ActiveColor

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of Coffee Walk, Inc

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Online Medical Education

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Create an virtual online EMR in a gamified environment
• Create a management interface to enter cases into EMR
• Manage interface with other websites to seemlessly facilitate participant UX/UI

SOLUTION

How did you find ActiveColor?

Online Search

Why did you select ActiveColor over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit

How many teammates from ActiveColor were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Digital Ocean helped to create a very complex, online virtual EMR to serve as a basis for a gamified teaching experience.  The project is designed to teach higher level medical resuscitation to physicians.  This included a management interface that allowed independent entry of case information and logic.  We also had opportunities to create and review overall digital and marketing strategy, implementation of e-commerce options, and streamline the interface with existing online entities. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Active Color did a tremendous job spending time with us to figure out the exact scope and direction of the project.  We spent time working on aesthetic and target audience.  Then they did an amazing job of helping us figure out manageable ways to create and maintain a very complex educational project.  This required alot of creativity and flexibility.  

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

All of the stated goals were delivered on time, and they were always available and responsive. Active Color took active ownership and interest in helping us bring to life our somewhat challenging and complex vision. Excellent service.

What was your primary form of communication with ActiveColor?

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

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

Active Color took active ownership and interest in helping us bring to life our somewhat challenging and complex vision.  

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

Nothing comes to mind

What advice do you have for clients with similar needs to yours?

 Definitely give them a call - fantastic work, fantastic company, and fantastic people.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Vice President of StaffGarden

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

The StaffGarden platform digitizes clinical workforce data, providing visibility, accessibility, and connectivity, at any scale.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Redesign of our brand package and website

SOLUTION

How did you find ActiveColor?

Online Search

Why did you select ActiveColor over others?

Good value for cost

How many teammates from ActiveColor were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Their team guided us through a comprehensive rebranding process, starting with workshops and branding exercises to align on our new identity. They refreshed our logo, developed supporting logos for our products, a fresh color palette and typography, and created product graphics that could be used across various platforms.

After the rebranding was complete, they rebuilt our website to reflect the new visual identity and improve usability. The new website was designed to enhance user engagement, with streamlined navigation for healthcare facilities and professionals.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The rebrand has been well-received by both customers and partners. We’ve seen an increase in web traffic, better engagement metrics, and improved lead generation. The new design has made it easier to communicate our mission, and the product graphics have supported marketing efforts across multiple channels.  All of this had immense value in our recent company acquisition by Ascend Learning.

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

Their project management was excellent. They were organized, responsive, and proactive in addressing our needs. They kept us informed throughout the entire process, staying on schedule, within budget, and prioritizing our marketing needs. We appreciated how smoothly they handled everything, from initial discussions to final delivery.

What was your primary form of communication with ActiveColor?

Virtual Meeting

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

Their ability to balance creativity with functionality was impressive. They not only created a visually appealing brand but also ensured that every design decision served a practical purpose. They were collaborative, patient, and highly skilled, guiding us through each step with clear communication and thoughtful suggestions.

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

We don’t have any significant areas for improvement. The project went smoothly, and they exceeded our expectations throughout the process!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CTO of Vital Audio Systems

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Vital Audio, develops novel digital voice biomarker software powered by AI to capture physical health data, aimed at improving community health and wellness. Our product, Sauti v1.0, is designed to extract clinical insights from short voice clips obtained during phone calls, supporting accessible and equitable quality care delivery. Vital Audio's technology has been recognized with multiple prestigious awards across healthcare, biotech, bioengineering, and AI technology sectors. Our vision is to become the global leader in digital voice biomarker technologies for healthcare systems and underserved communities, while our mission focuses on innovating and promoting accessibility and equity through digital voice biomarkers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Develop the platform for our algorithm and turn it into a consumer facing product

SOLUTION

How did you find ActiveColor?

Techstars Mentorship Program

Why did you select ActiveColor over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from ActiveColor were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Active Colors is responsible for the design, development, testing, and deployment of a comprehensive platform that seamlessly integrates with Vital Audio’s proprietary algorithm for health data extraction and analysis. The platform will provide a secure, scalable, and user-friendly experience tailored to the needs of healthcare professionals and patients.

Key Areas of Focus:

1. Frontend Development 
   1. User Interface (UI): Design a visually intuitive, accessible UI for clinicians, researchers, and potential patient users. This includes dashboard interfaces, data visualization components, and customizable viewing options to highlight vital signs, trends, and patient health insights.
   2. User Experience (UX): Ensure smooth navigation, quick access to data, and responsive design compatible across desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.
2. Backend Development 
   1. API Integration: Develop APIs to facilitate data exchange between the algorithm, frontend components, and external healthcare data systems as needed.
   2. Data Processing Pipelines: Create data pipelines that handle real-time data ingestion, processing, and storage. These pipelines should be optimized for speed and minimal latency in reporting insights.
   3. Database Management: Design a secure, scalable database for storing patient data and analysis results, ensuring compliance with healthcare regulations (e.g., HIPAA).
3. Algorithm Integration & Optimization 
   1. Algorithm Embedding: Seamlessly integrate Vital Audio's proprietary algorithm into the platform with support for real-time analysis and batch processing of audio data.
   2. Performance Optimization: Continuously monitor and refine the algorithm’s performance to handle various audio inputs efficiently, ensuring robust and accurate health insight extraction.
   3. Scalability Testing: Test the platform’s handling of growing data volume and user load, optimizing it for scalability.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Response Time: Average response time for data processing should be within acceptable limits (e.g., under 5 seconds per audio clip for initial insights).
• Scalability Metrics: The platform should handle an increasing number of simultaneous users (e.g., 100 concurrent users) without degradation in performance, demonstrating scalability.
• User Adoption Rate: Number of healthcare professionals actively using the platform within the first 3-6 months, indicating engagement and usability.
• Task Completion Rate: Percentage of users able to perform key tasks (e.g., uploading audio files, viewing reports) without errors or needing support.
• Net Promoter Score (NPS): Survey feedback from users on how likely they are to recommend the platform, offering insight into user satisfaction.
• Deployment Downtime: Minimal downtime during deployment and updates (e.g., 99.9% uptime target), showing deployment success and CI/CD efficiency.
• Maintenance Efficiency: Number of bug fixes or maintenance updates post-launch, with fewer indicating robust initial development.
• System Error Rate: Frequency of platform errors or crashes post-deployment, with a low error rate demonstrating platform stability.

Apart from these, their willingness to go out of their way in order to meet with our rushed deadlines and deliver every time was commendable. Their experience with building such platforms really showed. 

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

Active Colors did a great job with delivering items on time. Since we are a startup, our deadlines are always rushed and we have a tonne of changes day in/day out. Our communication with them was clear for the requirements we had. We would brainstorm improvements and ideas together and then once the tasks were assigned to them, they delivered. Our experience has been great working with them. 

What was your primary form of communication with ActiveColor?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The most impressive thing about this company was that they understood our product and the scope of how much it would revolutionize healthcare. They always make sure that the work that they are doing for us is of the highest quality. And since they could understand our needs so well, it was very easy to work with them. 

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

None. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Operations Administrator & Managing Partner of Black Diamond Ventures

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

BDV invests in visionary founders pioneering market-transforming technologies, focusing on multi-stage investments in the deep tech and biotech sectors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Elevated rebranding of our website
• Rebuild backend to modernize and produce an efficient and seamless portal for our LP's, founders and entrepreneurs

SOLUTION

How did you find ActiveColor?

Friend

Why did you select ActiveColor over others?

History of working with Damjan/ActiveColor for over a decade

How many teammates from ActiveColor were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

ActiveColor redesigned and rebuilt our site into a high-functioning and informative website with a built-in, customized email integration. Damjan and the team implemented an email marketing platform integration to facilitate communication with our LPs, founders and inquiring entrepreneurs. Having previously worked with ActiveColor, we were thrilled with the outcome and always appreciate their vast expertise/ advice. 

Damjan supported our team and delivered creative solutions to produce a polished end-to-end high-functioning platform. The ActiveColor team is creative, sharp, thoughtful, patient, and deliberate.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Damjan has provided our team with a seamless transition when developing new plug-ins. We implemented an email marketing platform integration to connect with our current LPs and founders and with prospective LPs and inquiring entrepreneurs. Another exciting new feature was the option to highlight select founders, portfolio companies, and news/ press on our homepage. Lastly, having the ability to sort by portfolio companies, sectors, date range, etc. is critically important to our LPs.

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

ActiveColor consistently managed our project with room for feedback, ensuring responsiveness to our needs and turning our ideas into actionable steps. ActiveColor was always ahead of or stayed on schedule and our expectations were always met or exceeded.

What was your primary form of communication with ActiveColor?

Virtual Meeting

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

ActiveColor truly knows how to create websites that are quite aesthetically pleasing and highly functional. Damjan's team provided a comprehensive training session to our team on website management. We are grateful to the ActiveColor team — a passionate, highly creative, and driven group of developers — for guiding us and talking us through the process from beginning to end.

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

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Program Manager of a healthcare nonprofit organization.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a non-profit focused on addressing health disparities in Asian, African, and immigrant populations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Create new website for national partners to report on metrics for events for grant activities

SOLUTION

How did you find ActiveColor?

Referral

Why did you select ActiveColor over others?

Referred to me

How many teammates from ActiveColor were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

To foster the growing needs of the Partner community and to meet the goals of our research program, we worked with ActiveColor to rebuild the PORT website in WordPress to provide more systematic flexibility to enhance the Partner community experience with a dynamic submission system for reporting event results, a feature-rich event calendar with social media sharing capabilities, an exciting photo gallery, and a proprietary storage cloud for sharing program resources. 

This project had a timeline of 3-5 months including system architecture, workflows, wireframes, design, and development. It was expected for the design and development stage to occur from November 2022 – March 2023 and launch to be in April 2023. Four Faces also worked together with us to determine the best approach to accomplish our goals.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Throughout the planning process, there were virtual calls to determine our needs for the website. We met several times to go over the various functionality and then went through testing to ensure the website worked properly. They took all our feedback into consideration to create a great website. 

The website has been a great success with our partners, and we have been using it successfully for the past few months. We have been in constant communication with the ActiveColor team regarding any potential issues our partners may have and we have been working together to ensure the website continues to work smoothly.

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

ActiveColor and Four Faces worked together from the beginning, ideating on the best approach to accomplish our goals, and guiding us through the process of focusing on the user needs. They designed and developed the website platform with calendar tools, ability for partners to submit custom reports on events they held, and receive prompts when submissions are due. The website was built with a lot of custom functionality that unites various existing plugins into a seamless website. 

Our team met with ActiveColor on an ad-hoc basis. There were planning calls, status update calls, and communication via email. We had set up as needed calls to go through any questions for troubleshooting. ActiveColor meets the requirements we set from the beginning in a timely manner, and we have additional features we are hoping to work with ActiveColor again for any future upgrades to PORT.

What was your primary form of communication with ActiveColor?

Virtual Meeting

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

ActiveColor did amazing work on our website. Through the various testing stages with our partners, we have received many positive remarks on the website. It has streamlined the event scheduling and reporting process, where partner do not have to enter information twice. Partners have more flexibility on changing their event information and they have a more enhanced experienced as they receive notifications on pending reports. 

The website has a similar theme as the old site, which allows our partners to feel familiar with the website. Their communication is also top notch- we are extremely impressed with how quickly the ActiveColor team is to get back to us and they are always willing to help!

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

The process was smooth from start to finish, and communication was excellent. We are very happy with our website, so there isn’t really anything we could think of.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the international communications chairperson for Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., a service organization with approximately 355,000 initiated members, of whom approximately 112,000 are active members.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ActiveColor?

Our committee and project team's goals for working with them included an entire transformation of our existing website. We were about to install our new international president, so we wanted to have a website with a fresh, dynamic, colorful, inviting, and compelling visual and informational interface.

Moreover, we wanted to ensure that our members and the public could equally use our website. The purpose of this was to reach not only members of our organization but also potential partners and other people interested in our work throughout the world.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ActiveColor has redesigned our website, adding new features and including dynamic graphics and visual elements. Our members’ ages range from teens to over 100 years old, so ActiveColor has also improved our site’s functionality and accessibility so that anyone can use it.

After signing up with ActiveColor, we first received a detailed schedule for the project. This initial phase also included the ideation and development of different ideas of what we saw as best practices. Additionally, we gave them information about other organizations that we saw as good examples of what we wanted.

Then, ActiveColor took charge of the design phase while we underwent the content development phase. During this process, we went through various revision rounds for 2–3 months until we aligned on the site’s final version. Their design work included UI/UX design and development.

Currently, ActiveColor provides us with consulting services regarding the best way to manage our website. Whenever our IT administrator has challenges with the site that he’s unable to navigate through on his own, ActiveColor also provides support and assistance.

What is the team composition?

ActiveColor’s team assigned to this project consists of approximately 5–6 individuals, including Damjan (Founder, Creative Director & Lead UX Strategist), Elisa (Project Manager), a head designer, a backend technology support leader, and 1–2 people who weren’t part of our calls but supported the team’s effort in the background.

How did you come to work with ActiveColor?

In the fall of 2021, we issued an RFP and conducted a series of inquiries with various vendors. Our IT manager worked with them in 2020 and had a very positive experience, so he encouraged them to respond to the RFP. As part of this process, we held a Q&A session with each vendor interested in bidding on the project.

Our team also looked at our budget to determine the resources we wanted to expend, so we also evaluated each vendor’s offering within the budget we wanted to spend. Other evaluation areas included the quality of their work and their reputation in the marketplace.

It wasn’t until we met ActiveColor that we were completely satisfied with a proposal. After their presentation at our meeting, we were convinced that they were the right vendor for the work that we wanted to accomplish.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $100,000–$250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We officially started our engagement in December 2021, and the launch date was July 14th, 2022. Still, our engagement is ongoing on a monthly basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

ActiveColor did an incredible job with the site’s launch. Since July 14th, 2022, and up to October 18th, 2022, we’ve accomplished 391,000 users, over 749,000 total visits, and 1.9 million views on our site, which is extremely impressive. In comparison, we had a little over 1 million views during the prior three months, so our site’s views almost doubled.

As qualitative feedback, it is incredible how good our new website looks. It has a great look and feel, and it is fully accessible to individuals of all backgrounds and ages, which is very important for us.

How did ActiveColor perform from a project management standpoint?

ActiveColor hasn’t only met our expectations regarding schedule management, but they’ve also exceeded them by delivering their work ahead of schedule. We really appreciated that they had the website ready to launch around three weeks before the launch date because we were very deliberate about July 14th, 2022 as the hard date that the website needed to go live.

Additionally, ActiveColor hasn’t only met our budget, but they’ve exceeded our expectations in that regard as well. We’ve been able to extend our engagement and be still within the original budget.

ActiveColor constantly works closely with our IT manager to solve issues. Recently, we were working on a project, and their team was able to accomplish a change that needed to occur within the site in a matter of minutes.

Throughout the project, we had weekly and bi-weekly phone meetings for updates, and we also exchanged emails. We’ve also used several different collaboration tools, including Slack and Google Docs. ActiveColor has done a great job understanding who we are and how they can leverage technology to engage with us in different ways. Not everyone within our organization is a technology expert; still, ActiveColor has found ways to work with all of us through different platforms that meet our needs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

ActiveColor’s best assets are the following three: Firstly, they’re very creative and great at listening and understanding our needs. They’ve done a great job at listening to us and feeding back what they understood, which is very important.

Secondly, ActiveColor’s responsiveness is outstanding. Any time we have questions or concerns, we exchange emails or phone calls, and they respond to our needs within a matter of minutes to our satisfaction.

Thirdly, ActiveColor’s commitment to our mission is extraordinary. When we started working together, they knew a little about us; up until now, they’ve learned a lot. Now, they know who we are and what we do to reach all people across the world with our service, and they’re very committed to that cause through their work. Thanks to this, our relationship has evolved from a business relationship to a deep partnership.

Are there any areas they could improve?

ActiveColor’s areas of improvement are minimal. Getting the visual imagery in place took a little bit more time than expected, but it was more of an issue on our end because we didn’t do a great job of explaining the types of graphics we wanted to include. Once we decided on the graphics we wanted to include, they worked with us seamlessly.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Allow them to use their creative ability, their savvy and skillful talent, and their leadership capability of working collaboratively. If you allow them to showcase their full creativity, reliability, dependability, timeliness, and willingness to partner with you, they will provide great results.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Motion Paradox, and we have about 5–10 employees. We offer business and legal consulting services to startups, scale-ups, and growing small and medium enterprises (SMEs), primarily in the tech space. Our main headquarters are in London, England, but we also have offices in Los Angeles.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ActiveColor?

From the time we had started our company, we had a website that was really basic and something that we had done without a lot of professional help. On top of that, our website didn’t really reflect or describe our services and what we offered as a company. We did our branding and really wanted to have a new website that was a lot more stylized and sophisticated than we had before.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ActiveColor redesigned and redeveloped our site. Some of the core features of our website include the services we offer to our clients. In addition, they made the site very vibrant and they incorporated motion throughout the site because it was a very important part of our brand identity, as evident in our company name.  They also provided web hosting and maintenance services.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Damjan (Founder & Creative Director), Elisa (Project Manager), Ana (Product Designer), and Alex (Web Developer). Ana and Alex worked on our site’s design and architecture.

How did you come to work with ActiveColor?

I searched for the most celebrated and interesting websites that had been designed. During that search, I saw ActiveColor’s work for an entertainment and club company in Los Angeles, and it was a really beautiful and unique website. I had never seen a website like that, so I reached out and talked to them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $50,000–$75,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from June 2021–January 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We received increased web traffic and our SEO position also improved. Overall, our engagement was a success.

How did ActiveColor perform from a project management standpoint?

They had incredible communication skills, and we never had any kind of communication issues with them. Furthermore, they were good at meeting deadlines and staying on budget. They were also great at doing the things we asked of them. For example, they were able to manage the video that we wanted to create for our website through another outsourcing partner. Their team really helped us find a company that could capture the spirit we wanted to portray. We used Slack, Google Meet, email, and Zoom to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

ActiveColor made great suggestions on how we could do our website. They were always very precise and careful in finding exactly what we wanted. More importantly, their design ethic was great.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We rewrote their contract quite a bit because we were lawyers. We thought it could be a little clear, but that was just because it was our wheelhouse. We had nothing against them, and there would always be room for growing businesses to have their contract a little bit better. In fact, ActiveColor even asked us if they could use some of the things we did to make their contact better for their future clients.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be present and engaged. Stay on top of the things you need to deliver on your part and be as responsive as possible because it will keep things on track and will help the process go smoothly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of IT administration at Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the first black, Greek-letter sorority founded in 1908. The main purpose of our organization is to provide services, and we currently have over 300,000 members. I take care of our web presence. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ActiveColor?

We previously had a yearly conference, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to conduct a virtual conference. Given that, our web presence needed to be eye-catching and dynamic — our in-person events were like that, and we had to create the same effect on a virtual platform. Many video conferencing platforms were functional, but the aesthetic wasn’t there; we also had around 30,000 people attending the virtual conference. As a result, we wanted ActiveColor to bring the aesthetic we wanted to the virtual space. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

In the beginning, we gave ActiveColor our requirements and what we were looking for in terms of aesthetics. From there, we collectively designed the platform. The team came up with the initial designs, and then we tweaked those designs together. 

We also conducted weekly meetings to get the concepts right, but their resources lead the design process. They also worked on the more functional areas of the platform, which were used during the facilitation of the actual event. 

What is the team composition?

I primarily worked with three people. One of them was responsible for backend development, and another one was focused on the frontend and aesthetics. Damian (Founder, Creative Director & Lead UX Strategist) was our main point person. He managed the project and had a hand in all of the development areas. 

How did you come to work with ActiveColor?

We were looking for a web development company, and I wound up on a website that gave awards to web developers. I looked into different websites there until I came across ActiveColor. I liked their entries on that website. They seemed to be the designers that I was looking for, so I reached out to them. That was the start of our engagement. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement lasted from April–July 2021. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We received a lot of good feedback on how the platform turned out — in fact, we repurposed the website after the event as an after-even material. It was truly good. Overall, our members and leaders liked the platform. 

How did ActiveColor perform from a project management standpoint?

ActiveColor’s project management was awesome. They made sure that we were constantly aware of what was happening. Because the project timeline was so short, a lot of chaotic things occurred. However, toward the end of the project — by that time, I was worried that it would be completed on time — they assured me that everything would be fine. 

I relied on them, and everything indeed came out just fine. Overall, the team did as much as they could under the circumstances. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They walked us through the process well. The team took a step back and asked us what we wanted to solve and what goals we were trying to achieve. 

Oftentimes, other developers would come with an image of the website and work from there. They wouldn’t truly try to understand the deeper meaning and logic behind the project. By contrast, ActiveColor gave us insights into how to develop the website instead of just coding based on what we wanted things to look like. 

Moreover, we didn’t have many technical members in our team; we only thought we knew what we wanted. Luckily, ActiveColor was able to channel our thought processes into a functional platform. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

A better understanding of their timelines would have been nice. As a technical and functional person, I was worried that they wouldn’t be able to develop the functional parts of the website on time. If I had a better idea of when those pieces were going to come together, I would’ve been more relaxed as we neared our deadlines. 

To be fair, this issue might just be because we jumped into the project with an aggressive timeline. We didn’t have much time for me to understand how things would come together. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust ActiveColor’s process because they know what they’re doing.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I worked at the University of Southern California (USC). When I worked with ActiveColor, I was the director of digital strategy for the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences where I oversaw all the website and application development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ActiveColor?

When we hired ActiveColor, none of our websites had been professionally developed. They were strewn across servers, had no branding protocols in place, and weren't actively being updated. Because we were vying for a top spot in a worldwide ranking of higher education programs, it was important that we bring them out of the stone age.

Our challenge was to redesign the websites of 20 of our strongest departments in a matter of months so that our online presence matched the world-class education USC provides. So we hired ActiveColor to help.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started out with five websites, and they ended up developing at least 20. They worked with all of the leads in the departments to help them design something that reflected their values and needs. ActiveColor worked with the platforms we were using at the time, and when we switched to new a CMS, they worked with that. 

What is the team composition?

I worked solely with Damjan (Principal & Creative Director).

How did you come to work with ActiveColor?

I found them online. We went through a vetting process with multiple agencies, and ActiveColor stood out. 

While ActiveColor didn’t have the lowest price, they had the highest quality work at the fairest price. Additionally, they were kind, personable, and easy to be around. It seemed like it would be a good partnership.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $100,000–$250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from February 2006–September 2013.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All of the programs for which ActiveColor designed the websites ranked within the top five, which is exactly what we were looking for. They did a great job.

How did ActiveColor perform from a project management standpoint?

Great! They communicated regularly through email and never missed a deadline. If we were waiting on anything, we were waiting on our departments to supply content.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The communication aspect was key. Other agencies that I've worked with have not been as great of communicators. 

ActiveColor seemed to have a strong core of people working with them with no huge turnover, which was really great for long term projects because little details didn't get forgotten, missed, or changed by someone else's opinion. Additionally, the team focused on UI, which they did very well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing sticks out. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of three owners at a prosthodontics practice. Prosthodontics is a field in dentistry that focuses on reconstructive dentistry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ActiveColor?

We engaged them to redo our website. We’re dentists, so we know nothing about website design. We’d used another company, but we were frustrated with their progress. It was taking forever and things weren’t working correctly.

We had a very basic website that wasn’t compatible with new devices. We wanted it to display correctly on both desktop and mobile devices, to be user-friendly, and to be up to date with the latest technologies.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a discussion about our goals, style preferences, and the functionalities of the site. ActiveColor gave us a preliminary design. We wanted a boutique, high-end, non-generic style, which is completely different from the templated look of typical dental websites. 

They then developed new websites for our practice and nonprofit teaching center, and they’re currently maintaining and updating them. We’ve made a refresh recently. Especially with COVID-19, we wanted to update our educational materials on infection control. 

ActiveColor has updated the site to the latest technologies over the years. SEO is something we could be doing better, but it doesn’t drive our business, so we haven’t really focused on it

What is the team composition?

We’re working with Damjan (Principal & Creative Director). We’ve also had project managers and designers reach out to us from time to time to discuss layouts and other items.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost so far is around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with ActiveColor in 2008, and they’ve continued to update the websites over the years.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The site is mainly a way for people to verify our identity, and we don’t get many new patients through it. We don’t really monitor metrics, since most of our business comes from word-of-mouth referrals, but patients will tell us from time to time that we have the most beautiful website they’ve ever seen.

How did ActiveColor perform from a project management standpoint?

It’s very easy to work with Damjan. The communication was clear on what he wanted us to supply and what he was going to supply. ActiveColor is effective and responsive whenever we reach out to them, and they meet deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They tailor the project to the customer’s needs. We specifically asked for a unique style. We’re three women, and I think that the site reflects our aesthetic, but it’s also informative.

The main aspect of ActiveColor that we like is the ease of communication and smooth, direct working relationship. We’ve never had to keep checking up on them to resolve an issue as was the case with other people.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could provide more education for customers like us, who know nothing about SEO and other website aspects. For instance, someone complained that the website didn’t have a feature for hearing-impaired people.

ActiveColor’s main focus is website design. We’ve engaged SEO people, but we’re not that keen on spending hours on writing content only to get three patients per year from it. The team could consult us on changing keywords or other elements that don’t require a lot of extra work.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

As with anything, if you’re clear on the list of wants and give them effective responses, it’ll go very smoothly. Both parties need to be clear on what the goal is.