Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Data and AI of Heed AI Inc

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Payheed.com is Heed AI inc's platform designed to help consumers brands become more consumer focused. It introduces a new model of insights to actions loop, allowing brand owners, CI professionals and designers the ability to collaborate and act on CI insights in an expedited manner. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting to accomplish?

• Prototype development

SOLUTION

How did you find Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting?

Repeat customer

Why did you select Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting over others?

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

How many teammates from Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

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

Figma Prototypes and detailed requirements specifications 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Successful prototype developed in record time. The team went a step ahead and became our design thinking partner.

Bhakti, the head of design for aubergine helped us zero down to the idea and positioning of the product as well! 

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

Yes, they were very responsive and available for calls as needed. 

What was your primary form of communication with Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting?

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

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

Their culture and ethos for of engaging with empathy,  they demonstrated extreme ownership with their level of engagement. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting could have done differently?

They were great! No major improvements needed. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Co-founder and COO of a retail company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Transforming women's wellness in India, through holistic products and services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting to accomplish?

• Revamp the DTC website to transform the brand and e-commerce experience.

SOLUTION

How did you find Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting?

Referral

Why did you select Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned
• Right design approach

How many teammates from Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Aubergine helped us in redesigning our entire website, from pre-purchase to post-purchase, keeping in mind both e-commerce and engagement levers. Key deliverables included design approach/strategy, UI/UX designs and final (Figma) outputs to help our engineering team implement the design. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Customer NPS - initial results look positive (8-10 ratings)
• Conversion rate improvement - initial results for some product pages indicate a 30% improvement

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

• Highly collaborative, accommodating
• Bias for action --> focus on getting the right outcomes for the client, even if it means extra iterations
• Proactive communications and project management to minimise timeline slippage

What was your primary form of communication with Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

• Extremely strong design approach - their approach was well-aligned with our strategy and philosphy - they understood the brief very clearly
• Aubergine's vision readout was amongst the best we have seen across any design agency we have worked with, incorporating our initial inputs and with minimal intervention 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting could have done differently?

They required a bit of education on B2C/e-commerce design, especially in the Indian context. But, with the right guidance, they came up to speed very quickly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VP of Engineering of Opsera

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Enterprise AI DevOps & Insights Products

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting to accomplish?

• Enhance the user experience of the existing project by introducing creative ideas, revamping the UI where necessary, and designing new features as required
• Make the UX simple, productive and effective

SOLUTION

How did you find Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting?

Referral

Why did you select Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Auditing the customer flows, check the UX, suggest changes and implement new UX 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Closure on our end-to-end design flows and supporting engineering to deliver them

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

They set a project manager dedicated to our team. Yes, ahead of time. 

What was your primary form of communication with Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting?

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

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

Exceptional talent in UX and great turnaround time. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting could have done differently?

They put a lot of hardwork but only billed within the budget. I wish they did the opposite and billed for actual hours. It is a win for us but they went above and beyond

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the executive of SDSI

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Supply of software and IT technical services to emergency service organisations

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting to accomplish?

• Obtain specialist software design support
• Microsoft Azure security design review
• Software engineering and testing support

SOLUTION

How did you find Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting?

Referral

Why did you select Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Scope was to design modern and appealing user interface designs and implement the functionality into a mobile application, then conduct integration testing on those changes. Separately, review the design of Microsoft Azure components to ensure a robust and secure design of backend components.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Completion of build of the requested functionality.

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

Project management was primarily conducted through daily meetings. Technical tasks were assigned using our Linear platform, making the transfer of information and the assignment of tasks very straightforward. This being a short project a complex project plan was not developed.

What was your primary form of communication with Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Quality of output, communication at all stages of the project (from initial scoping, day-to-day, post-project request for feedback).

Are there any areas for improvement or something Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting could have done differently?

Output was exactly what we required so nothing comes to mind in terms of the delivery. Some of the conversations were hard to hear due to microphone positioning or background noise and occasional internet dropouts for some of the team, but all team members were highly competent in their technical abilities

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I'm an executive at Just Edtech

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Non profit focused on school governance 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting to accomplish?

• Build a landing page for product launch at a conference

SOLUTION

How did you find Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting?

University

Why did you select Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Aubergine helped to develop a landing page for the launch of our AI platform in a short span of 2 weeks. They helped us deisgn and build the portal for mobile and web. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Timely delivery of the website after testing. Being available for follow up even after the delivery. 

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

The team was very qucik to respond to our queries and spent lot of time to understand our ask. They got what we wanted very quickly and delivered on it in a short span of time. They were very open in communicating the progress at every step. When there was a hiccup in the plan, they responsed very quickly in a very professional fashion. 

What was your primary form of communication with Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They understood our need just after one call and gave us exactly what we wanted. We were surprised by how they were able to level set with us even when we couldnt provide them all the details they wanted. We didnt have any time to ramp up or do the traditional discovery calls, yet they managed to get to speed and meet us at where we were. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting could have done differently?

We were bit suprised by the hidden cost of third party services to house our website and surveys. It would have been nice to know about them upfront. But when we raised this concern, they were quick to come up with alternatives to match our budget. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Product Manager of Fourth Partner Energy

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Solar and Wind EPC

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting to accomplish?

• Software Development
• Database Management

SOLUTION

How did you find Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting?

Referral

Why did you select Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting over others?

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

How many teammates from Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

They were responsible for the end-to-end development for our internal asset management portals and applications

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Perfect development, lower costs for our organisation to function and operate better

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

Great project management overall with timely communication from their team. They always delivered on time and with exceptional quality. The developers have also gotten better with time and experience. Overall, great service from them always

What was your primary form of communication with Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting?

Virtual Meeting

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

The structure, the mentorship from senior colleagues and overall their nature of working and providing the top level solutions to us.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Aubergine Solutions | UX + AI + Product Development Consulting could have done differently?

They have already begun utilising external tools to provide even better wuality of service. They've also started sessions where they share knowledge from other developers working on other projects, which has led to overall better coding standards being set everywhere.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the CEO of a software company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

An IP management platform that leverages generative AI to identify, augment, and protect a company's IP.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Aubergine Solutions to accomplish?

• Design and develop software to support intellectual property development
• Design and design a website for our company

SOLUTION

How did you find Aubergine Solutions?

Referral

Why did you select Aubergine Solutions over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Aubergine Solutions were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Aubergine was given loose guidelines and acted as our software development team through the process.  We began development of a platform to support a suite of software.  At some point we pivoted and began focus on a particular software tool.  Later in the project we began designing and developing a website.  The initial requirements of these deliverables have been met at this time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Aubergine's team brought exceptional product design and company branding to our team.  Multiple demos have been produced from Aubergine that were of high quality and demonstrated key milestones of our company's development.  Our tester clients have been impressed with the quality of work brought by the team.

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

Aubergine have been working on cutting-edge LLM work with our team along with standard software development.  Their standard development has been delivered in a timely fashion.  They are learning the newer tech alongside our team (not to their fault, these are packages weeks-old with edgecase bugs sometimes).  Their engineers are earnest and helpful.

What was your primary form of communication with Aubergine Solutions?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Aubergine offers to support their clients in many ways I woudn't necessarily expect, and it's been all high quality so far.  

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

They're always willing to accept criticism and try to find a productive way forward.  Any minor miscommunications or difference in expectations have been addressed proactively.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Sr. Director of product of Ivanti

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

In today’s work environment, employees use a myriad of devices to access IT applications and data over multiple networks to stay productive, wherever and however they work. Ivanti elevates and secures Everywhere Work so that people and organizations can thrive.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Aubergine Solutions to accomplish?

• Accessibility Assessment
• UX design audit

SOLUTION

How did you find Aubergine Solutions?

Referral

Why did you select Aubergine Solutions over others?

• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Aubergine Solutions were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Aubergine team helped with accessibility assessment for one of our Security suite of products. They reviewed various products that work in an ecosystem of product portfolio and did thorough accessibility analysis screen by screen. Not only they listed any accessibility issues found, they also provided reference from WCAG guidelines to help fix those. 
The products include web application, descktop client app, and mobile apps for both iOS and Android. The deliverables included a list of accessibility issues ranked by severity, VPAT document and Figma five with visual references and screenshots.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Accessibility assessment documentation and VPAT.

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

The team has been great with timeline and project management. The deliverables were always on time and team reached out for timely feedback. They are very responsive and we received replies almost immediately.

What was your primary form of communication with Aubergine Solutions?

Virtual Meeting

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

Aubergine solutions has a unique mix of designers and developers, making them a full spectrum design service partner. The team is young, yet experts in their fields carry a positive attitude throughout the projects.

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

Nothing that they are not already working on

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and CEO of an online marketplace for headphones replacement pieces, focused on selling individual pieces to customers who lose or misplace one side of their headphones. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Aubergine Solutions?

We contacted Aubergine Solutions to support our rebranding project. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Aubergine Solutions has helped us rebrand our company name and assisted with logo design, brand guidelines, and branding documentation. The team is also responsible for our website redesign and has handed their work to engineers to build our vision, but we haven't launched it yet. Aubergine Solutions has implemented our new branding and completed the overhaul of our website. We have reimagined our website, and Aubergine Solutions is responsible for the design.

We work remotely, and Aubergine Solutions leverages Figma for all design work and documentation. I've worked with the same team of designers for the rebranding and web design project. Our website design is still in development and has been handed off to engineers to build our vision, but we haven't launched it yet.
What is the team composition?

I work with a core team of three members, including Purnima (Senior UX Designer) and Anjali (UX Designer). I know they bounce ideas with other teammates from Aubergine Solutions, specifically when I have questions about how the implemented changes would impact other aspects of my website, like SEO. Purnima, Anali, and Deval. 

How did you come to work with Aubergine Solutions?

My wife referred Aubergine Solutions to me because she had previously worked with one of the head designers at a different company.
How much have you invested with them?

We've spent around $10,000–$20,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Aubergine Solutions in August 2023, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Transitioning to a new company name has helped us establish an identity and separate us from our competitors. The rebranding created by Aubergine Solutions emphasizes our focus and mission and expands our reach to other areas besides a singular product. The team's work quality is thorough. An important thing to note about Aubergine Solutions is that they're always available to help if I have questions after they've delivered work, no matter if it's 2–3 months after delivery. 

Aubergine Solutions' post-delivery support has been very valuable for me because I've run into a couple of scenarios where I was having issues formatting my email signature. A few months later, I reached out to the team, and they were happy to help me fix the issue and get it working on my side. All the resources Aubergine Solutions creates are well-documented upon delivery. 

Additionally, I like that we work collaboratively with Aubergine Solutions. The team is always available and very supportive of any feedback, ideas, or questions I've had throughout the process. We've had a hands-on journey from the onset of our rebranding project, and the team is detailed. Aubergine Solutions' work has helped me learn more about what I was trying to accomplish with my project through the questions and exercises they asked, which were very helpful. 

Aubergine Solutions has opened my eyes to new strategies. I've also found it very valuable that Aubergine Solutions paired with the same design team on both projects.

How did Aubergine Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

Aubergine Solutions delivers work on time and on budget. The team is true to their word and accurate in terms of how long work takes to be completed. With our website redesign, we had an aggressive timeline and was also pretty down to the wire at the end. The team has worked on many changes simultaneously but definitely pushed through, being good at communicating how they were doing.

In the website redesign, Aubergine Solutions needed an extra day or two, but that isn't a problem because I've seen how hard the team has worked throughout the process. I appreciate all the effort and energy the team puts into the project. Aubergine Solutions is accommodating to our time zone differences, and we meet weekly or twice a week through Google Meet. We also communicate via Slack and email, and Aubergine Solutions shares their work through Figma.
Are there any employees from the service provider's team that you would like to give a shout-out to in this review?

Purnima is the driving force behind the project and is very efficient.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I'm impressed by how quickly Aubergine Solutions has caught on to my goal. I thought explaining my vision would take longer since my business is unique. I'm also impressed that the team has gone above and beyond for things they didn’t have to do. Aubergine Solutions has pushed the envelope to create additional features that were a bit outside of the scope. Still, the team has understood the importance of those features and was good at adding them without changing the project cost.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything Aubergine Solutions can improve.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

The first step is to have a clear idea of what you want and come prepared when engaging with Aubergine Solutions. If you come in thinking the team will do all the work, you're incorrect. The project requires your effort, too, and that is what makes a successful partnership. All partnerships are a two-way street, and as the client, you have to prioritize the project and put in your time and energy. Your project will be Aubergine Solutions' top focus, and you have to make it your top focus, too. 

My biggest advice for clients is to be prepared to stretch their abilities and understand that it'll be a good thing. Other companies or freelancers will only follow your instructions but won't ask you questions, and for me, the real value in design and any collaborative project requires questions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the UX lead for a bulk-liquid and chemical logistics company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Aubergine Solutions?

Our company was undergoing a digital transformation; we wanted to digitize our processes and create solutions for interfacing with customers. Since I'm the only teammate in my department, I couldn’t handle all the work by myself. Our company had 16 ongoing projects related to digital transformation, so I needed additional UX design resources to help me with the tasks.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Aubergine Solutions provides us with UI/UX design services. They’ve worked on several projects with us, and the team has been involved in different stages for each project. For example, they handled one project's complete user persona discovery and process mapping.

Another project they’ve helped us with is a customer portal. Aubergine Solutions has collaborated with me to do one-on-one user interviews for this project. They’ve also helped me create the project documentation and have done initial wireframing. 

A third project is design system development. I had an idea of what to create but needed a specialist in the UI design field. A senior UI designer from Aubergine Solutions has assisted me in building the design system framework. The goal is to create a dynamic and easy-to-maintain design system. 

We face challenges with our legacy design because we create so many screens that someone has to go back and update the system whenever we make a change. My requirements for the new design system include automatically updating every previous piece when I create a new component. 

What is the team composition?

Currently, I work with a senior UX designer and another teammate from Aubergine Solutions. I’ve also worked with Bhakti (Chief Design Officer) and Jinisha (Senior UI Designer); the latter has helped build our design system. 

How did you come to work with Aubergine Solutions?

I worked with one of Aubergine Solutions' teammates when they worked with another provider, and then they moved to Aubergine Solutions. Since I really enjoyed working with them, I decided to move our partnership to Aubergine Solutions instead of the previous design company. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $100,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2022, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Aubergine Solutions does the heavy lifting for us. They’ve been really good at understanding our requirements and allocating the right resources to work with me on the project. I don’t see our partnership stopping any time soon. 

How did Aubergine Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

I mostly leave the team to manage themselves. Aubergine Solutions works with our product owner, and we usually have a weekly sync call to share ideas for collaboration. For anything else, we connect through team one-on-one meetings. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve worked with several agencies before, and most depend on my feedback and some form of management. Meanwhile, Aubergine Solutions is true to their craft; they find out what I need and deliver. I don’t need to tell them to do research or which tasks to complete. Instead, I give them a project, and they run it by themselves. 

Additionally, Bhakti is very proactive. She constantly offers support, predicts our needs, and delivers before we ask for things. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they need to improve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Although Aubergine Solutions’ rates are on the pricey side, their ability to self-manage offsets the premium costs.