DECODE

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a CTO at a digital products agency based in Florida. We design and develop digital products for startups and enterprise clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired a dedicated team at DECODE, consisting of two React Native developers, to develop a Luxury Travel Application for iOS. The app is an immersion platform for the modern traveler. It simplifies the planning process for each trip. Provides all necessary information in one place; automatic updates for Covid restrictions based on the destination, meaningful suggestions for accommodation, sightseeing, dining, and experiencing each destination to the fullest.

SOLUTION

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

DECODE came highly recommended by credible business associates. Their expertise in mobile app development convinced us to pick them as our development partner.

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

We wanted to create an app that would streamline and organize every aspect of trip planning. Based on user input (short in-app survey), travel agents can suggest highly personalized travel recommendations. Integration with Timatic provides automatic updates for Covid restrictions based on the destination. Leveraging Firebase Analytics, Braze, and Branch, we have an in-depth insight into users' behavior and provide them with meaningful push notifications informing them of the latest changes in their travel recommendations. The integration with a booking platform and Stripe (online payment processing solution) enables users with a safe and quick booking process, all in one app. We are happy to provide our users with a modern and user-friendly app.

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

DECODE provided us with a team of React Native developers. They were integrated with our in-house development team which consisted of backend developers, QA specialists, UX/UI designers, and project managers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app was successfully launched on time with no reported bugs. All additional app updates with new features went smoothly, with constant improvements of the user experience.

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

The collaboration with DECODE exceeded our expectations. The synergy between our team and DECODE was established early on and kept throughout the end of our partnership. We were using Slack as our communication channel, while our product planning and development were tracked using JIRA. Daily standups, sprint planning, backlog refinement, and bi-weekly retrospective enabled us to be on top of the app development.

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

The DECODE team was completely dedicated to the project. They developed an app as specified and with constant care for the quality of their work.

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

We were delighted with the work and don’t have any suggestions for improvements.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Klimaoprema d.d. - a leading Croatian manufacturer of cleanroom systems, ventilation and air conditioning equipment. Together with DECODE we created KOER - an app that helps monitor all connected HVAC devices in one place.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired a dedicated team at DECODE which consisted of a UI/UX designer, Flutter developer and a Quality assurance specialist. Together they developed a flutter application (Android and iOS) that helps monitor all connected HVAC devices in one place.

SOLUTION

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

DECODE came highly recommended by credible business associates. Their expertise in flutter development convinced us to pick them as our development partner.

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

The first goal was to create the user flow and prototype of the app. After that, we created an MVP and the first version for launch. Along the way, the quality assurance specialist tested the app and made sure it was bug-free. The app was successfully launched and after that, it was maintained by our in-house development team.

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

DECODE provided us with a senior flutter developer, a QA specialist and a senior UX/UI designer. They were integrated in our in-house development team which consisted of web developers and project managers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app was successfully launched on time with no reported bugs.

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

The collaboration with DECODE was very good. Through sprint planning, daily and weekly stand-up meetings we discussed the progress of the project and decided on further features. All features or bug reports were logged into Jira, while internal communication was held through Slack. They well like having an in-house development team.

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

We found it impressive that they were completely dedicated and focused on our project solely. They were very motivated to solve any issue that got our way.

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

We were very satisfied with the work and don’t have any suggestions for improvements.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Software Engineering Manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired DECODE to help us develop a cross-platform mobile application. We've since rolled this application out to thousands of customers.

SOLUTION

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

We chose DECODE after researching several agencies based on the strength of their work and the professionalism of their staff.

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

Our mobile application is a data-centric tool used in the manufacturing industry. It is used to deliver complex documentation and training material to companies all over the world. DECODE built the app primarily in Flutter and Dart, with the data for the application coming from our existing APIs.

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

DECODE assigned a full team to our project, including developers, a QA Engineer, and a project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our app is currently in production and DECODE is working on expanding the feature set.

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

DECODE is very organized and easy to communicate with. We meet once per week to check in on project status, and they have a channel on our company Slack. Considering the time difference (10 hours) they are very quick to respond to questions and concerns.

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

My favorite thing about DECODE is how independent they are. They really don't require much management at all, although they respond well to it when it is needed.

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

I've got no complaints! I'd recommend them without hesitation.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Gentoo App was founded by William Skannerup, with Andrea Rumignani and Tim Evans joining later. Gentoo App was built to solve everyone’s pain of keeping contact details of others up to date. With so many ways of staying in contact, phone numbers, emails, addresses, social media tags can get complicated to keep organised. Gentoo App aimed to simplifying this by allowing the user to update their details on their own profile, and share the update automatically with all of their contacts. This later morphed into VeridenKey, and was a leading blockchain identity company based out of London.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire DECODE HQ?

We hired DECODE to create UI/UX, graphic design elements, app prototype, a working app for iOS and Android, as well as all the necessary services required for our trusted digital identity application and system.

What were your goals for this project?

Our idea was to create a mobile app and a system that syncs all your contacts across contact apps, social networks, different devices you might use. The goal was to onboard at least 100.000 user within first few months. This project had a paramount impact on our business, as the whole company was based around the app.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

DECODE came in with high references from our business contacts and we went through a detailed review process involving CTO. We picked DECODE because they demonstrated top technical expertise as well as the capability to deliver on multiple tracks: UI/UX design, app prototype, Android and iOS app, as well as backend services, which covered all of our requirements.

Describe the project in detail.

VeridenKey provides a verified identity that represents you, both in the “real” and “virtual” world. An identity with you in control of your data—authenticated by government and non-goverment partners on the decentralised ledger—and a digital identity key that cannot be taken away from you. DECODE was in charge of the complete design and development process, including wireframing, storyboarding, creating mockups & graphical design elements, prototyping, software design, implementation, and testing for Android, iOS and the services. The apps were native and the server-side was implemented in Python Django framework.

What was the team composition?

DECODE had a team of 4 working on the project: 1 developer for each mobile platform, 1 for the backend and 1 in charge of QA. One of the developers assumed the team lead role and was our primary contact.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had 3 major releases in the project - the 1st one was focused on UI/UX design, GUI artifacts and the screen flows. The second was the iOS app and the backend and the 3rd was around Android app. Apps were shared as mature beta.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Although remote, DECODE’s team felt like at hand. We had regular weekly sync video-meetings and communicated on a daily basis via Slack, InVision and Jira. Developers were very standalone in their work and have demonstrated in-depth engineering and other knowledge. We were able to communicate openly and freely, sharing feedback and ideas with no problems. We also visited them in Zagreb in few occasions where we had workshops and we brainstormed about next steps.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

What struck us the most with DECODE is the versatility of their engineers who were able to tackle every problem and respond to every challenge with diligence and persistence. Their UI/UX designer showed extraordinary creativity and was a source of excellent ideas.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, they were an excellent bunch to work with!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Bizzon is a SaaS company that has built a series of market leading capabilities to support merchants in their pursuit of having loyal, happy customers. Bizzon brings buyers and sellers together, building long term, loyal relationships. My role is to make sure that the tech team both internal and external help with achieving our strategic business goals.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire DECODE HQ?

We hired DECODE to help us develop iOS and Android applications for our platform. One of the key challenges was application’s communication with an external receipt printer and DECODE had a good track record of hardware-related projects.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal was to create a modern application as a front end to our platform with an excellent UX and ease of use, that would enable merchants and their customers seamless payment process experience. The application was one of the key factors for the uptake of our platform.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

DECODE came highly recommended by trustworthy business associates. I got to know the founders, spent some time talking to them and their staff and they were able to demonstrate their expertise and reliability through references and domain know-how. We personally selected DECODE’s engineers for the project.

Describe the project in detail.

One of the project’s main goals was to add receipt fiscalisation and printing capabilities to our platform by the means of the mobile application, turning the phone/table into a POS device aimed at restaurants.

The application is a native iOS and Android app. DECODE also needed to develop drivers for low-level communication with fiscal modules and printers. These needed to be adjusted and tweaked for different countries and hardware manufacturers.

What was the team composition?

DECODE’s team consisted of 1 iOS and 1 Android engineers that worked closely with our UX designer, hardware providers and the platform engineering team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Application releases have been happening according to the plan, even ahead of it, enabling us to roll out new features frequently. The usability was very good so we were able to onboard new users easily.

The short time to market also allowed us to enter new markets so we are now present in over 300 restaurants across Europe.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

DECODE’s developers were very autonomous and standalone in their work, demonstrating great seniority in communication, especially with the device vendors. We used productivity platforms of DECODE’s choice and the communication in the team was just swell, no matter what channel was used.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were impressed by DECODE’s technical expertise and in-depth knowledge of mobile app development. Over time we also got to know them as a reliable partner, the one that delivers and is transparent in their communication.

Their staff shown broader engineering skills, beyond just “mere” software development, like analytical approach, diligent troubleshooting and the willingness to learn fast.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Looking back at the collaboration with DECODE, there’s nothing specific I could single out as a problem or challenge.