STDev

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and CTO of ClikNview, a photography platform. Our typical customers are photographers and videographers who mostly handle events, like weddings, though it’s not limited to that. The goal of the platform is to streamline some of the communication and workflow of the artists and clients after the actual shoot.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with STDev?

We’d started working on the project a couple of years ago, but we stopped due to a lack of time and resources we were able to dedicate to it. We ended up bringing in STDev to help.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team essentially took over all of our design work, and did almost all of our coding work. I’m a software engineer myself, so I look over the code and participate in some of the technical decision making, but STDev was the main contributor. They’ve provided other services as well, such as QA.

The nature of the platform requires large file uploads, which is a technical challenge because sometimes those uploads can be interrupted. We needed to find a robust way of supporting resumable uploads in the event that the action is terminated. STDev helped build that out, as well as several other features.The platform is on Ruby on Rails, and we used React as well.

The team also provided all the design work on our website. They sent us mockups, and we would iterate until we were happy with the design.

What is the team composition?

I’d say five or six people have worked on the project in total, including designers. The majority of our contact has been with the project manager, but we also keep in touch with their lead engineer and several other developers. 

How did you come to work with STDev?

We found them through UpWork. Our main objective at that point was to find a team that was familiar with Ruby on Rails. We had an initial call and it was clear they were well-versed in that technology, so we started with some small tasks and the relationship just grew from there.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $100,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since January 2018. The project went live about a year ago, but we’re consistently working together to improve it and market it more widely.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Though the product is live, we don’t have that many users just yet as we’re still trying to get people to try out. I don’t have any success metrics in terms of users or numbers, but internally we’re satisfied with their work. 

STDev is very prompt, and they deliver really high-quality work. A lot of times, we come to them with half-baked ideas, and they’re able to go to the drawing board and really flesh out the idea in an impressive way. We’ll go back and forth on design and technical strategies, and it’s clear their work is well-thought-out.

Overall, the platform is very robust and we see hardly any bugs or failures. We’re very pleased.

How did STDev perform from a project management standpoint?

Our project manager handles most of the communication. She provides us with updates each week and liaises between our two teams if there are ever questions. She’s also available for calls when needed. Having one person as a contact throughout the project is a very valuable asset.

We use Slack to keep in touch, so I’ve had access to several of their engineers, not just the lead developer. Whenever we ask them to do something, they’re very quick about delivering. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their technical expertise is particularly impressive. I’m always pleasantly surprised by the ideas and innovation they initiate. They also make great recommendations in terms of technical design and just the UI in general.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing I can think of. They’re a pleasure to work with. STDev gives us the full stack of development: frontend, backend, project management, design. There’s nothing to point to that they could improve upon, nor is there any reason that we would switch over to another team. We’re completely satisfied.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Start off with a very clearly thought-out design for a minimal project, and then build off of that. Also, be prompt with your communication, and consistent so that you can keep the project momentum going.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We help buyers to find suppliers faster and online. Our main product is a marketplace allowing both parties to find each others and communicate. I am the CTO and co-founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire STDev?

We hired STDev to take over the coding and management of our web app.

What were your goals for this project?

The first part of the project was to take over and finish the coding of the marketplace so that it could be made live. Once live, the goal was to implement the new features and functionalities we designed.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found STDev through another marketplace. They were very highly rated there and the communication was excellent from the beginning.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They took over, re-factored and completed the code of our marketplace after we faced technical issues. They learned the existing code base with an impressive attention to detail and took it from here.

Once the marketplace was live, they helped us to come up with the real life implementation of the solutions we designed for our users. We would provide rough mockups, UI and UX and they would analyse, discuss potential pitfall and then code, test and implement when ready.

What was the team composition?

The project team had 10 - 15 people including a project manager, designer, front-end, back-end and admin coders, testers and network engineers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This project was key to our business, and the successful completion by STDev allowed us to move forward and sign up thousands of users. The changes we made to the marketplace over time made a huge difference to our users.

An example would be improvements to our chat system: changes made doubled the amount of messages sent over a month time.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We always had one project manager which would be our main point of contact. We could follow the progress of each task on Trello, discussions on Slack and a weekly call.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I have worked with many agencies before and can honestly say that STDev stands out as a very competent and above all trustable company. They have been with us during our worst crunch time and never let us down. They are very thorough with their testing and always professional.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Good code takes time unfortunately. We often had to be patient for tasks and testing to be completed. On the plus side, this patience paid off when the new features were launched without any or very little bugs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an online wedding platform connecting engaged couples with suppliers in their area. We are a one-stop wedding destination which brings planning into the digital age.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with STDev?

We had just started out and didn’t have a website at all. The online platform is at the heart of our business model, so we wanted the ability to launch it in the German, Austrian, and Swiss markets.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

STDev built our platform from the ground up and brought vision on making it an inspirational and interactive tool. We provided detailed ideas of what we had in mind, and they made it all come to life. The design was made elsewhere, but STDev handled the backend and frontend coding of the functionalities we were looking for. The site was developed from scratch using PHP, as well as JavaScript and HTML on the frontend.

There are 3 key features, including a directory which helps couples look for matching wedding vendors. Users can sort by category (wedding cakes, flowers, and so on) and location (city or area). Suppliers can create their own profile and manage their own backend information.

The second part is an inspiration gallery with imagery uploaded by ourselves or gotten from our wedding suppliers. The photos are sorted by category and color, helping couples find inspiration for certain types of flowers, colors, and styles, from traditional to bohemian.

The third part is an interactive and personalized account for users. They can manage their guest lists, budgets, and go through an interactive checklist which tells them which tasks they should focus on prior to the wedding. They can save favorite suppliers, images, and mood boards.

How did you come to work with STDev?

We found them through Upwork, which was previously called oDesk. STDev had some great reviews and recommendations and looked like a group we could trust, and which could make our money go further as a startup company. We approached them through the platform and started working together. It’s been a clear and simple process in terms of payments and flexibility, to managing the hours we need them to work on the project.

How much have you invested with STDev?

The cost of the project was $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with STDev in November 2015, a little over a year and a half ago. They continue to provide maintenance and bug fixing whenever we have an issue, or something isn’t working properly. The maintenance part was included in the main project, so STDev has taken full ownership of the website. We also add new functionalities to the site once in a while. We are also planning to have a site relaunch in the future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

It’s tricky to say since, as I explained, the platform we developed is at the heart of our business model. As a business, we wouldn’t be able to operate without it, so STDev has had a substantial part in the success of the business. They are almost a part of our team, and we’ve worked closely with them, especially in the beginning.

How did STDev perform from a project management standpoint?

We have good, regular contact with them over Skype calls. We can communicate with STDev through Skype chats over live Q&As whenever we need to. We share documents online using Asana, in order to make sure that the project is managed in an efficient way. They’re responsive across all different channels, but, for the project management part, we usually provide a detailed brief and share documents in order to remain updated on every task. We also have weekly calls to make sure we are all on the same page.

What did you find most impressive about STDev?

STDev contributed a lot. They weren’t afraid to make recommendations whenever they thought that we needed some advice. The openness and honesty were great, and it was more like a dialogue than us telling them what to do. We’ve enjoyed working with STDev; they’re very professional, fast, and have a sense of urgency which is great, especially when running an online business and relying on the functionality of a website.

Are there any areas STDev could improve?

There was a transition period with some staff changes, but everything went smoothly in the end. The fact that STDev continued communicating with us on a regular basis was crucial. They made sure to stick to the deadlines and keep us posted on any delays proactively so that we could manage expectations. There is no huge area of improvement or dissatisfaction from our side.