team works around our budget, and for the price we'd pay one engineer from the US, we can pay a team of 5-7 teammates from Rootstrap.
 
Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

I want to highlight Dino's (VP of Sales) work, which is fantastic.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I'm mostly impressed by Rootstrap's ability to hire and recruit IT talent. Rootstrap is a big organization, and every teammate we've interacted with is an expert at their job. We can see that none of our teammates are junior developers. After a career in product development, I can tell apart professionals who understand technology from the ones who don't. All the Rootstrap's technical team I've worked with, including the owners, are knowledgable and deep technology experts. 

Rootstrap's team doesn't just code; they're proactive and look for ways to integrate new technologies into our project. Rootstrap is passionate and creative and brings those abilities to all our product meetings. Rootstrap is every tech startup dream company. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything for Rootstrap to improve on. We haven't come across any problems yet. 

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I recommend potential customers be very specific about what they're looking for when engaging with Rootstrap. If they're not a tech professional, they can describe the finished outcome vision as clearly as possible.  

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Product and Projects of Werkt LLC

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Werkt LLC is a design and web development studio serving multiple industries, most prominently education.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Rootstrap to accomplish?

• UX design of 100s of webpages for major upgrade to enterprise website
• UX design of innovative new website features
• UX design of email campaign

SOLUTION

How did you find Rootstrap?

• Online Search
• Clutch Site

Why did you select Rootstrap over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit

How many teammates from Rootstrap were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Roostrap augmented Werkt's existing UX/UI web design team with as many as 6 additional UX/UI designers at a given time to perform the UX/UI of hundreds of webpages for Werkt's $2 billion client in the education marketplace. Roostrap delivered UX/UI designs for 3 successive enterprise marketing websites, one an AEM website and the other two WordPress Gutenberg. 
There were innumerable deadlines for new webpages that Roostrap consistently met. The resulting increases in website performance for customer conversions has ranged from 25% to 40% - much better than Werkt's education-industry client forecast.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The marketing websites of Werkt's education-industry client improved customer conversion rate by an unexpectedly high increase of between 25% and 40%.

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

Rootstrap has been consistently effective at delivering high-quality design work on time. Werkt included the Roostrap team in a daily design standup along with sprint kickoffs and reviews. The design team was self-managing, came to the Werkt team with good questions and recommendations on a routine basis They often have excellent creative ideas that we adopt.

What was your primary form of communication with Rootstrap?

Virtual Meeting

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

Rootstrap excelled in their concern for the satisfaction not only of Werkt but, more significantly, of Werkt's $2 billion education industry client.

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

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at a mobile-first platform for independent video journalists.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rootstrap?

We hired them for web and mobile app development. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We already had app designs and high-fidelity wireframes. Initially, Rootstrap did an evaluation to see where we were, look at our designs, and make some recommendations on how to proceed. The team did some design work and made technology recommendations, on which we went back and forth. From there, we kicked off the first sprint. 

Rootstrap has started building the first product and laid out some infrastructure. Currently, the team is working on the second project concurrently with the first. Rootstrap is building the website from scratch using React and the mobile app using React Native. 

Aside from development, the team has also done QA, testing, and DevOps work. Rootstrap has built and automated the continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines and automated the cloud infrastructure. Once we launch the product, Rootstrap will provide app store optimization.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with two designers, a project manager, a product owner, a QA teammate, a testing teammate, and a DevOps teammate from Rootstrap. 

How did you come to work with Rootstrap?

We found them on Clutch while looking for nearshore providers. We interviewed several outsourcing partners, and Rootstrap was one of them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $500,000–$700,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2022, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of Rootstrap's work is good overall. On the technical side, the team's skills are exactly what I anticipated and expected. 

How did Rootstrap perform from a project management standpoint?

They meet deadlines, although they haven't necessarily met the budget. Still, that isn't Rootstrap's fault. We didn't have as many designs for the website, so we've made some changes that have caused us to spend more than anticipated. We use Slack, Jira, Confluence, and Figma for communication. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We chose Rootstrap because of the flexibility they're willing to provide. Some development shops we talked to were very rigorous. In contrast, Rootstrap has been fine with us bringing our own resources and changing the team composition as needed. They're also willing to be aggressive in helping us reduce costs. 

Their business flexibility, willingness, and eagerness to work with us as we go through our startup pains have been their distinguishing factors. Rootstrap works with us as a partner instead of an outsourcer. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I've already shared my feedback with them. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Try to be as clear as possible about your wants and business priorities. The more work you do on your designs upfront, the better Rootstrap can help you in development. 

The team can also help you work through designs, but it's usually better to develop as much about the design as possible when working with an outsourcing partner. The more you can think the design through, document it, and have it ready for them, Rootstrap can digest it faster and get through delivery. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Backbone, an email strategy automation tool for direct-to-consumer e-commerce brands.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rootstrap?

We needed help with developing our MVP.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Rootstrap has helped us develop our MVP from scratch. Their team has been involved in the entire project, from scoping the project itself and refining the scope for the MVP to designing the UI/UX and developing the front- and backend of the product.

First, Rootstrap helped us with an initial scoping and UI/UX design process for the MVP to get a sense of how the functionality of each of its features would work. As part of the deliverables for the UI/UX design, Rootstrap also helped us develop a rough brand look and feel. Of course, they also designed the actual screens for the MVP, taking into account the user flow and user process.

After that, Rootstrap went into the actual MVP development process and was in charge of managing it entirely. As part of its core features, we needed to integrate five relatively complicated algorithms into the platform’s backend. Their team helped us ideate a solution and figure out the most streamlined way to execute the end goal for the user.

To achieve this, Rootstrap understood how the algorithms worked so that they wouldn’t just blindly write them. Additionally, they looked for edge cases, asking intelligent questions along the way. In addition to those algorithms, they also developed a calendar feature and a visual display of an email layout.

As for the technology stack, Rootstrap has used Figma for the UI/UX designs, as well as Django, JavaScript, Node.js, and Heroku for development. Since the MVP development project finished, we’ve been working with Rootstrap on a maintenance plan to continue fixing bugs and adding new features. Moreover, we plan to continue building future versions of the platform as well.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with 6–7 teammates from Rootstrap, including a product manager, a project manager, a UI/UX designer, a frontend developer, two backend developers, and a QA engineer. 

How did you come to work with Rootstrap?

I found them online. At the time, we had had a very poor experience hiring a different development agency, so hiring a trustworthy agency was very important for us. Initially, what interested me about Rootstrap was their experience in machine learning because that was something we wanted to incorporate into our platform in the future, and we wanted a partner with whom we could grow. Still, what truly sealed the deal was their sales process.

Rootstrap took us through a free pre-sale scoping process, which was great. We really appreciated that gesture because it helped us build a lot of trust. During that process, their team took the time to understand our needs and what we were trying to build so that they could come up with an accurate scope and estimate for both the timeline and budget for the project.

In addition to that, Rootstrap helped us refine the MVP scope to make it fit within our budget. Thanks to that process, we felt that they were already a fantastic partner prior to even signing a contract. After setting the scope and estimates, we started working together.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $250,000–$275,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2022, and Rootstrap delivered the MVP in mid-February 2023, but our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Rootstrap has done a fantastic job at designing our MVP in a very intuitive and sleek way for users. The UI looks very high-end and connects very well with the backend as well. Currently, we’re in the demo phase, so we haven’t launched the MVP yet. Still, the demos have gone very well, and a lot of users have commented on how smooth and intuitive the platform is.

How did Rootstrap perform from a project management standpoint?

Rootstrap has been great at managing the entire process, mapping it out, and helping us prioritize our needs. Keeping the MVP within a certain budget was our top priority from the start, so their team has built extensive project management systems based on those priorities.

Rootstrap has also been fantastic at meeting deadlines and providing us with reports. They’ve been very flexible and agile at delivering reports and updates in the way we need to receive them. As for collaboration tools, we use Jira for project management and Slack and Google Meet to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The partnership element that Rootstrap brings to the table is impressive. Their development team has come up with different ideas and ways to innovate, which are rare to find. Additionally, they’ve been genuinely interested in building a great product by understanding our users and how they would interact with it to identify areas in which they could get stuck. They’ve thought about potential issues very thoroughly.

Throughout the process, Rootstrap has provided us with a lot of design suggestions. They’ve really brought in their user flow expertise and explained how users could perceive certain buttons and what would be the natural next thing for them to click on. Thanks to that, they’ve created a very intuitive UI/UX design.

Another thing we really value about Rootstrap is that they work seamlessly between their design and development teams to create features in the easiest and cheapest way possible while still providing a great UX that fulfills the user's needs. They’ve done their best to build the best product possible within our budget.

For other development agencies, it’s very easy to continue making things more complicated than they could be to increase their scope. However, we’ve built a level of trust with Rootstrap, so we know that they’re genuinely looking for ways to streamline the workflow.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing Rootstrap could improve on. They’re probably one of my favorite partners to work with.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Come in with a very clear idea of what you want and what success looks like for you, and ask them for feedback and ideas in that regard. Rootstrap is very well-equipped, but they need to be set up for success.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the operations manager for Terracove.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rootstrap?

Terracove was in the process of developing an online sales platform for eco-friendly and environmentally friendly products. Given that I have a lot of background in e-commerce and sales, they brought me in to help build the platform from the inside out and oversee the development process.

However, we were taking on a monumental task. Although we already had ideas of where to start, no one on our team was a web developer, so we approached Rootstrap to get help.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Rootstrap took us through the first phase of this project, which they called the discovery phase, during which we asked a lot of questions and got a lot of answers. This process took about six weeks and covered everything, from the flow of the website to the needs of our target market. Throughout the process, we did 6–7 user interviews, out of which we got very good information to develop the wireframes.

Rootstrap’s services were more related to consulting. At the end of the process, they delivered a packet that included all the requirements for the website. The deliverables included different documents, notes, interviews, PowerPoint presentations, and wireframes for us to go to any development firm and have them develop this product. As for the technology stack, Rootstrap used Figma and Miro to create the wireframes.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Carol (Product Designer), Gastón (Product & UX Senior Researcher), a team manager who ensured everything got done on time, a main developer and software engineer, and a web developer. Gastón helped us a lot with product research and user interviews. In addition to them, we were in contact with Dino (VP of Sales) and their upper management, including the CEO.

How did you come to work with Rootstrap?

We found them on Google. When we were looking for a partner, many other web development firms told us that our project was too big and that they didn’t have the capability necessary. However, Rootstrap was immediately on board with our idea.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September–December 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Rootstrap delivered a great and very detailed packet of information, allowing us to go to any development firm to get the product built. However, as we didn’t actually build the product, we don’t have any metrics regarding its performance.

How did Rootstrap perform from a project management standpoint?

Rootstrap was very slick, and their communication was great. I never struggled with getting in contact with them because they were very quick at answering our emails. On top of that, this was a very collaborative process; Carol and our design team worked very closely together to develop our solutions.

We had a very active Slack channel where we communicated not only with the designers and developers but also with the sales team. Moreover, we used Google Meet for our meetings, and we leveraged Miro, where we had 3-hour meetings to go through the project. I even had a meeting with their CEO to talk about the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We didn’t go far into the project when we decided to stop it, and one of the things I really liked about Rootstrap was that they didn’t trick us into continuing with it. We were very upfront about the fact that we weren’t sure if the project would move forward because we were on a tight budget. When it was time to part ways, I never felt pressured to continue working with them, which was really great.

Additionally, I’ve heard that other companies are difficult to communicate with. However, Rootstrap was very responsive, and we had very open lines of communication. That was one of the main reasons we had so much success.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have anything to critique about Rootstrap. We ended the project on a very good note, so I would totally work with them again.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Work with them! You’ll find a lot of success if you’re very communicative. Don’t be afraid to talk because they’ll listen.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO & founder of Wolf Suit Games, an AR software company. We’re democratizing the AR medium by creating a no-code platform that anybody can use to easily create, share, and monetize our content.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rootstrap?

We wanted to develop the beta version of a flagship mobile game that would run on the same engine as our other products.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially had a brief two-week discovery phase where we worked with Rootstrap’s team to get onto the same page. Then, we launched into the app development; Rootstrap brought us a development proposal with all the modular components we’d develop. They coded everything in Swift and other libraries and technologies.

The solution was a native app for iOS. They built upon the Apple Maps API and created a bespoke game engine to deliver the experiences we designed. The app had geo-location aspects and various triggers and conditions depending on what the player did and where they were. We designed the app so we could write up simple JSON packets to feed them into the app and produce an experience. Therefore, we could continuously develop new content for it because it was based on a modular input.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three teammates for the majority of the engagement. We had a product manager, a lead iOS developer, and a QA tester.

How did you come to work with Rootstrap?

Another development agency recommended them. We spoke to the CEO about the work we wanted to do, but he felt it wasn’t the best fit for his agency, so he recommended we reach out to Rootstrap.

We spoke to 10–12 potential service providers while we were vetting agencies, but we ultimately went with Rootstrap because they had experience developing comparable technologies. They also provided a competitive quote, and the team came across as competent during our initial conversations.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent roughly $120,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April 2022, and they completed it in December 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We didn’t develop the app for public release, so we don’t have a number of downloads. We developed the app to use in a limited beta test to learn more and test our hypotheses around user behavior for the medium we were exploring. In that sense, the app has allowed us to experiment and test our various hypotheses; it’ll form the foundation upon which we’ll build the rest of our product lineup.

We experienced crashes and bugs when we were in development. Rootstrap would release the latest version to us, and we’d play around with it to identify the bugs. If it crashed, they’d send a developer to rectify it.

How did Rootstrap perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was great. They went a bit over the deadline and over budget, but it was very close. Everything was clearly communicated; there weren’t any hiccups. We had a smooth development process, and Rootstrap’s team took a lot of the work off our shoulders.

They used Trello for project management, but we mostly communicated through Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They delivered what we wanted to a high quality and close to the budget and timeline. Rootstrap went beyond our expectations and was very competitive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, there were no areas of improvement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Consider Rootstrap as a strong contender. Clients don’t have to do anything unique to get the most out of the engagement; Rootstrap makes everything easy.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of software development at a SaaS company. The logistics industry uses our system to gain analytics, cost savings, and more.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Rootstrap?

We needed help with staff augmentation to assist our development team. We were looking for mid-level engineers with experience in Ruby on Rails and React.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Rootstrap provides staff augmentation services. We initially hired a couple of developers and eventually added some QA staff as well. The team works remotely from South America.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact is Juan Francisco (Engineering Manager).

How did you come to work with Rootstrap?

They were a referral from one of our CEO’s friends. We evaluated 4–5 companies that we found on Google, but we ultimately decided to go with Rootstrap.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $300,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April 2022, and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t track speed or any other metric; I just do the evaluations myself. Rootstrap has a high level of quality compared to other domestic hires. Everyone that has joined the team has been a high-caliber developer. Moreover, Rootstrap’s developers have given us a lot of feedback on our process, which we’ve incorporated across our entire development team.

How did Rootstrap perform from a project management standpoint?

They meet deadlines and stay on budget. We use GitHub and Zenhub, a project management extension to add agile and Scrum features to GitHub. Additionally, we use Microsoft Teams and Slack for communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Although they’re smaller than other providers, Rootstrap is great at checking in with us. The management staff is very responsive, and they’re always trying to fulfill our needs. Rootstrap looks for things they can improve, and the team has an excellent feedback loop. Overall, they treat us very well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes the quality of the work can fluctuate. A developer might produce excellent work, and then they make sloppy mistakes. However, I feel this is a common issue with an outsourced team, where the sense of ownership isn’t as strong. Nonetheless, Rootstrap’s quality is still strong compared to other outsourcing companies. They have very high standards.

Additionally, the pricing could be more competitive; although it’s fair considering the quality.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You should have a good idea of your needs ahead of time. Rootstrap can handle things well, so you just need to work with your product or account manager.

Overall, take advantage of their experience; they’ve worked with many teams, so hear their feedback. They can give good recommendations about process improvements.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of an insurance company based in Uruguay.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Rootstrap?

We were looking for a company to help us with product development and usability.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Rootstrap has helped us design a mobile app for our users. The app is available for Android and iOS. We already had a previous app, so they’ve rewritten it regarding design, navigation, usability, and overall aesthetic.

What was the team composition?

We’ve worked with 6–7 people, including a project manager, 2–3 developers, a designer, a SCRUM master, and the commercial team.

How did you come to work with  Rootstrap?

They were referred. After evaluating different companies, we chose Rootstrap.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent around $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them around July 2021, and it’s an ongoing collaboration.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have any metrics yet, but we’re very happy with the results so far.

How did Rootstrap perform from a project management standpoint?

We had some issues at the beginning of the project because there were some diversions from the original budget. However, we were able to talk through and solve it.

They use Jira as a project management tool and Teams and emails to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They stand out for their design skills and focus on usability and product development.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their project management skills could improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend working with them, but make sure you assign a project manager from your side to keep a good track of the project’s progress.