Sparing Digital

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the New Media & Marketing Manager of Alter Art - the largest independent Promoter of festivals and concerts in Poland, as well as one of the leaders of the Polish live entertainment market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Sparing Digitial Consulting, and what were your goals?

For Open'er App. We needed a professional team to workshop with us in order to determine our approach to the new mobile app. We wanted to create an advanced tool which help us manage such huge events especially during the pandemic time.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We have been working with Sparing Digital Consulting before - we knew how professional and flexible they are that is why we have decided to choose them. As far as we are concerned, we have had great experience working with the programming studio Panowie Programiści which is a sister company of Sparing Digital. We trust them, and we are satisfied with the excellent quality of their deliverables, so it was natural to choose the Sparing team.

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

Sparing Digital team organized several workshops with our team. We started with product discovery workshop during which we analyzed current user paths, designed a new purchase flow and registration, related to the need to fill in health surveys. Then we identified points of failure in the user's path, e.g. failure to fill in the questionnaire, device problems, ticket return in case of illness, etc.

Sparing also helped us to identify edge cases such as theft of a ticket, passing the QR code to another person, passing the phone, etc. They helped us plan our deliverables and the scope of the first app version - it made us feel comfortable and let us adjust the project budget properly.

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

We were in direct contact with:

• Adrian (CEO and Business Analytic)
• Ewa (Partner and UX Head)
• Iwona (PM Head)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Thanks to Sparing Digital team we launched the app and our ticket digital hub which had the ticket databases issued by various ticket sellers and updated data in real-time. The software also automatically detects suspicious situations to eliminate fraud - it makes the process more efficient and tightens ticketing systems.

They also helped us to create the ultimate tool to keep our participants safe during the event - before entering the festival, each guest had to answer questions about their health in the application. If he did not show symptoms of COVID-19, he would receive a QR code in the application. In addition to medical data, it contained information about the validity of the ticket and access rights to individual zones.

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

Iwona the PM was dedicated and always available. Also Adrian helped during the whole proccces. We had regular meetings on google meets, we worked on professional tools like Miro and Trello. Also phone calls and mails were on regular basis. They have been sending us deadlines, they pushed us and informed about each and single step. Each Sparing Digital member was very committed, responsive, and trustworthy. They treated our project with the highest priority.

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

Great understanding of customer needs. They're focused on the business goals and have created the product with the highest usability. We’re also impressed with their availability and smoothness in cooperation with the development team. And we all felt that together we will find a solution, even when it was almost impossible :)

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

Maybe their response times to phone calls could be quicker.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the creative director of a small publishing company. We have a website and social media channels and concentrate mostly on community content.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sparing Digitial Consulting?

Our website wasn’t functioning well, so we needed someone to help us rebuild our platform. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started the web development project with a discussion about the design and aesthetic of the platform to garner better SEO scores and improve our page views. 

We then started collaborating on the UX to develop the architecture and come up with the content to tell the story of our brand. 

In addition, we’ve also been working on an e-commerce project together, providing us with their market consultation services, and conducting workshops to identify our needs.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact is Adrian (CEO).

How did you come to work with Sparing Digitial Consulting?

We came across Sparing Digital Consulting through a conference. We chose to hire them because we felt very confident with their proposal and approach to the project.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve invested about $300,000 PLN (approximately $65,100 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in June 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We keep track of our platform’s performance through Google Analytics and thanks to Sparing Digital Consulting, we’ve been having great organic reach. Their SEO audit services have helped us improve our engagement.

How did Sparing Digitial Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re superb from a project management perspective, and we incorporate InVision and NeRo to manage the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I think they have a great understanding of our needs and the patience to adapt to our processes. We’re also impressed with their flexibility when it comes to the budget and their approach to educating us on the best practices to improve our product further.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’ve been very open to consistently communicating and resolving our issues, so I don’t have any constructive feedback since they’re always overcoming our roadblocks.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re a very creative team, so I would advise you to clarify your project scope, requirements, and expectations, so they can propose a great plan to improve your platform.