Doublesided

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am one of the Senior Managers at Hackney City Farm. We are a charity founded by local people in 1984 as a place for people to learn about food, farming and the wider environment. Today we are a thriving community resource, encouraging people to get involved in a wide range of activities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Doublesided?

Our website needed redesigning after serving us well for 10 years. It had grown organically and there was a recognition it was out of date. The donor journey was difficult.

SOLUTION

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

They had created the previous two websites when their office was near the Farm. We decided to use Doublesided again because working with them on previous projects had been succesful. They had always put our needs first and understood our organisational values and objectives.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Doublesided worked closely with the Farm holding a strategy workshop to define the Farm's brand values and create the site's structure. They organised a photo shoot and created the design, built the site and populated it with content. They also did some technical things to ensure we stay in Google with the new site.

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

We worked directly with the owners who are a technical and creative couple.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The new website from Doublesided has been a huge success in bringing more people to visit Hackney City Farm. Doublesied researched contactless donation boxes for us and we now have two which bring in significant donations. The website itself has online donations too, and we’ve received more than from the previous website. We now take booking and online payment for room hire and school visits.

Before, we had a paper diary and had to check bank statements. It’s so much easier now. Staff have more time to focus on work rather than answering emails as the information on the website is up-to-date and clear. Team building days (or corporate volunteering days) are bringing in a great income too. We have at least twelve bookings per month over summer. With the old website we had 2 bookings a month.

This interest in our organisation and our work has led to more lump sum corporate donations. We’re now moving away from relying on grant funding as visits, donations and bookings are so high.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had meetings at Hackney City Farm and kept informed on progress over email. We had scheduled sessions between ourselves and Doublesided and were able to quickly solve problems in between meetings over the phone.

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

They always bring a lot of clarity to what our site should be and how it can help us deliver our charitable services. Great to work with!

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

Doublesided were able to deliver the project to our budget by donating some of their time and working around their other projects. If we did it again, I would have tried to secure more funding in advance and keep the project timeframe tighter.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am one of the IT Business Relationship Managers at the University of Sheffield. I represent the Faculty of Engineering, through this relationship I work closely with Doublesided on some key web sites.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Doublesided, and what were your goals?

Doublesided have been onboard with the Faculty longer than I have been in post and have provided several websites in the past and continue to provide support for some critical legacy sites.

SOLUTION

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

Doublesided were already onboard when I came into post, and they had pre-existing relationships with some of the key academics involved with the sites that Doublesided look after for us

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

Doublesided have done a lot of work for us, from ground up site redevelopment to on going maintenance and support – as well as reactive help when we have needed some additional expertise – e.g. stabilising / securing older sites.

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

I work mainly with John. We do have a comms team our side but the sites Doublesided look after for us sit outside what our local team can technically do – due to the historic way the legacy sites came to be. So the Doublesided assistance is essential.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

A lot of the work Doublesided do for us is annual support and maintenance - so the benefit is ongoing in terms of the sites being available and secure

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

During a recent website stabilisation / modernisation project Doublesided did - taking legacy sites and updating the platforms (e.g. php) the work was well planned, communications very good and delivery in the agreed timeframes / budget.

As it was a technical piece of work – rather than a ground up development a lot of the ‘under the hood’ work happened on the Doublesided end, with us being contacted for testing as suitable milestones were reached. This included security testing which was the main driver.

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

As well as the technical quality of the work we have always appreciated the timely and professional communications with Doublesided. They are a pragmatic about their work, and offer really good advice – in a non salesy way.

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

We have always been happy with Doublesided, the long term relationship we have is beneficial as there is trust on both sides.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The European Public Policy Associates (EPPA) is a management consultancy that specialises in advising clients on their relationship with government institutions. I am the director and one of the partners, and I look after technical and IT-related matters that we may have to do for our clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Doublesided?

We needed to create a new identity for the UK arm of EPPA to separate ourselves from the several offices in Europe. We hired Doublesided to help us with that challenge.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started by explaining our objectives to John (CTO) and Tamera (Creative Director). They then went to create wireframes for a new, more modern WordPress website as well as a new logo and illustrations. Across all of those designs, Doublesided emulated a modern and sophisticated corporate style. 

Doublesided also helped us create a more fluid website experience by making the site look like a scrollable single page and creating links to each of the different sections. They built a modern menu system that allows visitors to flick between key points of our products and services.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with the owners, John and Tamara. There were also developers and people involved in other aspects of the project.

How did you come to work with Doublesided?

I met Doublesided through a networking event a long time ago. They had already done work for us prior to this project, so we decided to engage them again for this new approach. 

How much have you invested with them?

It was just under £8,000 (approximately $11,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

This particular project started around August 2015 and was completed right before the end of that year. Doublesided has gone on to do other projects for us since. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don't have any metrics as such, but we do consider it a success that the website is out there and is currently getting hits as reference material. It has a modern visual appeal that could potentially drive clients to get in contact with us.

One colleague of mine is very happy not just with the outcome of the design but also with John’s ability to walk him through the technical process. Tamara's expertise in graphic design translated my colleague's verbal goals into a visual identity.

How did Doublesided perform from a project management standpoint?

Doublesided was very good from a project management standpoint. Tamara supplied us with an agenda that broke down the steps that were going to be taken, and they were much clearer than some of the other teams that I’ve worked with. We were always informed about how long something was going to take and we were kept in the loop about their progress.

We didn’t utilize any project management tools. Given that it was not a large website, we didn’t need to have that level of control over it. Tamara, however, established a very good planning agenda that contained specifications and a project roadmap.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very talented web designers. I have relied on their expertise for a lot of advice across all of the projects that they had done for us, they were very focused and extremely responsive. We established a good rapport and I was able to get a hold of John anytime I had a question.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing that stood out.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open and honest with Doublesided about what you want to achieve because they’re very good at interpreting your wishes. If you give them an honest platform to work on, they will do their very best for you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the former secretary of the European Society of Contact Dermatitis when I worked with Doublesided. I’m currently a medical practitioner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Doublesided?

We needed immediate help in redesigning our website which included a membership portal for making online payments. Our previous developer left us without any access to our website or domain name. As a result, we were forced to ask our members to pay by bank transfer or cheque which was both an incomplete and very time-consuming process.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Doublesided redesigned our WordPress website when we got our domain name back. We met them in their central London office when we worked together on the new site’s structure. They revamped our website, and while doing so, they suggested a lot of improvements to make it modern looking. Some things were provided by us, but a lot of the design ideas came from them. The team did that by changing our platform’s color scheme, setting up our membership system, integrating banking options, and importing all the member details that we provided to them. More importantly, they ensured that our site was user-friendly.

They also implemented a support ticketing system that could reduce the work of our organization’s secretary. That way, there was no need for the secretary to answer all questions related to payments, memberships, and easy to answer questions such as what to do with lost passwords. On top of that, the Doublesided team also made it easier for our members to communicate with each other. They also enabled them to access each other’s contact details to ensure the smooth working of our society.

Furthermore, the team was in charge of coordinating with journal publishers to ensure that all of our stakeholders receive their journals in their correct addresses. The journal that our members received were related to our subspeciality. We gave Doublesided the list of our members as well as their respective address details. There were also links to the electronic form of the journal for members who didn’t want to subscribe to the paper.

What is the team composition?

There were two owners within the company, including a developer and a creative. The developer was our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Doublesided?

We found them because they had developed a website for our sister company, a UK medical dermatology society. We did get a couple of quotes from different suppliers. However, Doublesided’s price was more favorable to us. Above all, they came across as very genuine, helpful, and responsive.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent £42,000 (approximately $58,618 USD). Then, we spent £10,000 (approximately $13,900 USD) on the initial website design.

What is the status of this engagement?

I worked with Doublesided from June 2016–March 2020. The Doublesided team continues to work with our society, but I handed my position to somebody else 18 months ago.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We saw a substantial improvement on our website with Doublesided’s support. Thanks to them, our platform became easy to use. More importantly, whenever our members had inquiries such as lost passwords, they immediately resolved them. We received positive feedback from our members because our system was very responsive.

How did Doublesided perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management process was good, and they kept their word on our agreed deadlines. Since we were both based in the UK, our initial meetings were face-to-face because it was easy for us to meet in the London office. However, subsequent communication was via email. We also had video calls when I was in meeting with other committee members who were based in all regions of Europe. Overall, our conference calls where we discussed various aspects were very smooth.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Doublesided was very amenable if we wanted something altered. They were quite patient despite us not being very tech-savvy. They translated our requirements into technically workable outputs that were beneficial to all our members.

With them, we were able to get things up and running. They also ensured that everything was functional with their great maintenance support. Moreover, they were great compared to the firm that we worked with before. That previous company went out of business and didn’t even inform us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We weren’t as demanding as companies who might be in the commercial sector. We didn’t count if they were getting many hits and scoring highly. As a result, I couldn’t comment on areas they could improve. We only knew that they were very responsive, and if there was something that they could've done better, they could still come up with suggestions for improvements.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Listen to what they have to say because they have good ideas. If you think you aren’t creative, you can channel their team’s creativity and let them translate that into a deliverable that works well. Above all, put your trust in Doublesided.