Xenia Tech

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder of a London based start up that has created a progressive solution to improve its users moods and mental health.

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

I wanted to build an app based on a concept that I had evaluated. I hired Xenia Tech to build the app, to create the User Experience (UX) and to build in a complicated set of features and analytics.

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

I met the Founder by chance, and over a series of conversations he was very articulate in the discussions and we gained a level of trust through a seperate business relationship. I was then in no doubt that he would be able to deliver this.

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

The key deliverables were an IOS and Android app, with push notifications, and a complicated analytics and tracking dashboard. The work was to produce a prototype, and then take on feedback to then build the app itself.

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

I had a project manager, a UX specialist, and senior developers. Additional resources were used by Xenia I am sure, but these were my contact points.

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

Each milestone of development has been hit on time. The App is better than how it was briefed. The product has not been widely launched yet, but I am confident when it is that it will achieve great acclaim

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

The Project management is very efficient using a range of tools, and at any one moment in time, i have always been confident in the work of Xenia. Timelines have all been hit, communication clear and all members of the team i have spoken with have been incredibly knowledgable and personable

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

The efficiency across the team, and also the skill in developing an app and enhancing the UX from the brief has really been impressive. The speed and quality of their work were very good because when you work alongside them, you realise the care, and intelligence of thought and foresight of the team.

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

I believe that their approach is in my experience, exactly what is required to undertake a project. I think that many people looking to use Xenia, would do very well to do so.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the managing director and head of digital production.

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

Xenia was engaged to build a custom Wordpress site designed for in-store customer engagement at the point of purchase. A mobile-first solution to help shopping understand productions, compare, and learn more about features.

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

Xenia was appointed based on their understanding of WordPress, and capability to deliver high-quality front-end solutions, backed by a comprehensive production team.

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

The site was built in WordPress and utilised custom ACF blocks and WPML to provide a multi-lingual front-end experience. Xenia were provided with Figma designs and technical scope but mostly worked independently.

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

Our main point of contact was the account manager, supported by the managing director who was available if required. The account managed liaised with the development team whom we had direct contact with to discuss details of the technical solution and to resolve bugs during testing.

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

The project was received well and is used by a multi-national retail electronics manufacturer in stores across Europe.

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

The project was fairly simple in terms of scope, and therefore followed a waterfall timeline. We used email as the primary method of communication plus Figma and Google Docs.

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

Communication was excellent, as well as their attention to detail and ability to resolve requests promptly.

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

I don't think so.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the owner of an international luxury silk nightwear business.

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

We hired Xenia Tech to establish our branding as well as build our first e-commerce platform. Being a fairly recently established bricks & mortar company based in Vietnam and the UK, we needed to bolster our online presence and increase sales through the e-commerce platform.

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

I was always going to develop with a Vietnamese agency, given my nationality and the competitive rates. I shortlisted a number of agencies though Xenia Tech stood out as a transparent agency that wasn't trying to sugarcoat the price to try and entice me to work with them.

Everything was explained clearly and up front at the initial sales stage and the standards are that which I would expect from a European based company.

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

Brand guidelines, logo, typefaces, colors etc. Design and development of a Shopify website.

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

I was given a dedicated Account Manager who worked with me throughout as a point of contact as well as a Project Manager. I worked closely with a designer during the design phases too.

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

We've seen a huge increase in sales (c. 200%).

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

I spoke with my Account Manager daily on Slack. They setup a Trello board after I had trouble using Jira and I could add new features or give feedback on this quite easily.

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

They were completely honest. They told me not only if something was not such a great idea but also why it wasn't too. The quality of work was brilliant and everything I was told it would be when I was discussing with their Sales rep. They finished the work on time and kept in contact to make sure there were no issues after finishing it.

I could find a cheaper price but this level of service and quality was way beyond what I thought I would get. They have a passion for their community and their charity, the Xenia Foundation does amazing work for less fortunate people. I even established a partnership with the owner to give a portion of our profits to the foundation.

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

It took them a bit of time (about three weeks) to have a designer and developer available to begin the work. They were up front about it before I signed the contract (they said it would be four weeks) but it would have been great if we could have started sooner!

They don't offer SEO services as they're only a development agency and I quite wanted somewhere that would do it all. In the end they worked really well with the marketing agency I chose and communicated with them to integrate all the tracking things.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We’re the agency for agencies. We target the right prospects to grow your client base, while working with our partners to create thought-provoking insights that engage your prospects, ultimately getting you in the room.

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

Our website is created in SquareSpace. We needed a system that allows us to manage prospects and Xenia helped us to create this.

How did you select Xenia Tech and what were the deciding factors?

Cost, quality, referral

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

We have a meeting to discuss the requirements. Further to this, we set a timeline. At each stage, we assessed the direction of functionality and UX for the internal team and clients.

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

Around 4 - 6

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

Our ability to manage prospects and various stages has improved. The system is still in development so I haven't got metrics at the moment but it's already proving to be a better way of working.

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

Email, Google Docs and Slack

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

I am a start-up and I'm time poor. Despite them being overseas they always worked around my schedule and stuck to the deadlines we set early on.

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

Not really. They are flexible and have done what is being asked of them. I'm happy

Please describe your company and your position there.

I run my own personal training company in London.

For what projects/services did your company hire Xenia Tech?

To build and design my website.

How did you selectXenia Tech and what were the deciding factors?

I'd researched a few web companies and was recommended Xenia, I looked at their work and loved their design, it was very slick, smart and current.

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

I had meetings with Will the CEO and his team of designers, they gave me such good direction on which way to go and were so supportive throughout the process. I was appointed a designer that guided me through everything, nothing was too much to ask and every change I wanted to make was met straight away.

How many resources from the Xenia Tech team worked with you, and what were their positions?

CEO and two web designers.

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

I've had huge compliments on this website, a lot of traction from potential clients and well respected people from within my industry complimenting it as one of the best PT websites they'd seen!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very, despite the time difference, Xenia always made it work and work very flexible if I ever needed to suddenly change a meeting because of work or kids.

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

They are very forward thinking and moving ahead of the times, they taught me things about web design, SEO etc that I just took for granted when looking at good websites. I now have a much better eye and understanding of what works because of them.

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

To be perfectly honest, not really. I was so impressed with their level of handling of the project that I would be scrimping to find errors. I really couldn't.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a full-service design agency that specializes in digital solutions, with an emphasis on web design and development. As Managing Director, I oversee all of our projects and daily operations.

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

We were in need of additional development resources for two WordPress projects. Our goal was to find an external development partner that could deliver a high-quality build that met our high standards and could do so with an accelerated timeline to launch.

How did you select Xenia Tech and what were the deciding factors?

We started by performing a code review of some of their previous work and were impressed with the quality of their build. Following that, we provided them with all design files and technical specifications and they were able to commit to our somewhat aggressive development timeline at a very reasonable cost.

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

Both were WordPress builds using modular components, with one being a nonprofit website requiring CRM integration and additional styling for an EveryAction donation page. Content from the previous sites would also have to be migrated, and the site needed to be thoroughly QA'd prior to delivery.

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

We worked with two project managers and had one main point of contact on their development team, with other developers also providing additional support.

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

The completed sites met all of our standards as far as build quality, ease of management through the CMS, properly migrated content, and properly implemented integrations. We were also extremely impressed with their speed as we were able to start QA well before the target launch date.

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

We were provided clear and constant communications throughout the project. The majority of communication was via email/Basecamp, with weekly calls for the majority of the project and weekly status reports on progress. This allowed us to avoid any surprises and to keep our clients updated.

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

I was equally impressed by the level of communication, the quality of their work, the speed at which work was completed, and the low cost compared to other agencies we've worked with.

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

The only challenge we faced is that we were ready for QA before the client was ready to start testing things themselves so we had to shift some things around. Xenia Tech was extremely accommodating and adjusted their schedule accordingly.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Managing Director of Beautizon Company Limited. Beautizon is a Vietnamese company that specialises in the distribution of Health and Beauty products in the Natural/Organic category.

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

We wanted to take advantage of the rapidly growing e-commerce market and build our own sales platform to advertise and distribute products direct to consumer.

How did you select Xenia Tech and what were the deciding factors?

Having worked with Xenia previously and being very impressed, we were more than happy to engage them again. The team at Xenia are extremely capable, but further to that, it is their fantastic service in terms of communication and their ability to meet the deliverables within agreed timelines that is a large part of why we work with Xenia.

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

The key deliverable was the integration of WooCommerce into our already existing website.

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

Xenia allocated three of their team for the project. Their positions were - Project Manager, UX/UI Designer and Word Press Developer

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

Beautizon management made a decision to invest into developing our existing website into an e-commerce platform within a set timeframe. We knew what our goal was but needed a trusted partner such as Xenia to support us. Xenia were able to provide a very clear plan for every step along the way, and also highlighted some opportunities to improve our strategy as well as potential challenges (and then solutions) that we may encounter. Xenia then completed the work for us on time, and of the highest quality. This was the exact outcome we were looking to achieve for this stage of our project.

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

Both Xenia and Beautizon worked together to define the scope of work for the project, as well as timeframes for completion. Xenia kept us informed with regular updates on the process and where easily contactable and willing to take a phonecall to clarify any of my teams questions. The transaction was a smooth and seamless process.

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

Xenia's service level is the best in the business. Extremely responsive and an experienced and capable team that can quickly understand our requirements and put together a plan to complete the project inside of our deadlines.

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

I have always been very impressed with Xenia from our previous projects working together, and we will continue to work with them in the future.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a product development studio in London and I am one of the founders

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

We were looking for a specialty design and developmnent partner to help us with a number of projects. Xenia provided product managment, design and development for a number of these projects. They delivered in a short space of time with great results.

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

They had a very good approach asking questions that we had not even thought of. They worked really fast and their proposal was tailored to our problems rather then a copy and paste. Xenia's team were very easy to deal with and led the process throughout

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

Xenia too an initial brief and designed wireframes and then high fidelity designs of the mobile-first website. This project was on behalf of a large multi-national clietn and they were working within their brand guidelines and to a tight timeline.

The final project was delivered with Wordpress and included a CMS for the customers to edit copy and assets. The site also included a number of quiz questions and entry forms for users to enter into competitions.

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

We had 3 people working with us, a designer, project manager/account manager and developer

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

The project was delivered well within time and budget, with enough time for changes to come in from clients. The client loved the end result and has signed up for more work

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

We had regular stand ups using slack along with regular updates on video call. They were pragmatic in their approach and made sure everything as clear with what was outstanding and when to expect it.

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

The quality of communicatoin and project management meant that we felt comfortable the whole time the project was running. Even though we were in different time zones we had no issues with the speed or timing of calls and delivery.

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

Not really, it was all handled very well.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a tech startup in the gratuity payments sector. We have both hardware and software which allows for easily adding tips to instant contactless card and mobile payments for the hospitality industry.

What challenge were you trying to address with Xenia Tech?

We needed a development partner for some of the specific requirements on our platform.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team has focused solely on the digital aspects of our development, building the web backend and app frontend of our system. For those, they used React on the web side and React Native for mobile and have connected both to the cloud via AWS and MongoDB.

What was the team composition?

I’ve worked with Will (CEO) directly, as well as several other team members, including the operations manager. On a regular basis, I was in touch with 3–4 people but stretched to 6–7 on an ad-hoc basis depending on what stage of the project we were at.

How did you come to work with Xenia Tech?

I was looking for organizations that I could establish trust with off the bat and who had experience in the space. Their CEO not only has hospitality space as well as startup experience, but he also made himself readily accessible for us to access that expertise, so we decided to move forward with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We signed our initial contract in November 2019 and are continuing to work together, with plans for it to be a long-term relationship.

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

One of the key things that was really helpful to us is their weekly report from their side that details all of the work that has been undertaken. That includes project management hours, development hours, key milestones, problem fixes, and the project status as a whole. Having that kind of comprehensive information in one place really helps to make sure everyone is always on the same page in terms of what progress and problems we’ve had.

How did Xenia Tech perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been very responsive, and all of the documentation that they create along the way is excellent. We’ve never had any problems with communication because of how proactive and accommodating their team is around meetings, video conferences, and emails.

We’re connected over Slack channels and WhatsApp so that we can communicate relatively easily when necessary there. They’ve provided both official and unofficial channels so that we can tackle each challenge as it arises with whatever solution feels the most properly tailored to its size, which I really appreciate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a really impressive depth of UI designers and developers on their team so that they are able to produce wireframes, layouts, and other critical scope elements very quickly. That urgency allowed us to spend as much time as possible nailing down exactly what we wanted the final product to look like while still being able to get started on the actual build on schedule.

On top of that, the personnel that they have are just incredibly talented. One of their designers in particular is probably the best designer I’ve ever met in my 20 years in the tech space and was able to deliver a logo that I decided to go with after just 4–5 attempts. That was a really nice bonus on top of that the work that they were already delivering for me.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There isn’t anything that comes to mind that I wish they were doing differently.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and CEO of VidOPs. We provide streamlined media creation as we like to call it. The idea behind it is that clients will be able to go onto our platform and book freelance creative visual media people such as videographers, editors, and photographers. On the other side, those creatives will be able to pick up jobs and more easily manage their work

What challenge were you trying to address with Xenia Tech?

The first version we created of the platform was pretty basic. I put it together myself and I am not an expert in software development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Originally, we were working with a relational database and they suggested using a different system for organizing our data. I can’t remember what it is called but it is a particular platform.

We are looking now to launch the first phase of the project and will be then moving onto phase two.

What is the team composition?

We worked with about 10 or 12 people, but it varies depending on when we need which expert. It is very flexible for us which works very well.

How did you come to work with Xenia Tech?

Will (Founder & CEO) used to work in London in the same office as I did. I got to know him there. I reached out to him to explore the possibility of working on this project and we traveled out there in June.

When I approached Will, I explained to him what we were working on, and the price point, to begin with, was fantastic which was a big draw for us. They are far more cost-effective than the next best option that we had available to us, and the quality of their work is really great.

How much have you invested in them?

We have spent around $100,000 to date. We are putting a budget together at the moment and we will see how much we spend in that next stage.

What is the status of this engagement?

It was about 12 months ago that we started working together, but we officially started in June last year. It is an ongoing collaboration.

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

In terms of success metrics, the design is one area where we struggled a little bit, but they were extremely effective on the technology side. They come up with many ideas and solutions that we hadn’t thought of. Overall, it is cost-effective, high quality, and they come up with a number of ideas and solutions that we didn’t originally think of.

How did Xenia Tech perform from a project management standpoint?

They are very effective at keeping us up to date. We have a very well-organized system for working remotely. We had only been over there once and especially now with a lockdown; it is a seamless transition to working remotely from home because of the way in which we work. It is very effective.

We use Jira as our project management tool, and everything is kept very clear there. We have had the budget sometimes within $100 in any given month which has been really good for our planning. In terms of deadlines, we are only behind by about three weeks over the course of the last 10 months which is pretty good.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The suggestions they provided us with for solutions we hadn’t thought of was one of the areas that was really helpful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The design side is one area we struggled with at a couple of different points during the project.