Dragon Army

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CCO of General Board of Global Ministries, Higher Education and Ministry and UMCOR

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

As an agency of The United Methodist Church, Global Ministries collaborates with partners in more than 100 countries to connect the church in mission and alleviate human suffering.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Dragon Army to accomplish?

• Increase donor conversions and constituent engagement through compelling impact stories
• Connect individuals to short and long-term mission opportunities
• Consolidate resource information for leaders, participants and donors to global ministry

SOLUTION

How did you find Dragon Army?

• Online Search
• Referral

Why did you select Dragon Army over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Dragon Army were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

This project focused on improving the organization’s website to better serve constituents by enhancing usability, content, and design. The first step involved researching why users visited the site and how they sought information, including how language influenced their behavior. These insights guided the development of a more intuitive navigation structure and ensured that the website’s design supported clear, efficient information pathways. Collaboration with IT also ensured seamless integration between Salesforce and the content management system (CMS), allowing smooth transitions between project and missionary pages.

Based on the research findings, the team refined existing navigation categories, created new templates and landing pages, and generated content that highlighted the organization’s mission and impact. Department staff were guided in crafting content that engaged diverse audiences, emphasized outcomes, and promoted giving, while maintaining consistent messaging across pages. Multimedia elements—such as videos and images—were used strategically to enhance storytelling, with internal teams managing production through existing digital asset systems.

Finally, user testing ensured that the site functioned effectively across languages, regions, and devices, and adjustments were made as needed. Training was provided for internal content creators and the web team to manage and update the CMS independently, ensuring long-term sustainability and optimal use of new tools and templates.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Dragon Army produced a large project tracking document, which was updated weekly. This weekly update served as the basis for our progress tracking. 

The project team broke the project down into four phases, with signoff components on each. Dragon Army helped to construct clearly defined progress goals for us and ensured we had signoff on each one before moving forward with the next phase of work. At the end of the project, the team had a large and comprehensive UAT feedback document that allowed our team to expeditiously report edits, bugs and issues prior to launch. These were resolved or moved to future work daily as UAT progressed. 

Finally, upon launch, we received less than 10 negative feedback points on the website, and several positive points of feedback. That is unprecedented in our organization. 

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

The Dragon Army project team was incredibly responsive to all requests and ensured timely delivery of expectations and work product. Moreover, the project management team worked with us as expectation or team capacity shifted so we always had a clear, realistic and enforcable timeline goal for each project objective. The weekly tracking and progress document also helped us answer internal questions in a pinch. The team also used several large mapping, development, UX and other tools including Figma and SmartSuite to help us provide feedback and see progress as needed. 

What was your primary form of communication with Dragon Army?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

First, Dragon Army approaches projects with a highly structured process, which worked culturally for our organization. In fact, it was critical for our success. Their use of game theory was unique and challenged our team to think in more creative ways ways.

In addition, the Dragon Army team showed dedication and care to our team and project throughout the engagement. We felt both supported and invested in by the Dragon Army team.

We, at no point, felt like "just another client." We were teammates working towards the same goal.

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

Yes; one edit to a tool would have saved us some frustration, as well as additional process clarification for review. 

While Figma was a helpful platform to use, it was difficult to manage and navigate. If there was an easier to use platform, it would be helpful to some team memebrs. 

In addition, more clarity on how our teams could use the UX framework, coupled with draft writing documents, would have helped us reduce some uncertainty with our content team, and perhaps made the editing process more smooth. 

Finally, more clarity on when UAT was "over" and what we needed to make sure we compelted would have saved a few emails. 

These small edits could save clients some head scratching and a few hours' work. That said, overall the process was incredibly smooth and the most clear process our leadership team has engaged with. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the VP of Marketing of an information technology company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Provides endpoint and application management software to IT teams around the world. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Dragon Army to accomplish?

• New brand
• New website

SOLUTION

How did you find Dragon Army?

Referral

Why did you select Dragon Army over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Dragon Army were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Our project involved a complete rebrand, CMS selection, and website design/build from the ground up. The agency guided us through an in-depth discovery process to understand our brand, audience, and business goals before developing a cohesive new visual identity and digital presence.

The deliverables included a comprehensive brand guide, detailed wireframes, and UX/UI designs that reflected our updated brand direction. The team also designed and built a fully functional website on a new CMS platform, consisting of approximately 20 pages with custom templates, integrations, and plug-ins to support our marketing and operational needs.

Throughout the process, the agency provided strategic recommendations on CMS options, handled technical implementation, and ensured seamless integration with our existing tools and systems. The end result was a modern, user-friendly website that effectively communicates our refreshed brand and supports future scalability.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s still early to assess long-term performance since the new site launched just one month ago. However, initial indicators have been very positive. Notably, we did not experience any dip in website traffic during the transition from our old site to the new one—something that’s quite rare in my experience with site migrations.

Beyond the data, the visual impact and overall brand perception have improved significantly. The new site better reflects our updated brand identity and provides a more cohesive and modern user experience. Stakeholder feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with teams across the organization expressing strong satisfaction with both the design and functionality.

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

Even with a few twists and turns on our end throughout the project, the Dragon Army team handled everything with professionalism and flexibility. They remained highly organized and consistently communicated with us about timelines, potential blockers, and overall project status.

We always knew exactly where things stood, thanks to their proactive updates and clear communication. Despite the natural challenges that come with a large-scale project like this, they delivered everything on time and were extremely responsive to our needs. Their project management approach gave us complete confidence from start to finish.

What was your primary form of communication with Dragon Army?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

What stood out most about Dragon Army was not just their ability to deliver high-quality work, but the energy and attitude they brought to the partnership. They were an incredibly fun and positive team to collaborate with — always upbeat, encouraging, and genuinely invested in our success.

They celebrated our milestones as if they were their own, creating a true sense of shared achievement throughout the project. That combination of professionalism, creativity, and enthusiasm made working with them a standout experience.

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

Honestly, there aren’t any areas that come to mind. The Dragon Army team delivered everything we needed with professionalism, creativity, and clear communication. The project ran smoothly from start to finish, and we were extremely satisfied with both the process and the final outcome.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Development of Whitefield Academy

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

A private, Christian college prepatory school serving Prek thru 12th grade.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Dragon Army to accomplish?

• Capture past, present and future of school to launch public phase of capital campaign.
• Explain the importance of the capital campaign and get people to donate towards effort.

SOLUTION

How did you find Dragon Army?

Online Search

Why did you select Dragon Army over others?

• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Dragon Army were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Dragon Army created an immersive experience for campaign prospects to walk-thru on campus. The experience had 5 engaging installations/exhibits within the experience. Dragon Army provided the following:

-Project management

-Video creation (storyboarding, scripting, filming, editing and final product) for 5 videos

-Interactive student gallery

-Digital tour of new building

-Concepts for timeline, signage and prayer wall

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Visitors to the experience gained a better understanding of the history of Whitefield and what was next as it related to campus growth, visitors were inspired to pray and support the project financially as well.

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

Dragon Army did a great job managing all the moving parts of the project. I was able to rely on the project manager to keep everyone involved on task and she ensured deadlines were met from everyone. They were willing to jump on a call to discuss more details if needed and requested. 

What was your primary form of communication with Dragon Army?

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

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

Dragon Army approached the project with a genuine and authentic interest in our brand and project. They continue to check-in and see how the project is going, even though their involvement is finished!

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

We did have a couple of contact changes during our partnership - but they seemed to transitional well.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Executive Director of Atlanta Children's Day Shelter

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

The Atlanta Children's Day Shelter provides day services to parents and children to break the cycle of poverty for families facing homelessness by building pathways to long-term self-sufficiency and providing quality early childhood education.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Dragon Army to accomplish?

• Brand Audit
• Brand Refresh (Logo and New Name)

SOLUTION

How did you find Dragon Army?

Referral

Why did you select Dragon Army 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 Dragon Army were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Dragon Army will meet with stakeholder teams within the Atlanta Children’s Shelter group as part of this project. This project will lead to the creation of a Stylescape to provide visual identity and design direction. We will also complete audits of current branding and marketing and competitive analysis and provide our recommendations and findings.

SCOPE ACTIVITIES & DELIVERABLES

Kickoff Meeting and Future Planning Meeting

• Activities:
• One (1) Project Kickoff Meeting

 Goal: Hold 1-hour project kickoff to introduce teams, align on project goals, confirm timing, discuss critical projects needs, and level-set project expectations and deliverables

Deliverables:

• One (1) Project Kickoff Meeting Recap (PDF)

Stakeholder Sessions
Activities:

• Review client-provided documentation and current branding
• Stakeholder Session(s) Prep and Guide(s) Creation
• Stakeholder Session(s) Recaps/Documentation
• Up to three (3) virtual Stakeholder Sessions

Deliverables:

• Up to three (3) Stakeholder Session Guides
• Up to three (3) Stakeholder Session Recaps/Meeting Notes

Current Marketing/Branding Audits
Activities:

• Basic Audits for current marketing and branding. More comprehensive audits would be completed in the next phase of work.
• Marketing/Messaging Audit
• Social Media/Owned Channels Audit
• Web Audit

Deliverables:

• One (1) Client Presentation of Audit Findings
• One (1) PDF document of Final Audit and Competitive Landscape Presentation

Competitive Landscape
Activities:

• Create Small Competitive Landscape with up to three (3) competitors and up to five (5) focus areas
• This analysis will show where there is room for improvement and where the current brand exceeds or is on par with the competition.

Deliverables:

• One (1) Client Presentation of Competitive Landscape
• One (1) PDF document of Final Audit and Competitive Landscape Presentation

Content Support
Activities:

• Updated Naming and Light Brand Identity Support

Deliverables:

•  One (1) to three (3) slides to support our recommendation
• Two (2) Rounds of Client Revisions

Creative Stylescape
Activities:

• Creation of one (1) Stylescape
• The visual stylescape is a deliverable showcasing the visual identity and design direction. It typically includes a color palette, typography, imagery and patterns that will be used to guide the design process in the next phase of work.

Deliverables:

• One (1) Client Presentation of Stylescape
• Two (2) Rounds of Client Revisions
• Stylescape delivered via Figma or PDF files

Account and Project Management

• Dragon Army will provide Project Management and Account Management services throughout the duration of the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

A brand audit was completed and then a brand refresh including new name and logo were created.

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

Dragon Army was such a pleasure to work with.  They always hit their deadline and kept us on track during the 6-month project timeline.  I was worried that it was too much for such a short time and not only did they reassure us that the work would get done but then delivered accordingly.  
One of the best things about Dragon Army is that they have one person on the team that is dedicated to client satifaction.  Baylee's role was to check in with me once a month to ask about how we were feeling, if we had concerns, and were there ways that they could improve the relationship.  This model allowed the project managers and graphic designer to do their job while Baylee focused on our needs as a partner. Everyone on the Dragon Army team was highly responsive and amazing to work with.

What was your primary form of communication with Dragon Army?

Email or Messaging App

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

Two things—the customer service approach that I spoke to in the previous question and their hearts for the community. They truly cared about the work being done at the Atlanta Children's Day Shelter, and it meant a lot to them personally to see that the Brand Audit and Refresh project was done well so the Shelter could have better visibility and brand clarity in the community.

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

Nothing comes to mind

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Sr. Performance Marketing Manager of Cox Media

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Cox Media is your partner for marketing success, offering advanced cable and digital advertising products in 22 markets across the United States.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Dragon Army to accomplish?

• Redesign and develop a new corporate website
• Develop new lead generating opportunities on a new corporate website
• Implement quick strategic changes to our current corporate website

SOLUTION

How did you find Dragon Army?

Other

Why did you select Dragon Army over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

What was the size of Dragon Army’s team?

6-10 Employees

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

Our ask was for Dragon Army to implement a series of quick strategic design changes to improve lead gen on our current website while developing a framework for a complete redesign of that site to improve the UI and UX. Next, we had them guide us through the entire process of redesigning and developing a new website with the goal of improving the user flow and increasing lead conversion opportunities.

The end result was the launch of a fully redesigned website with improved UI, UX, and lead conversion opportunities through the use of gamification.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Growth in lead generation
• Improved page rankings in SERPs
• Gained internal PR

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

The Dragon Army team was highly responsive and focused on catering to our needs. They took lead on selecting and setting up a shareable project management tool that helped keep our project organized between teams and sprints.

What was your primary form of communication with Dragon Army?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email
• Messaging App

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

Their ability to provide a high level of strategic value and personalization within our budget parameters.

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

This particular project did require some following up post-launch when bugs or issues were found however they were always responsive and willing to fix any of the small issues we found.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the senior director of brand and consumer marketing for United Way of Greater Atlanta.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dragon Army?

We were trying to get into the mobile space to have year-round engagement. We wanted to create a new entry point for our current donors and potential donors to interact with us. We needed a completely outsourced development team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We scoped together to create a beta version of an iOS mobile app from the ground up. They communicated what they would need from us and what they could do autonomously. Then, they relayed to us the different phases of their process from discovery, review, developing business objectives, production, reviewing processes, submission, and finally, to revision.

During our first phase, they ran into trouble with the type of inventory that our organization provides. However, they were able to create some revisions to use all tools we had available. Dragon Army configured our app to connect with over 300 different organizations and created a way to easily find volunteer opportunities. It's quite a complex application, but they made it a seamless experience for the consumer. They also created keymaps that are organized by counties, so volunteers can identify what's going on in their own county.

We are currently going to start the second phase of the project which will focus on mobile strategy.

What is the team composition?

They provide us with an account executive who leads our day-to-day, an account director who directs the scope and budget, and we have one more project manager who keeps us on deadlines. We also work with their creative and production teams.

How did you come to work with Dragon Army?

Dragon Army’s owner oversees another organization that gathers volunteers with IT skills. Our CMO knew him through this program. We knew they had a pretty good reputation throughout the Atlanta area because they worked with one of my former marketing agencies before.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our engagement in November 2015 and it is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s difficult to list any quantitative metrics, because of the timing of the app's launch. However, the few users that have reviewed the app so far say that it has great UX/UI and they love the design; they all say that it’s easy to use.

How did Dragon Army perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate through email, phone calls, status charts, and weekly/biweekly meetings—more frequently nearing launch. They've been great to work with, and we have a very open and transparent working relationship. Dragon Army always meets timelines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their knowledge in the mobile space is impressive. It’s our first time going into the mobile field, and they are very honest in terms of the type of product we need. Instead of trying to oversell, they know exactly what services or products we need. They are really a partner of ours and know what they’re talking about. They know how to manage clients, how to manage expectations, and they're willing to go above and beyond to create a successful product.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you understand the scope of the work. Understand the project brief for the entire project and the objective you’re trying to accomplish.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the Senior Director of Product Management at American Cancer Society.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dragon Army?

We needed to radically redesign our mobile app, but we lacked the in-house UI and UX experience. We were somewhat knowledgeable, but we didn’t have a deep understanding of mobile users' needs or mobile design skills.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They redid the entire app, which is used to raise money for the American Cancer Society. They played a heavy part in understanding our user base and making the app cater to their lack of broad technical aptitude.

They delivered a series of different wireframes and UXs that they thought would translate well to our mobile app, and we reviewed those wireframes internally, providing feedback they would then integrate and kick back to us. Once those wireframes were approved, we started on the design. They provided us with a series of options and we made the final choice. Everything was delivered through GitHub.

The best thing they did was redesign our payment options within the app. We provide 10 different ways for people to donate money, whether it be posting to Facebook or sending an SMS message; we also accept Apple Pay, Android Pay, PayPal, and can scan checks and credit cards. All of these processes have their own flow, which Dragon Army created. They effectively identified pain points within each of those payment methods and came up with a series of UX and design solutions to make them as easy to use as possible. They even worked through the limitations that collecting certain types of data cast over each process.  

They continue to do maintenance for us and they're building a Facebook chatbot as well, which is completely separate from what they’ve worked on in the past. They’ve also done some web redesign for us, with regards to mobile registration and how consumers register for events. They might start working on a few Amazon Alexa integrations as well.

What is the team composition?

We have a great account manager and account director, but we mostly worked with their UX designer and art director. Our team of five to seven people also included some strategy people.

How did you come to work with Dragon Army?

Someone I knew recommended them to me.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent well over $200,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since March 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We increased app revenue from 2016 to 2017 by over 50%, and a large percentage of that was because of the new app and Dragon Army’s work. Their efforts are even more attributable to app engagement and the time users spend on the app per session. The app has been received very well too.

How did Dragon Army perform from a project management standpoint?

In the beginning, they helped us scope the project and develop a very detailed timeline. When we were in the middle of a project, our project manager and account director would let us know where we were with weekly reports on the hours they worked, any milestones that were reached, and any red flags that came up. They do a really good job of keeping us informed and letting us know if there’s anything we need to be aware of such as cost overruns or technical challenges. They also participated in our daily stand-ups for the first six months.

They’ve gone above and beyond what I would say a normal agency does with regards to deliverables and the quality of deliverables. There’ve been a couple times where they proactively informed us that, even though something was due, they didn’t feel comfortable with the quality, so they were going to take extra time to deliver something that met both our standards. They didn’t charge us for that, and they’ve been very transparent with us. They also worked well with our own resources such as developers, QA people, and offshore help in India.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The depth and breadth of their staff with regards to the types of verticals they have expertise in is impressive. When we have projects that need specific expertise, they always seem to have someone who has experience in those areas. We’re happy with that, as well as the level of quality. If anything, they over-communicate, which not every agency does. They’ve consistently delivered quality products from the very beginning, which also doesn’t happen with other agencies. They’ve taken the extra step to understand what makes us unique and provide solutions that reflect that. I don’t view them as just a mobile design agency, or just a mobile development shop; they do a whole bunch more for us than that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’re happy with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a large consumer packaged goods company. I manage a team called Enterprise Solutions which is part of our global shared services organization. We provide all of the global digital signage needs for the company. We also provide all of the enterprise video streaming capability as well as consumer. We manage all of the company’s mobile app deployment and we have an area that focuses on enterprise product management which includes both web and mobile products - both enterprise facing as well as consumer facing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dragon Army?

We were in the process of building a mobile application. It’s a front door for our IT and HR [human resources] services, which today are fragmented. This means that behind the scenes, the service requests are fulfilled by different teams and different technology platforms, thus preventing the optimal user experience. We decided that we wanted to build a mobile app which would abstract users from the confusion of knowing where to go to get the appropriate support they need. We worked with Dragon Army to conceptualize and build that mobile application. Subsequent to that, we’ve worked with them on other things. That was the genesis of the working relationship.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us with our internal facing app by building both native iOS and Android applications which were deployed to our company enterprise app store. They’ve worked with us to develop a framework that allows us to easily update the application. The app supports our production and distribution side. They built the application in a way that’s scalable as well as easy to manage. So as the organization changes or different teams are rearranged on the backend, we can easily push out updates. They also built a framework that allows us to add multi-lingual support in the future. That’s stuff that will be later released, but all of that was built into the first version.

How did you come to work with Dragon Army?

My team partners heavily with IT, but we also work with a small select group of partner agencies. My team consists of business analysts, product, and project managers. So we don’t actually staff developers within the team itself. Those folks deal with our internal clients as well as the partner agencies. When we were beginning this work, we were connected to Dragon Army through IT. They came in as a referral through them, although I do have some personal history with some members of the team. Prior to Dragon Army’s current incarnation, they acquired Proving Grounds, who we already had a working relationship with in the mobile space. They did a blackberry application for us many years ago. Because of this prior relationship, it was good fortune that IT blessed the engagement with them. Typically, IT keeps tight reigns on who we can partner with on the agency side.

How much have you invested with Dragon Army?

The first project was $50,000 to $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Since the completion of this project, Dragon Army has become one of the vendors that my department uses for fulfilment of mobile projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

They were quick to deliver, even though we’re a little slow to deploy. They finished on time. We’ve gone through multiple rounds of review and stakeholder feedback. We actually have not officially launched. We’ve set that for within the next two weeks [Sept. 2016] which is long overdue. We’ve gone through multiple revisions and we’ve gone back to them several times, although it was nothing they did. As the program has grown, we’ve had to iterate before we get the first version out the door. The mobile app itself spawned a much larger program. Now we’ve broadened the scope of the program to include desktop as well.

How did Dragon Army perform from a project management standpoint?

Superb. They gave regular updates. There wasn’t a time that I felt in the dark. The lines of communication were open.

What did you find most impressive about Dragon Army?

Their team is very understanding of the business need and is able to provide very good insight. They feel like an extension of the team. The quality of work is extraordinarily high. It’s on par or better than other agencies we’ve worked with in the past. It’s top notch, overall. Their aptitude for technology is really on the leading edge. They seem to be very well versed in all the emerging trends and technologies, which they’re able to bring to us as insight and help inform better decisions.

Sometimes it can be a tough pill to swallow to work with such a large corporation. We tend to railroad agencies into the ground. These guys have handled it well.

Are there any areas Dragon Army could improve?

I would struggle to find anything. I think the only hiccup we’ve had was in one case where we had a project manager change over and there was a little speed bump as we made that transition. That’s just something that happens.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work at a large hotel corporation. I am the Director of Business Travel Experience. I am in charge of engineering the products and experiences at our hotels, as well as managing our loyalty programs and everything else that involves a hotel guest. We’re responsible for coming up with what those products and programs should be and how we want to interface with business travelers. Everything we do is based on advanced analytics. The first half of my day is always spent doing the math and crunching data, and then the second half is spent doing product service and experience design, a good bit of which is done through digital channels like mobile apps.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dragon Army?

Dragon Army has helped us on two products. They’ve helped us with internal tools and strategy around how to take the experience that we want to engineer and make it work in a digital space. They’ve also coauthored a white paper with us because of the thought leadership they have behind game science and game theory, which is a foundational piece of everything that they do. That’s the main reason we brought them in.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have an element of in-house development work. We used Dragon Army for the strategy side on the UX [user experience] piece of things, which has been broader than just mobile. I have this passion for having some form of game science embedded in the experience that we create because I think it's a differentiated and more enjoyable experience for the end user. It also allows us to capture a lot of great data around incentives about what’s working what’s not.

How did you come to work with Dragon Army?

The Chief Executive Officer and I had connected at a lot of venues. It wasn’t immediate that we had a need to form a business partnership, but as new digital ideas were coming online, I started to lean on him to help us understand the game science piece of what they do. Slowly, we built a relationship and now, when we do anything digital. I go to them first. I would say most of the time they can do the full project for us. We go to them because they have such a great perspective on the necessary fundamentals beneath whatever the UX is doing. They weren’t up against other agencies.

How much have you invested with Dragon Army?

We’ve done just under $100,000 with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

From a qualitative side, they’ve brought the unique perspective of the game science. They’re extremely fast and easy to work with. They are also very quick on helping things through design constraint and editing so that you don’t lose the idea of the project. They have helped us with user testing which they do in unique ways by leveraging the game science behind it. They’re 50% a game studio and 50% a digital agency. When those two departments come together, you get the best of both worlds especially since they’re so focused on the mobile piece. They’ve been able to bring a very niche expertise that we couldn’t find at other digital agencies.

How did Dragon Army perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re good at status updates, which is fantastic.

What did you find most impressive about Dragon Army?

They offer something unique around digital and mobile platforms. I have not bumped into anybody that can deliver both the theory behind the game and the best way to make it happen in the UX setting.

They have a fantastic blend of design and the human-centric side of stuff. They have strong developers that know how to do things in the leanest way possible. When we’re doing a prototype, we need it done quickly, but we need to rely on interfaces with a platform or system that’s behind the firewall. They can figure out ways to keep things secure and private while not having to construct a big IT project on our side. They’re good at coming up with creative ways to solve technical issues and they have great strategists. Dragon Army is helpful because they explain how we can excel by pointing at things that we shouldn’t do.

Are there any areas Dragon Army could improve?

Other design agencies we’ve worked with are pretty good at scheduling times to sit down and make sure we’re getting through enough tasks. I wish they would do more of working through the iterations with us so that we know what they’ve taught us and what we’ve learned.