Vizio AI

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Owner of an e-commerce technology company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Our firm is a Turkish e-commerce technology company that operates an auction-based digital marketplace where users can buy zero, outlet, and renewed products starting from 1 TL, with the final price determined by the community.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Vizio AI to accomplish?

• To design and develop the entire Stage 1 version of our auction-based e-commerce platform
• To implement a stable and fully functional auction workflow
• To deliver a scalable, performance-optimized, and bug-free foundation

SOLUTION

How did you find Vizio AI?

Referral

Why did you select Vizio AI over others?

Referred to me

How many teammates from Vizio AI were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We hired Vizio AI to build Stage 1 of our auction-based e-commerce platform, including both the technical foundation and the front-end user experience. The scope covered:

• Full development of our MVP website using WordPress, including homepage, category listing pages, product detail pages, and basic search functionality.
• Implementation of the auction flow, such as bid placement, countdown timers, automatic bidding logic, and winner identification.
• User account features including registration, login, profile management, and an area where users could track bids, won items, and notifications.
• An admin panel for product management, auction creation, user oversight, and basic reporting.
• Basic integrations such as email notifications, payment-related placeholders, caching, SEO settings, and mobile-responsive adjustments.
• Delivery of a functioning MVP that would allow us to publicly launch Stage 1 and prepare for the next phases of development.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Unfortunately, there were no meaningful or measurable positive outcomes from this project. The Stage 1 delivery:

• Failed basic performance expectations — the site was slow, unstable, and frequently crashed under minimal load.
• Did not meet functional requirements — core auction features were incomplete or malfunctioning, preventing us from running live auctions reliably.
• Lacked proper testing and QA, resulting in numerous unresolved bugs across both desktop and mobile.
• Did not pass internal acceptance criteria, requiring us to bring in external experts to assess and rework major parts of the system.
• Could not be used for real customers without significant fixes, meaning the work delivered did not reach MVP-level usability.
• Overall, the project did not produce any measurable success indicators, and the expected deliverables were not achieved in a usable state.

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

The project management was poor and highly unstructured. Deadlines were repeatedly missed, and most deliverables arrived late, incomplete, or not aligned with the agreed scope. Communication was inconsistent, many messages went unanswered, and important updates were often delayed.

They frequently shifted responsibilities between team members and even presented third-party freelancers as their full-time staff, which created confusion and accountability issues. Requirements we clearly communicated were overlooked, and revisions were either ignored or only partially implemented.

Overall, they did not demonstrate a reliable workflow, did not deliver items on time, and did not respond to project needs with the level of professionalism or ownership we expected.

What was your primary form of communication with Vizio AI?

Virtual Meeting

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

Unfortunately, nothing positive stood out. What was unique about this company was the consistently disorganized workflow: constant delays, unclear responsibilities, unreliable communication, and a complete lack of structured processes. They even ended the project without providing any handover, documentation, or transition support, which is something I have never experienced with any company before.

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

Yes, nearly every stage of their process needs improvement. They should establish a clear project plan, define responsibilities honestly (instead of presenting third-party freelancers as internal team members), and maintain consistent communication. They also need to improve their technical competency and quality assurance standards, as the delivered product was slow, unstable, and far below acceptable performance levels. Finally, they must provide proper documentation and a full handover at project completion, something they completely failed to do.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder of Trade Frogs

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

TradeFrogs is a digital marketplace that enables gamers to securely buy and sell in-game items through fast, reliable, and admin-supervised transactions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Vizio AI to accomplish?

• Build the core MVP enabling users to securely connect their Steam accounts, import in-game inventories, and instantly list items for sale through a fast-sell flow, ensuring a smooth, reliable process fully managed and verified by admins at every step.
• Create a structured admin panel that centralizes all manual operations, including reviewing item listings, validating prices, managing payouts, and monitoring transactions, ensuring a transparent, trustworthy system that prevents fraud and maintains platform integrity.
• Develop a lightweight marketplace module where users can publicly list items, browse available offers, set personalized prices, and complete purchases, providing an early trading environment that validates real user demand and supports scalable future growth.

SOLUTION

How did you find Vizio AI?

Online Search

Why did you select Vizio AI over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Vizio AI were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Vizio AI developed the TradeFrogs MVP with Steam login, inventory import, and a fast-sell system managed fully by admins. The platform includes balance tracking, payout flows, order and sales history, notifications, and a starter marketplace where users can list and purchase items. They also built an admin panel for reviewing transactions, managing payments, and handling manual operations. All UI/UX, system planning, integrations, and testing across modules were delivered within the phased structure.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Having a functional MVP with Steam integration, fast selling, manual payout flows, order tracking, and a basic marketplace that allows us to start onboarding early users and testing our core business model.

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

Their project management was clear and structured, with each phase delivered predictably. Communication through Slack was quick, and they handled requirement changes smoothly while keeping the timeline intact.

What was your primary form of communication with Vizio AI?

Virtual Meeting

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

They understood the logic behind gaming marketplaces very quickly and turned a complex selling process into a clean, easy-to-follow user flow. Vizio AI's ability to simplify technical details stood out.

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

The only improvement would be exploring marketplace features a bit earlier, since this area will likely grow quickly and benefits from deeper planning.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Founder of an ecommerce company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We're an e-commerce platform where technology products are sold through transparent auctions starting from 1 TL, allowing users to determine the final price themselves.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Vizio AI to accomplish?

• to design and develop Stage 1 of an e-commerce platform featuring a 1 TL auction model.
• Build a fast, functional MVP
• Ensure responsive design and basic performance optimization. UI, UX etc.

SOLUTION

How did you find Vizio AI?

Referral

Why did you select Vizio AI over others?

Referred to me

How many teammates from Vizio AI were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Vizio AI was contracted to design and develop Stage 1 of a next-generation e-commerce platform built around a 1 TL auction model, where users could bid on renewed and new technology products.

Scope of Work:
The agreed scope included the end-to-end development of a fully functional MVP (Minimum Viable Product) that would:

Establish the core auction functionality, including real-time bidding, countdown timers, and “Buy Now” features.

Develop a responsive front-end website compatible with desktop and mobile devices.

Implement a secure user registration and login system, including password recovery and profile management.

Build an Admin Panel to manage users, auctions, payments, and product listings.

Build a Vendor Panel for sellers to upload and manage products, view bids, and handle orders.

Integrate QNB Pay as the payment gateway, ensuring secure and compliant transactions.

Provide basic SEO setup (metadata, page structure) and a configurable CMS for static content such as FAQs, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service.

Ensure performance optimization and scalability to support future stages (marketplace expansion and user-to-user model).

Key Deliverables:
- Fully functional front-end website for user interaction and bidding.
- Admin panel with access control, analytics, and moderation tools.
- Vendor panel with inventory and auction management features.
- Payment gateway integration (QNB Pay).
- Basic order management and email notification system.
- Deployment to a live hosting environment

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Measurable Outcomes and Performance Results:
The project did not achieve the intended functional or technical goals outlined in the scope of work. While certain components were delivered (such as a partial front-end interface and basic admin panel), these were incomplete, poorly optimized, and non-functional for production use.

Key Observations:
Performance:

The deployed site suffered from severe latency and instability, with page load times exceeding 10 seconds on average.
The system could not handle concurrent requests, rendering the auction experience unusable.

Functionality:

Core auction logic (real-time bidding, automatic updates) did not work as designed.
Admin and vendor panels were incomplete and lacked key functionalities such as inventory control and order management.

Quality and Usability:

The overall codebase was disorganized, lacked version control discipline, and included hardcoded elements not suitable for scaling.
Mobile responsiveness and UI/UX were below acceptable standards.

Project Delivery:

Despite multiple milestones being invoiced, the project remained in a non-deployable state after several months of work.
The vendor discontinued work before project completion, leaving unresolved bugs and unfinished integrations.

Measured Output:
Completed: ~40% of planned deliverables.
Working features in production: < 20% of expected scope.
Overall success rate (vs. planned milestones): below 30%.

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

Project Management and Responsiveness:
Vizio AI’s project management approach lacked structure, communication consistency, and accountability. The team did not follow a clear roadmap, and milestones were often missed or delayed without transparent justification.

Delivery and Timelines:
-The project schedule was not properly defined or tracked.
-Milestone deliveries were repeatedly postponed, with several modules (including auction logic and admin dashboard) delivered incomplete or not at all.
-Despite multiple follow-ups, timelines were revised informally and without updated documentation or sprint plans.
-Ultimately, the vendor failed to complete the project and discontinued work before reaching a functional handover stage.

Communication and Coordination:
-Communication was inconsistent and reactive rather than proactive.
-The company presented third-party freelancers as internal team members, which created confusion around roles and accountability.
-Requests for clarification or progress updates often went unanswered for extended periods.
-Feedback on design and functionality was either ignored or implemented superficially without addressing the underlying issue.

Responsiveness to Client Needs:
-The vendor did not adequately adapt to feedback or evolving project requirements.
-Issues flagged during testing (e.g., slow performance, broken auction timers, admin panel errors) were acknowledged but not resolved in subsequent iterations.
-No formal testing or QA process was implemented prior to claiming milestone completion.

Overall, project management was unstructured, deliverables were delayed, and client feedback was not effectively integrated, resulting in an unfinished and unstable Stage 1 product.

What was your primary form of communication with Vizio AI?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

What stood out most about Vizio AI was the unstructured and inconsistent project process. Communication was fragmented, and the team often changed priorities without documentation or client confirmation.

Another highly unusual aspect was the absence of a proper project handover. At the end of the engagement, no source code, deployment instructions, or documentation were delivered, making it impossible to continue development smoothly.

The company also presented external freelancers as in-house team members, which created confusion about accountability and team structure. Combined with poor coordination and lack of follow-through, these factors made the project experience uniquely difficult and far from professional standards.

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

Vizio AI could have significantly improved by adopting a more structured and transparent project management approach. Clear timelines, milestone tracking, and consistent client communication were missing throughout the process.

Another critical area for improvement is handover and documentation discipline. At the end of the project, no technical documentation, deployment instructions, or environment credentials were provided, making it impossible to maintain or extend the system afterward.

Additionally, the company should ensure team transparency, clarifying whether contributors are internal employees or third-party freelancers. This would help set realistic expectations for project continuity, accountability, and quality control.

Lastly, scope and responsibility management could be handled more professionally. Changes to the project or delays should be documented and communicated formally, rather than discovered incidentally by the client.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Designer of Dutton Brown Design

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We design and manufacturing made-to-order lighting and hardware.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Vizio AI to accomplish?

• Creating a digital signage interface
• Creating a data feed for Shopify store

SOLUTION

How did you find Vizio AI?

Upwork

Why did you select Vizio AI over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Vizio AI were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

I need help to develop a digital signage interface which provides information to a manufacturing company with the goal of improving communication between team members and increasing productivity.

I need the following:

• Development of an interface/API to display up-to-date information from Shopify and/or Shipstation about a made-to-order online store. Examples of information include: number of open orders, counts of unfulfilled product orders by type, counts of specific types of orders such as total unfulfilled expedited orders, etc.
• Help to choose the best service for such integration (so far I've researched several services including Yodeck, TelemetryTV, Screenly, etc. but am unsure which is best for integration)
• Help to choose the best hardware for use with a 4K TV (only 1-2 screens required initially)

My goal is to find a person with full stack experience developing digital signage solutions for manufacturing (or similar) companies to create a user-friendly, easy-to-update interface which effectively helps a team track progress, make announcements, etc. My preference is to make updates from a Windows 11 PC or browser.

Preference with be given to candidates who can provide a portfolio or proof of similar work and who have experience developing API's for Shipstation and/or Shopify.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

A working digital sign that displays accurate

• Open orders
• Fulfilled orders
• Quantity of product types
• Graphical representation of lead times

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

Yes, they divided the work by expertise from user interface UX/UI to coding to hosting/troubleshooting and tied it together with a project manager.

What was your primary form of communication with Vizio AI?

Email or Messaging App

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

They always did their job correctly and troubleshot issues quickly.

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

none

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder/CEO of Big Effect

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Big Effect is an IP Acquisition and Portfolio Management company developing software as a Label Service

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Vizio AI to accomplish?

• The goal is to replace Big Effect’s spreadsheet-based workflows with a cloud-based reporting system that integrates with APIs, automates analytics, and provides AI-powered insights through an interactive dashboard.

SOLUTION

How did you find Vizio AI?

Online Search

Why did you select Vizio AI over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Vizio AI were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

VIZIO AI partnered with our team to modernize our data and reporting workflows and built our MVP web application. They helped us transition from manual processes to a stable, scalable foundation with streamlined pipelines and an intuitive internal and client-facing experience. Their team was responsive, collaborative, and delivery-focused, enabling faster insights and better decision-making across our business.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Success is measured by reduced manual reporting time, faster access to insights, increased client engagement through the dashboard, improved data accuracy, and enhanced scalability of Big Effect’s analytics operations.

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

Their project management felt genuinely collaborative and dependable. Timelines were clear from the start, and they consistently delivered milestones when they said they would. What stood out most was how closely they listened — anytime we needed a tweak, a clarification, or a shift in direction, they responded quickly and adapted without friction. It never felt transactional; it felt like they were fully invested in getting the outcome right for us.

What was your primary form of communication with Vizio AI?

Virtual Meeting

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

Their project management felt genuinely collaborative and dependable. Timelines were clear from the start, and they consistently delivered milestones when they said they would. What stood out most was how closely they listened — anytime we needed a tweak, a clarification, or a shift in direction, they responded quickly and adapted without friction. It never felt transactional; it felt like they were fully invested in getting the outcome right for us.

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

Overall, the experience was extremely positive. As our product team grew, making sure we had smooth support during the dashboard redesign became important to keep collaboration as effortless as before. And while a few things needed clarification during live calls, everything was always resolved quickly on Slack afterward. The partnership ultimately felt strong, smooth, and highly productive.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder of FoundFactory, an intercollegiate co-founder matching platform for academics worldwide.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vizio AI?

We needed to create a technically advanced platform that runs fully automatically and includes a wide range of new features.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Vizio AI has developed a fully automated platform that implements the latest AI technology and provides a tool for auditing founding teams. The platform includes automation, a chat feature, and team profiles for the best fit. The auditing tool allows users to download results after payment.

What is the team composition?

We work with multiple teammates from Vizio AI.

How did you come to work with Vizio AI?

We found them on Upwork. We chose them because they had high ratings, a great culture fit, and aligned company values.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost is confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May 2025, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Vizio AI has delivered designs that exceed our expectations. The team has implemented features as discussed, and we've tested them to ensure they've been implemented as desired. We've received positive feedback on the platform's flow and design after the first few registrations.

How did Vizio AI perform from a project management standpoint?

Vizio AI's project management is perfect; they deliver on time. We communicate via virtual meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Everyone on Vizio AI's team is very dedicated, polite, and knowledgeable. They thought through and implemented the project as carefully as if it were their own platform. The team is more like our team members; the project is in the best hands. Vizio AI doesn't just implement the project as discussed; they think through every detail and make suggestions for changes.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There's nothing they need to improve.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Manager of a public policy company. 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Public policy and regulatory advisory using economics, policy analysis, and campaign strategies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Vizio AI to accomplish?

• Design a toolkit to capture metrics and provide assessments to users
• Maintain toolkit continuity and operability
• Improve or enhance functions as needed

SOLUTION

How did you find Vizio AI?

• Online Search
• Other

Why did you select Vizio AI over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit

How many teammates from Vizio AI were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

The scope of this project revolves around building a single dashboard that organizations can use to enter data on their operations and receive real-time reports on their performance. The final product will be hosted on a website and designed for multiple users, with aggregate and anonymized response data to be accessed by multiple project team members. The parameters for data entry, scoring, and report generation were provided by my team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Project delivered on time, my own client continued to return to request for enhancements and additional capabilities, and more and more unique users joining onto the toolkit.

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

They delivered based on expectations and as per the agreed scope. The team went beyond our needs from time to time.

What was your primary form of communication with Vizio AI?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Vizio AI was very responsive, ground-up culture with a flat hierarchy that makes it easy to work with and manage communicaiton.

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

Stronger project kickoff and resource management - but otherwise acceptable.