The Gradient

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a product specialist at Makosi, a management consulting firm. We connect world-class auditors with CPA and audit firms around the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Gradient?

We’re building out a new digital platform to manage our pool of auditors and provide new and innovative ways for our clients to interact with them. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our project with The Gradient involved a couple of deliverables. The team developed a new site for us, managing the UX/UI designs. They worked with us from conceptualization, drawing up the designs for us and working with our development team to bring it to life. They provided guidance on things like color palette, typography, and graphics. 

Currently, the team is working on a new application form for our auditors. 

What is the team composition?

We’re working with one business analyst and two designers, as well as with Olena (Founding Partner).

How did you come to work with The Gradient?

We were referred to The Gradient by another company. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $15,000–$20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since June 2020. We see ourselves continuing to work with them for a very long time. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve certainly seen users spending more time on our site than in the past; it’s increased by about 25%–30%. The user feedback we’ve been getting is really positive. The site is easy to navigate, and our value offering is being communicated a lot more clearly. The new UX/UI is on par with world-class standards.

We’re also confident about the work they’re currently doing on our new application form.

How did The Gradient perform from a project management standpoint?

The thing that sets The Gradient apart, apart from the fact that they’re a team of extremely talented strategists and creative thinkers, is that they have an incredible process for managing projects. 

They’re excellent at leveraging the idea of agile methodology to their creative work. It’s really phenomenal; it’s probably the best process I’ve ever come across. They’ve created a blueprint that they apply to complex projects with a lot of moving parts, and it brings a lot of success. It’s allowed us to get a usable product with a lot more creativity and confidence. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The Gradient really took the time to understand what we’re trying to build and achieve with our project. The time they invested really set them up for success because they were able to give us important feedback and guidance from a business requirement perspective as well as a product development perspective. 

They constantly gave us feedback and were very much part of the process, because they understood what we were trying to achieve.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing that comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Involve The Gradient in your product development process as much as possible and give them as much information as you possibly can. Go into detail when explaining what you want to achieve and what your vision is from a creative perspective.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the principal of IdealState, a digital consulting firm that provides digital transformation support to the social sector. We consider ourselves a digital transformation partner for nonprofit foundations and private sector clients working towards social good.

We usually have long-term engagements with clients and help them understand how the landscape of their digital tools are helping or hurting their ability to be effective and achieve their mission.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Gradient?

We’re very excited about a new service offering we’re planning to roll out in 2021. We’re calling it a strategy as a service offering. Clients with an annual subscription will have access to a toolkit that provides content, materials, and guidance that leaders need to go through a digital transformation process. We pair that with an advisor that provides support through the project.

To enable that new service, we needed to build technology that can provide that experience for the client. We’re building that on Salesforce, and we needed a partner with product design expertise to help us define how it will work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We brought them on to help validate our strategy. We did market research, and they did light market research as well. Then they dove into product design. That includes defining the requirements and specifying what the system is supposed to do. Their primary outputs are user stories and wireframes.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a team of product development and design specialist. One person was more of a business analyst who dealt with documenting our requirements. Another was more design and UX-oriented. Then the project lead guided us and our vision.

How did you come to work with The Gradient?

We were introduced to them by the Salesforce developers that we were talking to. We weren’t quite ready to start the development at first, and so another development company referred us to The Gradient.

What is the status of this engagement?

We brought them on in April and we finished the work in May 2020. However, we will be working with them through next steps.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The exercise provided an important stage in the process in which we were able to flesh out the details and our understanding on how it would work. We have a much clearer vision of it now.

It also helped the developers work quickly to build out the initial prototype.

We just finished the first iteration, a prototype, based on the design The Gradient provided. They’re going to be stepping back into the process to review and to provide additional input on the design.

How did The Gradient perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management went well. We had weekly meetings and there was good communication via Slack. They kept us updated with what they were doing and laid out a pretty clear trajectory for the project upfront, so we knew what to expect. Overall, they stuck to the plan.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have the right people on their team. They do their jobs well and are very passionate about what they do. They were invested in the project, and that’s a key ingredient for a new product or company to be successful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They spoke and worked very quickly during the proposal phase, making it a little difficult to follow along. They could slow it down a bit to make sure the customer understands the process in the early stages.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

No, I don’t. they made it very straightforward to work with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the product manager of a smaller company. We work in health tech and we are currently developing software for clinical care in hospitals.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Gradient?

We currently have a working application that is out in the market. We noticed that from feedback from our customers that there were certain challenges with the UI/UX design that could not be easily overcome by simply trying to redesign the current software that we have as it is an older application.

Smaller changes would not reach our goal so we needed a larger redesign and we needed experts to help us with this as we didn’t have that expertise in-house.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with a discovery week where they mapped out the higher-level requirements that we needed and tried to understand the whole scope of the product. They are helping us design every part of the software, so in a way, it could be seen as completely new software; it is all the workflows in the software.

We are still collaborating with them and we are working with them full-time. I am working with them on a daily basis to iterate through the designs, collect requirements, organize them, and plan user interviews. We have already been working with them for several months quite intensely.

What is the team composition?

At the moment, we are working most intensely with the designer and also a requirements manager. They are focusing on the actual designs and translating the designs into requirements. 

We also have one of the founders of the company who acts as a more overseeing project manager.  During the discovery week, we had an interdisciplinary team helping us.

We also have the Amsterdam representatives who we contact once in a while and they also contact us to make sure that everything is running smoothly.

How did you come to work with The Gradient?

Our company is distributed. As a product manager, I am located in Amsterdam. Initially, just for ease, I was looking for a UX designer in the Netherlands. The Gradient has representatives there which is how I found them. They gave us an introduction to The Gradient team in Ukraine, and we decided to visit them in person.

How much have you invested in them?

So far, it may be about €100,000 (approximately $119,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We had our discovery week in late February 2020, just before the Coronavirus. We are still working together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Because we are now creating more or less a new product, we haven’t really put it out in the market yet. That is planned for next year sometime, and in that sense, I cannot give any numbers. 

However, I can say that we have been progressing with the designs and there has been positive feedback internally as well as some early positive feedback from some external users. This is very preliminary because it is based on the prototypes.

How did The Gradient perform from a project management standpoint?

I think the results may differ depending on who you ask within our company. I feel that the start was a little slower, partly because on our side we apparently needed more clarity on certain aspects of the product.

Perhaps, also from The Gradient side and from our side, it was less clear how fast we needed to proceed and in what structure exactly. 

However, as soon as that became clearer during the project, I noticed that The Gradient was very eager to adjust to our schedule and be flexible enough and find solutions so that we can basically create a successful product meet our deadlines, and our budget restrictions. As soon as we had more clarity, they were able to adjust very well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I think our product is really complex. It needs to solve some problems that are very common among doctors, and they have tried their best to comprehend this very complex material, translate this into the design and come up with creative solutions on how to apply them to the design. 

I also felt that our requirements manager was there to ask software questions about how to deal with certain issues within the product which we may not have thought about. 

They really helped us to avoid any kind of pitfalls within the UX design if we would have done it ourselves. I was surprised about how much they were able to grasp such a complex project as it is a product for medical use and not an online webshop.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We could have used a little more guidance from their side in some cases about how to organize the work since we had less experience in that, but I think the collaboration is getting better and better. I must say that in the areas they could organize, they really did. 

They were very involved in the project, produced a lot of materials, and gave lots of input. From my perspective, I think they did a good job with the available information that they had. It is hard to say how much better they could have done considering we could have perhaps provided them with more clear input.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It would useful to be very explicit about exactly what they want as a company and for that product and to communicate that very clearly. From there, The Gradient will be able to adjust to whatever information they get and whatever style of working. 

They are very flexible, but of course, they do need a lot of input so there needs to be someone dedicated to work with them and move things forward from the company’s side. In that case, I think The Gradient can work pretty well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a theft recovery mobile platform specifically for Apple devices.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Gradient?

We did a major pivot, moving from a B2C to a B2B offering. We wanted to hire a great design agency to help us with redoing the user dashboard to be much more geared to handling larger fleets of devices. It wasn’t very user friendly if you had more than a handful of devices.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Gradient redesigned the UI dashboard for our platform. They also worked with us a bit later on with learning the marketing site as well. We bounced ideas around and did wireframes.

What is the team composition?

There were 2–3 people on the UX design team. There were a couple on the marketing site as well.

How did you come to work with The Gradient?

The Gradient was referred to us by a mutual contact. Since they have much deeper experience in the area, we felt their input was going to help us. There were some comparisons and other templates that they were able to refer to in terms of how to develop it.

They had a really good pedigree and felt like a good fit. When I was deciding on a company, I had an in-person meeting with them as well.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $20,000–$24,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2019–March 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re happy with the results, and our customers are much happier with the new dashboard. We feel a lot more confident to market the business now to the business customers that we want to chase in our new B2B focus.

How did The Gradient perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was good. It was very fair and the team was always readily available. We used Slack, and their communication was good.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were professional. I had one other experience with a vendor and the experience with The Gradient was much more positive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It was a lot of money for us at the time but we felt it was worth the money.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The Gradient has great reference points if you’re trying to pivot in a certain direction which was really relevant for what we were doing. Their work spoke for itself, and they had a very good portfolio and track record. If you can get to them for an in-person meeting, I recommend it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a London-based credit card business. We want to make the credit card experience simpler, and we’re doing that through an app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Gradient?

We have a firm vision of what we want and what we want to achieve. They’re bringing a lot of our concepts to life

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’re helping us through innovation, UX, and creative. They create prototypes of what it might look like. The Gradient is a part of our team, and are working with us to deliver and design the platform.

What is the team composition?

We work with a few people.

How did you come to work with The Gradient?

One of our founders had a relationship with the founders of The Gradient. They’ve been with us since the beginning of our company, and we were their first client.

We started working with The Gradient’s founders and they started building a team around our needs. Since then, their agency has grown. They’re still doing the same quality, hard work from when they were a smaller team, to now the larger team they are today.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2016 and we’re still working together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve had a significant impact. They’re helping create our vision, and the interface our customers interact with. They are producing what our company sees, and that’s the most important aspect of our brand. It has been a five-star performance.

Their team works exceptionally hard. Their devotion is something that makes them stand out because they love what they do. Their designers are high caliber and are up to speed. I know that we’ll get the very best from their team.

How did The Gradient perform from a project management standpoint?

We have daily standups so we know exactly what everyone is doing. We communicate through Slack and Teams. It’s like they’re sitting at the desk next to me. We can even share screens. In today’s environment, where everyone is working from home, we’ve realized the impact that they make.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their endless enthusiasm. They live and breathe our brand and it really shows through their work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing they can improve on. They just get it.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Give them some freedom. They’re not your typical agency, that needs to be locked down on what they must do. If you keep things open a bit, they’ll go further and exceed your expectations.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and CTO of a startup that works with co-working spaces across the UK. We turn existing spaces into places for freelancers and remote workers to work.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Gradient?

We needed to define our customer experience journey through our UX. Our partner would ideally help us determine how our users would access our platform and revamp our current product offerings.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We needed a product team that could produce an MVP. First, we looked at how we could differentiate our product in a crowded marketplace. We locked down several attributes that made us unique. Next, their team helped us consider which software would be best to present our product. We’d never had an app, so they guided us through the app development process. Along with the UX design for the app, they redesign our web interface as well. 

What is the team composition?

We had about three people assigned to our account: a UI/UX designer, a product owner, and a business manager.

How did you come to work with The Gradient?

I was interviewing three different types of agencies. The Gradient is a more product-focused firm than others I was considering. Originally, I wanted a development team that could integrate into our operations. However, I’m not that experienced in design. I was recommended to The Gradient for that reason. After talking to them, I was impressed with how they matched up with our needs. It seemed like they could move our project forward while making our product unique. 

How much have you invested with them?

They’ve spent between $50,000–$100,000 on their services. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in December 2019, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They really picked up the outcomes from an initial branding exercise that our team went through, understanding our mission and direction. In the end, they came up with a unique solution to our problem. The app, dashboard, and management system solved our problem altogether. The level of detail they include in their work is out of this world. My co-founder and CEO was very impressed with what they were able to produce.   

It was evident throughout that they knew how to collaborate with all different types of businesses. Whether it’s a startup or a large-scale company, they’re able to work with clients. They’re organized, working effectively in sprints through our agile processes. I was consistently confident in what they were doing.  

How did The Gradient perform from a project management standpoint?

Our early meetings helped us cover the direction of the product and overall look and feel for the solution. We spent an entire week determining concepts and general project requirements. It was very helpful that have their team handle that with us. We’ve created an open communication channel through Slack and team sprint updates. That was well-structured, so issues could always be addressed quickly. I traveled to Ukraine several times as well to leverage our relationship.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

They feel like part of my team, showing flexibility and addressing my concerns as they came up. If something was missed, it was taken care of immediately. We didn’t have any issues in terms of scope either. That’s pretty rare.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. They consider quality when estimating timelines, wanting to ensure that we’re happy with our deliverables. Their team understands the path required to achieve quality. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Listen to their recommendations because they know what they’re talking about. I never had to explain myself much because they understood our business so well. The more you involve them in your internal processes, the more they can help you succeed.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the VP of product management for a FinTech company that services small to medium-sized businesses with a payment platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Gradient?

We were looking to complete an expansive overhaul of our entire application and simultaneously upgrade the technology behind it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Gradient re-designed our platform for us. Their team delivered a new look and feel for the application. They also delivered the functional requirements for how the new interface would behave.

Their team designed the platform with a very development-friendly approach since we were upgrading the technology at the same time. We upgraded from an extremely old version of the Angular framework on the frontend to the newest version which had only just come out of beta. It was a giant leap from 10-year-old technology to something brand new.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three members of The Gradient’s team. Denys (CEO, The Gradient) oversaw the project but not on a day-to-day basis. We worked with a senior UX designer and a business analyst.

How did you come to work with The Gradient?

We found The Gradient through Clutch. We initially sourced 6–8 agencies through personal recommendations from individuals within the organization and Clutch. The Gradient stood out because of the quality of their portfolio combined with their industry expertise and their response to our RFP.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement with The Gradient began in July 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We did an initial round of user testing for an initial prototype a month into the process, which really speaks to the speed at which they were able to produce something helpful. In just over four weeks we had a prototype we could take to our users to get feedback on, and the feedback we did get was very complimentary. A number of our customers said they liked the modern look and feel and that it was easy to understand. Many of them were excited to see the final product.

How did The Gradient perform from a project management standpoint?

The Gradient understood how to work autonomously and independently but had a great intuition for when to work with the in-house team more closely. It’s been a very interactive process but not overwhelming from a management perspective. Time zone differences have never been a problem and they’ve been willing to work with our development team who are also located in Ukraine.

Their team was able to jump right in and work fairly unsupervised, which is impressive for a remote team. They had a really good sense of when they need to check-in and what things they needed to ask about. It’s been the perfect balance of not needing to micromanage them and trusting them to come to us with important matters.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The Gradient was able to adapt to our needs and our aggressive timeline and budget without going overboard.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We had a sort of rocky start with the business analyst, but it was very minor. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be flexible with their working approach and invest a level of trust in them It worked well with us to not be very heavy-handed in controlling their workflow. Since it was a creative task, we gave them a fair amount of creative freedom and it seems to have worked out very well. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the managing director at DEAR Systems. DEAR is a software development company operating a SaaS business model. Our product range includes accounting, inventory management, POS, B2B, e-commerce portals, and a warehouse management application.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The Gradient?

We engaged The Gradient to help us create a new UI for our core inventory management application.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to make a modern UI that was in-line with industry trends.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

The Gradient was selected out of a pool of three other candidates from the US and the UK. Their proposal was professionally laid out during a scoping session, and they explained how they would tackle the job in time to meet our August deadlines. They used all the right project management tools too, which gave us confidence that they could stay on top of the work.

Describe the project in detail.

First, they organized a discovery week, which involved their business analyst (BA) researching our user feedback and comparing it to current industry trends for similar applications.

What was the team composition?

We have a dedicated team that consists of a BA and a product designer. We hold weekly stand-up meetings where we get updates about what has been done throughout the week and what they will be working on the following week.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve just begun programming the newly designed pages. The new design is definitely a big improvement to the standard Metronics theme we’ve had for a couple of years. The UI is now completely unique and aligned with current trends.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We use Skype or Zoom for weekly updates, but all project-related work is done in JIRA, which is what we use internally. Communication and workflow have been very effective to date.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The level of organization in their processes stands out to us, as does their communication.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, not at the moment. Everything is being done as expected and delivered on time. We’ve signed an ongoing agency agreement to make them our UX/UI partner on an ad-hoc basis.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the founder of Corrello, a dashboarding tool for Agile teams using Trello.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The Gradient?

The original design of Corrello needed a refresh, and some areas of the UX needed an overhaul.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted the UX to look great. It also had to be based on a better understanding of how people want to use the tool.  

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were recommended to me.

Describe the project in detail.

They delivered new designs for all the app screens, resulting in a design library to be used in future and new layouts for most/all interactions.

What was the team composition?

We worked with two people from The Gradient: a primary UX/UI designer and another resource, who provided some oversight.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The work is still being implemented, but we’ve made some great strides in the UX. The whole look of the app is going to be massively improved.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They took control of project management, making sure things were moving and that I was delivering what they needed. We had regular video chats to demo the work and occasional calls or chats on email/Slack to fill in the gaps.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The provided really great quality of work and delivered to my budget and schedule, even though I held things up on occasion. Everything was well-defined throughout.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I wouldn’t change anything on their side. This was my first UX/UI project with an external agency, so I’ll make some changes on my side in the future.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of Tweedo, a contact management platform that’s already launched on the market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The Gradient?

We worked with The Gradient on the UX/UI design and product marketing for our project.

What were your goals for this project?

We had an idea to create a beautiful, yet useful app for contact management. Users’ contact lists had to be easy to access and navigate, and we wanted the UX to be optimized for easy searching and grouping.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We had a successful experience working with The Gradient on one of our previous products, so we didn’t even consider looking for another partner.

Describe the project in detail.

During numerous user interviews, the design team discovered issues that many users experienced with their contact lists, as well as their context. This deeper understanding of the “searching for a contact” cycle influenced our design decisions. As a result, we covered the main user pain points and came up with a really great contact management tool.

What was the team composition?

There were two product designers, a business analyst, and an agency partner who managed cooperation and design strategy.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Considering that we already have the live product, we’re absolutely satisfied with the completed design phase and marketing activities. They’re a truly reliable partner that takes responsibility for your success.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow between us and their team was smooth and effective. They contributed to the whole product, from early research and investor pitching to the launch. They also deeply integrated with our development team, and, as a result of the cooperation, we produced the product almost without any unexpected mistakes.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The Gradient has been a trusted partner on our way to success. Understanding digital startup specifics, they were able to provide the right process at the right time. They’re highly experienced professionals with deep knowledge, yet they were very open to our ideas.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I didn’t find any during our cooperation.