Capellic LLC

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of National Informal STEM Education Network (NISE Network)

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

The National Informal STEM Education Network (NISE Network) generates, develops, implements, and collaborates on projects that strengthen and advance informal STEM learning in communities across the United States.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Capellic LLC to accomplish?

• Goal 1: Clarify website purpose and user experience strategy by bringing together key stakeholders facilitating working sessions
• Goal 2: Update and modernize the look and feel and improve the site’s user experience
• Goal 3: Accessibility remediation
• Goal 4: Improve content editor experience better and easier
• Goal 5: Stabilize website infrastructure and make it more straightforward to manage with a small team
• Goal 6: Monitor and maintain site security and functionality

SOLUTION

How did you find Capellic LLC?

• Referral
• Other

Why did you select Capellic LLC over others?

• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Capellic LLC were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

This multiyear engagement began with Capellic’s team modernizing the NISE Network’s digital infrastructure before pivoting to guiding the organization through a major update to the site’s design and user experience. After the redesign, Capellic’s focus shifted to optimization and stabilization of the site - accessibility, site speed/performance, and addressing issues related to automated bots visiting the site. Over that time, Capellic’s work included the following deliverables:

• Content strategy: Held stakeholder conversations and developed content strategy to align with strategic objectives of the website.
• Built and maintained highly performant website: Implemented site architecture designed to maintain high level of performance. Capellic monitors and provides reports on performance and how to improve further. Implements as needed. Implemented accessibility remediation.
• Implemented accessibility remediation and provide ongoing verification with a variety of tools, wrote findings reports, and fixed technical errors.
• Site maintenance and support: Created a product development roadmap; investigated and analyzed bot traffic, bad actors, denial of service attacks that reduce stability; developed and implemented a remediation plan to improve site stability.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Highly accessible site: at last measurement, there were only 2 WAVE errors; 7 Sa11y errors, and 6 Axe errors
• User experience improvements: information architecture reorganization and implementation of new design patterns led to visual consistency and fewer help requests from site visitors
• Editor user experience improvements: Reduced time to post new content by greatly improving media library search features
• Site Adaptability and Relevance: Site now has ability to quickly spin up pages to respond to changing user needs whereas this was not possible before.
• Site performance: passes all Core Web Vitals
• Implementation of issue reporting system and monthly sprint cycle, facilitating improved budgeting, team communication, resource allocation, and enhancements prioritization 

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

• Over the years we have worked with Capellic, we have had an excellent experience. In addition to their technical expertise, their project management and communication were excellent.
• When working with us to resolve technical challenges and improvements, Capellic has always communicated about a range of possible solutions, typically including thoughtful descriptions of the issue, possible paths forward and the implications of each approach, and a range of timelines and hourly estimates for the different approaches.
• In addition to using project management ticket systems, I also always receive monthly summaries of updates about budgets and tasks.
• I appreciate that Capellic is pro-active in planning and communicating for major upgrades as well as ongoing security and maintenance.
• Capellic has consistently delivered major milestones on time and were flexible to modify their work based on our timing needs and capacity.
• Capellic has always been clear and professional, and a joy to work with.
• They were responsive, reliable, flexible, and genuinely invested in the success of our website. 

What was your primary form of communication with Capellic LLC?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

• What stood out most was Capellic’s ability to understand our needs and our team’s capacity. They have always been flexible and kind about accommodating our timelines and budgets.
• They demonstrated a deep understanding of Drupal development, including troubleshooting complex issues. When critical problems have arisen, they have jumped on resolving the problems.
• I would highly recommend this developer to anyone looking for a skilled Drupal professional. Their knowledge, work ethic, and dedication make them an outstanding partner for web development projects. 

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

 I do not have any areas in need of improvement.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VP Marketing & Communications of Episcopal Relief & Development

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Episcopal Relief & Development partners with faith and community leaders in the U.S. and around the world to advance lasting change in communities affected by injustice, poverty, disaster and climate change.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Capellic LLC to accomplish?

• Develop a research-informed website strategy
• Develop a product roadmap to guide short- and long-term strategic growth
• Write and distribute an RFP for a website redesign

SOLUTION

How did you find Capellic LLC?

Online Search

Why did you select Capellic LLC over others?

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

How many teammates from Capellic LLC were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

This project’s purpose was to prepare our organization for a complete redesign of our website. This entailed conducting extensive research, developing a website strategy, planning a product roadmap, writing an RFP for a website redesign vendor, and recruiting potential vendors. Each activity included stakeholder education, consensus-building, and change management support, so the whole organization shared and supported a vision for a new experience.

Deliverable 1: Research & Findings Summary Activities and content included: Current state analysis, technical systems assessment, information architecture assessment, content and SEO assessment, site analytics review, and website accessibility compliance

Deliverable 2: Website Strategy Brief Activities and content included: Strategic goal definition, audience definition, technical requirements definition, user experience requirements, program strategy, timeline and budget planning

Deliverable 3: Website Redesign RFP Content included: strategic goals, detailed technical and user experience requirements, preferred timeline and cost range, proposal requirements, scoring guidelines, and an evaluation rubric (internal only)

Deliverable 4: Stakeholder Education and Change Management Support Activities included: collaborative workshops, 1:1 and small group interviews and discussions, presentations, and board meeting support

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Project ran on-time and on-budget 
Received multiple appropriate RFP responses 
Selected a vendor with a high level of confidence

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

Capellic worked with us to use our project management tool of choice. They stayed in close communication throughout the project, were transparent about project progress and scope, and proactive about identifying and remediating project risks. They kept the project on time and on budget. And, they were fun to work with!

What was your primary form of communication with Capellic LLC?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

I was most impressed by the level of expertise and care they brought to our digital experience strategy project, particularly in user research, digital strategy, and stakeholder engagement. Our project involved stakeholders across our organization with different perspectives and priorities. Capellic LLC helped us develop a shared vision and priorities, grounded in data and best practices, that set us up for a successful implementation phase.

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

The team at Capellic features highly skilled and capable individuals. I would encourage leadership to consistently place the team members front and center and to let them shine. Their deep connection to the work they do is what drew us in.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am a department VP at Easterseals

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

With our national Affiliate network, Easterseals provides essential services to children and adults with disabilities, older adults, veterans, and their families.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Capellic LLC to accomplish?

• Develop a research-informed digital experience, content, information architecture, and design strategy for the national and affiliate website ecosystem
• Develop a product roadmap to guide short- and long-term strategic growth
• Define technical requirements for a Drupal-based platform-as-a-service
• Research and recommend a new CMS
• Build, QA, and conduct user accessibility testing
• Train staff in the new platform and support launch
• Onboard affiliate staff to the new platform and support 30+ website migrations to the PaaS

SOLUTION

How did you find Capellic LLC?

Referral

Why did you select Capellic LLC over others?

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

How many teammates from Capellic LLC were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

This multiyear digital transformation project had 6 phases to move the Easterseals network to a new digital experience platform.

• Phase 1 key deliverable: Research & Findings Recommendation. Content included analyses of the state of Easterseals enterprise systems; the user experience; sector best practices; stakeholder goals, priorities, and alignment with a digital program.
• Phase 2 key deliverable: Website Strategy Brief. Activities and content included: Strategic goal definition, audience definition, technical requirements definition, user experience requirements, program strategy, timeline and budget planning.
• Phase 3 key deliverable: CMS evaluation and selection. Activities included defining CMS requirements, including integrations, creating an evaluation rubric, and assessing several CMSes against the rubric.
• Phase 4 key deliverables: Information Architecture (IA) definition & Design Snapshot. IA content and activities included research, stakeholder workshops, and the development of a sitemap and taxonomy for Easterseals national office and a localized version for affiliates. Design Snapshot content and activities included a creative brief and the finalization of typography, color palette, imagery and graphic treatments to be used in the website visual identity system.
• Phase 5 key deliverable: Page designs. Content and activities included: storyboards for new page templates, component functional specifications, wireframes, content templates, and training for writers and editors on using the templates.
• Phase 6 key deliverable: National and first affiliate site launches. Activities for getting to launch included: writing technical specifications, building the backend, implementing the design system, training content editors on the CMS, and developing a migration technical and change management strategy for site rollout to 30+ affiliates. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Increase in search engine traffic
• Increase in site accessibility score
• Increase in average time on site PaaS adoption by 30+ Easterseals affiliates, increasing brand cohesion and recognition, decreasing support time needed per affiliate and affiliates’ IT expenditure, freeing up budget for programs and services
• Timeline: Project completed several months early
• Budget: Project completed under budget 

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

The team consistently met deadlines and exceeded expectations on deliverables. There were proactive check-ins to communicate any needs to be addressed. 

What was your primary form of communication with Capellic LLC?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Capellic's depth and breadth of expertise in creating accessible web platforms is unparalleled. Their thoughtful, data-informed digital design and information architecture differentiate them from web vendors we've worked with in the past. 

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

Nothing comes to mind!