Creative Stack Ltd

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder and creative director of design agency FireBelly. We service a range of clients: Start-ups, SMEs and larger corporations – across a diverse range of sectors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Creative Stack Ltd, and what were your goals?

We hired Creative Stack to develop a website for one of our key clients. They needed to make the transition from design to dev as pixel perfect as possible, allowing for responsive breakpoints and mobile. We need to the content to load fast and the CMS to be simple and easy for the client to manage ongoing.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We selected Creative Stack from a list of suppliers we use for different purposes. We choose them because they were calm, solutions-orientated, technically sharp and well explained. They also worked together with us to help resolve client all questions / amends.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We started with a creative kick-off meeting, sense checking the functionalities and potential problems, scoped the pricing and delivery, file handover and prototype review. The site is built using WordPress. The amends and creative review steps were clear and clean. Approvals seamless and easy for the client to comment. Once we pushed live, we conducted a wash-up meeting to review best practice and learnings. Additionally, we completed a round 2 of client updates and design additions.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

At least 3 people from Creative Stack were involved;

• Company Owner
• Project Dev Lead
• Dev Support

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

It is a brand new site, so no analytics to compare. But the client is very happy and creating marketing materials to push traffic and interest.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We had a weekly chat to review progress. Additionally, WhatApp and Email were the primary chat tools.

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

They were calm under pressure, had great open communication, and had fair pricing.

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

Perhaps some more design sensitivities in places, but being picky here :)

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Managing Director of Jump Media Group - we work with clients across the UK on marketing and digital strategy and delivery.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Creative Stack Ltd, and what were your goals?

We hired Creative Stack across multiple projects to support our delivery in developing websites and custom software. We had a skills gap that needed addressing - Creative Stack were the solution. They supported us, grew with us, and brought a full range of development expertise to our projects, ensuring success.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We trialled Creative Stack on some basic projects to start with, based on a recommendation. We progressed to a full-blown partnership, completed some urgent project and exceeded our client's and our own expectations.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We worked with Creative Stack across technologies - including Drupal, Pyro and Wordpress CMS, through to React, Java and the latest versions of HTML, PHP, and so on. We worked side-by-side with them on detailed project plans and scopes of work to deliver an extensive feature list across projects.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We have worked with approximately 10 people from the Creative Stack team, though of course there is a talented team of developers working on projects who we haven't personally met. We worked with people across positions such as CTO, PM and Senior Developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

WIth Creative Stack's help we've managed to turn around significant projects in record time, suffered zero security/data breaches, and have delivered on various client goals.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We worked closely with Creative Stack to manage projects using shared project management tools such as GIT, Monday.com and ClickUp. We met with them on Skype regularly and never felt out of the loop or unable to communicate with them. We kept tightly aligned across projects to ensure we were working to the same goals, standards, visions and timelines.

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

I felt like Creative Stack were a direct extension of our team - exactly what we wanted with a partnership of this kind.

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

We constantly spoke with the Creative Stack team about how to improve our joint processes and ways or working together - we really appreciated feeling like this was a joint evolution to gold standard.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there? 

I’m the CMO of Prsnt, a startup gifting and B2C SaaS platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative Stack?

We needed their team to aid our product development efforts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Creative Stack has initially helped us identify and assess vulnerabilities in an MVP that our in-house team and a third-party vendor have built via React Native and Laravel. They've helped us perform code refactoring and move the platform to Flutter, apply modifications, and implement new features, including a detailed admin panel and a functionality that measures market behavior. Once we've resolved those, we've conducted product testings to ensure the product's efficacy.

Additionally, Creative Stack has helped us build our SaaS platform, which enables us to engage with various businesses and allow them to distribute gifts in bulk.

What is the team composition?

We work with a team of front- and backend developers and UX consultants.

How did you come to work with Creative Stack?

I had worked with them on previous projects. We launched a vetting process for this project but ended up choosing Creative Stack because of their proven expertise and organized workflow. 

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent £136,000 (approximately $180,000 USD) so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in November 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our MVP has now surpassed a  £12,000 (approximately $16,000 USD) revenue, with over 4,500 users and 2,000 sent gifts as of writing. We highly appreciate Creative Stack for building solutions that have prevented our initial efforts from going to waste and supporting our team to make the product as viable as possible. Following our go-live's success, we've secured enough funding to push for our MMP's development. We've also received positive feedback regarding the SaaS platform's user-friendliness.

How did Creative Stack perform from a project management perspective?

We communicate via Slack and Microsoft Teams and use Monday for project management. Creative Stack is a flexible and proactive team that works effectively within our timelines and budget. They've gone the extra mile to ensure minimal involvement from our team's end, allowing us to focus on integral tasks.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Creative Stack collaborates seamlessly with our in-house team and provides honest feedback that adds value to our product.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There's none I can think of at this point.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Pay attention to their suggestions and be transparent in highlighting your needs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We specialize in local presence management and marketing for multi-location retailers predominantly in the UK. We're in our 13th year of operation, and I'm the managing director and founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative Stack Ltd.?

We were working with one of the largest retailers in the UK; in fact, two of the largest retailers, and they were specifically asking for technology capabilities that would require us to develop a platform.

Prior to this project, Creative Stack had developed a platform for us to manage our own operations, which we've used successfully. There was still a real challenge developing APIs that would work with our retail clients and their store finder pages, as well as Google My Business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Creative Stack first developed a proprietary back-office platform that allowed our operations to manage our client work. It handles thousands of data points across multiple retail locations and multiple clients. We further developed a platform with Creative Stack which helped to integrate with our client platforms and Google My Business specifically, where that data had to go.

I provided them with all the proper documentation requirements, and they built the platform. Creative Stack’s team usually provides us with the resources and insights to try out ideas in MVP form.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact is their CTO. I don’t speak to or know what the full team is comprised of.

How did you come to work with Creative Stack Ltd.?

They actually found me through cold calling. We're based in Brighton, as they are, and the founder at the time called me up. I don't usually respond to cold calls very well, but what he said to me and his timing seemed to resonate with our ethos and our principles.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent roughly between £20,000– £25,000 ($26,000–$33,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started around six years ago in January 2016, and the engagement is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Operationally, we’ve seen at least a 300% productivity improvement in our operations because our team no longer has to do a whole chunk of work that was previously required. Our client required this detailed metric more than we did, but it was still nice to see. It’s an amazing improvement.

How did Creative Stack Ltd. perform from a project management standpoint?

They excel at managing timeframes and expectations; I gave an outline of the process and they developed a schedule for delivery and communication, including regular update calls. These calls allowed us to share progress and answer any questions that came up.

Greg (Managing Director) is very hands-on in terms of keeping clients happy and ensuring that their needs are being met by the developers. His CTO has also been very good in terms of communicating with me.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Firstly, they speak my language and help manage expectations. Their pricing is also clearly defined; we know what we're getting.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There are some cultural elements that sometimes go askew, like if you talk to someone and they think that you're saying one thing but you’re actually saying something else. This risks misinterpretation. Their invoicing could also be better sometimes.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear about what your core requirements are. Have a vision as to where you want to take the business.