Spiral Scout

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Chief Medical Officer of hey freya

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

hey freya is on a mission to reimagine women’s wellness and radically shift how women show up in the world and care for themselves. Our 3-step approach uniquely combines state-of-the-art biomarker testing with proprietary, evidence-based supplement recommendations in our health-tracking app that makes stress and restoration measurable through a “restoration score.”

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Spiral Scout to accomplish?

• Build an administrative dashboard for lab test results, linking between multiple vendors, apps, and platforms.

SOLUTION

How did you find Spiral Scout?

Referral

Why did you select Spiral Scout over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Spiral Scout were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We needed a central dashboard that could be toggled between Operations and Health team needs. It needed to bidirectionally integrate information from Shopify, Vendor Labs, as well as third-party apps. We needed ability to sort, filter, edit and live update with notifications, well as send information back to Shopify and the Vendor platforms.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are now able to seamlessly manage, monitor and track progress for our clients’ lab orders. The team was able to take the description of our needs and suggest and create more efficient and valuable solutions than we had originally approached them with.

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

Working with them was very easy and quick, and they are able to take our needs, timelines, budget, and desires, and suggest current improvements and stay forward thinking.

What was your primary form of communication with Spiral Scout?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their ability to handoff tasks between the team members, but also have clear roles of each team member made working with Spiral Scout feel like a well-oiled machine.

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

They were great! No suggestions from this project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VP of Engineering and Technology of a software company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We offer an enterprise decision-making platform allowing you to automate your raw material sourcing needs to save time and money.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Spiral Scout to accomplish?

• Staff Augmentation

SOLUTION

How did you find Spiral Scout?

• Online Search
• Clutch Site

Why did you select Spiral Scout over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Spiral Scout were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

We engaged Spiral Scout for staff augmentation services to support various roles in our software development efforts, including Front-End, Back-End, QA, and DevOps. Throughout our partnership, we fluctuated between 7 to 10 developers depending on our project needs. I would wholeheartedly recommend Spiral Scout for anyone looking for reliable and effective staff augmentation or project-based solutions.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their ability to adapt and integrate with our team has been invaluable, and they have proven to be a versatile and competent partner in our ongoing endeavors. On a scale from 1 to 10, I would rate our overall satisfaction with Spiral Scout as a 9 since no is perfect! Their commitment to quality and collaboration makes them an excellent choice for software development services.

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

Spiral Scout excelled in their management approach, displaying a great willingness to accommodate our requests without the need for extensive logistical support from their side. Their team was not only responsive but also genuinely invested in our project’s success, which made a significant difference in our daily operations.

What was your primary form of communication with Spiral Scout?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The quality of the staff provided by Spiral Scout has consistently met our high standards. On the rare occasion we needed to replace a team member, Spiral Scout was exceptionally understanding and proactive in facilitating a smooth transition. Their team members were seamlessly integrated into our tooling stack, demonstrating superb communication skills and a solution-oriented approach whenever challenges arose. 
The strengths of working with Spiral Scout lie in their transparent communication and their alignment with our work processes right from the outset. This clarity and shared understanding of contract terms fostered a productive working relationship.

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

On a scale from 1 to 10, I would rate our overall satisfaction with Spiral Scout as a 9 since no is perfect! Their commitment to quality and collaboration makes them an excellent choice for software development services.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Vice President, Strategy & Transformation of Appspace

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We help organizations connect their people, places, and spaces to create a workplace employees love.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Spiral Scout to accomplish?

• Tech Team Augmentation
• Reduction in Tech Debt
• Implementation of best practices

SOLUTION

How did you find Spiral Scout?

Referral

Why did you select Spiral Scout over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Spiral Scout were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

One example of a project we've worked on and just completed: 
Project Summary: Transition to a microservices architecture to enhance scalability, maintainability, and deployment efficiency of the review website. 
Key Deliverables: 

• Architecture Blueprint: Provide a detailed plan for the microservices architecture, including service separation logic and communication protocol
• Development and Deployment: Develop and deploy individual microservices based on the blueprint, ensuring they are properly containerized and orchestrated
• Data Migration Plan: Create and implement a strategy for migrating existing data from the monolithic system to the new microservices architecture
• Testing Protocol: Establish comprehensive testing procedures to ensure each microservice works as intended and integrates smoothly with others
• Monitoring and Maintenance Plan: Set up monitoring tools to track the performance of microservices and outline a maintenance schedule

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

1. Reduced Downtime: Lower downtime rates during deployments, indicating better service reliability
2. Scalability Metrics: Improved handling of user load and data processing, evidenced by performance benchmarks

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

Spiral Scout's project management approach is highly efficient, typically delivering items on schedule and aligning well with client timelines. They are responsive to client needs, adapting to changes and feedback throughout the project lifecycle. This flexibility and reliability in managing projects contribute significantly to meeting business objectives and ensuring client satisfaction.

What was your primary form of communication with Spiral Scout?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

What stands out about Spiral Scout is their expert knowledge, quick delivery, and ability to tackle complex problems efficiently. These qualities make them highly effective in the software development industry.

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

Nothing worth noting.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder of Dakotomy

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

A branding & communications firm helping VC-backed startups advance their industry-shaking ideas.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Spiral Scout to accomplish?

• Hired to represent as our white labeled development team with face-to-face interaction with multiple clients.
• Hired to develop best-in-class front and back end website using modern day headless framework for multiple clients.
• Hired to maintain and ensure cyber level security within code and process.
• Hired to project manage end-to-end process with multiple clients.

SOLUTION

How did you find Spiral Scout?

Online Search

Why did you select Spiral Scout over others?

• High ratings
• Company values aligned
• Strong Management

How many teammates from Spiral Scout were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We engaged with Spiral Scout as a potential development partner with one of our biggest clients. They provided such tremendous knowledge, experience, and service we decided to make Spiral Scout our preferred and only development partner. Their senior leadership team sat at the table to solve our client's goals and requirements, offering smarter solutions than we planned to implement. 

After setting goals and selecting the right technologies, the leadership team effectively communicated with their middle and lower-level employees, making the project management burden minimal. If we faced any client difficulties or paralleled launches, their team worked around the clock for days without complaining even once. 

The output was a quality website with a robust and easy-to-use CMS our client could use to scale their company. I would highly recommend their services to anyone looking for a strong development agency.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

1. Multiple successful client launches ON TIME 
2. Easy-to-use CMS 
3. Quality responsive website 
4. Minimal project management burden—saving our team time

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

The team never missed a deadline. Their main project manager attended every meeting, took great notes, and allowed our team to focus on other important matters. Big bonus: Their team is client-facing, instilling trust throughout the project.

What was your primary form of communication with Spiral Scout?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The leadership team's approach, professionalism, and knowledge are impressive. They also don't seem to hire junior talent—which many agencies do.

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

N.A.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of Dibz, a digital marketplace that connects shoppers to secret deals on apparel and home goods over text message.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We had serious issue with our custom shopify app that was originally built for us by another development agency. We needed an expert to step in and pick up the pieces after realizing that the previous agency had screwed up a lot of the code/desired functionality for our app. We looked to Spiral Scout to come in and help right the ship quickly. Our project was a two month engagement which required them to conduct a code audit, fix a set of core bugs, and then build several new features for our custom sales channel app.

SOLUTION

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

We chose to work with Spiral Scout based on the recommendations from a few ecommerce founders in our network who had nothing bu great things to say about the team and their work.

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

They first ran a code audit to help us understand what issues existed within the current code base for our Shopify app. The team came to us with a clear set of recommendations for which issues were major and needed to be addressed immediately and which were minor and could be ignored (which I liked) After the code audit, they got to work updating our custom shopify app which was primarily built in node.js on top of our postgresql database. They worked with us to break the project up into tickets which we then defined/scoped. The team quickly fit into our existing work flow in JIRA and knocked out each ticket assigned quickly and efficiently.

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

There were 5 team members involved. We had the project lead, a back end engineer, a front end engineer, a QA engineer, and a project manager. In addition to this were in frequent communication with the founder/CEO John which was great.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The team fixed all bugs and built the new features requested for the shopify app within the two month timeline we had set as a goal. I believe they finished everything up a few weeks early even.

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

Communication was very clear with detailed proposals sent out the beginning of the project that outline the work in both a summary document and excel sheet breaking down the project costs. During the project, they fit in seamlessly with our existing JIRA environment and implemented a time tracking app within JIRA to stay on top of hours logged.

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

Two things: 1. Their attention to detail. They communicated very clearly from start to finish of the project and I felt like I had a good sense at all times of whether we were on or off track 2. Quality of work. Compared to the other dev agencies we've worked with Spiral Scout is far superior

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

No, I was overall very pleased with Spiral Scout and will continue to leverage them for future needs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of Roundhouse One, a spatial intelligence company that helps users make better decisions about their spaces using data-driven analytics and findings.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spiral Scout?

We hired them for all our website development, UI/UX design, backend development, and anything to do with API connections and servers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Spiral Scout is our software team. Whenever I have a task or a client request regarding development or UI/UX design, I send them an overview, documentation, and resources that might help them understand the request. This triggers a conversation about design and backend requirements, usually over 2–3 calls or more. 

From there, Spiral Scout reviews the request with their design team and comes back with estimates for time, effort, team size, and cost. If the estimates work for our team, we determine the request’s priorities and milestones. After they deliver on a task, our team tests things to ensure everything is running smoothly, and we provide feedback if it isn’t. At the end of the process, they send us an invoice for the time spent. 

Before working with them, an internal team built some features. We sometimes can’t customize these features ourselves due to time constraints. In those cases, Spiral Scout refactors and builds on our existing code. The team uses the AWS stack for all backend tasks. They’ve also used Javascript and HTML. When they refactor our in-house code, they use Node.js and Python. They do ad hoc troubleshooting that comes up, including bugs. 

The team has designed and built a dashboard system from scratch. Our company collects data about spaces, including information about physical assets such as floor plans and environmental information, like air quality and lighting. For this, we have sensors deployed that report at a frequency of 5–10 minutes. We have hundreds of sensors that yield a lot of data, and it’s not easy to throw all of it at our clients. 

Spiral Scout has developed a platform that gives our clients different types of information at different stages. The application includes a map of the main locations the client is monitoring and shows donut graphs. The inner donut’s color represents the indoor environment, and the outer donut represents the outdoor environment. Users can click on a donut and see a historical view to compare and contrast different spaces. This dashboard allows users to benchmark and see how their spaces perform against each other.

What is the team composition?

The team composition depends on the project size; we’ve worked with teams of 4–5 people. Since our current needs are lean, we work with 2–3 team members from Spiral Scout. I’m only in contact with a project manager who coordinates with the rest of the team. 

How did you come to work with Spiral Scout?

My former boss knew of John (Co-Founder & CEO) through word of mouth. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $50,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2020, and our engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have a good relationship with Spiral Scout that we’ve maintained throughout the years. The dashboard system they’ve built is one of our most popular product offerings. Recently, a user gave us feedback for the system; the data was restricted to 30 days, and they wanted to view more and have it load faster. We extended the request to Spiral Scout, and they took the load time of over two minutes, with the app occasionally crashing, to under 30 seconds without crashes.

How did Spiral Scout perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re good about staying on the budget; I can’t think of more than 1–2 instances where they’ve exceeded the budget, and that’s usually due to unforeseen issues that come up. We do a lot of refactoring, so their work also depends on how previous engineers have coded some packages. They usually take longer to refactor than to build from scratch. 

As for communication, our initial conversations for each task start via email. Then, we have calls via Zoom or Microsoft Teams. From there, we use Jira boards to prioritize, track, assign, and update tasks. We use the same boards if we have any questions or comments throughout the process. When they complete a task, they send us a screenshot or video demo as proof. 

If something urgent arises that we haven’t addressed, we send it through email. The Spiral Scout team ensures we’re aware of any hurdles or hiccups throughout the process that might delay the results. They’re very good at tracking and documenting everything, so we don’t have to deal with the backend details. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Spiral Scout’s biggest strength is their availability. Even though they have many projects and clients, they always take our calls. As a result, they make me feel supported no matter what. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve recently given them constructive feedback about communication, which had been a bit off; I wasn’t getting updates unless I asked for them recently. This hasn’t always been the case, but they had 1–2 instances of lack of or poor communication about progress. 

Although I trust that they’re working on the backend, I like regular updates. We talked about that, and they’ve been great since then. They’ve considered our feedback and give me updates every 2–3 days on whatever the status might be. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Set expectations and deadlines very clearly. Your tasks need to be really clear because Spiral Scout takes them at face value. If you ask for a button, you’ll get a button, not a widget. Therefore, ensure your tasks are listed clearly and that you agree with the budgeted timeline. You should also account for some buffer time because development is always unpredictable.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the COO of a software development company based in Los Angeles. We work with startups and corporations to design and build bespoke software.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Spiral Scout?

One of our clients needed a quick design turnaround for an internal project. We had collaborated with Spiral Scout in the past and knew the high quality of their design services, so when we needed support to fulfill within the timeline our client had, we reached out to Spiral Scout to partner with us on the project.

SOLUTION

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

We have partnered with Spiral Scout on other projects. Our client had very little guidance they could provide to the designer, so we needed someone who had enough vision to take an existing, outdated product and show the potential a modern redesign could provide. Given the quality of Spiral Scout's previous work, we knew they could handle it.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

The project was very short and consisted of consulting with the client to then create a mood board, visual elements, and a full page mockup of a redesigned page.

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

Multiple resources. Spiral Scout's lead designer along with another designer who supported. I also talked with their CEO about the project requirements.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It was a success. The ultimate goal was for the client to receive internal approval for their idea and the designs supported that process. The client was extremely happy with what they received.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our Product Manager who worked hand-in-hand with the designers enjoyed the experience. The designers were professional, creative, thorough, and quick with their work. Our client felt the same. We love the Spiral Scout team and we hope to work more with them on this project in the future.

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

They treat every client project the same. This was a very small project; and we've worked with them on other projects of larger scope, but they provide the same amount of support regardless of the size of the project in question. Software development is what our business does as well, so we find that to be extremely important in this industry! We don't partner with very many other firms on client projects of ours, but we hold Spiral Scout in high regard and would trust them to work with any of our clients.

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

Nothing to note.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Trustr is a social networking platform, currently focused on the travel market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Spiral Scout to build and update a Figma prototype of how our platform will work.

SOLUTION

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

We solicited input from other companies that had done similar projects, met with the vendors they recommended, and then reviewed and compared their respective proposals/bids. Ultimately, we selected Spiral Scout because they offered the best combination of experience, professionalism and price (value).

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

After a few initial meetings to refine the scope of the project, define the design parameters and vernacular, and agree on the development process and schedule, we spent the next few weeks working in Miro to lock down the web page designs, and then in Figma to build the programmatic flow for the prototype. Project management was mostly done through Google Docs.

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

We mainly worked with three Spiral Scout resources: a Project Manager, a Designer and a Business Analyst.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our prototype project was completed on time and on budget. And we were very pleased with the results.

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

We video-conferenced 2-3 times a week, and then exchanged emails and reviewed Google Docs, Miro boards and Figma flows in between. Through it all, Spiral Scout was very punctual, dependable and clear in its communications, deliverables and follow-up.

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

Spiral Scout's broad and deep expertise, and its ability to work effectively with a client with very little development experience, made the project proceed very smoothly and the outcome exceed expectations. In other words, Spiral Scout did a great job of translating business goals into development requirements, and making a non-technical founder feel heard and understood.

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

None coem to mind.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the technology consultant for a B2B strategy company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Spiral Scout?

We needed someone to help our client provide their customers with better service access.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’re engaged with Spiral Scout to build a particular component for an e-commerce platform. The team is building the software, a customer-facing platform, from scratch and designing the UX.

What is the team composition?

I’ve mainly been communicating with a project manager, head of UX, head of design, and their management team.

How did you come to work with Spiral Scout?

I’ve already worked with Spiral Scout from a previous company, so I recommended them to be the primary development partner for this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in March 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re still in the development phase, but their team has been consistently responsive and easy to work with, and we’re very satisfied with the quality of their work.

How did Spiral Scout perform from a project management standpoint?

They do a good job of keeping the project on track and are upfront about the development changes and updates. They also strictly adhere to the budget and timeline of the project, so the partnership has been smooth.

We use Confluent to manage the project and typically communicate through Slack and Google Meet.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed with their development experience and approach to communication.

Are there any areas they could improve?

At this point, I don’t have any constructive feedback because I’m very satisfied with our partnership with Spiral Scout.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise you to come up with a defined set of requirements to give them a clear picture of what you’re looking for. However, Spiral Scout does offer a complete development team solution including their own BA's to document the requirements.