Snowman Labs

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

It's an insurance company and I'm the IT manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Develop a policy issuance portal, easy, agile and simple.

SOLUTION

How did you select Snowman Labs and what were the deciding factors?

SnowMan Labs presented us with an innovative proposal to build the Business Portal.

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

The project started with the participation of the business team and the SnowMan Labs technology team, in the sprint design stage. The final result of the Design Sprint was a prototype of the Business Portal.

They presented the technologies that would be applied.

BackEnd

• Python Database
• Postgree

FrontEnd

• VueJs We use Agil methodology, with biweekly sprints.

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

The SnowMan Labs team consisted of:

• Project Manager 
• Team Leader
• UX / UI Designer
• 1 FrontEnd developer
• 3 BackEnd developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When the project was presented to the market, the result was surprising. Our company became a reference in the market, reaching our goal of agility, simplicity and easy operation.

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

I like to define projects with small scopes, for fast deliveries and adding value to the business. We use Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, Discord, Pipefy, GitLab.

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

Snowman Labs is more than a technology provider, it´s a business partner!

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

Everything that was developed and delivered was approved by the business areas.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a Corporate Leaning Company. We act as a learning ecosystem, promoting high-impact, meaningful and memorable experiences designed to improve the lives of people, including ourselves.  I am the Head of Technology.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Snowman Labs to help us develop our LXP, Afferolab Flow. Our first objective was to launch the product MVP, Web and mobile App versions, with the Playlists (microlearning), learning management system (LMS) and a virtual assistant (chatbot) modules by the end of 2020. In the year 2021, we will add other modules and continue o developments of the modules mentioned.

SOLUTION

How did you select Snowman Labs and what were the deciding factors?

We heard about Snowman Labs from our Logistics and Data Science Manager. We had just had a very bad experience with another supplier, and after analyzing the material sent by Snowman Labs and the meetings held, we realized that we were dealing with a company much better able to help us achieve our goals.

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

The job consists of estimating the stories created by the Products, defining the tasks necessary to deliver the stories, executing the tasks, reviewing the codes, testing and making the necessary adjustments. The following technologies are used to perform the tasks: Java, DropWizard, MySql, ReactJS, React Native, HTML, JavaScript and Sass.

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

I have 3 Systems Analysts working with me on product development. In addition to development tasks, they also participate in planning and task definition rituals.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

During the second half of 2020, the LMS module and the virtual assistant (ChatBot) were developed and made available in production, in addition to new features of the Playlists module (microlearning).

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

We use Discord as a virtual office and we are always communicating in order to deliver tasks. We also have daily meetings with the entire development team, Afferolab and Snowman Labs, and Product Owners to monitor our sprint. We use Jira to record stories and define and control sprints, and we use BitBucket for code versioning.

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

The ability to find professionals with the desired profile and who quickly adapt to the culture of our company.

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

No. So far, everything has been working as expected.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I´m a Technical Director of a global insurance company in Brazil.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

The project involves a development of a wesite with different functions and serviçes, including financial one. The website contents has a deep and a strong imersion in financials and tecnhical complexities, combined also with a short term to be designed on its first dlivers.

SOLUTION

How did you select Snowman Labs and what were the deciding factors?

The decision was mixed by market referrals + transparency during the commercial steps.

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

The project involves insurane sales (quotations and issuances), dashboards, integration with 3rd parties in many sectors.

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

On the middle and final seps of the projetc´s first phase SnowmanLabs team were composed by 6 persons - from designers and IT developments + Snow´s C Suits.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

the project was difficult to be designt reasoned on its technical complexity. The time was also an issue and we had some delays on the mvp, considering most of this complexities adaptations. But we could proceeed and nowadays SnowmanlLab support us with their team in the continuity of the system.

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

All of the project was fully designed during the COVID19 Pandemia. For this reason 100% designed on a digital basis, considering virtual meetings, chat rooms and phone calls. It could be easy dependind on the companies sector, but in our case (a traditional company) was a challenge.

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

Snowman Labs ability to understand difficult projects and work remotely are impressive.The project was very difficult to be designed and developed, but they did it.

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

I cannot describe now if we could did something different to support better small delays that we had during the project designs and develops, I could say that this is was part of mutual knowledge.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder of a company created to develop ideas that can be turned into startups.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Snowman Labs?

We hired Snowman to develop a new app with many innovative features, to be launched soon, thanks to them.

What were your goals for this project?

Develop the app's MVP from ground up.

SOLUTION

How did you select Snowman Labs?

We searched for companies with expertise in Flutter and Snowman was by far the most experienced and focused developer in this technology.

Describe the project in detail.

Our project had a extensive list of required features such as: The need to be fully functional offline. Be very responsive and ready to scale. Have sync in real time between multiple users.

What was the team composition?

We had two full stack developers and one Po assigned to the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to overcome some development barriers that we struggled a lot of time before hiring them. The architecture of the project was very well done and organized.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our developer was able to improve a lot working beside them, even considering the fact that he was new to Flutter and now can take charge of more complex issues without much trouble.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

How easily theirs developers overcame some complex issues of the project.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that I can think right now.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are an educational editor and I´m the editor of dictionaries porfolio.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

For develop the digital versions of dictionaries. Our goal was to develop product with great UX and stemming.

SOLUTION

How did you select Snowman Labs and what were the deciding factors?

We assessed diferente suppliers with the development of a prototype and we choose Snow because they deliverd the most eficient stemmig code.

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

We had a kick-off meeting to discuss goals and objectives and to present to the team our lexical consultant (person who had the lexical expertise). After that we had quick development aprint (I belive that it was 12 sprints).

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

A project manager was our point of contact throughout the process. There were also 3 or 4 developers and a designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The greatest indicator of quality was the product's approval by the family holder of the intellectual rights of the Dictionaries and who demanded that quality digital versions were developed (the previous electronic versions did not have the quality that the dictionary deserves).

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

The project management was calm and assertive, always available to quickly resolve any problem. We used Forecast to track work and also whatsapp.

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

The intelligence and competence of the developers were impressive.

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

Meeting the deadlines can be improve.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of VOIT. We are a sports marketplace focused on second hand goods. Our aim is to expand nationwide and have further a South America presence

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Snowman Labs?

We hired Snowman Labs to support us on a mobile app. We already operated on a web-based structure and we aimed to shift to a mobile technology

What were your goals for this project?

A well done design with first class user experience

SOLUTION

How did you select Snowman Labs?

We developed an excellent relationship with Snowman during our journey so far. The first advice that was really a good one was to run our MVP with a more simplistic platform which would enable our validation.

On top of that, we were able to maintain conversations with Snow regarding the next steps. When we decided to move to a fully VOIT structure, we also discussed with other players but choose Snow due to their approach in terms of validation that avoid usage of resources that might not attend the customer need

Describe the project in detail.

The project was an app developed on flutter with firebase backend. Our intention was to create a strong purchasing journey which would enable VOIT's customers to have a strong operation and less friction on their usage

What was the team composition?

A PO, designer and full stack dev

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had launch successfully this first version of our app which in our opinion will meet customer needs. The main outcome as I said previously was to have a good commercialization journey (buy & Sale), boosted by a robust payment gateway and also by a strong logistics partner. That is the outcome that we will have in this first version.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very good. By the time that we streamlined concepts and outcomes that we needed from the project we had daily and weekly meetings to follow up on these goals.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Design. The first draft that they delivered for us met exactly what we expected to have in terms of design

Are there any areas for improvement?

We have some improvements to be done down the road on the app but based on customers feedback.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a financial product manager at RCI Bank & Services. The bank is in 36 countries around the world and is responsible for car finances from Renault and Nissan brands. We have more than 20 years in Brazil and 2 years ago, the headquarters decided to launch this project here. Currently, in Brazil, we have around 200 workers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Snowman Labs?

Snowman Labs was hired to develop Mobile and Web Banking, starting with us since the beginning of the project. Working with Agile Methodology, we could launch small versions to the customers a few months after starting the project and since then we are improving the tools with new features

What were your goals for this project?

We need to put RCI Bank Brazil as one of the best saving banks in Brazil. So it is very important to offer our customers the best customer journey as we can. About financial goal, we are forbidden to talk about.

SOLUTION

How did you select Snowman Labs?

We have worked together before in a different company. When we selected the possible providers for this project, we put Snowman Labs and the others in a table measuring each one in different strengths and weaknesses. After that Snowman Labs was selected in agreement with headquarters to be our provider. Both previous experiences with similar projects and methodology used were important points to select them.

Describe the project in detail.

Working since the beginning with agile methodology, we can be working together improving the tools (Mobile and web banking). In March 2019, we launched a small version to our customers, and now, around 1.5 years after, we have a highly praised and complete platform, which our customers can be saving their money with a good experience. Usually, the improvements developed are delivered correctly in the first version and are not necessary to rework the features. This is a great point!

What was the team composition?

1 back end 1 Android developer 1 IOS developer 1 front end design team is allocated when necessary.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have more than 100.000 downloads and over 4-star ratings on both IOS and Android. We can see a lot of good feedback in the stores and also when we have some problem, we correct it fast.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Working together for more than 2 years, I have total confidence in the team and the reverse is also true. This confidence makes the workflow easy.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The quality of their work and the commitment to the project. The developers are enthusiasts and celebrate each newly achieved goal.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I am very glad about this partnership and I hope to maintain it for long years. We always have some point to do better, but, knowing a lot of companies like SNOW, I am sure that we are in good hands

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Inspired Performance Institute. We work with people who want to perform at a higher level. Our methodology was developed from a trauma base that if we have unresolved trauma, it affects our performance. We have a technique that reduces or eliminates the effects of previous traumas in people's lifetime which then allows them to excel in performance.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Snowman Labs?

We had a problem with our online platform and were trying to figure out how to deliver our course. We do our programs either one-on-one or through an online platform. We were struggling to come up with a good platform that’d be effective and functional. That’s why we brought on Snowman Labs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They handled web design and development for our online program. We had produced a series of videos that culminated in a four-hour program. We had difficulty finding a platform that could deliver the videos in a seamless fashion.

Snowman Labs first established that we needed to update our website. Then, they brought in the platform Kajabi. At that point it wasn’t the right fit for our needs, so they decided to build a custom platform. During that time, Kajabi improved its services, and then the recommendation was to go back to Kabaji because it’d be a better long-term solution.

Snowman Labs provided a bridge that allowed the platform to be delivered and functional. Now, it’s on Kajabi so it can be developed on a much larger scale.

What is the team composition?

Danilo (Co-Founder & Co-CEO) is our main point of contact and there are other team members behind the scenes.

How did you come to work with Snowman Labs?

A friend of mine knew the difficulties we were having and introduced me to Danilo through the University of Central Florida Incubator Program. I met with Danilo, and we instantly hit it off. I liked him and could tell he knew what he was talking about.

He handled a lot of the little things we struggled with and cleaned them up quickly so that became the selling point to open up more of an opportunity with Snowman Labs,

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $40,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in January 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everything came down to the UX. Once we switched over to what Snowman Labs was doing, the UX dramatically improved. We weren’t receiving customer service calls where users were locked out or couldn’t get in. That number significantly decreased, and that was our best measurement.

How did Snowman Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication is good, especially considering the distance. They're always available, and they assigned a point person for us to go to if we can’t get ahold of Danilo. Their team was realistic in their deadlines and met them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed with their integrity and pricing. They're honest and upfront about what something will cost. What’s more, they always look for ways to find a better solution.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Danilo communicates easily with us but it’d be nice to communicate with the other team members; the language barrier makes that difficult.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Set up regular meetings because that affects productivity. You don’t have to meet every week, but establish a schedule to keep everyone on task.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-founder of Brazucas no Vale, a media non-profit company that shares content about entrepreneurship, technology, innovation, and investments in Silicon Valley and Brazil. The content is in Portuguese, targeted to the Brazilian market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Snowman Labs?

Brazucas no Vale partnered with Snowmanlabs and other individuals to launch an all free Mentorship Program for startups at any stage in Brazil. Snowmanlabs is responsible for the development, test, production and management of the digital platform.

What were your goals for this project?

The solution had to be built in a web environment and in a responsive format (for easy access through all devices) where the founders would be able to upload their startup's information and, depending on their needs, pair with a mentor.

On the other site, the mentors had to upload their info and share their calendar, so they could be paired with startups in need of advice and mentorship on the mentor's areas of expertise.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I have known Danilo, Snowmanlabs' founder, and CEO, for a while, and sharing the idea of the project, he engaged and decided to help me to take this out of an idea and transform into an impactful project.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They designed, developed, configures, tested, and launched the entire platform, back end, and front end, with a simple and logical architecture and a seamless and fluid user interface. The UX was always taken into consideration, from beginning to end.

What was the team composition?

The project team had 8 plus people: 5 mentors, my co-founder and I, and Danilo (and his team).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Our solution was developed and launched earlier than estimated. The delivery was batter than expected and the interaction with Danilo was incredibly easy.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Constant feedback, testing, and listening by the Snowmanlabs team made this project flow and management simple and efficient.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were impressed with the delivery quality, the openness to ideas and feedback, and the speed of iteration and adjustment. And also the efficiency of the management.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I cannot think of any areas the team could be better for this project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and CTO of GotChosen, an ad tech company. We provide a B2B technology product for websites, through which companies can increase revenue or generate incremental revenue.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Snowman Labs?

We hired their development team to help us finish a part of our product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Snowman Labs helped us with frontend, backend, and mobile development. The mobile development was for Android and iOS.

What is the team composition?

We had up to seven people from Snowman Labs working on this project. We also used one of their designers for a period of about three weeks.

How did you come to work with Snowman Labs?

A consultant recommended three companies to us. We got in touch with all three and chose Snowman Labs.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Snowman Labs from February 2016–August 2019. It was an almost three-year partnership.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It was a very good collaboration, which is why we kept them for three years. We have in-house developers, so Snowman Labs was helping us, not taking on the full project. Initially, we were planning to stick with them for 6–12 months but ended up extending the period. They’re a good company to work with.

How did Snowman Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They used our Jira, Confluence, and RocketChat. We held weekly and sometimes daily meetings as well as managed them via those tools. Our teams communicated through phone and video calls. We were handling all project management, and they didn’t assign us a manager.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I don’t know what kind of system they’re using now, but at the time, we asked them to create a custom model that'd keep the same developers for our company. We vetted different developers and basically locked them in with us, so they couldn’t be rotated to other projects. It was a way for us to effectively allow their developers to learn our technology, and with that learning curve, to provide a better service.

Snowman Labs gained experience on our code base and grew with our company. It was as though they were our own developers in terms of product knowledge and interaction with our team. They connected with us on our own chat system. It felt like they were part of our team, and that was the key element of the partnership.

When outsourcing services, the worst scenario is when a developer is changed after taking two months to familiarize themselves with our code. We asked Snowman Labs to lock in the people who would be working with us, because we were investing money in them to learn our codebase, so we could have the best use of their resources during the partnership.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We couldn’t have had anything better than that model. It was very successful. After a period of time, they actually moved the developers working for us to their own office room so they weren’t distracted by someone else’s projects. That was very cool and it increased the effectiveness of this partnership.