Gorazdo Studio

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Web Development Department of a consulting firm

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a consulting firm that helps wealthy people obtain second citizenship and residency by investment.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Gorazdo Studio to accomplish?

• Develop a new version of the company's websites on Next.JS 14 with support for Server Actions. All 10 company websites should use a unified design system and common components.
• Achieve the highest possible performance of the websites and high lighthouse scores, which are enabled by the chosen technology stack. This is necessary to improve SEO metrics.

SOLUTION

How did you find Gorazdo Studio?

Clutch Site

Why did you select Gorazdo Studio over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Gorazdo Studio were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

• The solution architecture has been developed using Vercel and the NX monorepository.
• A common design system and shared components have been developed for the company's websites.
• The frontend has been created.
• The process of migrating content from WordPress to a headless CMS has been organized. Several thousand pages from 10 sites have been transferred. A single workspace has been set up to manage content across all company sites.
• The project has been handed over to the in-house team for further work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The most important result is the high performance of the websites, significant improvement in core web vitals metrics, which positively impacted site indexing, improved search engine rankings, and substantially increased the volume of organic traffic.

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

I would like to extend special thanks to the Design Director and the Technical Lead of the Gorazdo company for their outstanding expertise. Their deep involvement in the project and the organization of effective and cohesive team work are greatly appreciated.

What was your primary form of communication with Gorazdo Studio?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

• High expertise in developing projects on Next JS and working with cutting-edge technologies.
• Top-class frontend solutions!

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

Nothing

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I was the Social Media and Marketing

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

A web3 project

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Gorazdo Studio to accomplish?

• The primary goal was to create a robust and scalable web platform capable of handling a high volume of traffic and data without compromising on performance.
• Also we needed to enhance UX.

SOLUTION

How did you find Gorazdo Studio?

Online Search

Why did you select Gorazdo Studio over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Gorazdo Studio were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

We hired Gorazdo Studio for developing a high-load web platform. The primary goal was to create a robust and scalable web platform capable of handling a high volume of traffic and data without compromising on performance. Also we needed to enhance UX. We wanted the team to improve the overall user experience of our platform. This involved UX research to understand user needs and behavior, and implementing design changes to make the platform more intuitive.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Thanks to technical SEO optimization, we have noticed a significant increase in the number of visitors to our main website. The team has also improved our Google Lighthouse Metrics, including faster page load times, reduced downtime, and efficient handling of traffic load. Regarding user engagement, we are measuring customer activation metrics, and our team is thrilled with the results: We have seen a 20% increase in users completing the onboarding process. We have also received positive feedback from users regarding our new design.

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

The agile workflow perfectly suits our needs. Gorazdo team sets clear goals, is flexible, and can adapt to changing requirements and unforeseen challenges. They suggested regular standups for our project, which have been very effective. Moreover, they are receptive to feedback and adjust the project plan to accommodate changes. I want to emphasize the excellent teamwork and collaboration between the Gorazdo and our internal teams.

What was your primary form of communication with Gorazdo Studio?

Virtual Meeting

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

We were looking for experts in Next.js and TypeScript, and the Gorazdo team proved proficient in the latest web technologies and frameworks. They effectively integrated the latest web technologies into our project and helped us overcome several technical challenges. The platform remained stable and efficient even with heavy traffic.

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

Nothing crucial

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

 We are a company that makes fitness affordable and motivating through rewards and gaming.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

With Gorazdo Studio, we created a website. We needed to create a website that fits our futuristic/metaverse theme. Our main goal was to create an interactive website that drew people in.

SOLUTION

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

We selected this vendor through a platform known as Dribbble. When we posted our project,we received several offers. However, the main deciding factor was Gorazdo's homepage and portfolio, along with their quick response rate and willingness to make this project the best it could be.

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

During our first kick-off meeting,we wanted to create multiple pages that went into a single website. First, we proceeded with rough wireframe sketches which the team quickly created into a Figma file mockup. Then, based on the mockups, we requested edits and held check-up meetings to ensure both parties were on the same page. Once a Figma file was set, the Gorazdo team would move it on to Vercel and move the website to production.

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

We mainly worked with two people (Anna and Pavel) on a day-to-day basis, along with several other team members who are responsible for a lot of the design work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After launching our website, we saw an increase in traffic along with a decent retention rate. We have about 500+ clicks per website and everyone who visits loved the website.

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

We had bi-weekly meetings (for the most part) and mainly communicated through Google Chat and Google Meet. Each meeting was held promptly usually within 24 hours of the meeting request.

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

What was really impressive with Gorazdo was their flexibility and willingness to try a brand new feature and UI/UX design.

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

Right before and after the launch, there were some bugs, which were quickly fixed once we requested the issue through Github.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a cofounder of an agricultural service company in the Regenerative Agriculture / Agroforestry space: voedselboskabouters.nl. Because of my background I'm in the one that usually gets to struggle with everything related to computers, together with another techie.

Voedselboskabouters.nl aims to create symbiosis between humanity, nature and food. We do so by helping people design and implement food forests and related agroforestry systems. It's pretty cool, and utterly relevant in the context of biodiversity loss and climate change. Check the website, it looks great now.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Complete makeover of our website. We had made our own website, first in Google Sites. This was great for SEO, workable for content people, and mediocre in terms of design.

To fix that the marketeers suggested to move to wordpress, and because we didn't want to spend a lot of money, we ended up with a site that was still mediocre in terms of design, but much slower, and SEO suffered. We hired Gorazdo through Squads.com and asked them to redo the design and CMS of our website to make it fast, easy to use for content people, and pleasant to look at.

SOLUTION

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

I knew the founders of Gorazdo for several years through working with them on Squads.com (another company I'm co-founder at). They always made great points about how we could improve the website of Squads, and Dmitry (CTO of Squads) was mentioning them regularly in the context of high quality websites.

Basically I already trusted them and knew they would do a great job. It was only a matter of being able to afford them, and when they gave us a great offer, we took it eagerly.

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

The existing (wp) website contained valuable content that we needed to migrate. This would be done by non-technical people, or through a script if it was too much.

The new design would be built up of reusable elements extracted from our existing content. Some generic, some customized to our specific needs. Gorazdo recommended contentful and Jamstack to produce a fast site that we could manage the content of more easily than we could with Divi.

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

We worked with at least 4 people. Gorazdo followed the Squads model, so we talked in a chat room with the team, but we didn't have to worry about internal team roles. There was naturally design leadership and technical leadership as needed.

Other team members collaborated well, spoke up when useful, and contributed to the code. So apart from setting the agreed budget and goals, we didn't have to worry about staffing and worked with a self-organising team the whole time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Now the website is at least 5x faster, and content production is half as involved. Design quality is hard to quantify, but I feel it's an order of magnitude better than the previous version.

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

Whenever we had concerns or questions, we got guidance quickly and usually the solution was better than simply doing what we asked.

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

All deliverables were coming faster than promised, and were exceeding expected quality. We never had any hint that the budget would be exceeded, and of course it never was. One time I asked for an hourly rate, out of curiosity. I got an astronomical number back (more expensive than my lawyer). They delivered extreme value for money, so I never had to care about internal costs.

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

Nothing is perfect, but I can't think of anything I would change in their approach.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Founder and Editor of Creating Freely Magazine, which is a fashion and art publication and platform that showcases emerging creatives and inspiring fashion photography.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

I hired Gorazdo to build and design my ecommerce website. I wanted to have a gallery of photos that were linked to individual artist biography and portfolio pages, a bookstore, a blog section, and a compelling home page. I also hired Gorazdo to finalize the PDF for my print magazine. They prepared it for print and did an excellent job.

SOLUTION

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

I selected them through the platform Dribble, and I chose them due to their updated, clean looking website design, and their top tier services and affordable prices

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

We started off with a "Zoom" video chat meeting to discuss the details of the project, and then finalized them with a simple contract. I had also given the team an organized list of how many web pages I needed, and all of the content that I wanted to put on those pages. I was then given a document with the breakdown of the project trajectory, which showed weekly and monthly tasks. The end of the document had the price summary clearly stated.

We decided on using Vercel and Shopify. We continued communicating through the platforms "Slack" and "Zoom", and stayed up to date with each other throughout the project. The beginning stages included working together on exactly what I wanted the web design to look like (identifying which styles I liked and which I did not like). We then moved on to the functions/features that I wanted to have for the launch.

I was given access to a platform called "Contentful", where I was able to begin uploading my blogs, narrations, and the content for the website biographies. I sent the team all of the website copy, photos, and credits, and they uploaded all of it.

We had frequent check ins to make sure we both liked the direction that the website was going in. After working on this together for 4 months, we completed it just in time for my December New years launch.

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

I worked with a group of creatives, and mainly communicated with 2 people: Pavel and Anna. They were the CTO and the Project Manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

My community loved the website and the way in which it looks and was designed. They were all excited for their website features and what my company will be able to achieve for them in the coming year. I absolutely love the design and received great feedback from my family and friends. It is exactly what I wanted, and this team was able to deliver.

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

We used Slack to keep weekly group chat conversations between all of us and were able to set up meeting when we needed to.

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

They were extremely kind, understanding, and knowledgeable. They are wonderful at explaining the process of what they are doing on the backend of the website. I also appreciate the patience I was shown with this team. The project was last minute, and I am a very particular person when it comes to details- yet Gorazdo was still able to do an amazing job and worked very well with me.

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

I would like to see a way that I can update the website copy myself, because I frequently like to improve my brand message.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Engineering of GIS SCIENCE

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Engineering company which perform a full stack of services aimed at building and prebuild works.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Gorazdo Studio to accomplish?

• Quality
• Speed
• Сlient orientation
• Confidience that my tasks will be completed

SOLUTION

How did you find Gorazdo Studio?

Referral

Why did you select Gorazdo Studio over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned
• Good portfolio

How many teammates from Gorazdo Studio were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

What was your primary form of communication with Gorazdo Studio?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

• Website design 
• Website programming 
• Full Backend
• Full frontend 
• Consulting

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our project manager told us an accurate date, and what would be done till it. Team Gorazdo always got results in time.

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

Always on time.

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

Multitasking. The team was also available for my feedback and concerns, so I never worried that my questions were going to be unresolved.

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

There was nothing they needed to improve on.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive at InvestIQ

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

As a FinTech company, our business offers innovative investment management tools that utilize artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to help customers make more informed investment decisions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Gorazdo Studio to accomplish?

• Conversions increase by 20%
• Page loading time decrease
• Improved content management system

SOLUTION

How did you find Gorazdo Studio?

Referral

Why did you select Gorazdo Studio over others?

Company values aligned

What was the size of Gorazdo Studio’s team?

6-10 Employees

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

The scope of work included a full redesign of the FinTech company's website, with a focus on improving the user experience and increasing conversions. The studio utilized the Jamstack framework to build a fast and reliable website, with a custom CMS to allow for easy content management. The redesign also included the integration of innovative investment management tools that utilize artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms.

The studio provided design mockups and worked closely with the FinTech company to refine the design until it met their needs and specifications. Finally, the studio conducted thorough testing and optimization to ensure that the website was fully functional and performant on all devices and platforms.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• 31% conversions increase
• 38% faster page load speed
• X2 reduction of content update time

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

We’ve agreed to use an Agile methodology, which allowed for a flexible and iterative approach to the redesign process. This enabled us to provide feedback throughout the development cycle, and the Gorazdo.studio was responsive to our needs and requests, making changes as needed. They also provided regular updates on progress and delivered items on time. We appreciated their collaborative approach. Overall, we were very satisfied with their project management and responsiveness.

What was your primary form of communication with Gorazdo Studio?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

What stood out to me the most was their unwavering dedication to creating a website that not only looked great, but also delivered exceptional results for our business. Their unique approach of utilizing the Jamstack framework and custom CMS led to a website that was not only fast and reliable, but also increased our conversions by an impressive 31%.

Furthermore, their integration of cutting-edge investment management tools that utilized artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms was truly ahead of the curve and set us apart from our competitors. Their combination of design expertise, technical skills, and innovative solutions truly exceeded our expectations and we couldn't be more satisfied with the end result.

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

N/A

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a cofounder at Aequus.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Gorazdo Studio?

We decided it was time for a website overhaul with a focus on a redesign which we will follow up with new copy and messaging. We hired Gorazdo to handle the redesign.

SOLUTION

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

We are an existing partner and client of Squads (www.squads.com) and hired this team via their platform.

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

It was a very straightforward redesign. We already had an existing corp website and subsequent color scheme. We provided a related website design we liked and asked Gorazdo to use it as a guide and give us their take on a similar design.

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

Unsure. Their team lead Anna Tomova was excellent and our main point of contact.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It was a super smooth project. The team explained their process and schedule in advance and met all the objectives on time.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Excellent.

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

The team was excellent and the entire project very efficient and successful. They used Google Spaces to communicate and deliver updates which made things much easier than emailing back and forth. Great process. Everything was presented in Figma for quick review and easy demo of the end designs.

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

Nothing to note.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a digital recipe platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Gorazdo Studio?

We needed initial app designs to sell our product to suppliers and for investment purposes.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially talked Gorazdo Studio through a scoping document detailing the 10–12 screens we wanted. These screens included a discovery section with video and images, a recipe page, and a step-by-step cooking page. They went away and came back with a quote that we greenlighted. 

From there, the Gorazdo Studio team created initial wireframes for us and we gave them some feedback to tweak them. After that, they padded up the wireframes with a bit more style and design to look like a finished app.

They did the entire design in Figma, and they built it to work on both Android and iOS. At the end of two weeks, they handed in their final delivery.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Pavel (Co-Founder & CTO) and Anna (Co-Founder & CCO). 

How did you come to work with Gorazdo Studio?

I put up a pitch on Dribbble. Gorazdo Studio was one of the providers that responded, and we liked what they said. 

We had an initial call with Pavel and Anna and walked them through what we were trying to do on a high level. Then, we went into a bit more detail on a follow-up call. 

In the end, we chose Gorazdo Studio because their interests aligned with ours. We could tell from speaking to them that they had a genuine interest in the product, in cooking, and recipes generally, and we quite liked that. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about €3,000 (approximately $3,400 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from November–December 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re very happy with the designs Gorazdo Studio created for us. Although we don’t have any hard metrics, we appreciated that working with them was a collaborative process that resulted in a very good product. 

How did Gorazdo Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed very well from a project management perspective. Gorazdo Studio stuck to the timeline; they delivered within the two weeks they initially quoted. 

We used Figma to collaborate. In terms of communication, we used Google Spaces to chat and Google Meets for calls. They were very available and had quick responses on Google Spaces, where we had an ongoing conversation throughout the project. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed by the speed at which Gorazdo Studio worked. Additionally, I appreciated that they were clearly passionate about food; though that’s very specific to us, it’s part of why we ended up choosing them.

We valued their strong opinions, and though we didn’t necessarily agree with all of them, they took feedback well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any constructive feedback for them; they were very good and collaborative.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s helpful to have a scoping document that you can run through with Gorazdo Studio. We were relatively prescriptive, giving them a good foundation to work with, which they expanded with other ideas. Having examples of designs that you like from other apps or websites also helps speed things up. 

Moreover, I recommend communicating with the Gorazdo Studio team; they’re very responsive, which is an advantage of working with them.