DOOR3

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Accelerant is a publicly-traded specialty insurance company that operates the Risk Exchange, a two-sided marketplace platform. The Risk Exchange connects specialty underwriters with risk capital partners to facilitate specialty insurance transactions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire DOOR3 to accomplish for your platform?

We needed product design support to help us design new capabilities for our platform and build up our design system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

DOOR3 has worked collaboratively with our in-house design team and other cross-functional teams to define and deliver design solutions for numerous platform capabilities that we've successfully launched. They've also helped us with our ongoing transformation to an AI-native design practice and contributed significantly to our in-house design system.In terms of deliverables, DOOR3 has provided designs for the administration capabilities on our platform, a what-if simulation experience, a partner marketplace, and enhancements to our analytics experience. They've also designed and documented new components for our design system in Figma.

What is the team composition?

We've worked with 2–3 teammates from DOOR3.

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

We found them through an online search and chose them because of their experience with data/analytics platforms and insurance.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested and renewed our partnership with them multiple times over several years.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in July 2023, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since we're a B2B SaaS app, the outcomes we're looking for are primarily driving increasing adoption, usage, and retention on our platform. We've received lots of positive feedback on the features that DOOR3's designers have led or supported the design of.

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

They've delivered on time. On occasion, we've put them in situations where we need quick turnarounds, and they've risen to the occasion and delivered. We communicate through virtual meetings, emails, and messaging apps.

What did you find most impressive about them?

DOOR3 has brought unique perspectives and ideas to our team and the projects they've worked on.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They've stayed in regular communication with their leadership, and they've adapted as our needs have changed throughout the engagement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of information risk management within the corporate information security department at a large sportswear company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DOOR3?

We had an internal tool that worked great for our team, but we wanted to give exposure to larger portions of the department and other departments within our company. We wanted to ensure that the UI/UX aligned with the company's guidelines and was easy to use.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

DOOR3 provided UI/UX design services. We initially talked with our project lead, me, and DOOR3 to give an overview of the tool, the current UI, and the key use cases behind it.

We did a tool walkthrough with the team, and they took some screenshots. After that, they took the information we provided and put together a UI/UX design.

DOOR3 used Figma for their design because that's the tool we also used.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with 3–4 people, including a project manager, a lead designer, and salespeople.

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

DOOR3 reached out to us via LinkedIn. We sat down with them and discussed their ability to develop software, which we were looking into. After the conversation, we wanted to explore more.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together from November 2024 to February 2025.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

DOOR3's work exceeded my expectations. The amount of time and data we had to invest to get them to respond with a beautiful layout and design was impressive.

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

DOOR3 was great to work with. They delivered on time and within budget. The team offered great plans and was effective in their execution. We communicated via email and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

DOOR3 was innovative not only in the design but also in the approaches they presented to our business. The team offered several different potential solutions and cost models that were very compelling.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there wasn't anything DOOR3 could improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Give DOOR3 a chance and freedom to do their design, and let them show you what they can do.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of VolunTIME Keeper, a web-based app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DOOR3?

We needed a partner to build our app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

DOOR3 has designed and developed our app. We've done discovery for a few weeks and worked with DOOR3's business analyst and project manager through the development phase. DOOR3 has used Figma for design and React for development. The team also leverages Jira for project management. DOOR3 has also implemented Strapi, used React, and added Stripe integration. We host everything on AWS.

VolunTIME Keeper is a tool that allows students to track volunteer community service hours. It's also designed for nonprofit organizations and schools to post their events, helping students find events where they can do community service. Students can log the events, track the events, and get the approvals all within one database. It's an easy way for nonprofits to approve these hours for students, so students have a one-source platform to track all their hours.

It makes it easy for students to submit their hours to their schools. Most of them are part of the National Honor Society, or it could be for scholarships that they're applying for, or college applications to help define and create their essays. Each student makes an impact report detailing who they volunteered for, how many hours they worked, and their impact on their community.

Suppose they're helping people experiencing homelessness, doing food banks, or planting gardens. In that case, they can have this detailed impact report that they could use throughout school, and hopefully when they start going to college and working. Students can continue their community service, and it's just a platform that they can use to find events and keep track of what they're doing.

What is the team composition?

We work with 9–12 team members. We've had contact with DOOR3's founder and CEO, product manager, product lead, business analyst, designers, and a team of developers. We worked indirectly with the developers through the product manager.

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

We found DOOR3 through research. We were looking for development firms located in the US, and I wanted someone close to the New York area. I interviewed DOOR3 and compared them to others. The team also sent me their Clutch reviews, which were very helpful.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November 2024, and our partnership is ongoing. Although we've completed the MVP, we're continuing our engagement with DOOR3.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Currently, we don't have metrics to measure success. However, all projects assigned to DOOR3 have been completed on time and on budget. We have excellent communication with the team, and the quality of DOOR3's work has met our expectations.

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Jira for project management and communicate with DOOR3 through emails and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

DOOR3 has done best during discovery. The team has outlined the whole project and understood and explained the details throughout each stage and sprint. They've excelled at making it clear about expectations during each sprint.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can't think of anything we'd have DOOR3 step up on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you're a founder and want to be involved with your project, ensure you have the time to review the information and details that DOOR3 provides.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Manager, Engineering Analysis of a market research company.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Market Research

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire DOOR3 to accomplish?

• Redesign existing Power BI dashboard products

SOLUTION

How did you find DOOR3?

Previous work with the company

Why did you select DOOR3 over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from DOOR3 were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Door3 helped redesign existing Power BI dashboard products and conducted usability interviews. The final deliverable was a high fidelity design and component library in Figma.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The expected deliverables were on time and on budget.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Their team did an excellent job communicating with our team. They were very receptive to our input and responsive to our questions. The project ran very smoothly and the expected deliverable was delivered on time and on budget.

What was your primary form of communication with DOOR3?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

We were very impressed by their level of organization and the quality of work. In addition, everyone at the company who we interacted with was an absolute pleasure to work with. We have worked with Door3 on multiple projects now, and we have been thrilled with the team and the deliverables every time.

Are there any areas for improvement or something DOOR3 could have done differently?

Nothing that I can think of. We were very happy during the project and at the conclusion.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Product Manager of an IT company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a technology vendor in the FinCrime space selling anti money laundering, anti fraud, and financial compliance software.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire DOOR3 to accomplish?

• Build our first design system
• Improve existing UX and UI

SOLUTION

How did you find DOOR3?

• Online Search
• Clutch Site

Why did you select DOOR3 over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from DOOR3 were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

The statement of work involved DOOR3 delivering our first design system in the Figma design tool. The initial design system was scoped to be comprehensive yet lean covering the baseline essentials to launch the team into a more efficient and more user-centric way of working. Additionally, the statement of work included uplifting key areas of the existing UI/UX and providing consultation on new UX approachs for selected use cases. 

The DOOR3 team delivered the project using a phased approach allowing us to sign off on each phase's deliverables. DOOR3 staffed the project with a project manager, senior designer, designer, and business manager. The project was completed in just under 2 months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

1. Our first Figma design system was delivered
2. Design cycles were 65% faster using the design system
3. 4x faster front-end dev cycles using Figma designs
4. Overall improved Agile maturity across the company as adoption of Figma has spread

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The project team was responsive but continuous active engagement with the DOOR3 is needed to get to the best results.

When we requested flexibility or scope negotiation the team made their best efforts to reasonably accomodate.

What was your primary form of communication with DOOR3?

Virtual Meeting

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

DOOR3 team is quite adaptible and creative when it comes to delivering fair value for your budget. They were consistently willing to get on a call and align on the best way forward. The DOOR3 team was also flexible and patient during the procurement and onboarding phase which can be a mini project in itself at big orgs. Overall, a well run agency that delivers good value for your dollar. I would work with them again.

Are there any areas for improvement or something DOOR3 could have done differently?

Double check the small details on deliverables. The core aspects of the deliverables were strong but occassionally they'd be items needing corrections like spelling or other details.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Aptivio.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DOOR3?

We needed help with software development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

DOOR3 is helping us build our new co-pilot interface, leveraging an AI agent framework. This co-pilot aims to help companies with prospecting for B2B sales, and the team is helping us build a new frontend using React.js, .NET, Figma, and Microsoft Azure. We started with a prototyping phase, during which we worked on a small scope of work to validate the concept from a UX and backend standpoint to ensure the software was feasible. We picked a specific use case to validate the project. 

From there, we created a backlog of all the requirements with DOOR3's business analyst. We then engaged with DOOR3's UX design team to build a Figma prototype and moved into actual development. The project is a coordinated effort, and we work as an integrated team. My team mainly works in backend development, while DOOR3 supports project management, UX design, frontend development, and QA.

What is the team composition?

We work with a business analyst, a product owner, a program manager, two QA engineers, a senior UX designer, two UX designers, and a frontend engineer.

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

We met DOOR3's CRO at a trade show because they had purchased our product for internal use. We then discussed the product's next version, which was the co-pilot interface. DOOR3 said they could help, and I chose the team because they had worked on advanced AI and UX projects. DOOR3 had strong design and AI capabilities, which are hard to find in the market. 

We needed to build a product with a novel approach regarding how users interact with the software because they have a conversation with an AI agent, so it was important to have an innovative company to support us in that process.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent around $200,000. The project's overall budget is $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with DOOR3 in July 2024, and the project is ongoing. Our engagement is planned to end in February 2024

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven't released the software yet; however, the quality of DOOR3's work exceeds our expectations. Our software has a novel approach, and the team has adapted to that. DOOR3 thinks through the new concept and gives a lot of good ideas that are effective and exciting.

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

The team does risk management and the development process very well in an agile way, working in two-week sprints. DOOR3 assigns senior people to the project, and as a result, the communication is excellent. We don't need to micromanage the team because they understand what they need to do. DOOR3 delivers work on time and on budget. We use Azure Boards for agile development, where we track the project’s progress. We also have an executive summary in Microsoft PowerPoint every week.

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

I'd like to give a shout-out to Amy, who does a fantastic job of understanding and translating our business requirements into an execution plan.

What did you find most impressive about them?

DOOR3 exceeds expectations in terms of innovation and the professional process they use to deliver results. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything DOOR3 can improve. We've experienced some delays, and the team has always addressed them well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend investing in the definition of requirements, especially if you have an innovative project. You want to have a solid and front-loaded senior team of product owners, business analysts, and senior UX designers to get the requirements backlog well-defined because this will dictate the project's success. DOOR3 will do well in everything else from an execution standpoint. 

The team has good developers and program managers, but if the requirements upfront aren't correct, they'll build a product that users won't use. The requirements backlog is critical. We underbudgeted what we needed by 20% and are fixing that. Don't underestimate the upfront planning involved with senior teammates when creating an application.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior program director for a healthcare company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DOOR3?

Due to our company's growth, we needed a new web portal for our employees to easily stay informed and connected. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

DOOR3 has created a brand new employee portal for our company. We kicked it off with a creative brief that described the problem we were trying to solve along with our minimum requirements for the project. They gave us several technology options to choose from and we chose Microsoft SharePoint. The initial site launched in November 2022 but we have an ongoing managed service contract with them. 

What is the team composition? 

There were 10-12 people working on the project including a discovery team, a development team, a project manager, and several technical resources. 

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

The entire team was fantastic. Dorothy (Senior Business Analyst) was a key player in helping us flush out the requirements and manage the different teams that work with the vendor. Vladyslav (Project Manager), Tyler (Junior User Experience Designer), and Michael (Director of Principal Consulting) were also very instrumental.

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

Someone recommended them to our CIO. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2022, and the collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

DOOR3 built a platform that has been great for employees to find information. We’ve received a lot of positive feedback from employees who’ve been able to come to the site, connect with other employees, find information on how to manage different processes that they had. We’ve also been able to use the site to give announcements that are important to employees for outages that may be happening or upcoming events. It’s been a great tool to bring information and awareness to all employees. 

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

DOOR3 was spectacular in managing the project. They delivered on time and on budget. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their process is very comprehensive. I’m impressed with the discovery phase and proof of concept phase they took us through to make sure we were making the right decisions. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would have been nice to have some more prepared and ready-made launch materials. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Come ready with your needs at the beginning. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director of integrated fundraising for the digital team of a nonprofit that works to provide help for poor Jews in Israel and the former Soviet Union. We help Jews that live in different parts of the world migrate to Israel.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DOOR3?

We were looking for an organization to help with our website’s UX/UI.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

DOOR3 completed a UX/UI audit of our website and provided recommendations for enhancements.

Our RFP was an inclusive document; We didn’t engage with DOOR3 until we received their response to our RFP. After we selected the top three organizations, we had verbal discovery meetings to get to know them; then, we asked them to give a presentation on how they’d fulfill our requests outlined in the RFP. 

After we selected DOOR3, we had additional discovery sessions. They collected data from us, and we went back and forth as they presented their findings at each step of the process; we would ask clarifying questions, and DOOR3 would come back to us with additional details or answers. They did a heuristic audit and conducted interviews with some of our donors that use our website. We had our user personas, but they helped us define them more and gave us more insight into the user personas.

At the end of the project, DOOR3 presented all of their findings and recommendations to enhance our site’s UX/UI. They put together a tiered program. Tier one included low-impact suggestions that could be implemented quickly without much testing; these were basic best practices. Tiers two and three graduated in complexity. Tier two suggestions required tests, and tier three suggestions required tracking KPIs longer term. They didn’t do the actual design work. We also have a web development team managing the process, along with myself.

What is the team composition?

Alex (Founder & President) was our main contact. We also worked with Tom (UX & Design Practice Lead) — who was part of the audit team — and a project manager. We worked closely with Bailey (Senior User Experience Designer). Another teammate that mostly did internal management was Matt (Principal Consultant); we didn’t have a lot of interaction with him.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $75,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership lasted from mid-November 2022–mid-March 2023.

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

They replied to our RFP, which we sent to a number of agencies we selected based on our research. We felt DOOR3 was the strongest candidate based on their presentation.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

DOOR3 gave us a lot of great ideas and fulfilled every request we had in the RFP. We were very impressed with their presentation in response to the RFP. Their ability to utilize our data and feedback was impressive.

We’re in the process of evaluating the recommendations and implementing the majority of them; there were some that didn’t fit into our goals, which was fine.

How did the company perform from a project management standpoint?

DOOR3’s professionalism and collaboration impressed us. They always met deadlines and stayed right on target with the budget. 

We had weekly status meetings in person and on Zoom. During these, we discussed questions, and they told us everything they’d accomplished the previous week, everything they were going to accomplish, and how much we’d spent against our budget. They broke down the project cost by individual contributors, so we could see how much time the principal consultant spent and how much time the UX lead spent. This information was very organized and easy to understand. Their final presentation was a PowerPoint that they presented in person. Jira, Asana, and email were also used.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their professionalism was the number one thing. They’re so good at collaborating, and they’re just a nice group to work with. Also, it’s very important for us to know how our strategic partners feel about our mission. DOOR3 expressed their interest in our mission, which was a big piece of the successful partnership. Finally, DOOR3 came in with a well-defined, clean, understandable approach.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We weren’t clear that this was a requirement, so we didn’t expect it. However, DOOR3 didn’t do a deep dive into our analytics. We realized after the audit that we needed someone to dive into our data, like our Google Analytics.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Be prepared. DOOR3 was very good at follow-up and maintaining deadlines, so they’ll be on top of the project management.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the UX manager for a SaaS company. We make proprietary CMMS software that allows maintenance facilities and factories to track their assets to ensure nothing goes wrong. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with DOOR3?

We have a mobile application that works hand in hand with our computerized maintenance management system (CMMS), which is a browser-based cloud software. A solo developer initially developed our mobile app a few years ago, but the UX/UI design was not considered. While the app did function, it was a significant pain point. We hired DOOR3 for UX/UI design and to make the app more user-friendly. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We spent a few months speaking to a business analyst and senior UX designer so that DOOR3 could get a feel for the application. We reviewed the functions with them and figured out how the workflows could be enhanced. 

From there, we went through an extremely collaborative design phase. We only had one user persona that we were developing the app for, but we met to make sure that we were aligned. The application was a complete redesign and was created from the ground up. Key technologies included Figma and FigJam. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with a business analyst, a senior UX designer, two UX designers, and a project manager. We also met with Alex (Founder & President) several times throughout the collaboration. 

How did you come to work with DOOR3?

We found them through a Google search. After about a month of research, we were most impressed with DOOR3 and their portfolio and decided to move forward. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $80,000–$120,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together between December 2022–March 2023. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our development team is still developing the application, but we’ve had positive external feedback about the designs. We were extremely happy with the color palette, and everything they gave us was incredibly organized. Moving forward, we know their designs will be easy to update. 

How did DOOR3 perform from a project management standpoint?

They were open to feedback and highly collaborative. DOOR3 provided us with excellent project management, delivered on time, and was under budget. We communicated via Slack and had a weekly meeting. 

Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

We’d like to shout out Joey (Business Analyst) and Bailey (Senior UX Designer). They were awesome to work with and always took the time to ensure everything was done properly. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were highly impressed with their communication and willingness to collaborate. When we had questions, their answers were always well-researched. The process was fun, and it was energizing to work with DOOR3. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes in between meetings, we lost things in translation, but that was minor, and we fixed it. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Research your customer base and know what you’re looking for. Having your requirements laid out and having one point person who completely understands the project is extremely helpful.