Untile

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Uphold is a multiasset trading platform that combines the features of a crypto exchange, a forex trading app and an online brokerage. I am SVP Engineering for the Enterprise group at Uphold.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

The Enterprise group at Uphold needed to start development on 2 projects but skilled resources were scarce. We hired Untile to provide a small team, augmenting our own, so that we could move forward on the projects.

SOLUTION

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

We were already using them for another group within the company and received great feedback.

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

The partnership started with the designers. We engaged in daily sessions to explain our needs and started iterating from there. The designers are VERY focused and disciplined, provided daily progress videos and took us through the process step-by-step: initial exploration, wireframes, look&feel and finally layout. After that we were able to split the product in multiple phases and engaged with Untile for development itself. We took on Untile members as part of the team and they were able to deliver a high-quality product within our expectations of timeline. Just fantastic. Culturally, they fit like a glove. The relationship was friendly and we even met a few times in person for some team events. I consider them part of the (extended) Uphold family.

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

Throughout the 2 projects we ended up working with 2 designers, 1 project manager and 6 developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Launch is very near but we're very confident in saying it will be a success. The level of quality put into the product is amazing.

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

We had daily standups, a retrospective, daily videos from the designers and frequent updates from the developers. There were a few moments where we asked for estimates and roadmap, and the team always provided them in a timely manner.

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

They are not a typical "mercenary" agency. You can tell they really care about the products they create. There were a few times where they even put in extra work because they weren't happy with the outcome. More than that, they really try hard to integrate with the team they're working with. We ended up creating a lasting relationship and a true sense of team.

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

Really, nothing. I'm very happy with them and would not trade them for another agency.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CIO of a cryptocurrency exchange platform called Uphold Inc.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Untile?

We hired them to help us build out a partner portal for B2B partners.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Untile has helped us develop a partner portal from scratch using various key technologies, such as JavaScript and Node.js. They’ve also conducted QA testing and will be providing us with maintenance support.

What is the team composition?

We work with four developers from their side.

How did you come to work with Untile?

It was through a recommendation.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2021, and our collaboration is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our internal team is very pleased with the quality of their work.

How did Untile perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done a great job of managing the project — they always meet deadlines and stay on budget. We use Jira to manage tasks and communicate through Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their professionalism, knowledge, and experience are impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve on?

No, we’ve been very happy with their work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be involved and define your requirements clearly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Head of design for a SaaS platform that provides SMEs, accountants and advisors with business insights, credit profile insights and funding opportunities from one platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Untile?

We hired Untile to help us with a couple of UX/UI design projects.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We were looking for a design partner who could assist us with some UX/UI design projects which we had coming up and didn't have the capacity to take on ourselves.

We had initial calls with Untile to explain our projects and requirements and to better understand their offering and process to see if there would be a good fit working together.

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

Our product team worked together with Untile on a few different projects, from UX design through to high fidelity UI designs and protoypes.

Depending on the project requirements and goals, Untile were involved from early stages of the project from discovery and wireframes, through to final UI design and developer handover. We worked collabotatively as if they were a part of our team.

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

We primarily worked directly with two product designers, as well as Untile's head of design who gave oversight and direction on the design.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Having a small internal design team ourselves, we were very pleased with the way in which Untile embedded themselves into our current workflow and processes. They quickly onboarded into the projects and were able to deliver final UI work packages that were then handed over to our engineers and successfully shipped.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Untile quickly onboarded into our current workflows and processes, and essentially felt like part of the team for the duration of those projects. We would have regular daily standups, reviews, workshops and calls throughout the projects which they were a part of.

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

Their eagerness to understand the project goals and user problems while also working within a fast paced environment allowed us to quickly iterate through designs.

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

It was the first time we had worked with Untile and while I'm sure we could optimise and improve on some things for next time, we felt overall the working relationship was a great success.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of technology at a personal shopper business. We sell luxury goods that we source from other people over social media, including Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Untile?

Our existing resources were dedicated to other projects, and we identified a project that could be broken down into separate projects. With the kind of product development we do, we didn’t have the visual development and animation skills required to do this new project, as we mostly work on internal products for inventory and sales orders. Untile came on to provide our web design.  

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We already had the designs from another vendor, and Untile helped us with the build and implementation, as well as with creating some of the interactive and animated features of the design. They filled in little pieces that were missing.

It was very important for us to work with technologies that we used internally, as we wanted to take control of the website once it was finished. Untile worked out of our GitHub repository for the development and used our integrations for the deployment. There was a good combination between them acting as an internal contractor and an external company.

What is the team composition?

We had a good project manager on their side who would keep us up to date on the timing and how much of the budget we were using, making it clear if we were falling behind or if there were delays.

How did you come to work with Untile?

Someone we’d worked with referred us to them.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost was around €25,000 (approximately $26,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March–August 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have metrics, as the project was most similar to branding, but our leaders were able to show off the site when they were talking to people, as well as use it to hit our fundraising goal in a crowdfunding campaign.

The other big result was that we didn’t have to divert resources from other projects to work on the website.

How did Untile perform from a project management standpoint?

I always knew where we were. Everything turned out to be ahead of schedule, and we finished with some extra budget. We then made a few more requests on top of what we originally asked for. We tracked worked in a Gantt chart, and they were very transparent. They were even waiting on us in some respects, as we had to organize a few things.

Communication happened over a number of platforms, including Zoom calls and emails. They communicated weekly updates. If they had any doubts, they were very quick to communicate them. We agreed on this practice early on and it certainly helped us avoid delays. The communication was free-flowing; we had a dedicated Slack group in case we needed to reach out directly to the developers.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their honesty and transparency stand out the most, as did their communication.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There may have been small things throughout the process that came up, but we addressed them early on so I don’t even want to mention them. They handle feedback and constructive criticism well. We don’t have any issues that need to be handled.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Because they are honest and transparent, customers should also be honest and transparent about their needs, potential budgets, and any foreseen issues.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a Senior Contracts Manager in a IT services company. We have 4 locations in Europe (EMEA)

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

The company needed a software to manage the entire process, starting with commercial management, technical customer follow-up, issuing of invoices, controlling receipts, etc... The softwares available on the market did not meet our needs and that's why we decided to hire an external company to jointly develop a software that would meet our requirements.

SOLUTION

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

Arturai already knew Untile for a long time and thus, was convinced of its potential and was confident that the final result of the project would be as intended.

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

Initially, an introductory meeting was held to see if Untile was able to help us achieve what we wanted and, if so, what are the next steps to take. Subsequently, we held several joint meetings to explain in detail the internal flow of the processes of the company and create a roadmap in order to achieve the objectives. After some development, we got a staging version, in which we tested and rectified the bugs we found.

At this moment, the contracted modules are in operation and being adjusted only for the best user experience The complete project includes several modules. Until this date we have 2 modules in operation and we will start the third one soon.

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

The vendor Team was composed by:

• Project Manager
• Senior Designer
• Senior Developer
• Mid-Level UX/UI Designer
• Mid-Level Developer
• QA Analyst

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This solution reduced the data entry errors and frees up our employees time. It also creates a much more secure database. This solution has also the advantage of being upgradable and updatable in a easy way, giving us the option to quickly adapt to changes in market.

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

The project management was really great. The manager really understood our needs fast and the goals where achieved. Preferably we used Google Meet and Miro to communicate.

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

Untile is always there when we need help and all the staff involved are great, understanding our goals.

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

This was the first project with this dimension that we developed, so, some things will be better next module. In general I have no flaws to point.