Cooperation of the development team and the client

Droptica helps clients from all over the world to complete and implement their projects. Each of these clients has already developed their way of working. Everyone is different. In this article, I have collected the most common ways and systems of cooperation between Droptica and our clients.

Why do we work a little differently with every client?

We are Agile. We always want to maximise the results of our work. Our development team always adjusts and adapts their way of working to the client’s needs.
The elements that are adapted and changed the most often include:

• project implementation methods (SCRUM, Kanban, etc.);
• number of people in the team;
• roles in the team (backend developers, frontend developers, QA, UX/UI, etc.);
• the method of communication; Tools: JIRA, Slack, telephone or video calls, meetings;
• frequency of communications;
• communication channels (who, with whom);
• implementation standards (some clients consider application performance to be the most important, others focus on implementing and providing new functionalities on a regular basis, while another group focuses on aesthetics and want their application to look good).

On the basis of these factors, I have identified several models of cooperation with clients, which are used the most often at Droptica.

Model 1: Product Owner at the client, with the rest of the team at Droptica

This is probably the most popular model employed at Droptica. We use it mainly when the end client comes to us. In most cases, the client already has a web system based on Drupal, Symfony or React and needs developers to develop the system further. Product Owner has a vision of application development and looks for a team that can efficiently perform the envisioned tasks.

In this model, we have a great impact on the development of the system. Our team not only performs assigned programming tasks but also proposes directions of development of the system and suggests improvements. In addition to developing basic functionalities, we also design user interfaces (UX/UI) and often carry out A/B tests that show us the best solutions for the client.

We use this model to develop WydawnictwoWAM.pl website. This is what the client has to say about us and about working in this model: 

"We established cooperation with Droptica around two years ago to develop our online store available at http://www.wydawnictwowam.pl. Both the quality of all the works carried out, as well as our cooperation were stellar. The technical solutions suggested and implemented by Droptica were a great help and often improved the value of our system, often exceeding our initial expectations. Cooperation with Droptica is characterised by very friendly, direct and precise communication on their part. Thanks to that, we were – and constantly are – able to define and detail all the tasks related to the development of our sales platform. We also appreciate their very clear settlement system, which allows us to better plan and allocate funds for development. In other words, we definitely recommend working with Droptica".

Model 2: Product Owner, QA, PM on the client’s side, software developers provided by Droptica

In this model, we provide our customers with solid development support. Most of the project planning and management process is carried out by the client, while our experts carry out specific development tasks.
It is a kind of cooperation that we usually go for with large companies and corporations, expanding their Drupal, PHP and ReactJS teams.
As a rule, in such a model we work on servers and project management systems provided by the client. We adapt to their processes.

Mixed models

Other models are usually combinations of the two models presented above. For example, Droptica provides not only development team but also testers, while the entire project is managed by the client. We also sometimes work on projects where we collaborate with other software developers from the client's company, working not as an independent development team, but a part of a larger team.

We are Agile

We are flexible regarding the form of cooperation with our clients; however, we like the first model the most. In that model, we take on a great deal of responsibility for the project and we are able to influence the direction of development together with the client. This gives us great satisfaction, and we offer numerous ideas for improving the system, which allows our clients to better achieve their business goals.

Would you like to learn more about our work models? Contact us at [email protected] and we'll be happy to talk to you.