WiseUp

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder of Digital Tailors, a product marketing agency headquartered in Bucharest. We work with tech companies that need a full-stack product marketing team and help them scale their business. We are a team of 7, most of us with a background in startups accelerators. We work with various types of tech products, from SaaS to mobile apps and fintech solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire WiseUp?

Our company website was more like a presentation website that we did more than 3 years ago when we started the agency. We needed something new, fresh, that would follow the visual identity that we had developed, and that would help the visitors understand our work process.

What were your goals for this project?

The main challenge was to find the best way to showcase that much text on the website without losing the visitor right away. We designed the website and optimized it for conversions. We didn't want many people that would submit the contact form, we tried to filter and attract our best customers, those who were interested In our services. While from a marketing point of view, this makes perfect sense, from a design and UX perspective, it can be quite challenging.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We knew George, the founder of WiseUP, and we previously worked with Daniel on a couple of online ads for some of our clients. We knew they are reliable, they deliver on time and they are familiar with the behavior flow of visitors like ours.

Describe the project in detail.

We had one meeting in the beginning. Daniel asked us a lot of questions, he wanted to know our services in detail and the main goal of the website. He gave us a list of assets he would need from us. We discussed the work process and 3 weeks later he came back to us with the first proposal. We had a few review sessions, I would say around 4 until we were 100% happy with the page structure and then we went on with the other pages. The remaining of the work went really smoothly and fast since most of our pages had a similar structure. One thing that we appreciated was that they agreed to start with the mobile version of the website. Most of our visitors come from mobile and we wanted to start with that because we had waaaay too much text and needed to see how it looks on mobile phones and what we can optimize.

What was the team composition?

George introduced us to Daniel, and after the introductory email, we only worked with Daniel. He managed and executed the entire project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We didn't run marketing campaigns so far to see how users are interacting with the website, but from the organic visits, we have 1-2 offers or work sample requests. Plus, a lot of people told us that they understand very well what we do from our website and that it looks beautiful. Another thing that we noticed is that we don't spend that much time explaining what we do when we discuss with our prospects. Lately, many of them tell us that they know what we do and how we work from our website, which is a great achievement!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It worked exceptionally well. We are used to having a lot of back and forth between designers and us in general, but it wasn't the case this time. I think the first meeting when we discussed explicitly what we need, what we do, and what is our goal made the difference. We also discussed from the beginning that they would keep us updated and ask for further details whenever they are in doubt with new ideas. I think this close communication might seem overwhelming at first, but it helps in the long run.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their deep understanding of tech product and marketing goals. It was nice that we didn't have to explain to them what a conversion is, why we need so much text, etc. They are also good at UX. Our website wasn't complicated, but we received great advice on how we can make our copy better, and why some modules on the website didn't make sense.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Learning to say: "it's too much text" when crazy marketers (like us) ask you to do the impossible. Other than this, the great process can only lead to great work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a business consulting company, acting in the field of human resources and leadership development. I'm the owner and the managing partner of the company

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire WiseUp?

Update the iOS application for our communication and e-learning platform

What were your goals for this project?

Errors in the operation of the application had to be identified, updating the tools for proper functioning in the new versions of iOS

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were highly recommended

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Analysis of the iOS application architecture of the communication and e-learning platform, identification of operating errors, correlation of the application's functionalities with the web based application, updating obsolete tools that are no longer supported by the new iOS versions, testing the changes

What was the team composition?

Project Manager with whom I initially discussed the details of the project, the execution time and the price and the Developer with whom I kept in touch strictly on details and technical aspects

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our platform is implemented in multinational companies with over 3000 users and we had a very good feedback from our customers regarding the operation of the iOS application

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We always received a solution regarding our requests and when WiseUp did not have time available for our emergencies we established together with their project manager the priorities to implement and the schedule of future actions

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their professionalism, extended technical expertise, and technical solutions they've always found were impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I have no relevant recommendations for improvement

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Minutizer, an online marketplace where philanthropists offer their services in exchange for money.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with WiseUp?

We needed someone to develop a new chat feature for our platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked with WiseUp on several features, but one of the major features was the ability to communicate between the seller and the buyer via WhatsApp chat. They developed the web aspect, which interacts with the WhatsApp API. The end-users are using their own WhatsApp application to communicate with our web application. They used Node.js, PHP, and HTML.

The team also helped us with the logical flow of the messages, and how to connect them with our platform. We’re a two-sided marketplace that connects freelance sellers and buyers. This feature was just an option for the two parties to chat. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve been in contact with the project manager, a designer, backend developers, an architect, and a frontend developer.

How did you come to work with WiseUp?

WiseUp was very active in fintech and technology communities. They have a good market presence on social media where they construct some high profile products. They popped up in our daily newsfeed, and we decided to partner with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $150,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2017 and it’s ongoing. They completed the large project in January 2020, but they continue to do maintenance for us for that feature and we’re using them for very specific project-based tasks.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The methods WiseUp designed have allowed us to easily navigate the system. Their suggestions were insightful and ultimately successful. Also, the team set up analytics, which has allowed us to track the financial value of our interactions.

How did WiseUp perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management style is one of the benefits of working with them. They had a dedicated senior resource who handled the process for us, who helped with translating the commercial discussion and feature into technical specifications. We used Asana and were integrated with their internal Jira, which we had access to.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Despite their technological expertise, they understand the commercial side of the project quite well. That’s made communication between us easy, and it also ensured success when the team was translating commercial specifications into technical ones.

Are there any areas they could improve?

WiseUp contributed greatly to the design of our platform. They should make it more clear to their potential customers that they have in-house experience and aren’t just a technical team, but a product team.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

WiseUp has a lot of high-end technical knowledge as well as product knowledge. They ask the right questions. Pay attention to the questions they ask because they’re available for the answers that come up.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of a content creation and storytelling company that’s based in Atlanta. We’re committed to honing in on the future of video content creation and creating more content at a lower cost for our clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with WiseUp?

Over the last few years, we’ve been developing a new business centered around creating content quickly and inexpensively. We needed a platform that would guide our clients through the production process.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a general idea and architecture for what we wanted to build. Our platform allows the client to order a kit with everything they need to produce high-quality content. After they create the user-generated content, they can upload it to the platform and receive a well-edited video back in 48 hours. From there, they can download it immediately or request revisions. 

Our team has in-house development resources, but they were capable of building something much more robust. After providing them with our ideas, they took care of wireframing and development. 

What is the team composition?

We had a single point of contact with our project manager. At times, we would communicate with the owner of the company or a senior developer.

How did you come to work with WiseUp?

They came highly recommended by a friend. We also liked their approach and their impressive turnaround times. They were very focused on creating simple solutions according to their timelines. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $30,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from January–May 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One of the biggest challenges for this content creation process on our end is project management and data storage. Their solution allowed us to move to the cloud, which has already helped us out. At this point, we’re able to onboard clients and do demo calls. Without them, we wouldn’t be where we are today.  

How did WiseUp perform from a project management standpoint?

I appreciated having a central point of contact with our project manager. Our collaboration was primarily handled over email. They would always check in with us a few days before deadlines to keep us updated on their progress. We had a conversational relationship, and they were happy to provide us with personalized service. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a clear foundational process, which allows them to easily create roadmaps and project timelines. Their clear communication and ability to stick to the deadlines they set ended up being very beneficial to us. In my experience, this is rare for their industry. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any complaints about their processes and have been beyond impressed with them. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open to trusting them as experts and professionals. They are looking out for your costs and timelines.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Founder and Executive Director of the Global Conservation Corps. We are a Conservation Organization which seeks to conserve wildlife by bridging the gap between people and wildlife. Our largest program is Future Rangers, which connects children to conservation careers, along with building pathways for training and employment within the wildlife economy.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire WiseUp?

We contracted WiseUp to design, develop and build the Future Rangers App. Up until this point, a great challenge that GCC had was the inability to collect and store large amounts of data on individual students, schools and districts over time. We have large ambitions of scaling our program globally, and therefore needed a robust App that could quantify the success, failures and frequencies of our engagements with youth over time.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals were to develop a minimum viable product which could:

• Record student presence and involvement in lessons
• Track student progress over time
• Develop a measuring tool to quantify the efficacy of our program
• Develop an easy solution for teachers to gather data

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Word of mouth - we have a personal friend who had worked with WiseUp before who raved about their capabilities and impeccable service record.

Describe the project in detail.

We kicked off the project through a zoom call which included a variety of their team members and our leadership team. During this initial contact call we covered the vision, challenges and application for this App.

Over the next few days and weeks, we had further meetings around capabilities, budget and timeline. Once we agreed on the price and timeline, we moved into a production phase. During this phase we had weekly checkins, around the progress, ideas for improvements and consistent email updates too.

WiseUp stuck to both the timeline and desired outcome of the MVP. Even after the delivery of the product, they continuously worked with us to ensure a smooth role out into the field.

What was the team composition?

We primarily worked with Stefan who was our Product Manager for this project. He would involve various specialists on certain zoom calls including an app developer, chief architect and the CEO of the company on multiple occasions for their support, expertise, updates and guidance on the development of this product.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within the first month we received the finished product, we were able to have all of our teachers and facilitators load the app onto their phones, conduct a simple training exercise, and from there the facilitators had over 2,000 individual students entered into the system, for data collection to begin. However, with COVID 19 causing a national shutdown in South Africa, we have been unable to make further use of this app.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow between our companies worked really well in that we were assigned a dedicated product manager through which all correspondence and updates were channeled through him. He was always briefed and updated from his team of developers and engineers, and was able to effectively articulate updates and developments to our team.

The communication was relatively jargon free so that our "conservation" team could understand the nuts and bolts of the operation in simple and clear terms. From our side, we had dedicated leads on the project, through which made the lines of communication very easy to follow and to stay on top of.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

There is a lot of impeccable comments to give this incredible company. Firstly, from day one, they made the entire team feel comfortable, at ease, understood, valued and appreciated. It felt like we had found our extended Romanian family that you could either build an award-winning app with, or have a few beers and discuss philosophy with.

There was a high level of professionalism around this experience, but it never felt stressful or unpleasant because of the shared enthusiasm WiseUp had for the development of this project. WiseUp stuck to every deadline, and in some cases even exceeded the delivery dates. They were always willing to go above and beyond the usual call time if we needed further explaining or if we got talking about fresh ideas and possibilities.

Besides the actual product which is excellent and has exceeded our expectations, it really does come down to the incredible individuals who have become friends through a mutual passion to do something good in this world. WiseUp is a company you can trust and can count on for excellent service delivery, while at the same time allowing the client to enjoy the process of development together.

At the end of the day, it's the App that changes the world, but the WiseUp staff that keeps you coming back. Thanks for a terrific experience, WiseUp!

Are there any areas for improvement?

I have spent 7 minutes looking at my screen, and there is literally nothing that comes to mind. Tough question to answer for WiseUp.