Wve Labs

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a project manager at AccuTEST Systems. We’re experts in designing specialized valve-testing systems that utilize our industry-leading, automated lift assist device. We serve clients all around the world to ensure that their equipment is reliable, functional, and safe. I work with biomedical engineering companies as well, which is why I created this app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Wve Labs?

We hired them to build us an internal project management app through which we could easily keep track of project progress and records.

What were your goals for this project?

Our main goal was to create a seamless and efficient organization and communication platform for our project managers and engineers.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We searched online for app development companies and Wve Labs appealed to us the most for their youthful enthusiasm, timely communication, and their price. We wanted a team with a global presence as well.

Describe the project in detail.

I worked with a project analyst in describing our vision for our app; she was very articulate and conveyed our vision well to the business analysts who created the scope of work.

Their graphic designers and developers did an excellent job at creating our app, which is for both iOS and Android platforms. It's a communication and project management platform that allows biomedical engineers to interact with their clients, keep records of progress on projects, and consult/connect with experts in their field. We wanted all of this information to be kept in one place, which is what the app accomplishes.

What was the team composition?

I worked with a project analyst and was assigned a project manager as well. In addition to that, we had two developers and one graphic designer on board.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project managers that are using this app have given only positive feedback. The app is functional and well designed.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was extremely smooth and we communicated regularly through Skype. They were responsive, understanding, and helpful throughout the entire process.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Wve Labs went above and beyond at every stage of the development of our app. Their understanding of our vision and knowledge of app design were very impressive. We’re already discussing working together on another project.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The timelines for each milestone were often subject to change but Wve Labs truly committed and delivered per our established deadlines.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder of TheNow, which is a new application designed to help its users eliminate digital distraction.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Wve Labs?

I contracted them in order to build an Android mobile application from the ground up based on my concept and design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

When I first approached Wve Labs, I had nothing other than an idea – they have been involved from the start of the project. They had a lot of input on color scheme, logo, and overall user interface, combined with my own instructions and feedback. The basic concept of TheNow was to help its users regain focus by preventing their distraction through phone notifications. The app is designed to ingest the user’s calendar and other related “busy” data and determine when they have a commitment or event. During the time when a user is scheduled to be occupied, the app will prompt the user to enable TheNow and thereby eliminate notifications. It also provides the option to send a custom text message or email to respond automatically during that set time block.

The hope is for Wve Labs to help me develop an iOS version later, once we have completed the development and launch of the Android app. As of now, the minimum viable product has been completed and we are in a controlled testing phase. They have offered to help with sales and marketing to boost product awareness within the market, but we have not had those conversations yet because I want to limit the current user base.

What is the team composition?

My immediate team included three people: Dave Shah [CEO, Wve Labs]; Arjun Dundoo, who functioned as my account point person [Project Analyst, Wve Labs]; and Saransh Sharma, who was our lead product developer.

How did you come to work with Wve Labs?

I sent out a request for proposals, focusing on companies that were located in Los Angeles. As a result of the RFP, I spoke to about six different companies. Ultimately, I chose Wve because they gave me a very human response to my initial message, and it felt like they genuinely believed in the product that I wanted to build. Their cost quote was also much more reasonable than the other proposals I reviewed.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, I have invested roughly US$20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began our collaboration in March of 2017, and the work is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Because the app is still at the testing stage, we do not yet have any kinds of metrics to demonstrate the impact of their work. So far, the app has been bug free and works smoothly in all tests, which indicates to me that the code is well written. From a design standpoint, I have received nothing but great feedback.

How did Wve Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication within our specific pod and developmental team was well done, executed with detail but in a straightforward way. Their project management overall was effective, and they were very accommodating with my tight schedule. The fact that I work another full-time job has meant that their flexibility was essential. We communicated predominantly using both email and Skype, since a number of their employees work offshore. They sent me updates on the app as new steps were completed, and the general feedback loop was completed with very little drag. There is always going to be last minute changes with this type of work and no project ever perfectly adheres to a predicted timeline, but they did an exceptional job of both sticking to their plans and managing expectations. My experience with Wve Labs from the beginning to the present day has been nothing short of outstanding.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They took a genuine interest in my idea and they made me feel very comfortable working with them. I greatly appreciated their efficiency and honesty, particularly how clear they were about what was possible versus what was not. The overall communication from their end was excellent throughout the entire developmental process. As a company, Wve Labs is a little younger and a little less experienced, but what they lack in experience, they make up for in true hunger and passion for the projects on which they work. In the end, I think that attitude makes for a better product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As exceptional as my experience with them has been, I would recommend that for future projects, they try to delve more deeply into a product at the beginning of the work. That will allow them to provide more suggestions early on and plan ahead a little better.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Do not be dissuaded from working with Wve Labs simply because they have a lot of developers working overseas. Even though sometimes their work hours are not ideal, the quality certainly outweighs any inconvenience from a timing standpoint.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a fine artist, and the principal painter for my business. I am the sole proprietor, and most of my clients are on the East Coast.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Wve Labs?

I wanted a virtual space where people could view my finished work, view pricing, auctions, and other options for purchase, and to commission new works. I wanted the site to grow my client base without making them travel to a physical gallery.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I am not very technologically savvy, but they did an incredible job explaining the development process. They built me a scope of work and have stayed within my budget. We’ve just finished the UI/UX design and integration.

They’re developing native mobile apps for both Android and iOS. I work in a very specific niche market, so I do my own self-marketing, but their marketing package is really awesome. I’m thinking about whether to use that offering.

What is the team composition?

After my initial inquiry, I was assigned Steven Gerry [Senior Associate, Wve Labs] who operated as my project analyst. The whole team is about eight people.

How did you come to work with Wve Labs?

I Googled app development companies, and theirs offered the lowest hourly rate. That was my initial reason for contacting them.

How much have you invested with them?

My budget is around $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2017. We’ve finished about 50% of the development, and work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As an artist, I’m blown away by the quality of their designs and their color choices. They’ve completely surpassed my expectations. Being in touch with the developers, analysts, and project managers has shown me their strong community and culture of customer satisfaction. When I wasn’t crazy about the colors for one of the screens they showed me, they listened to my feedback and quickly turned around with a new design.

How did Wve Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They were awesome. They’ve met every milestone on time, if not early. We communicate mostly through Skype. Any time I have a concern or need an update, I can post in our shared group, and usually get a response within 10–15 minutes.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m completely overwhelmed by the design. They’re so quick to communicate, and I know they’re always there for me. They supported me, and they treated my project as their own. They are completely committed, which feels amazing as a client.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, no. I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would 100%, recommend them to anyone.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Explore Dubai is a hospitality and tourism industry company. We have been functioning for 5 years in Dubai, UAE. We provide hotel booking services to tourists and visitors. We pick them up and drop them off, get them a prepackaged, planned stay over here, and help them plan all kinds of end-to-end activities whether they’re here with their family, individually, or for business purposes. We started off in Dubai initially and expanded to the rest of the Emirates. I’m one of the co-founders and the CEO. I make all the financial and operational decisions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Wve?

We went online a couple of years ago and the response was great. We decided to have an application developed to further our reach.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The app, Explore Dubai, is an aggregation of all the activities and all the verticals we have in our business. It starts from hotel booking. Right now, we have done the hotel booking only in Dubai.

We are currently doing the beta testing; it will be live on the stores very soon. The user can register and they can book activities around Dubai, like going to the malls or doing the safari in the desert. There are hundreds of activities that they can choose from. There’s also a planner, so they have control of everything. They can choose all the dates that they’re there. They can choose what activities. They’ll be given the approximate amount of time that it takes to do a certain activity and how it can fit into their schedule when they’re here.

The app can also preplan everything for them according to their likes and dislikes; we fetch that from Facebook and various other channels if they choose to do that. It would create a preplanned schedule and then they can edit all any of it. Once they are happy with the plan on the app, they can press a button and everything will be booked for them straightaway through us. We’ll be giving them confirmation emails for each of the activities that they’re choosing on the app.

It's also a social network. They can take pictures for whatever activities they are doing or places they’re visiting and post it, automatically sharing to their Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, or Twitter. That’s the first version of our app, which has already been developed. They’ll be coming up with more upgrades soon.

The app is iOS and Android. We have a KPM [Klarnas payment methods] API integration. We used some third-party APIs for calendars and hotel booking. One of the APIs we integrated is booking.com—that’s how we get to know all the hotels and the details.

What is the team dynamic?

The best part is they have this entire team in L.A. and they give us a dedicated project coordinator. Zach [Regional Manager, Wve] was one of our project coordinators. He was the first contact when we approached them. He produced the scope, we negotiated with him, and he was prompt in responding. We were already comfortable talking with him.

Once the project was started, we handed the entire thing over to a project manager, who did a good job. In one exceptional case, when we were not able to explain to them one of the designs, they put us in direct contact with their lead designer and we were able to explain to them exactly what we wanted. Apart from that instance, we had one project manager talking to us all the time.

How did you come to work with Wve?

I reached out to Clutch. Wve was 1 of the 4 companies I reached out to.

How much have you invested with them?

$45,000

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2017 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The first version of our project has been successfully uploaded and is live in the app stores. I’m associated with a lot of hotels and hotel groups, and there are a lot of guests coming around this time of the year. Whenever there’s a family staying at a hotel, they are offered the beta test version as a part of their check-in process. We currently have around 200 people who have already done the planning and the activity booking through the app. It has been wonderful. People are really appreciating it because it is easing the entire process by scheduling everything automatically. Then they just have to drag and adjust everything according to their time in the area. It has been amazing. A couple of big brand hotels have been really interested in partnering with us because the guests are giving exceptional feedback about the app.

The entire point of beta testing was to figure out some UI and UX bugs, which have definitely popped up. We’ve already sent it to the Wve team to rectify them. And, we’ve already made around $6,000 worth of bookings just through the beta testing. This is highly subsidized because we are giving out a lot of promotional discounts and we also have to give commissions to the hotel partners. It has been a good response so far.

How did Wve perform from a project management standpoint?

One of the main issues with Dubai is that communication can be a bit tricky, because Skype doesn’t always work properly due to government restrictions, so we only use that occasionally. We use Slack for discussions. For calling, we use Team Buildr because that works well.

Communication has been good. There were times we weren’t aware of what was going on, and it would’ve been better if we were told about what’s happening on the project at least every couple of days. There were no other issues there, but that’s what I would’ve preferred. The timing was right; they did everything on schedule. The communication just wasn’t as frequent as I wanted.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their UI is most impressive. They are a young and enthusiastic team. I like that because the technologies we’re using requires that kind of attention and interest, which comes with a younger crowd.

Their UI and their designs were the first impression they made on our team. The design is really great, and they give really proper attention to how the end user would like to use the app. That perspective really makes sense to me. I couldn’t find a single flaw in the designs they provided. The politeness and eagerness they showed in completing this project was amazing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They can improve their portfolio. They have a lot of experience and have done a lot of apps, and they showed me a lot of their work, but before I got in touch with them, I didn’t know if they had any past projects in our industry. Once I got in touch with them, however, everything was smooth.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company is Desinus. We do print and apparel and can do the actual designs if the clients need them to be created. We have wholesale deals with companies like Vineyard Designs, Nike, Under Armour, Comfort Colors, Next Level, etc. We also work with big organizations, like Greek Societies around the US, that submit large orders for banners and such, all at pretty low-cost rates. We then send their orders to our printers around California.

I’m the co-founder and president of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Wve Labs?

We wanted an easier, internal way to deal with vendors in terms of completing orders and tracking where our products were. We also wanted to manage our printing process in terms of loading AI [Adobe Illustrator] files directly to them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Wve Labs built an internal e-commerce iOS mobile app which allows us to message with vendors, track how much product is coming in, and what orders we have going out and through which ambassador. We’re now able to see if we’ll run out of t-shirts before the orders go out. The app also helps us know what is going to what printer, and how close the order is to completion. There are also profile features for our internal employees.

What is the team dynamic?

There was a development team along with a project manager. My primary contact was the project manager and the CEO. There was also a project analyst.

How did you come to work with Wve Labs?

We Googled the best developers in Los Angeles. Their office was close to us, so it made sense for us to choose them and be able to easily go there to catch up on things. The project worked fluidly in person versus other developers we considered that seemed stale.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $45,000 on the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2017, and the app was completed in May 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our product isn’t super intense or design heavy, but it does everything we need it to. There’s nothing to complain about. The app made our lives easier and we stopped backlogging orders. It’s easier for ambassadors to file their orders directly to me and upload their Adobe designs right to the printer. It has helped speed up our transactions.

I was able to measure their success by talking to the project manager, and seeing whether or not he could give me what was done that day. They pretty much always matched the scope we had. If they were behind, things were caught up the next week. In the end, the timeline lined up how we wanted it to.

How did Wve Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication was clear and they met deadlines. I have friends that have complained about not having good communication with developers. It seemed pretty easy for us. We communicated via Skype and there was always someone available from the group 24/7. They were able to keep us updated on the progress.

What did you find most impressive about them?

When I went to their office, their culture was awesome. They get things done quickly. They didn’t make it a boring process or make me feel that I wouldn’t be able to call them to find out what was going on. I could be real with them. If I thought something was not done well, they would fix it. They were great to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were a couple times where a feature was behind in development, but it was usually caught up the next week. They did what we wanted and made it easy for us.

Do you have any advice for potential clients?

When we first looked at them, their portfolio didn’t seem that heavy. We were relying on a couple of things they had done, how they ran things, and how knowledgeable they were. I would tell other companies that are looking at their portfolio to trust that the work will get done correctly. It was a seamless transition. I would recommend using the Skype group. If you wait two weeks to check in with the project manager and you don’t like it, then you’re going to be upset. They’re available almost 24/7. Let them do the screen sharing on Skype so you can see what things look like. Most companies won’t let you do that twice a week like they do.

Be fast on your side as well. We gave them anything they needed right away, which sped up the process. Things get backlogged if the client isn’t giving them what they need. Make it easier for Wve Labs and you’ll be happy with your product.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re an educational consulting firm preparing students for foreign education coaching and offering career counseling. Due to some issues with premier U.S.-based universities, our goal is to streamline the educational process using technology.

My role involves managing projects and searching for new possibilities to bring about necessary educational reform. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Wve Labs?

Student processing, especially foreign student intake, is a largely ignored part of the education industry in terms of applying technologies for student benefit.

Individual universities have their own technologies in place, but those still don’t address the difficulties that students face when applying to multiple universities (which is often the case).

We wanted to streamline this process through a single informational platform that would help our students and internal members to stay in touch with information and notifications through an app. I can’t share more details since this internal app is exclusive to our students. We are potentially the first firm in our region to offer such a product, and we would like it to stay that way for a long time. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our scope included UI/UX design and complete development of Android and iPhone apps with associated web services. They explained the technology behind each task, strategized our app flow, and handled the development. They also incorporated weekly feedback from us. Their free support period spanned 2 months, and this process is still going smoothly.

How did you come to work with Wve Labs?

We found Wve Labs through Clutch and approached them via email. They were quick to respond, and we really liked their no-nonsense process. In addition to being cost-effective, they are also UI-oriented and offer impressive designs. They understood our target market—students—and tailored their entire development cycle around it. That’s exactly what we were looking for.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project was going to last 4 months, but we’ve extended it by a couple months due to new feature discussions and Wve Labs' suggestions.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or impact of the engagement?

More than 1,500 of our registered students are already using the apps, and they are happy with the product. They’ve already started suggesting new features, which we are looking to adopt in the second phase of planning.

How did Wve Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Wve Labs definitely covered everything in our original scope and went the extra mile to suggest some necessary features that we hadn’t explored. Since we wanted good quality, the timing wasn’t as important to us. They delivered most things according to the schedule, but we prefer quality over haste.

What did you find most impressive about Wve Labs?

Wve Labs constantly offers consultation, which is the best part of working with them. They continuously challenged our ideas and suggested improvements. They’re exactly what a service provider should be.

Are there any areas Wve Labs could improve?

They could fix their website, which really doesn’t showcase their abilities. I think they’re prioritizing meeting clients’ needs over keeping up with their in-house work. I assume they already know that, but I think they should take their site to the next level, and many of my colleagues agree. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I’m one of the co-founders of SportsYap, a business that provides an interactive sports application for fans. We built the app to engage and provide a space for sports fans that lives outside of your typical Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat arenas. We started a little over a year ago.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Wve Labs?

Our app design was already in place, and the developers we were using went out of business. We reached out to Wve Labs because we were literally in the middle of a mess. We had a half finished product and no one to work with. A lot of companies don’t want to work with someone else’s design.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

They focused on the backend development, but they made edits to the frontend design as well. For the additional features that we added after the fact, they did do the full design. They’re doing the full design for our landing page, and they put a little bit of their own flair into that. One of the key features of the app that they developed is game following. Fans can follow a particular game and see the different pictures and comments from people who are physically at the game. The only thing that will come up on their timeline will be team-focused content from other fans or the thousands of sports reporters we’re connected with. There’s one feature where you can live stream different places from the game, etc. The app is developed for iOS and Android.

How did you come to work with Wve Labs?

We found them searching for development companies on Google. We chose them because they were able to meet with us immediately since we were in a crunch. We met with them on a rainy Sunday, and they all came out. Their prices were also pretty competitive.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

About $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them February 2017 and have been working together since.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

It’s very user friendly. It’s unique and doesn’t feel like a copy of another social media app. It’s fresh and definitely sports-focused. When we’ve shared demos with sports fans, they love it and are waiting for it to launch.

How did Wve Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great. They gave us a designated project manager, and we meet periodically for status updates, which the other company did not do. The owner has been active and responds to emails, and we can definitely reach out to him. When you can contact the owner and get an email right back, that’s always a good sign. We also communicate via phone, but our primary communication tool with our project manager is Skype. There was a bit of a language barrier with Sarong [Project Manager, Wve Labs], but they’ve always jumped in, and it’s been really awesome. When we met, we went over every little item that we had in place, and they were able to take over everything we had. They mapped out the process of what they were going to do, stuck close to their projected timelines, and they’ve been really flexible with last minute requests. They’ve been good about referring us to other companies for different technology that they need to integrate within the app.

What distinguishes Wve Labs from other providers?

They’re young, smart, innovative, and flexible. I wish we had come to them earlier. They were honest and flexible and basically bailed us out of our situation. They were able to take over the design we had, and if there was additional design needed, they would give us their input.

Is there anything Wve Labs could have improved or done differently?

Not that I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a Los Angeles-based multi-asset class investor that invests in assets globally. We have invested in a plethora of industries such as real estate and venture capital. We specialize in investing in growth companies. I am the Managing Director, and I find and approve all investments.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Wve Labs?

I wanted to create an internal financial app for iOS. The app would only be used by me and the people working for me. There is not a challenge, but instead an opportunity to invest in growing companies and entities. The target market is whatever investment we see fit, in any asset class.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

One of the project analysts emailed me the same day I reached out to them. We talked on the phone a couple days after that, and he explained their company to me. I really liked their company story and the analyst that I was talking to. I scheduled an in-person meeting to go over the requirements for the app. They took the idea to someone internally, and I got a scope of work two days later which outlined all the features I wanted, how long each would take, and how much each would cost. The proposal also gave me the total cost, final timeline, and other important details.

One thing that stood out to me is that they offered two months of technical support after the app is built. If there are any bugs, they would fix them free. Most of the other companies I spoke to didn’t do that. After I agreed to hire them, they connected me to a project manager. I was put into a group chat with that project analyst, and I liked that because it kept him involved in the whole process. The group chat included the project analyst, the project manager, one of the regional managers, the CTO, and the CEO. It surprised me to have that much involvement from upper management. I didn’t have as much interaction with the CTO and CEO but it was nice that they were involved.

The app is still being built. The design phase is done and the coding is 50% complete. The app organizes a lot of my investments. The home page has six major functions including one that’s a financial summary that breaks down my financial reports. It also includes my individual funds including my investments in startups. It breaks down how much I invested and the key information for the companies I’m invested in. There’s another folder that breaks the companies down into contacts, pictures of each person, and information about the company. When a company sends me updates, it all gets pushed into that folder.

How did you come to work with Wve Labs?

I was introduced to Wve Labs by a personal connection and was blown away by their entire process. From their design team to their efficiency and pricing, to their care of customers, Wve Labs is unparalleled to the other technology companies I interviewed and have worked with.

They have a young team that is just as excited as you are to get the project going. They saw my vision and knew exactly what I wanted after explaining it to them once. For such a high end product, their prices were lower than most of the people I looked at. They handed me a scope of work which outlines the timeline, cost and other important details of the project that was easy to understand and clear.

How much have you invested with Wve Labs?

The project cost is between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with them in March 2017 and the work is ongoing. The projected timeline for this project is 4 months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I needed a logo as well as a complete design. I told the project manager the colors I wanted and it was incredible to see what they presented to me two days later. There were six different options and there was one that really stuck out to me. We made a couple of iterations, but I was expecting it to take longer than it did. The screens were also done quickly with very few iterations. I was surprised how fast they could create stunning designs for my app.

How did Wve Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They have hit all the deadlines so far. I had a few minor changes within my app, and I was not charged for it, which I really appreciated. I had the personal phone number of the regional manager and project analyst.

A very unique thing was I always had someone to contact. Whether I woke up at 3 a.m. and had an idea or wanted to speak in the middle of the day, someone was always there to discuss my ideas with me.

We used Skype group chat, and I could message them or call them whenever I needed to. I’m in LA and Wve Labs has an office in LA. I was able to meet with my project analyst in person which was really nice. The entire process was managed by the service provider, from initial meetings to development. They truly deliver end-to-end solutions.

What did you find most impressive about Wve Labs?

The most impressive thing was how fast they could buy into and see my vision. Sometimes what you want gets miscommunicated, but with Wve Labs, all it took was one phone call and they knew what I wanted and presented me with what I wanted. I’m not the most technical person and I would consider technology complex. It was cool how quickly they picked up on what I wanted to see in my app.

Are there any areas Wve Labs could improve?

I don’t have any major complaints.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the co-founder of Vizi, a mobile app that allows users to save, categorize, share, and discover their favorite locations all around the world. Our goal is to create a social platform that helps users record and share their stories in a new and unique way based on the places they have been. We will be targeting college-aged students (especially those who enjoy traveling) and will start off focusing our marketing in the LA area.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Wve Labs?

All too often we forget or dismiss suggestions of things to do, places to see, or adventures to explore, relying on various unorganized notes, to-do lists, or our own memory. Think about that hole-in-the-wall restaurant that you found on your last vacation but can't remember the name of; or what about that amazing recommendation your friend gave you for your trip to Europe, but you forgot to write down; or maybe you found a great spot around your new college campus but can't remember what it was called or how to get back; you get the point. We need a better way to save, organize, and share our favorite locations, and furthermore, discover new places when we are somewhere new. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

With our app, Vizi, users will be able to "pin" their favorite spots, save them into customizable playlists such as "bars", "restaurants", "surf spots", etc, and filter those playlists by city. Furthermore, users will be able to follow their friends and therefore simply view their profiles to see all of their favorite spots. Finally, our discovery feed will allow users to find the best things to do in a new city based on pins made there by the people they follow.

Wve Labs are our developers and are therefore building this whole app for us, and turning our idea into a reality. We have given them guidance and clarity on our vision, and they have executed on everything from the design of our app and logo to making a fully functional app.

How did you come to work with Wve Labs?

My co-founder and I were actually in a class this past semester called "Building the High Tech Startup" where we decided to use Vizi for our class project. After discussing our idea in this class and with an incubator on campus, we were referred to Dave Shah [CEO of Wve Labs] because they have a big presence in the USC [University of Southern California] community. We ended up scheduling a meeting with Dave and one of his project coordinators, Graham, about a week later to discuss our idea.

They ended up loving Vizi and wanted to help us make it happen. So from there, Graham was assigned to us as our project coordinator, he got us a scope of work within a few days, and about two weeks later we signed our contract to develop our app with Wve Labs.

How much have you invested with Wve Labs?

We have invested in the $10,000-$50,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began development with Wve in September 2016 and are expecting to launch our app in late February 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

My co-founder and I were very impressed with Wve's development team's ability to help us find a balance between quality and getting to the market as quickly as possible. This was especially prevalent when we were building our wireframes (designing what each key screen of our app would look like).

Throughout the process, we were constantly making changes to the functionality and appearance of our app. We found that whenever we wanted to make a change, our developers and design team got back to us within a week—usually more like 3–5 days—with the changes that we wanted to make so we could approve them, or suggest further changes. Not only that, but they would push us to respond as quickly as possible, so they could continue to work and get us our product as quickly as possible. After just 3 months, we had approved our logo and all of our wireframes, and they were ready to start coding the app. Just one month after that, we received a beta version of the app, which only my co-founder and I could download, so we were able to explore the full product and point out any bugs or further changes we wanted to make.

We have just approved the final changes and are expecting to launch in mid–late February, which will have our whole project completed in roughly 6 months. However, it is also important to note that it was my co-founder and my decision to make many changes throughout the process because we wanted our app to look perfect, but it really is up to the client to determine how fast they want to move.

Overall, it has been incredible to work with Wve Labs. Without them, I don't think we ever would have been able to make this idea a reality. Wve is unique in that they were able to understand and cater to the financial needs of young, college-aged, aspiring entrepreneurs. After sitting on our idea for a full year, they were the only feasible option my co-founder and I found to make this app possible, and have exceeded all of our expectations in professionalism and quality, while still being affordable and providing excellent service. Throughout our experience of working with Wve, they have been consistent, transparent, timely, and have built us an outstanding product that we are thrilled to bring to the market.

How did Wve Labs perform in terms of project management?

Wve Labs was excellent with project management, and I think this is truly one of the strengths of their company. At no point during this process have my cofounder and I felt like we have been left in the dark. First, we sat down with our project coordinator and told him all the features we wanted in our app. He then took this list to a business analyst who gave us a scope of work which listed each feature, how many estimated hours each feature would take to make, and an hourly rate (one that they were able to make lower for us knowing that we are both college students) which led to an estimated total cost. After we agreed on the scope of work, we were put in contact with our development team, who we have been communicating with ever since.

We have worked with them on everything from the design of our logo, to wireframes for each page on the app and the coding of the app itself. They have been easy to communicate with throughout the whole project, and constantly give us deadlines for each step in the project, which they have almost always completed on time. Furthermore, if we ever had questions outside of the development, we were able to ask Graham and he would always get back to us without a problem. What really impressed us about Wve's project management was their transparency; not only were we able to see how much each feature costs, but we were also able to make any changes we wanted to our app on the fly. Most of these changes were made without extra costs, and even when we added large features that would increase the development team's hours, they would let us know right away how many extra hours it would take, and how much more it would cost before we finalized our decision.

What did you find most impressive about Wve Labs?

As I mentioned above, I was most impressed with Wve's ability to cater to college-aged students and their transparency throughout the whole process. I believe they were the only development company that was able to give us a significantly lower hourly rate knowing that at this point in our lives, my co-founder and I could not afford to build an app that would usually cost $30,000 or more. Furthermore, with their scope of work, we were able to see exactly where all of our money was going and could cut features if we thought they were too expensive.

However, what really impressed us was Wve's ability to provide us with an affordable option while still maintaining extremely professional quality. We believe the product that they have created for us is as good or better than what any other company could've built for us. Wve's developers and design team are as good as they get.

Are there any areas where Wve Labs could improve?

One thing I think Wve can improve on is their method of communication. Our main form of communication with our development team has been through Skype messenger, where messages sometimes go unseen and it seems like a kind of unprofessional platform when sending messages and files. However, it has worked out for the most part. Additionally, after we were passed off to our development team, it was sometimes harder to get back in touch with our project coordinator if we needed to and found slightly more delayed response times from him.

Wve also has a very young team; however, we did not find this to be a weakness at all. They remained very professional, easy to talk to, and knew what they were doing, so I would advise potential clients to not let that throw them off.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Wve Labs?

The Wve team is great, but it is also important for you to remain present, engaged, and involved as the client. It is your responsibility to make sure that you are getting back to the development team as quickly as possible and always giving them stuff to work on, so you can move along with your project efficiently.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a manufacturer of EMC [electromagnetic compatibility] equipment that we sell to various tech companies around the world, helping them make sure that their wireless electronic devices are functioning properly and aren't emitting electromagnetic noise.

I am in charge of IT for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Wve Labs?

We needed to build a new website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Wve Labs was initially brought in to redevelop our website. The project involved a full redesign and the creation of a customer portal.

During an executive meeting, our CEO also brought up the prospect of building an app that would allow clients to purchase equipment on-the-go. Since we had been satisfied with Wve Labs up to that point, we started the app project. It will have Apple Pay integration as well as profile pages for our most valuable clients, the ones who need to purchase the same product for multiple locations. In our backend, we can create ideal setups and suggestions for them, which the clients can use in order to better understand our products and make a choice. This is one of the main features we'll be implementing, and it will help our sales team save time.

How did you come to work with Wve Labs?

Wve Labs was recommended to us by one of their past clients.

How much have you invested with Wve Labs?

The price of our website project was around $25,000, while the app had a $58,000 cost.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Wve Labs at the beginning of September 2016. The app development was started at the end of 2016 and is scheduled to complete development in March 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We've introduced early versions of the app to some clients who've given us tremendous feedback. We found that not only were we increasing sales, we were also making clients' lives easier. We've revolutionized the way in which the industry works.

How did Wve Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Wve Labs' team was extremely friendly with us from the start. They came to our first meeting in-person and also allowed us to meet the developers at their own office. Wve Labs has grown quickly over the last 2 years, and they have offices in a few US locations, which has made keeping in touch easier. Wve Labs has always worked in a timely manner, getting milestones done on a regular basis. We've been exceptionally happy with Wve Labs so far.

What did you find most impressive about Wve Labs?

Everyone in the Wve Labs' team, from the developers to the project coordinator, has worked cohesively on our projects. We never had to give out the same information more than once. Everyone was on the same page about everything, which is extremely efficient from our end.

Are there any areas Wve Labs could improve?

There's nothing substantial that we've experienced so far.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Wve Labs?

While Wve Labs is a relatively new company in the industry, they've been able to customize the experience for each and every one of their clients. Wve Labs' CEO has walked us through some of the other projects they're working on, and each of them seems quite different from the rest. Wve Labs is able to work with both startups and larger institutions, so they're pretty diverse.