Goji Labs

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director of marketing at MedTrainer, a healthcare compliant technology company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Goji Labs?

We were addressing various challenges. Essentially, our website was deficient.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Goji Labs built a very robust site for us, which included 150 pages. They built all the functionality that we wanted and implemented a modern look and feel with animations and movement while keeping a high page speed score.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with two people from Goji Labs’ team: David (CEO) and Birgitte (Project Manager). Additionally, a few more people were working behind the scenes.

How did you come to work with Goji Labs?

We worked with a design agency to create a completely new website for us, and they partnered with Goji Labs to develop the project.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $20,000–$30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from April–June 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The fact that Goji Labs was able to launch a website as big and with as much functionality as ours without compromising its speed was amazing. We had speed scores of 98 on the desktop version and 90 on the mobile version.

How did Goji Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Goji Labs was really great to work with. They offered a great balance, making us feel like we were working with an enterprise-level vendor from a skillset standpoint while providing the one-on-one support of a small company.

Communication was one of the best parts of our engagement because they were very flexible about it. We used Slack and had one-on-one meetings; it was always very easy to communicate with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Goji Labs offered the skill set and processes we expected from a large development company while providing us with a personal approach.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m not sure if Goji Labs could have improved on something. They were great, and a lot of the challenges came from us not being prepared enough. David did a great job preparing us, and he and his team went above and beyond their developers’ role to ensure that we were ready. They also were great at letting us know about things before they happened.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that you get time with both David and Birgitte; they’re both really great.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the president of a direct-to-consumer financial services company

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Goji Labs?

We were losing a considerable percent of visitors through the process of filling account paperwork, funding accounts, and making initial investments. We hired Goji to develop an improved UX to address this opportunity and increase returns on acquisition spend.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We searched nationally for top UI/UX design firms, with a focus on those with experience in complex applications like finance and insurance, consumer-facing, with a rigorous methodology and testing-driven philosophy. Goji's engagement style fits our needs well.

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

The project team did a round of internal discovery, making sure to document the current process as a base for changing flows, including moderated testing with existing users. They then sketched out flow diagrams of alternative orders/different ways to acquire the same information/etc. That evolved into lo-fidelity wireframes, which were then used to conduct moderated and unmoderated testing and uncover any new problems they introduced.

Those wireframes were refined based on feedback, then expanded into high-fidelity designs, with constant refinement along the way, including one additional round of unmoderated testing. The result was a thorough and well-document Figma project with all screens needed to move to implementation.

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

We had a main project designer who did most of the lift. He was joined by a supervising project manager on almost every call, who also put in some input to the discussion. The owner joined early and late in the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were pleased with the quality of the work that came out of the team, including their willingness to challenge our assumptions and their own along the way. We have not yet implemented the new design, and that is ongoing, but have confidence it is an overall improvement from our current setup.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The team communicated well, with regular check-in meetings as the central point for discussion. They came to every meeting prepared with findings, new designs, and discussion items. The asynchronous feedback asks, especially on finer details of exception planning (missing data, failed validation, nuances of certain account types) could have been better handled with more frequent between meeting asks. But, overall, very professional without unnecessary pomp in the way of progress.

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

Their distinct focus on testing early and often, making sure to hear what real users had to say about a flow, was exactly what we were looking for and was quite hard to actually find.

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

Asynchronous feedback between check-in meetings, using forms as simple as copy docs and text notes, would have cleared up misunderstandings earlier than waiting to see them in the next design rev at certain very detailed and nuanced intersections in the project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of an internet web application company that helps recruiters connect with employers and candidates more effectively.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Goji Labs?

Our company was facing a lot of challenges to get the platform built. We had the backend covered, but we needed frontend developers and UI/UX designers desperately, so we contacted Goji Labs to help us with this. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Goji Labs worked with the backend our in-house team had already developed and built the frontend of the website from scratch using React Native. They also took charge of UI/UX design. 

Currently, the team takes care of fixing bugs, helps us manage the app, and updates it — they’re like an extension of our firm. 

What is the team composition?

We've worked with a project manager, two senior developers, and a UI/UX designer. 

How did you come to work with Goji Labs?

Our team had tried working with freelancers, but that didn’t work out, so we decided to go with a serious company and did some online research. Our business had had Zoom meetings with four different companies, but we went with Goji Labs because they were the most professional and their portfolio was very good — we were very impressed with them. 

How much have you invested with them?

Goji Labs works now for a monthly retainer, and we’ve invested around $50,000–$60,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement started in January 2021. The staff finished the app and launched it in April of the same year. However, we are still working on an ongoing basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Goji Labs’s design and UI/UX work are really good. The site functions very smoothly with minor bugs that are inevitable in a platform like this.    

How did Goji Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

The team’s project management is great. We message back and forth through Slack and have a weekly meeting where we give updates and ask questions. I’ve never felt stressed at all about communication; they always get back to us quickly and take good care of us. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Goji Labs is professional and accessible. The team has done an excellent job from final product delivery to relationship building, which is something that we are looking for. 

The aspect that most impresses me is Goji Labs’ internal communication and organization that allows them to have a good system in place so that processes go smoothly. For instance, if I give them a list with edits I want to be made to the site, they relay that information effectively to get the work done. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Goji Labs could have a little bit more transparency. For the development stage, the costs went up a lot higher than our initial quote. I’d say there were some miscalculations in terms of what it would cost to make a project like this. There was also a miscommunication regarding an issue about the responsiveness of the platform to mobile devices.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You get out what you put in, so if you are as professional as the vendor, you’re bound to have a much better experience. Be empathetic and reciprocal, that way you’re far more likely to get the kind of service you want. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work at Integrate Health. We’re a nonprofit that provides health care in Togo, West Africa. I’m the development communications manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Goji Labs?

Our website was designed a few years ago, before I started working at Integrate Health. The backend was coded poorly, and we were unable to make long-term changes to the design.

Essentially, we wanted a professional-looking website to show that we’re experts in our field. We also wanted it to be really photo-driven and easy to navigate.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired Goji Labs to do an entire website overhaul; from the front- and backend, so it could be easily edited by our staff. They developed it from scratch using WordPress.

We started with the discovery process; it was a few weeks of UX/UI audit of our website. They interviewed the founders, board, and staff from each department, both in the US and Togo, to capture enough people who used the site. We had a pretty clear idea of what we wanted, but through the UX/UI audit, they essentially created a whole new design.

Additionally, some special features they developed were a knowledge library that houses our blogs, articles, research, and press, which we previously didn’t have, as well as some nice graphics and an interactive map of where we work.

What is the team composition?

The discovery process had two parts, so the UX/UI audit was conducted primarily by one person. He engaged with multiple team members and created an entire report on how the website would look like.

In the design process, that person continued working with us, as well as 1–2 designers; one took the lead and the other one was secondary. At that time, we also had the web developer sitting on those design discussions, and then we moved it into the web development phase. For that part, we primarily worked with one person. Thus, we worked with 3–4 people overall.

How did you come to work with Goji Labs?

We had worked with them previously. They helped us fix some bugs on the backend of our old website. At the time, I think they were referred by a board member that had worked with them on his previous role.

Overall, we conducted some research to decide who to choose. We ended up choosing Goji Labs because they understood our current issues and they've worked for a lot of nonprofits. Furthermore, they offered the best package.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $35,000 for the website all around.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2020, and we launched the website in April 2021. We’re now in a support contract with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have any metrics to track that, but since we launched the site externally, we’ve received a lot of positive feedback from staff, founders, and board members.

Also, with the feedback that has come in, we’ve been able to easily edit the website ourselves to ensure that it’s continually accurate, which was something we were unable to do in the previous site.

How did Goji Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed pretty well. They were super organized and generally kept track of everything really well. We used Slack to do real time, back and forth comments and feedback, and we had weekly calls during the entire project.

For the discovery and development processes, we primarily used Google Drive to track feedback and see it in real time. Then, in the design process, we used Figla and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They listened really well to our needs and what we wanted. They were generally very easy to work with and accommodating to our large, bilingual team. Overall, they were very professional and on time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were no areas of improvement. We were very satisfied.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you want to accomplish a similar scope of work, I definitely would advise you to choose Goji Labs. They were on top of everything, very professional, and the ongoing support they provided was really useful to ensure the success of the project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive director of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture, which is a multidisciplinary training and research group at the University of Southern California. We create new knowledge and insights and then translate those into various public spaces.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Goji Labs?

Over the past decade, we created a ton of materials to help mostly public sector workers. We created all of these materials that weren’t accessible to people. For example, we wrote courses for FEMA and the American Red Cross but the materials were scattered. We wanted to create a product that housed all of our content and materials and needed it in a format that made them accessible for users.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

As we knew our market, we had a good scope of what our end-users wanted. We met with Goji and told them what we needed. Their team then created wireframes of different pathways for us to navigate the information, so it could be highly selective. For example, if a user needed to schedule a meeting with a group of multifaith people, they could select different religious groups in the platform to understand any logistics issues. Their team came up with categories and selection processes that enabled users to make highly specialized searches. They eventually came back with iOS and Android versions of the app. Their team’s still updating and hosting the product.

What is the team composition?

We've only interacted with two people from Goji Labs.

How did you come to work with Goji Labs?

I met David (Founder and CEO) at a party during which we mentioned that he was a developer. When we needed a development company a year later, my husband reminded me about him and suggested I learn more about his business. We looked into Goji Labs and other companies because we had a negative experience with a different group. I told David that if we worked with him, we needed a functional app in the end. He promised to deliver that.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost probably $50,000–$60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in the fall of 2019 and finished in October 2020. The process took longer than I initially thought because it was harder for us to standardize and format our content than I anticipated. We have a contract with them to retain their services to help us if any problems arise.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We launched it in the last week of October 2020, and we’ve had 12,000 active users. It’s a niche product, so that’s great for us. We’re happy with that considering the pandemic and the administration change impacts our audience. When there’s stability with the new DHS and FEMA, our hope is the number of our users will increase. We have all five-star reviews in the App Store.

How did Goji Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall, we only had one hiccup throughout the process. David and I had a disagreement that we solved. We’re able to resolve our differences, and that’s why I’m comfortable working with Goji Labs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They gave us what we paid them to build. I had a high bar of concern that we would invest the money and at the end of the day receive a deliverable that didn’t work. By working with Goji Labs, we got a product that pleases us and our end-users. David didn’t give us the runaround like a lot of other companies did.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wasn’t familiar with the development process and would’ve preferred a better briefing about the project’s various stages. For example, I wish we fully created the Apple version and then created the Android version. Instead, we mostly created the Apple version and then created the Android version. We then had to make changes to both. If we better understood the order in which to complete tasks, we may have saved some time and money.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear sense of what you want and know your end-user. It may be helpful if you scope the project and understand what you need to do before you start the engagement. It will make the process more efficient. Their team also built a system that allowed us to control most of the updates ourselves, which was a great solution.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a real estate tech startup, and I’m the CEO of the company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Goji Labs?

We hired them to conceptualize our product, so they helped us ideate workflows and translate our vision onto paper before creating wireframes and product maps.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Before we could develop our product, we needed mockups, designs, and workflows. After contracting them, we started with a discovery phase where we worked through our problem and direction for the product and MVP.

From there, we introduced their UX designer onto the team, working with them and the CEO on the wireframe design process. Based on those wireframes, we continued to ideate and tweak flows as needed. We weren’t through usability tests and were able to convert everything into high-fidelity mockups.  

At this point, we’ve moved through the design phase but haven’t started with development yet. We’ve collaborated through Figma and Google Suite tools. The mockups will be applied to both a web and mobile application.  

What is the team composition?

We worked with three people, including the CEO and two different designers. Their CEO was our main point of contact. 

How did you come to work with Goji Labs?

We evaluated several potential firms to work with. Their firm has a startup focus and are full-service. They seemed to understand our product’s concept right away, and it was great to see that both their CEO and CTO were very involved with the project. 

The full-service potential of the firm was also attractive. They were able to answer questions about development during the design phase because of that. Having a firm that specializes in the full cycle of developing an app was great for our time and budget concerns. We knew we’d have insight into the entire process from day one.    

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since around April 2020. The design phase is complete.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re great to work with. We’ve been happy with their full scope of understanding about every step in the app creation process. They always gave us insights into how our decisions could have a downstream impact.  

How did Goji Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Collaborative, they function more like a partner than a vendor. In many cases, external vendors simply follow requirements. However, their team is vocal about their thoughts and feedback in a helpful way. At the end of the day, it’s our decision as the client, but they operate as a true partner looking out for our best interest. We used Slack, email, and phone calls to communicate.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

We appreciate their focus on working with startups and how they collaborate with us as a partner. Their specialization in startups has been very beneficial. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything negative that happened throughout the project. Of course, little things happen. But, there isn’t anything major that stands out that they should improve upon.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re non-technical and in the world of startups, they’re a good choice. In the early stages especially, they can help your product in a meaningful way.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the advocacy and communications manager for a technology nonprofit.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Goji Labs?

We wanted to launch a new website because our existing one was 7–8 years old. Our organization evolved over those years, but the website didn’t evolve with us. The content and infrastructure were poorly built.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Goji built our new website on WordPress. They created a Figma file with the platform’s design and modules. Their team created the overall design and highlighted the modules present on the website for us to reuse as we continue to evolve. Another major deliverable was the website itself. Their team included a few engineers who created a new template for us.

What is the team composition?

I know three people from Goji worked on this project. I interacted with David (Product Strategist), a UI/UX designer, and a project manager. They also collaborated with two other people who I didn’t meet.

How did you come to work with Goji Labs?

I actually found them on Clutch. I read their reviews and assessed their star ratings. As a nonprofit, we had a budget on the lower end. Based on those parameters, Goji stood out to us.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested between $40,000–$50,000 in their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement officially kicked off in February 2020, and they met all of their deliverables. However, we’re still engaging with them as we wrap up on our end.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our goal was to create a new website that captured our identity. At the end of the design phase, I pitched their deliverables internally. Everyone felt that their design captured our new identity. We also shared the website with a few internal stakeholders who were satisfied too.

How did Goji Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Goji had a process and stuck by it. They dedicated a project manager who organized their team and kept up to date with assignments between meetings. Goji was communicative about the project timeline. If the design phase veered outside of the scope, their team let us know because it could cost more money.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I valued their willingness to adapt to our needs. We made changes, and their team was flexible with us. We wanted to play around with the design, and they allowed us to explore ideas before committing to them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, it was overall a great experience.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Set internal goals and be transparent with Goji. Try to make sure that you’ll meet your organizational vision.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of programs for Youth On Their Own (YOTO) in Tucson, Arizona. We're a nonprofit organization that strives to help young people experiencing homelessness to graduate high school. We do that by providing financial assistance. Students earn a monthly stipend based on grades and attendance, and then we provide basic needs items, hygiene items, clothing, and others.

We provide guidance and connect students to community resources and post-secondary planning. We also help them figure out what they are going to do after they graduate high school among many other things.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Goji Labs?

We needed a whole new client management system because we track almost everything. Our system was complex and difficult to manage, so we knew we needed a custom solution.

At first, we worked with two other developers that didn’t work out before finding Goji Labs. The first developer used Microsoft Access, but it wasn’t user friendly or cost-effective. The second tried a web-based platform. In the end, we still needed a better partner. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We track everything, including what services we provide, how many times we engage with students and what that engagement was like, and how many students enroll in our program. We also have volunteers at each of the schools we serve, and they have a part in the enrollment process.

We serve about 2,100 students each year and about 120 school liaisons engage with us in addition to our 16 staff. It wasn’t a small system.

We did have a really tight timeline because we needed to launch by the beginning of the school year.

What is the team composition?

I worked with David (CEO), and he worked with us directly for most of the time. There were a couple of developers that joined our check-in calls, but David helped us navigate this project, and has been continuing to meet with us alongside our point on the project.

How did you come to work with Goji Labs?

I did a Google search and found Goji Labs on Clutch. We initially searched locally, but we weren’t finding many local developers that could do what we wanted. We talked to a couple of Phoenix businesses and a couple in California. Then we threw it out there for a few companies to put in proposals for our project.

How much have you invested in them?

We have spent about $180,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

It began in February 2020 and we launched in August. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They really were amazing. They hit the timeline without a problem, and the system is so much better than what we had before. 

They really helped us streamline our processes which saves the staff time. The amount of data entry that we do is time-consuming, and they really helped us to minimize that and make our processes more intuitive. 

This program allows us to save our files digitally, too. Traditionally, we've been very paper-heavy, but this benefited us tremendously when COVID-19 hit.

The pandemic completely changed our service model because we are so in-person, school-based, and paper-heavy, and with all of us are working from home, it was really nice that they threw that in.

Now we're able to track all the things online instead which has been tremendously helpful and useful. We haven’t had to scramble to build that post. That has been pretty amazing.

We are now doing tweaking and are finishing a couple of projects. We see a long-term partnership with Goji Labs and have several projects planned over the next four years.

How did Goji Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Goji Labs has really knocked it out of the park. They are super communicative. David met with our staff who is working on this project 1–3 times a week when we were getting close to launch, and now they meet once a week. I talk to him at least once a month and there is a ton of email communication.

When I have questions about billing or budget, I don’t hesitate to ask David. He is really transparent about where the cost is coming from. On top of that, it has been nice to work with developers who show that they care about the project. They really listen to us. As a result, our system is definitely reflective of our needs and so far. 

Because we originally worked with other developers, we needed to build the system in half the time we originally anticipated. It was a short and tight timeline to build a lot of functionality in this client management system.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They showed an extra level of care. They built a really great system for us that is user-friendly. We work with people ranging in age from 12 years old to retirees, and they have varying levels of computer literacy. Nevertheless, the system is super intuitive for all of these different stakeholders which is really awesome. 

They've also thrown in additional service without charging us because we are a nonprofit. They have been willing to work with us on a budget, and I think they have built a lot more functionality than what we have paid for.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They use a system called Figma to outline all of the wireframes which is really helpful because it’s visual, but we'd appreciate it if they taught us how to use that tool. We did okay with Figma, but there was a learning curve because we had never used it before.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Definitely let go of the old way of doing things and have an open mind is really. Goji Labs was really helpful, but we could have maybe just been a little more open to their ideas.

Really committing to spending the money is worth it, but it is definitely going to cost money to build a really great system that is going to be long-lasting.

People should really communicate what their needs are and not be afraid to ask all the questions. Goji Labs was super responsive and receptive to what we had to say and what we had to ask. There was no question that was off the table and that was really helpful.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and COO of a company called Otonomy Solutions. We’re an online matchmaking platform for buyers and sellers of small businesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Goji Labs?

We had an initial concept and designs but needed a partner to enhance the designs and then build an MVP. We needed to develop an MVP cost-efficiently.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Goji partnered with another agency to sharpen and finalize the UX/UI designs for the product. To keep the proof of concept affordable and efficient, Goji used WordPress as the framework then added custom code where WordPress was lacking.  They created a staging and production environment and now host and maintain the platform.

What is the team composition?

We directly work with David (Product Strategist) and a project manager. They communicate with their development team.

How did you come to work with Goji Labs?

We interviewed multiple development shops in North America and Europe. Goji wasn’t the cheapest option but from the first conversation, they understood and spoke to our business goals. We found that compelling enough to go with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $65,000 on the project so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the partnership in May 2019, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of their work’s high. Our company’s two founders have technical backgrounds, so we perform extensive QA on the site. We participate in not only the design but also the validation process. Goji returns high-quality products. The reason we’ve been as successful as we’ve been is because of our relationship with Goji.

How did Goji Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

We have an open Slack channel where we frequently communicate. We also meet every week on Thursday. We discuss ideas together, and they come up with better solutions or ways to address our market. To track issues and budget items, we use Google Docs. Their team’s responsive.

Through no fault of Goji’s, we missed dates due to design changes or scope creep. Their team brings us back into alignment and keeps us on track.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team quickly evolved from our external development team to our partner. When it comes to the product, we can have serious and frank conversations. Their team’s willing to have hard conversations with us for the betterment of the company and the project. That’s refreshing.

At the same time, we also have a friendship. It’s easy to talk with their team. We actually enjoy our meetings. When it comes down to business, they focus on where we need to focus.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There are challenges in every development project. If I could go back in time, I would improve the bug tracking processes. As far as the relationship with Goji, we haven’t had any challenges. It’s been excellent.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Bring them into the business decision process. If you only want a development team to complete tasks, you’d waste Goji’s potential. If you allow them into business strategy conversations, they will see insights into how they can make the product better to achieve your goals.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the data assistant and pilot designer for MyPal.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Goji Labs?

It's the goal of our project is really to provide a service to homeless individuals using technology. And that technology was going to be designed and executed by Goji Labs. We were using them to develop the application, which would ultimately serve homeless individuals to connect them with services in their area.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We brought in Goji Labs for the ideation stage, but we mostly used their services for app design. From beginning to end, it started with a vision board, and we broke down the direction of the project and the step-by-step vision we have. Then we determined what the MVP would need and the steps after that.

Ultimately, they designed the front- and backend for a pilot. It’s a mobile app for Android. We hope to implement the app for the population.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with David (CEO). He and his partner outsource some of their coding overseas. In terms of mapping out the process, they worked to get down our vision and what we want to implement in the future.

How did you come to work with Goji Labs?

My boss worked with them on another app previously.

How much have you invested with them?

It’s estimated to cost about $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with them in January 2020. Given the circumstances of COVID-19, we’ve paused development. We couldn’t collect user information or do outreach. So we plan to resume whenever it’s safe.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We want the app to be as user-friendly as possible, and they’ve met those goals. Because we haven’t developed the pilot yet, we don’t have a lot of feedback from users. We want to get the best app as we can out there, and they’re helping us make it a reality.  

How did Goji Labs perform from a project management standpoint?

Working with them has been a pleasure. They walk through all the steps before drawing anything or doing the code. From there, they develop what we want to achieve.

David is super responsive and he goes beyond what we expected. He always asks the right questions from a technology perspective to address those issues. It has been a collaborative interaction.

On a more consistent basis, we have weekly meetings, and they’ve always come prepared. They let us know what they finished previously and what we’ve asked for.

They worked in a communicative and efficient way. Their methods were effective, and it has effectively moved the project along. We use G Chat and have met in person a few times, but it’s mostly online.

What did you find most impressive about them?

David is so personable and open, which is very critical to our project because it’s addressing a social problem and we need creativity. He is a breath of fresh air and can break things down and create a tangible solution in the app.

Secondly, I’ve been impressed with their design process. They take a lot of time to look at different options. They provided 2–3 options to choose from. They clearly want the customers to work through different ideas so we end up with a product we’re satisfied with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any specific feedback. It has been a pleasant experience.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be willing to embrace their process. It’s a well thought out design process. I trust their step-by-step approach.