Surf

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a co-founder & managing partner at a software development company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

The software development company I work for made a decision to invest in its own startup — a SAAS platform that would help outsourcing IT companies both automate financial accounting and plan income and expenses. We needed a team of skilled engineers that could develop a cross-platform mobile app with Flutter and then integrate it with our existing code.

SOLUTION

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

We chose Surf because it’s the company most skilled in Flutter development. Surf has skilled engineers and enough resources to build our application in the shortest time possible.

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

We had a kickoff meeting with the Surf team, where we went over the idea of the project and shared complete API documentation and design layouts for the app. The Surf team got up to speed real quick — we were shown the first results only 3 weeks after the project started. Then we worked in fortnight sprints.

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

The team Surf assigned to the project consisted of 4 Flutter developers, 2 QAs, and a project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have successfully built the MVP. It's currently in beta testing and users are leaving positive feedback commenting on the quality and usability of the app.

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

The project manager worked with me directly. At the same time, there was a general Slack channel to which the entire team was added. We worked according to the Scrum method and had fortnight sprints. At the beginning of each sprint, we met for grooming sessions. At the end of each sprint, the results were demonstrated by the QA expert and we were shown active features of the application.

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

Most of all, I was impressed by how quick the development took and by the high level of expertise the engineers have.

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

The collaboration with Surf has proved very fruitful, so it’s difficult for me to suggest improvements.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Chief Information Officer at Rive Gauche. Rive Gauche is a perfumery and cosmetic network. Ranked third in the Russian perfumery and cosmetics retail market. The brand has about 150 offline stores and an online store.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We needed to develop a mobile app for an online store, which is close in functionality to the web version. We wanted to increase our mobile sales.

SOLUTION

How did you select Surf and what were the deciding factors?

We held a tender, Surf's offer was the best. It was also important for us that the company had extensive experience in developing mobile applications in e-commerce and for large retail. Surf fitted these requirements completely.

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

It is a convenient mobile online store. Surf developed a native application for it, which is integrated with the company's website. The app contains a convenient catalog with filtering by product categories and brands. There is a system for recommending products that a client may like, and a smart search. With the help of the card, the client can find the store closest to him, see where the promotion is valid or the client's day is planned.

In the application, the client can choose a convenient delivery option - self-pickup from the store, delivery by courier or at the checkpoint.

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

3 iOS and Android developers 1 QA, designer, analyst and manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The application has over 500 thousand downloads. It has high score in the store - 4.8 and good conversion rates.

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

Communication with the Surf team was very effective, they responded promptly to all comments and concerns. Surf also contributed a lot of UI / UX expertise to the project. Thanks to it we quickly implemented a convenient and beautiful app interface with all necessary functionality.

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

Surf has a lot of experience in mobile development, in particular, online stores. They perfectly understand what users expect from such applications and what is especially important for them in the interface and functionality. The company provided very competent advice and guidance on how best to develop a user-friendly product.

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

Throughout the project, Surf has shown high professional competencies, so it's hard for me to advise what can be improved.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Head of Marketing at LLC “Meal Kit” supervising and coordinating all the stages of mobile app development & design for our groceries & recipes delivery service “Uzhin Doma”.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Surf?

We’ve been developing a mobile app for our groceries & recipes delivery service

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We noticed Surf thanks to the expert articles they publish. When making a decision, we studied their other case-studies and successful projects in the Foodtech industry.

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

Our project is a start-up for the delivery of meal kits with recipes. We help our clients save time and money spent on grocery shopping, as well as select easy-to-prepare and interesting recipes.

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

UX/UI Designer, project manager, analysts, Flutter developer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Users highly appreciated the usability of our app's design. This had a positive effect on purchase conversion and audience retention. The new design turned out to be so successful that we used it when redesigning the mobile version of the site.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We are pleased with the interaction with the Surf team. It was nice that during the design process, the designer himself proposed changes different from the initial prototypes and correctly argued, he used his experience - this is a big advantage.

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

Surf's deep expertise in UX/UI design of mobile applications is surprising. I am pleased with the ability to work for the result and constantly improve the product.

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

We have nothing to complain about.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder and product director at MAIN. MAIN is a social UGC platform owned by MDK Technologies LTD. MDK Technologies LTD is one of the largest players in the social media market in Russia. We produce a huge amount of entertainment content and help businesses find common ground with the younger generation since 2011.

The MDK network includes more than 40 popular news and entertainment communities in VK, Telegram, Twitter and Instagram with a combined audience of more than 20 million people. The clients of our creative agency are Burger King, KFC, Unilever, Mail.ru, Gazprom Media, Alibaba Group and others.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Surf - Flutter Developers, and what were your goals?

We wanted to develop a mobile app for our startup, UGC platform MAIN. Our goal was to make an MVP version of the product, and then develop it, increase audience and engagement, and look at how to monetize it.

SOLUTION

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

We sent out requests to companies from the top 10 mobile developers ranking. Surf offered the best conditions and had an excellent pre-sale presentation. It became clear to us that their product vision is close to ours and our cooperation will be effective.

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

MAIN is a system of thematic communities called boards. They are created and managed by common users. Users publish their stories, memes, arts, videos and interesting links on the boards, and other users rate and comment on them.

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

While working on the MVP, from Surf worked: designer, art director, 3 android developers, 3 iOS developers, 2 QA, project manager. At the development stage: designer, 2 android developers, 2 iOS developers, 1 QA tester, project manager and product analyst.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We successfully launched MVP, made sure that our project was viable and started developing it. Now our social platform is working successfully, there is a constant audience. More than 200,000 installations in the Appstore and Play Market.

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

Surf has a mature and streamlined communication process, both within the team and with the client. It was a chat with the project manager, analyst and designer. Once a week, we had a call to discuss progress, work plan, deadlines, user analytics and backlog. All communications are as transparent as possible: at every stage we knew what was happening with the project.

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

We were most impressed by the proactiveness of the Surf team and their interest in the success of our product. Surf prepared recommendations for us to improve the features. These recommendations were backed up by user activity analytics and A / B tests.

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

The collaboration with Surf was in line with our expectations, so it is difficult for me to advise what could be improved.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Head of Department of Digital Product Innovation and Operational Support at JSC Tander (Magnit (tm)). The company owns Europe's largest retail chain Magnit.

It is located in 3.7 thousand localities and consists in 2020 of about 15 thousand small grocery stores, 500 supermarkets, 5 thousand perfumery and cosmetics stores, 1 thousand pharmacies, as well as several stores of other formats. The total number of employees is more than 300 thousand. The company also has a greenhouse complex, its own vehicle fleet for 5.7 thousand vehicles.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We needed to develop a convenient native information application in which the user can track discounts and promotions, and integrate it with the retail chain's loyalty system.

SOLUTION

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

We announced a development tender and Surf’s proposal was the best.

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

In the app store customers can view current discounts and promotions, as well as make a shopping list. The app is integrated with our loyalty program. You can bind a plastic card to it or generate a virtual one. In addition, the app has reusable coupons and personalized passes. Through the application, customers can leave feedback on the quality of supermarkets.

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

3 iOS and 3 Android developers, 1 designer, 1 QA, 1 manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Users can now see discounts and promotions in a convenient store, make shopping lists. Fast feedback from users through the app allows us to solve their problems on-line. With the launch of the loyalty program, the frequency of using the application has tripled. In 2019, more than 60% of purchases were made using the loyalty system.

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

Our cooperation with Surf is long and very productive. We started by developing an application that would be easy to use. During the project, many other new interesting features were added. Many of them were realised due to active participation of Surf.

The team was always invariably interested in cooperation, effectively built communications and implemented all our wishes at a high technical level.

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

Surf has a great experience of cooperation with large companies and understands the needs and requirements of organizations of this size. In addition, they keep an eye on all new technologies and regularly suggest new flagship solutions that can improve the app.

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

High technical competence, properly built communications, the desire to understand the needs of the client - I can only wish to save all these qualities and show them in other projects.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Bank Zenit is a large universal Russian bank. It works in 45 cities of the Russian Federation. Includes 11 branch offices and almost two hundred service offices. Belongs to PJSC TATNEFT. One of the forty largest Russian banks in terms of net assets, as well as the participant of TOP-1000 largest banks in the world. I am Head of Digital Services Development Department. I am responsible for the development of product services in the Internet Banking and mobile application.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We needed to develop a mobile banking application. It should be functional enough for advanced clients in Private Banking and at the same simple enough for ordinary salary clients from Russian regions. With it we wanted to get in the top ten mobile banks in Russia according to the Markswebb R&R rating.

SOLUTION

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

We organized a tender to select a developer. The terms were published in the public domain. Surf's offer was the most appropriate.

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

We aimed to create a mobile bank app in which our client can make payments and transfers, track the status of the accounts, deposits, and credits. Also, he can choose and add new products - credits, deposits, and cards. Search on the map of ATMs and bank offices. The app has been integrated with the State Payment System, so the client can receive information about accrued fines, taxes, as well as other government payments and pay them.

Also, in the application one can make transfers through the Fast Payment System. This is a project of the Central Bank developing Open Banking in Russia. Surf developed the app from the beginning. For this, a lot of preparatory work was carried out. The first version of the app was launched in 2018. Since its launch, the application has been actively developing and has many new features.

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

• 3 iOS Developers
• 3 Android Developers
• 1 Designer
• 1 Analyst
• 1 Project Manager
• 2 QA

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our clients are actively using the app and give good feedback on it. It has a high conversion rate and over 100 thousand installs. Since the launch of the application, the penetration of the use of RBS among the bank card holders has significantly increased. In the UX / UI rating of Markswebb 2019, our mobile bank rose by 7 positions.

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

We had a productive communication with Surf. In a number of questions, Surf acted as experts and prepared recommendations for us on how best to implement the feature. Recommendations were supported by analytics of user actions, it increased work efficiency, allowed making the right decisions, and minimized the possibility of errors. Our cooperation has been going on for the third year and it shows - we have built an effective workflow.

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

Surf has extensive expertise in banking solutions. It is very valuable for us. Also they have an excellent technical background and vast experience in mobile app development. Surf constantly explore the development of technologies and promptly apply the most innovative solutions.

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

They've met all of our expectations so far.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

SAP is one of the world’s leading producers of software for the management of business processes, developing solutions that facilitate effective data processing and information flow across organizations. I am a Senior Business Solutions Architect in SAP.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We needed to develop an AR application in addition to the demo. The stand presented an SAP solution for planning and controlling building operations. An AR application helps a potential client see the whole business process.

SOLUTION

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

Surf was recommended to us by the SAP partner department since the company had experience in developing AR apps.

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

An AR application where you can see the virtual construction. The client can choose the place where to put the production well, lay power lines, and oil pipelines. You can switch between stages - for example, go directly to laying the oil pipeline. Due to 3D animation, the image comes to life. You can see every stage of the construction in detail. The application works on iOS devices with lidar. It shows the precise positioning in relation to physical objects on the stand.

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

• 2 developers
• 1 designer
• 1 QA

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

An AR application helps a potential client see the whole business process of construction and decide if he needs an SAP solution for planning and controlling building operations. It perfectly complements the solution demo and impresses customers.

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

It was a pleasure to interact with the Surf team, the developers promptly made all the corrections and proposed new solutions to improve the quality of the demonstration.

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

The application was developed without a technical specification, simply based on functional requirements. For me personally, it shows the professionalism of the team, which can develop an application well and quickly grasp the essence of a business problem. And the result was exactly what we needed.

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

The experience of cooperation with Surf was quite positive. It is difficult to find what can be improved.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Bethowen is one of the leading retailers in pet supplies. Today Bethowen has over 100 modern pet shops in 6 regions of Russia, a vet hospital, an online shop and a mobile app for loving owners. Alexander Linin - Head of E-Commerce.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Surf?

A mobile app for Bethowen’s online shop.

What were your goals for this project?

A high-quality ecom app subsequently scaled to a solution provider in pet care.

SOLUTION

How did you select Surf?

I picked the top 5 studios according to Tagline's price/quality rating. Sent requests. Looked at how fast I got responses and compared how well they elaborated on the project. Then I picked from the 3 development proposals submitted.

Describe the project in detail.

A mobile app for Bethowen’s online pet supply shop: a comprehensive catalogue of goods and a range of filters, support for the loyalty program (redeeming bonus points and issuing digital loyalty cards), voice search, support for all special offers, ordering process made convenient with geolocation, an order history enabling users to repeat orders, flexible payment options including google and apple pay, modern and clever design combined with excellent performance, common user database in web and mobile app, shopping cart migration.

What was the team composition?

Bethowen staff: Head of E-Commerce, project manager, back-end developer, QA, marketing consultant. Surf staff: project manager, QA, 5 developers, project architect, designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project has recently been put in operation (3 weeks ago) currently reaching over 5 000 downloads and rated 4.5+ at both stores, thus reflecting its high quality. We received 800 orders during the first 2 weeks with 11.5% conversion, which is a great result on our market.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The process is extremely convenient. There's a number of chats at skype to discuss current issues and design, work is scheduled and monitored in Jira. All issues, questions, and ideas are discussed immediately, allowing for quick trouble-shooting and enabling us to add new tasks to the project.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The company strives to provide a pleasant and effective customer experience. Each flow is treated as their own.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Keep up the good work with the team you already have.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

Mars, Inc. is one of the biggest fast-moving consumer goods manufacturers in the world. We have more than 75,000 employees and numerous plants around the world.

What is your role in the company?

I am a partner between Petcare R&D [research and development], sales, and the IT [information technology] department.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you facing when you contacted Surf?

My main goal was to create and implement an IT strategy utilizing other departments, vendors, and associates. Our sales department is huge, but many of them work in other companies, mostly distributors. We have to support their everyday work with an actual "picture of success." This involves a significant amount of content defining how we would like to lay out product along the shelves in the shops, hypermarkets, and other sales outlets. This picture of success is not just a single list of rules, but varies considerably between different types of sales outlets.

SOLUTION

How did you come to work with Surf?

We published the usual RFP [request for proposal] with the top 10 mobile development vendors in Russia. Surf was the best option.

Please describe the scope of your work with Surf.

Surf was charged with the functional and technical specifications for the project, including mobile app and website development. They provided support for our content and helped with user rollout and full-service support.

Then, we did a chain of small projects to provide new features for our internal clients. In the final phase, Surf provided our separate business units with the content needed to rollout this solution in other regions and markets.

How did Surf perform from a project management standpoint?

Everything was managed by a dedicated project manager from Surf who became our single point of contact.

How long was this engagement?

The initial project took about seven months and was moved into production successfully.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics, metrics, or other feedback from this engagement?

Surf is a team with great professional skills. They completed everything in the agreed amount of time and on budget. Our internal clients are fully satisfied.

What distinguishes Surf from other providers?

They were flexible enough to provide us with server, hosting, and SMS service, which helped prevent our internal infrastructure from growing needlessly.

Is there anything Surf could have improved or done differently?

I am unable to think of anything we could have done better.

BACKGROUND

PSB is one of the leading Russian banks. We provide services for more than 2,000,000 individuals and 100,000 legal entities. PSB has more than 300 branches and 8,500 ATMs. Our services are available throughout Russia, and we also have branches in China, India, and Switzerland.

I’m a project manager of the IT department. My responsibilities include business-to-customer [B2C] projects and internal IT-systems of the bank.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

We already have working mobile banking for our individual clients. The important point was to focus on enterprise because it makes a substantial part of our turnover. We decided to build a special service for our VIP clients, such as Chief Executive Officers of corporations. Such app is a financial dashboard where you can see incomes and expenses, top contractors and clients, and other key metrics. Also the app provides an easy to use concierge service and relevant news.

We gave the app to our key clients to make them more loyal to us, and we are pleased with the results. Now we’re building an Android version and considering an expansion of the new service to corporate clients.

SOLUTION

We have already worked with Surf on a previous project, and that is why we knew their approach and work quality. In this project, our deadline was a challenge. The first version had to be delivered in three months.

Surf was responsible for the user interface design, API design, code building, testing, and publication of the app. The PSB team developed a backend and helped with security concepts.

As I mentioned, the first release took three months. After that, we have worked on improving the project for the past 9 months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

We have been working together for about a year, and I have no complaints about compliance with budgets and deadlines. Surf reduced the cost of the second platform development, and that’s was important for us.