TowerHouse Studio

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of NEON

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

NEON is neighborhood hub. We are a drop-in workspace and a community event space.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire TowerHouse Studio to accomplish?

• Mobile app for iOS and Android
• API integration with Meraki (IT infra), Stripe, and Eventbrite

SOLUTION

How did you find TowerHouse Studio?

Online Search

Why did you select TowerHouse Studio over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fits our budget
• Great culture fit
• Amazing proposal.

How many teammates from TowerHouse Studio were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

The TowerHouse team built a custom mobile app in React Native that would allow our customers to book hourly and daily passes in our space. Once they choose their pass, they are granted access via the Meraki API. Payment is processed via stripe. Our app also has an events tab that pulls from the Eventbrite API and lists the event and allows folks to register for events. They also created an admin portal that allows us to create promo codes, view usage, and build custom zapier web hooks.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Hitting deliverable dates on time for beta testing
• full roll out, approval from the iOS app store
• Google Play Store
• ease of use for our users
• making fast changes as bugs arose.

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

We had daily stand ups and weekly demos. Lots of communication over Slack/Email and Jira. All items were delivered early or on time and when minor scope changes came up they reacted fast and made it work.

What was your primary form of communication with TowerHouse Studio?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

I reached out to 10 different companies and TowerHouse was the only vendor who provided a proposed technical architecture and had done research on the API documentation that we planned to utilize. Their communication was amazing and insanely responsive. It was also great that we worked on similar time zones (I'm on PST and they work on EST). They even were able to source the hardware we needed to test on so that we could test both in their offices and in our location.

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

There is nothing they could do to improve. I absolutely loved working with them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Client Solutions Consultant with a IT consulting firm the St. Louis MO area.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We developed a material usage optimization tool for our client that they wanted deployed on Android and iOS devices for their internal customers.

SOLUTION

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

We created a comprehensive proposal with UX designs and explanations of the functionality and goals of the stakeholders. We then presented this document to a number of organizations. Of the response we received we quickly became convinced that TowerHouse Studio was the right partner for this project.

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

Part of the specification of the project was that it would be developed in ReactNative as an app that would run on Android or iOS. We provided the code to perform the optimization and developed an API for collecting data. TowerHouse Studio implemented the mobile application, including some tricky image recognition code, and worked closely with us to resolve issues as we tested. The deliverables of the project were the source code and the finished app.

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

We worked with a number of resources from management through to developers. As needed TowerHouse Studio brought resources to the team that were particularly skilled in an area (such as the image processing and recognition code mentioned earlier). While we worked with multiple resources over the project we primarily interacted with a single point of contact on a daily basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our end client was thrilled with the results of the work and seeing it as a mobile application, it inspired to think of more things that we could do with the solution going forward. The project is a differentiator for our client to encourage their customers to use what they make versus souring from a competitor.

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

Communication was Teams, Slack and email. Slack enabled us to be in constant communication as needed. Being in the same time zone as us greatly enhanced our ability to work together in a timely manner. When needed we shared concrete details via email to assure that they were tracked.

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

They impressed us with their focus on delivering the project. They always kept the lines of communication open. Using Slack we had near instant communications and we could have Teams video meetings whenever we needed. It is sad to say that their Professionalism made them unique, as everyone should act professionally, but sadly that is not always the case. So, yes their professionalism made them unique and key reason we used them.

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

Any bumps along the road were quickly smoothed out, so I do not have any suggestions for improvement.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I lead the technical side of the business at a marketing and web design agency. A big part of my role is managing our out-sourced development partners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We've worked with TowerHouse Studio on a handful of WordPress website builds now. We provide the designs and give direction on how we'd like the WordPress admin to work (we use Advanced Custom Fields Pro heavily). Our goals vary slightly from project to project, but the primary goals are always to have an easy-to-edit website that matches the design as much as possible. Scheduling is always important, too, so we can meet our client's launch goals.

SOLUTION

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

I found TowerHouse Studio on Clutch. I sent them a couple of small test projects to see how we worked together. Diego and his team were prompt and thorough in their communication, which is always critical for us. Their code on the test projects was clean and functioned well, so we decided to work with them on some full website builds.

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

Our in-house designers create website designs in Adobe XD--they typically don't lay out every page that will be on a website, but rather the main templates. My team then marks up the design with specifics about how to set up Advanced Custom Fields Pro. We pride ourselves on making our sites as easy for our clients to manage as possible, so this is a critical part. When we've finished marking up the design, we send it to the partner we've selected. With TowerHouse, they sometimes request a call to go into more detail and ask some questions. Once TowerHouse has the information they need, they start their development process and give us a timeline.

We prefer that they build the site in a sandbox on our host, Pantheon. Sometimes there are questions during the build process, but we try to provide all the info they need up-front. Once the site has been built, we review internally. We use BugHerd to assign tasks to TowerHouse (and to other people on our team), which helps keep things organized. After 3-5 business days (give or take, depending on the project), we present the website to our client.

The client then typically has a week to review the website and request edits. We communicate those edits to TowerHouse--they almost never need to work directly with our client. Once the client has approved the site for launch, we handle every detail of that process. Occasionally, we'll have some post-launch edits that we request TowerHouse handle.

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

I typically work with Diego, the CEO, and Richard, one of their developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

TowerHouse does a fantastic job, particularly on the front-end. One of our designers, who tends to be very particular, said it was the most pixel-perfect dev build-out she's ever seen. Our projects always run smoothly with TowerHouse.

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

TowerHouse has been very flexible with using the tools we prefer (Pantheon and BugHerd). Most of our communication happens through email, Zoom, and BugHerd. They're super quick to respond to questions. One thing I particularly appreciate about TowerHouse is that they've turned down projects from us! If they don't think they can meet our timeline, they won't accept the project. I really appreciate their integrity.

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

TowerHouse does a fantastic job with front-end design. They've adapted quickly to our preferences for WordPress admin setup as well. Their communication is great and they've always done their best to adapt to our processes and preferences. All around a wonderful partner!

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

The first website build we did with TowerHouse had some issues. A lot of it was because of challenges on our client's side, but there were some misunderstandings about how we wanted the WordPress admin built that slowed us down a lot too. We've worked through those issues, though, and have no complaints about how they set up WordPress now!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the growth manager for a pet services company. We’re an online retailer of pet testing services. We have a laboratory that processes pet testing; our team utilizes technologies to deliver the results of those tests.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TowerHouse Studio?

We needed a development team to take over the management of our existing platform and build new functionality to address growth opportunities.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

TowerHouse has helped us migrate our systems from the control of another development firm to our control. We’ve moved our hosting from in-server hosting to AWS. The systems they’ve migrated include a WordPress platform, WordPress hosting, and Laravel hosting. 

Moreover, the team has built additional products and reporting functionality inside of our Laravel platform. On top of that, they’ve built web pages inside of WordPress for us. They’ve used existing documentation from us. We handle all of our hosting needs, though TowerHouse offers technical support for the website and the platform. 

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked directly with five people from TowerHouse, including their owner, a project manager, and some developers.

How did you come to work with TowerHouse Studio?

We had a contractor that helped us source TowerHouse. Our team also searched on Google for firms that had experience with PHP, Laravel, and WordPress — TowerHouse met these requirements. 

How much have you invested with them?

Our investment has been between $50,000–$100,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2022, and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The TowerHouse team is highly organized and responsive to our questions and technical issues. At the same time, they’ve been highly communicative in terms of timelines. If they’re not going to meet our expected timelines, they communicate that effectively. 

How did TowerHouse Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

To manage the project and communicate, we mainly utilize Jira and Slack. There haven’t been any negative results in terms of project management. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication has been impressive — that’s one of the biggest compliments we can give. They’re extremely responsive. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We were a little slow to start the engagement, and the migration took longer than expected. They could have communicated a little bit better on when they thought that project would finish. To be fair, I knew there were a lot of moving pieces to that project, so it was difficult to estimate timelines. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open to listening to TowerHouse’s ideas. You can meet with them almost daily — they like that — and give them feedback on any project they’re supporting. Don’t wait until the end of the project to give your feedback; give it as you move along.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director of Enki Rebels. We’re a strategy and technology solutions consulting company, and we provide our services to startups and small businesses to help them scale and digitally transform. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TowerHouse Studio?

We needed someone to help us provide web development and design services for our clients.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We partnered with Towerhouse Studio as our technology provider to provide our clients with web development solutions. We started all our projects with a document that describes our business context, goals, and key objectives. We go through it in detail and once we’re done discussing the needs, we move on to the development and basically break down the objective into smaller objectives — this made key goals achievable throughout the development.

One particular project we did was for an online education company, and what we did for them was transform their code-based page into a WordPress platform. This enabled them to update their own content without having to input any code. Apart from that, we provided some security measures, as well as maintenance work to fix a lot of the site’s issues.

What is the team composition?

Throughout the partnership, we worked with Diego (CEO), Simon (CTO), and a lead developer on a daily basis.

How did you come to work with Towerhouse Studio?

I've known their team since 2016 when I was looking for a development partner. I had just started my own company and I directed Towerhouse Studio to my clients who had smaller businesses or startups.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested somewhere between $95,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from August 2019–May 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Towerhouse Studio helped me generate over $200,000 in revenue. They’re not the cheapest development partners, but our clients were very happy and they actually understood how things worked, so there was very little hand-holding throughout the development.

How did TowerHouse Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great from a project management standpoint, and one thing I really valued about them was how they utilized sprints in the development process. For other development teams I’ve worked with in the past, sprint is just a buzzword — but for Towerhouse Studio, they took it seriously, so we actually accomplished our tasks within a timetable.

We typically communicated through Slack and had meetings on Zoom to plan our projects. We then use JIRA to document everything.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What I liked most about them was that they challenged the objectives. They didn't look to me for a solution, they wanted me to understand the problem so that they can help me find and develop a solution. Towerhouse Studio took their time to understand the problems we were facing, and they provided some really good suggestions to challenge my thoughts.

Are there any areas they could improve?

One thing they could improve on is knowing how to keep the process on a high level, especially when talking with the clients. I would also suggest encouraging their junior developers to be more open and not be intimidated by the clients.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise trusting the developers of Towerhouse Studio and involve the team early in the process of understanding your problems — bring them in so that they can help you come up with great solutions.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO of Lightbox Search, a SaaS platform that helps users take control of search results for companies, brands, or clients they represent through analysis, measurement, monitoring and automated reporting.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

When we first approached Towerhouse Studio all we had was an idea, some basic designs, and very little technological expertise. Our goal was to develop a platform capable of automatically analyzing localized search results via sentiment, content type and SEO strength, in addition to aggregating other critical datapoints for our uses. With no in-house development capabilities, and unsure of what expertise or services our project required, we hired Towerhouse Studio to serve as a single-source development team that could bring our vision to life. Years later, we continue to rely on them for every aspect of development and software maintainence. 

SOLUTION

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

We were introduced to this vendor by a colleague we trusted as an expert in design, UI and UX who had worked with them in the past. Selecting Towerhouse was simple. Their team is awesome - professional, responsive and talented. Their portfolio of work is impressive and their rates are more than fair for the quality of work delivered. 

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

React, Laravel, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

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

I have worked directly with six team members, their CEO, CTO, Project Manager, Team Leader, Developer and QA Analyst. Other team members may have been or are involved without my direct knowledge.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Not long ago our software was just an idea - today it is a live platform with a growing base of active users. 

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

Towerhouse has incredible commounication skills and are very responsive to my needs and requests. We communicate typically via slack, but also use Google Meets and Zoom to video chat and screenshare. I recieve weekly email reports on hours used and Jira is our task management platform. Towerhouse deliverables are reliably on-time. 

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

Whats most impressive to me about Towerhouse Studio is how they've developed a deep understanding of not just my software needs, but also my business objectives. Without their guidance, our platform would have been a far inferior product. 

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

No. Towerhouse has always performed admiradbly even when I've been a challenging client. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of UPWRD Collective. We do mindfulness and positive leadership for corporations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TowerHouseStudio?

We are building a web platform that incentivizes engagement in online programming using social impact.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We wanted to deliver content in an easy, accessible, bare-bones way to employees. It needed to track points as a user interacts with the technology and then convert those points into dollars to charity

TowerHouseStudio provided front- and backend design services for the web app. I gave them super basis wireframes to start from — pictures of drawings using poster board and markers. They then converted into a fully-fledged website that uses AWS. 

We’re now moving to an app-based platform. TowerHouseStudio provides additional support and ideas for future gamification as I move through funding rounds.

What is the team composition?

Diego (CEO) is my main point of contact, but I’ve also interacted with Simón (CTO). 

How did you come to work with TowerHouseStudio?

They were the only developer I could find that understood working with organizations that deal with social impact. I requested on a social impact alumni group, and a project manager who had worked with TowerHouseStudio on a few projects referred us to them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $16,000–$18,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in June 2019 and is ongoing. The first phase is completely done; we’re now in the app development phase, but that hasn’t officially started yet.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

TowerHouseStudio built the web platform of my dreams. It’s better than what I ever could’ve imagined. What I really love is having the ability to scale; it’s perfect as my MVP. We haven’t run beta testing fully, but the feedback we’ve gotten from team members and a few external people has been positive. They’ve loved its simplicity and ease of formatting. I’m looking forward to working more with TowerHouseStudio; when I recently saw their design for the potential app, I teared up.

How did TowerHouseStudio perform from a project management standpoint?

I could not speak more highly of their project management style. It’s so efficient, streamlined, and on point. Moreover, the team is so patient with me. They never make me feel like I’m frustrating them. They also can explain things in a way that made perfect sense to me even as a non-technical founder. That’s allowed me to accurately convey how I could scale as I raise funds for the next stages. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I truly believe it’s their communication. They accurately communicate what they’re doing and how, and they make it clear to a non-technical founder. I also appreciate their extreme patience with me and my capabilities while still getting the work done so fast and efficiently.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m a person who loves to give constructive feedback, but I truly don’t have any for TowerHouseStudio. Their professionalism and commitment have been the highest I’ve ever experienced. I was surprised by how easy the process has been. Everyone prepped me for difficulty and warned me of their own problems with developers, but I did not experience that at all. 

Any advice for potential customers?

Be completely honest with yourself and with TowerHouseStudio about your capabilities. Convey your time commitments and biggest pain points with absolutely no ego. A lot of times, I feel like people hesitate to talk to developers because they don’t want to be taken advantage of. This is not the case with TowerHouseStudio. They want to help you so badly, and there’s honesty and integrity in their service.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Geo Energy Marketing Services is a full-service digital marketing agency focused on professionalizing and promoting the geothermal industry by enhancing the brands and voice of each of its contributing companies. We specialize in helping small energy service companies redefine their brand.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire TowerHouseStudio?

Tower House Studio have served as my Web Development team on close to 5 different website or custom landing page projects.

What were your goals for this project?

To provide Tower House Studio with initial creative direction and scope of work and have them develop the framework and CMS for the websites before turning them back over to Geo Energy Marketing.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We selected the Vendor through an RFQ process on UpWork.com

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Tower House Studios were tasked with developing the framework and setting up the CMS for multiple websites. Tower House Studios have also served as Web Development Customer Service and Technical Support for task beyond my internal team's capabilities.

What was the team composition?

Project Manager: Geo Energy Marketing Project Lead: Tower House Studio Support Team: 3 people at Tower House Studio if / when Project Lead is unavailable

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The team at Tower House Studio have been instrumental in our ability to deliver value-added, cost-effective, state-of-the-art website development services to our small, energy service clients. We've launched 2-3 websites and are working on 2-3 more websites. Tower House Studio's top-notch service, responsiveness and ability to deliver on-time results has helped grow our own business.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project Management has been has largely remained a back-and-forth communication process through Upwork.com's messenger tool. Tower House Studio is based in South America while we're based in the USA. Tower House Studio's Project Lead and I remain in daily communication regarding every project detail.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their ability to deliver high-quality results in a timely manner with seamless communication impressed us.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not at this time. I've very happy with everything we've done together so far.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Your Bra Store discreetly purchases bras from boutique retailers and sells the merchandise online through our website. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TowerHouseStudio?

We wanted to build an e-commerce website to enhance our buying and selling experience.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

TowerHouseStudio is developing an e-commerce website to support our online retail business. Powered by WooCommerce, the platform will have three unique user paths; third-party retailers will be able to share their inventory with us, consumers will be able to view and purchase our clothing items, and our team will be able to manage every aspect of the business.

Using the data that we provided to them, they set up alerts for sales, notifications, and shipments. They have already completed the MVP version of the website, which is currently undergoing beta testing with some of our retail partners.

What is the team composition?

They assigned four developers to our account.

How did you come to work with TowerHouseStudio?

Partnering with a company that had a similar cultural background was very important to me, so I searched for Uruguayan developers online. TowerHouseStudio was one of the companies that we met with during our visit to Uruguay. They were very relatable and easy to work with, so we decided to hire them for the project.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $12,000 CAD (approximately $9,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in January 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We set our expectations high, and so far, TowerHouseStudio has managed to meet them. They have done a wonderful job interpreting our requirements.

How did TowerHouseStudio perform from a project management standpoint?

Meeting deadlines is never an issue because their team works fast. They were in-tune to our needs and kept an open line of communication. We had access to their Jira software, but I preferred to communicate via phone and email. During meetings, they wrote down comprehensive notes to ensure that we didn’t lose any ideas.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We appreciated their competitive pricing, but their greatest strength lies in their customer service. Developing a website is an exhaustive process, but TowerHouseStudio made the project as stress-free as possible. They made it clear that our success was their number one priority. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They did everything that we asked them to do, so I have no complaints.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the owner of Insurance Brokers of Arizona, a mid-size independent insurance agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire TowerHouseStudio?

I hired TowerHouse Studio to customize our processes and workflows within Salesforce.

What were your goals for this project?

My objective was to streamline our processes to make them more efficient.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I researched several Salesforce developers globally before ultimately narrowing the candidates down to three firms. After having a video conference with each vendor, I found TowerHouseStudio's vision, ability to understand my needs, and knowledge to be the perfect fit.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They’ve designed, developed, tested, and then delivered/launched each of the development projects that we have done.

What was the team composition?

I have always had direct contact with Diego (Co-Founder & CEO, TowerHouseStudio) along with the resource directly working on my projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

These projects have helped save my team a ton of time, freeing them up to do more sales and servicing. This, in turn, brings in more revenue.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

There is a lot of communication throughout the projects.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I’m most impressed by their communication skills and ability to do exactly what they say they will.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, nothing at all. They’ve done a fabulous job.