deco.agency

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

CEO, Editor-in-chief at Rubryka.com

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire deco.agency?

Website and identity

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to launch a brand new media project on society, politics, and economics. Our goal was to enter the market fast and loudly with a professional look and feel to get more credibility at the very beginning.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Deco is well-known in Ukraine as one of the top agencies on the market, so we decided to contact them. Their offer was suitable for us, so we went with them.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They’ve created an absolutely new brand and a website from a short idea description. It was a fast and very flexible process for us.

What was the team composition?

We were in contact mostly with PM, sometimes with the CEO. They assembled a team accordingly to our needs, we haven’t participated in the process of human resources management.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We haven’t set any particular KPIs for the studio, as the project was something new. However, we are fully satisfied with the result of their work. Now we have a modern identity, cool design and a convenient admin area for the editorial team along with lots of automated processes on the back-end.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Everything was great. The timing couldn’t be better. They provided us with access to their task management system, where we could control the process and make our requests. Both CEO and PM were very friendly and open-minded.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I haven’t seen this level of understanding of the client’s needs before. They created exactly what we wanted in no time, and instantly started working on prototypes. As a result, we have a great website developed perfectly within our timeframe which is rarely the case from my experience.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, everything was great

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Editor-in-chief at Kurs.if.ua

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire deco.agency?

Identity facelifting and creating a new website

What were your goals for this project?

In short, by refreshing the look of our website, we wanted to make it more convenient for our readers. We also required to increase our earnings from the banner ads thus to make more space for them as well as improve their visibility.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We knew Deco as the leader of the Ukrainian market, so decided to go with them this time.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Completely new website with the new brand identity and based on the different CMS (WordPress), content migration and some other changes.

What was the team composition?

We were speaking only to PM and CEO, and they made everything possible on their end.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

What I can share is some page views increase. We didn’t set any KPI in the field of an audience, though, so we are satisfied with the end result.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Great timing, very efficient guys. We used their task-management system to organize the process, and everything was perfect.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

It’s quite rare to see a company that precisely understands what you need. They did the first mockup, and it was not exactly what we wanted, but the second one was perfect which was unexpected as usually, such a process takes much more time and the number of attempts.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Everything was fine.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CEO of JetSetter.ua, an online magazine about celebrities in Ukraine.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire deco.agency?

We needed help with the development of our website, as well as ongoing support afterward.

What were your goals for this project?

To get a new design that’s glamorous and attractive to draw in a new audience and impress our present one, increasing our income from the ads. We wanted the overall look to be fresher, with possibilities for creating new formats as well.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

A couple of our partners who’d already worked with them recommended them.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They worked on a really beautiful new design of our website, including a mobile version. They added a lot of new functionality as our old site was based on another CMS, so we required a massive content transfer.

What was the team composition?

We’ve only been in contact with their CEO and project manager, so we don’t know exactly how many people worked on the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Immediately after launching the new site, our page views more than doubled, the time spent on the site increased, and our bounce rate decreased by 30%. We’re satisfied with the financial side as well, but I can’t share that information.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We’re using email, Facebook Messenger, and their task management system for communication. They allocate resources according to their understanding of our project, which is effective.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They really understood what we needed and were very adjustable.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We’d like more affordable prices, but we understand that good quality is something that you need to pay for.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I had been a publisher and CEO of AIN.ua for 6 years, from 2010 to 2016. AIN.ua is the biggest online media on internet-business in Ukraine with more than 1 million monthly visitors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire deco.agency?

In 2010 already leading in the respective field media AIN.ua needed a new vision. So, we hired deco.agency to develop a new style for our brand and make website redesign along with adding new functions such as vacancies catalog, event calendar and many back-end functions for the editing team. Then, we agreed on continuing our partnership after the first version of a new website developing new functionality and refreshing design due to the changing landscape.

What were your goals for this project?

The main goal was to create a fresh, modern and comfortable design reflecting AIN’s leading position on the Ukrainian market.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I knew the CEO of deco.agency Olexiy from Twitter. He replied to my open call for a studio which can make new AIN happen, we agreed on the terms, and that is how it all started.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

After the first rebranding (logo, company style) and the new website (with a lot of new functionality) in 2010, we remained partners with deco. They have supported AIN for 6 years until it’s been sold to the other owner with a different vision of the project. However, even now they are using some of deco’s products and works in the new version as far as I know. In sum, we’ve made 2 rebrandings with deco (we updated the one made in 2010 in a few years), and 6 solid generations of the website during those 7 years. This included updating and creating new functionality, modules, and sections of the website.

What was the team composition?

For the most part, we contacted with PM, leaving the particulars of team composition to him/her. As it had been 6 years, we worked with several PMs, but they’d always been communicative and willing to help us with our questions and concerns. Along with that, we had direct communication with CEO.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We’d been growing for all those 6 years remaining the leading media in our field leaving others way beyond the competition. I sold AIN in 2016, but wanted to recommend deco as the company which helped us in gaining audience and profit. If I am to decide doing new media or any other kind of web project for such matter, deco is going to be my first choice.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

During the 6 years of our close cooperation, we’ve become friends, so we developed the mutual understanding of the project and how it should evolve. As I said earlier, we’d been in direct contact with CEO as well as all PMs, so I can’t think of any issues worth mention.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was impressed with the quality of the final product and that they have no limits. Anything we asked for, literally any functionality no matter how complex they managed to create or change.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Despite their ability of creating complex products in quite short time, it’s still a relatively small company, so you need to pay more attention to scheduling.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Interesting Kyiv is a community of Kyiv history enthusiasts, founded as some kind of collective blog. I later came to an idea of developing a tour business around this community.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire deco.agency?

We wanted a website that could contain all our content as well as tour booking and an online shop all in the same platform. It needed to be convenient and well-structured, so we needed a great deal of backend functionality such as a full-scale CRM system for our guides.

What were your goals for this project?

To convert our search and social traffic into tour orders.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I’ve known their CEO personally for some time.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

This was a new project from scratch. They developed a platform containing three different modules: a content module, a booking module, and full-scale e-commerce module—all with their own CRM and synchronized and connected to an external CRM system, currently Oodoo.

The project required a lot of custom backend development, such as ticket generation, a complex discount system, online booking and management tools, Google Maps integration based on the custom maps layer, and many others. We launched the first version in 2013, updated it a few years later, and are still collaborating on it.

What was the team composition?

We had direct communication with the CEO during the early stages, and later with a project manager. I now speak with their task manager and can communicate with the developers directly.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We launched the platform, which turned out to be a successful business. It’s the most complex tour platform available in Ukraine, and that pays off with our satisfied clients.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

They’re available for us at any time. After years of working together, I know most of them personally, so we’re able to solve any questions or issues very quickly.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Before working with them, I couldn’t even imagine that such a big and complex project could be made based on WordPress. They can do anything.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I’d prefer if their prices were lower, but it’s all worth it.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the editor-in-chief of Na chasi, a Ukrainian media on innovations, technology, business, and urban development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire deco.agency?

We planned to launch a new media project and needed a company with a reliable reputation for full-cycle design and development: identity, UI/UX, back-end and front-end.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed bright and vibrant identity and branding from scratch based on our vision of the project, responsive mobile-first design, swift, powerful and highly customizable CMS (WordPress was our choice) with multi-language support. Also, we wanted as many processes as automatized as possible.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We are trying to choose the local companies to work with, and deco.agency was well-known as one of the best companies on the market with rich expertise in media projects which is exactly what we needed. We heard a lot of good words about them from our colleagues as well.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

On the first meeting, we described our vision and requests to CEO and dedicated designer, agreed on budgeting, and they immediately started to work. Things moved really quickly, and we changed a lot of things on the fly. We as people from new media are used to such a flexible approach, so we were glad that we got along with deco team in that case.

What was the team composition?

We had the project manager with whom we were in contact all the time. He and the designer were the only ones we contacted during the development. However, all our wishes and requests were properly communicated to the rest of the team, so we were all good. Now they continue to support and develop Na chasi dedicating their specialists according to our requests.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We have successfully launched the project on time. It's been recognized by our colleagues as one of the most technically advanced and beautiful media in our country. We have one of the lowest bounce rates on the market, and other numbers are great as well.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Although we had some delays during the development process, we understand that they were necessary, and the PM was always in contact and helpful. All in all, they delivered the project on time with some additional features as compensation for those delays, and we are more than satisfied with the project management.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were able to create a high-quality product on a very tight schedule. Also, deco is one of the most communicative and constructive contractors I've ever work with.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, that I can think of