Web Mavens

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the owner of an online travel agency. We have been in business since 2003 and sell vacations to people around the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

To participate in the development of a custom PHP application for our customers and staff to use, to help them search for vacation deals and learn about the various products we sell (the vendors and the vacations we sell for the vendors). Along the way, other projects have come up and Web Mavens has always been able to professionally accommodate our needs.

SOLUTION

How did you select Web Maven and what were the deciding factors?

Searched online and interviewed several developers. Saw that Web Mavens had an excellent reputation, and after speaking with them I felt that they were a great match for our development needs.

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

We had a kick-off meeting to discuss the scope of the work and where we were at with it, as the project already existed. Their team has worked with us very well and we are building out a very nice application for our customers and staff to use.

How many people from the Web Maven team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We have a dedicated project manager that oversees the team. We have usually had 2 PHP developers working on our projects, but sometimes an additional developer or two will jump in if their skills fit a need.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are still in development, so we don't have metrics to measure as of yet. However, the deliverables (the web pages that are generated by the application) are meeting our expectations and we anticipate successful use of them once we start to advertise the web site related to the new application.

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

Whenever we need to communicate they are there. We usually communicate via Slack or GitHub, but video conferences are available should we need them. Should a last minute, urgent need pop up they have been available and flexible to meet our needs at that time.

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

They are very professional and easy to work with. They communicate well and are always open to feedback and suggestions.

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

There are instances where we have to point out items to correct, but that is completely understandable, especially considering how custom and detailed our application is.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We manufacture instruments for the Life Sciences industry. Founded in 1900, we have multiple locations worldwide. I am the Strategic Marketing Manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Web Mavens LLP?

We needed to update our e-commerce website for a catalogue spanning many dozen systems and hundreds of accessories. The current website platform was over a decade old and in order to grow revenue, we needed to identify and develop the website on new platform that was more conducive to SEO and digital marketing requirements of the day.

What were your goals for this project?

The primary objective of the project was to retain the ease and familiarity of the old website for customers but build the new website from the ground up using Drupal with successful integration to our order processing and CRM.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Webmavens were highly recommended by acquaintance who had worked with them before. They were able to commit and meet our technical specifications as laid out in the scope document.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They designed, developed, configured and launched a new back-end system. The project began with a scope of discovery meeting with the mutual understanding that project requirements may change over time.

Once the initial agreement was reached, the work begun right away with testing and feedback at previously identified milestones. Changes and suggestions were well received and immediately implemented including new features that were not originally listed in the project document.

What was the team composition?

We had a dedicated Webmavens project manager who managed and communicated development on their end.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to launch the project earlier then expected and have the web portal functional in time for the all important 4th quarter. Given the positive experience during the development phase and their prompt availability, we entered into a service level agreement which continues to this day.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was effective and agile. They met most of our aggressive deadlines while also working to accommodate our new objectives.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I valued that we had direct access to project managers. They were promptly available and had good technical abilities.

Are there any areas for improvement?

My recommendation would be to clearly outline project objectives with detailed list of technical requirements. Have frequent sync-up meetings to check-in on progress and identify any glitches early enough.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a neon/LED lights company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Web Mavens LLP?

Our orders were being managed on a spreadsheet, and it was becoming too difficult to extract the information we needed.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed an open-source, automatic system for us using PHP. They worked using screenshots initially, then I sponsored them to visit us for a week and designed a system. We went back and forth a lot on changes. Two years after that, we worked on a different system for code management, which is much more simple.

We've since expanded into multiple projects, and we use them for every need tied to our business. That includes two more large projects, as well as any small tweaks that we want.

What is the team composition?

I interacted with Sawan (Senior Software Engineer, Web Mavens LLP). Initially, there were three people and now there are five in the team.

How did you come to work with Web Mavens LLP?

All the software would work for us, but none of it did exactly what we wanted—there would have to be a little compromise in either direction. One of our friends suggested doing a custom app, so we talked Web Mavens LLP and another company. I felt like Web Mavens LLP wanted a solution for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $25,000 on one project, and $80,000 in total so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2013, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They deliver what they promise. The overall vision was to reduce the team: we had 20 people and right now, we’re a seven people company, but we're getting more orders, more revenue, and fewer customer complaints because our system is efficient.

How did Web Mavens LLP perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is good. We're kept well informed about deadlines ahead of time as they progress from development into testing, which they're very dedicated about. They use Mantis and we also have weekly phone calls and Skype. We’re happy and impressed with them, particularly as the turnaround time is less than a day.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their initial focus was on what we wanted and how they could help us achieve it. I liked that, because often when a custom solution is required, it's difficult to know exactly what is needed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The limitation was Sawan came here but not the entire team. Right now, we’re working with additional team members, so we’d like to bring more people over too to give everyone the right exposure.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Tell them where the issue is and they might figure out a small change that can really make a big impact. We sometimes spent less because we used their suggestions.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Owner / Founder / Creator / CEO of The Saturday Night Project

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

The Saturday Night Project is an index and catalogue of all SNL auditionees, including the cast and the almost cast.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Web Mavens to accomplish?

• Complete Redesign of Entire Site
• Transition from Wix to WordPress
• Add in Filtering ability that was attempted, but not succeeded on old site

SOLUTION

How did you find Web Mavens?

Online Search, Referral, Other

Why did you select Web Mavens over others?

High ratings, Pricing fit our budget, Great culture fit, Good value for cost, Referred to me, Company values aligned, Other

What was the size of Web Mavens’s team?

2-5 Employees

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

Complete recreation of an existing site from top to bottom; essentially creating a brand new site from scratch. Needed to add in filtering ability for a massive data set, with over 300 unique items, and with 7 unique data points for each item - filter by all, some, none of the data points Maximize UI/UX design on home page; individual profile page; project overview page Consistency across all formats, web and mobile

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Completed website with all requested and required functionality

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

Yes, absolutely. 10/10. Not only were they incredibly easy to work with, when I repeatedly went back to them asking for new changes and updates, time after time, they ensured that the changes they were planning to make were correct (many of my requests were text only). The end result is something that I have been trying to create for years. I first tried it on my own, with no design, web development or coding skills; the result was incredibly amateur looking (unsurprisingly).

Then, I paid a small freelance web developer individual to update my existing design and attempt to recreate it. They were very difficult to work with, and the end result was not close to what I had hoped for.

But thankfully, third & last but not least, I found and went to Web Mavens. I was able to speak directly about what I was looking for, and the team was able to take my suggestions/thoughts/mental images, and turn them into an amazing, sleek, professional website. I couldn't be more grateful and will return to them time and time again for any future web projects.

What was your primary form of communication with Web Mavens?

Virtual Meeting, Email or Messaging App

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

Their ability to take what I was giving them and turn it into what I couldn't accurately put into words. For example: "I'd like the pictures to change color when I'm scrolling around?" "Ah you mean a hoverbox, we can do that."

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

None. Don't change a thing!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Head of Product at a technology company with a flexible workplace management solution

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We wanted an integration. between our application and a third party one

SOLUTION

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

We saw good reviews on Upwork and had a great initial chat

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

After a kick off meeting we worked to a requirements spec. Our development platform was used to create the integration

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

A project manager and one developer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project is newly completed so we don't have any feedback yet

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

Weekly calls kept the project on track

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

Their communication and willingness to adapt to a changing scope were appreciated.

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

Perhaps a more thorough dive into the specification would have been helpful but that's more a reflection on us rather than Web Mavens