Based on over ten years of experience and questions we receive from our clients, we wrote down a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). We hope that it will help you better understand the issues related to software development. For your convenience, we have divided the questions into three categories: process, costs and experience.
Process
1. What can you help me with?
With whatever we can. Preparing cost analysis, establishing team roles, creating roadmaps. Defining business goals, key business values, target users, main features, prioritising. We can find you similar projects that are already active on the market to benchmark against. We can assist you with creating user personas, mock-ups, user stories, time frame, establishing project status and preparing project estimation. We’ll be happy to outline project specification, prepare wireframes, details concerning integrations with external services, API documentation, required features list.
In terms of project development we prepare server-side architecture, front end, back end, graphic and UX design, and create back-office consoles.
We are also happy to advise our customers in terms of budgeting, scheduling, risk management, and business model creation.
2. How do I create a product with you?
If you have an idea contact us by our online form, e-mail or phone. We’ll meet and talk it over. Just be sure to prepare as much info about your idea as possible, it will smoothen the meeting and benefit further cooperation. If you don’t know how to get around to it, go ahead and read our blog entry on how to write a project brief.
3. Should I create a mobile or a web app?
Both have their benefits and flaws. Mobile apps are surely more expensive but can provide you with many more data collecting, monetization capabilities than web applications. Progressive Web Apps are a good compromise between a mobile and web app — you can learn more about PWA on our blog. But remember that sooner or later you may need both mobile and web app and when that moment comes we are here for you 🙂
4. What do I need to know before contacting you?
Well, the most important thing to know is what do you want to accomplish. Why do I need this software? What for? What should it do? Having a clear vision in mind is crucial when ordering a software application. You don’t want to spend many months developing it with us without being sure what you need. If you have no experience in app development feel free to read our blog entry on that topic. We’ll also be glad to help you get started, building projects from scratch is nothing new for us.
5. Do I need to be tech-savvy to cooperate with you and order a software application?
You certainly do not have to be a software development expert, that’s what we’re here for 🙂 We welcome your experience in that matter if you happen to have any, but are prepared to guide you through the whole process and explain everything. Focus on your needs and we’ll deliver what you require.
6. How much time will it take for you to make my app?
To give you a precise answer we must prepare a project scope and create a budget. We shall tell you how much of that scope can be completed within the budget and we’ll be able to estimate how long will it take after at least a month of work. Don’t worry, if you’re not happy with our work after two weeks you can retract from the project with no penalties, this is our trial period and we believe that any reliable software house should give you one. Read our blog entry to learn more about our methods.
7. How do you guarantee product quality?
We evaluate the result after every two weeks, we test our work (we conduct both development and acceptance tests), we present it to you, we apply your feedback so you know you get what you are paying for.
8. How can I be sure you work at my project as much as you declare?
We thoroughly monitor our developers and control how much time they spend on each task down to the exact minute. We use Harvest software and Redmine to track time spent on your project.
9. I want to be involved in the app development process, do you have a problem with that?
Not at all! We want you to be sure you’ll receive the product you desire. From the planning stage to each finished version, we invite you to evaluate and improve our work. Our philosophy is to work with the client, not merely finish given tasks. We are always ready to listen and communicate.
10. Why should I choose you and not hire my own software development team?
Hiring your own software developers can be a really smart choice, however, recruitment process is time-consuming and the costs of keeping an in-house programming team are very high. You’ll probably need to employ your own software engineers sooner or later but hiring us can help you save a lot of money and time (which is basically the same in a business project). Read our blog entry on that topic to learn more.
11. What happens after you finish my app?
Hopefully the app is exactly what you dreamed of 🙂 But apart from delivering a finished product, we are happy to provide you with technical support and app maintenance should you need it. After all, we know our work inside out. Of course if you want to maintain the app by yourself the source code and all technical data is at your disposal, but even in that case, feel free to contact us if you need any help.
12. Are you able to double the size of the team involved in the project if the need arises?
Whether you want to expand your product or create a completely new one simultaneously, and then again focus only on one of your projects, we are always ready to adapt to your requirements. If the work is less intense team size can be reduced. When improvements need to be implemented fast, we can quickly assign additional team members to speed up each phase of the development process.
13. Will development include the creation of prototypes and demo versions that I can try out?
We would not call it exactly a demo version but using Agile Methodolgy compels us to create operating software as soon as possible and later just add next features along the process. Therefore, you’ll be able to examine and test your software very early.
14. Will my observations concerning the prototypes be factored into the final version?
Of course. Thanks to the Agile Methodology we are able to iterate the project during its development and include your feedback to improve the product as it is being created.
15. Can the software be upgraded in the future as new technology becomes available?
Of course! We are always happy to improve, upgrade and further develop our work.
16. What if I come to you with a product that I want to improve?
We’ll be more than happy to help you with that. Beginning with a UX Audit (if applicable) through improving your system architecture and adding new features.
17. Will a project manager be assigned to me as a contact person? Will this contact person be available throughout the time the software is being developed?
Yes. All our customers are assigned a liaison that serves as their guide and information source throughout our whole cooperation.
18. Will my liaison send me a progress report on a daily basis detailing the work that has been completed? What other pieces of information will they update me on? Will the progress report include a plan for the next sprint?
We send you a report every two weeks (i.e. after each sprint, when the next version of the software is completed) or every month if you prefer. The report includes info on what we plan to achieve in the next sprint. Apart from that you are welcome to contact us any time either in person, via Skype, phone, e-mail or live chat. During work hours we usually answer after no more than few minutes.
19. My product is very complex and innovative, I’m dealing with many legacy systems and complicated tech structure in my company. Will the app be compatible with our technology and perform despite those difficulties?
When it comes to preparing an IT project there is no place for half measures. We prepare a Proof of Concept. It is a product development technique that helps us examine if the concept is feasible to realise from tech and business perspective and gives us an idea on how the product should be developed.
Costs
20. How much do you charge?
It depends on many things: project scope, time spent on the project and technological issues. We know it sounds vague but its simply honest. Remember that each software project is different, especially if you had a particularly original idea. We do not want to give you an unrealistic estimate, instead we want to provide you with the best quality possible within your budget. To learn more about our pricing method read our blog entry
Experience
21. What is your experience?
We have more than 10 years of business experience. We’ve worked with and completed projects for leading retailers, international food and drink companies, start-ups, real estate, telecommunications, fashion companies, and many, many more.
We are experienced in creating Android, iOS Mobile apps, Web and IoT apps, augmented reality, e-learning, CRM systems and constantly improving our skills! Check out our portfolio to learn more.
22. What technology do you use?
For back-end we use Python, Django and Node.js. For front-end we use Angular.js, and React.js. For mobile we use Kotlin and Swift.
23. Are there any reasons why you chose those particular technologies?
Back-end
We use Python because it works well when it comes to Rapid Application Development, which gives the developers a lot of possibilities when it comes to prototyping, allows them to take advantage of ready-to-use components, and speeds up the development process. Indeed – the first results are visible almost immediately.
Django is a powerful web framework supported by a large and active community, not to mention substantial documentation. It makes it fast and easy to build advanced web apps with less code.
Node.js is suitable for building fast and scalable apps that use the same code for both server- and client-side.
Front-end
React.js is a library. We use it because it is perfect for a wide range of projects, fast iterations, implementations, prototyping and creating a proof of concept. It’s simple and scalable.
We choose Angular.js when it comes to enterprise projects. It’s a framework best suited for CRMs, CMS’ and other sophisticated apps and systems.
24. Do you have any testimonials from satisfied customers?
Absolutely! Take a look at what our clients have to share about our cooperation.
25. Could you please send me some CVs of your team to have a look at their skills and working experience?
Of course! Please contact us by our contact form or e-mail and we’ll send you complete info regarding our team members’ experience.
26. Do you provide any services apart from Software Development?
Yes, we can also help you with Product Design and Digital Transformation Strategy.
Product Design
During product design phase we focus on understanding your idea and how it can be effectively realised. We begin with workshops that help us find out what are your needs and expectations. We also prepare market and competition analysis as well as point you towards the best solutions.
All this allows us to create prototypes that will enable collecting feedback from potential users and perfect our mock-ups throughout the entire process.
Digital Transformation
Digital transformation is an organisational change of approach, which leads to more agile and data-driven decision making, as well as optimising and digitising core business processes. The purpose is to work better and more effectively while providing more value to customers at the same time. To help you achieve this we combine our tech, product development and business skills. Our customers receive market analysis regarding latest technological trends occurring in their line of business as well as innovative digital product conceptualisations and prototypes that will help validate those concepts and evaluate risk.
If you have any questions that we haven’t covered here, or if you would like to discuss how we can help your organization, contact us!
PS. This list will continuously be updated.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in March 2018 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.