Guidea

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of Compassware, a platform that provides services solutions for digital health and therapeutics.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Guidea A Theresa Neil Design Company?

We need a team that could help us with design and UX on our platform. That involves working on the backend of the CRM, learning management systems (LMS), consumer-client-facing solutions, and everything else that goes in our digital therapeutic services. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team worked on our platform’s wireframes, high fidelity assets, and usability studies. Guidea was also responsible for designing personas, flows, and anything needed to optimize our UX lifecycle. 

What is the team composition?

We work with various people from Guidea, including — creative directors, designers, and researchers.

How did you come to work with Guidea A Theresa Neil Design Company?

We’ve worked with Guidea on other different projects in the past. In my previous job, we needed help on one of our projects and Guidea was recommended to us. 

How much have you invested with them?

Our company invested around $100,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement ran from August–December 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We tested the designers provided by Guidea and the results that returned were crucial. The team’s scores improved over time. Our team measured the MVP’s engagement through user adoption. Fortunately, they were able to consistently hit high results on our metrics.

How did Guidea A Theresa Neil Design Company perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication skills were amazing and superior. We didn’t have any issues in terms of project management. When it comes to deliverables, Guidea was able to complete the tasks on time. We used Backspace and other UX specific software.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team delivered the tasks above and beyond the design process. Guidea embedded themselves in our team and became great assets to our business. The team was very passionate about the project and they provided great strategic direction. They brought a lot of technical expertise and innovative new ideas and feature sets to the table.

We were impressed with how their business and services evolved with time. Since I’ve worked with them in the past, I saw their growth from creating security solutions to digital health solutions.

Another thing that impressed us was their business acumen — how they were able to deliver more than just the UX research and design solutions. Guidea fundamentally transformed their solutions to fit the competitive landscape. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We don’t have any complaints regarding their services.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Bring the right people in the room — make sure that you’re maximizing your resources carefully. The quality of their works is magnified by the talent and skills of the people involved. It’s also important to get the stakeholders involved to see and get the results you’re hoping for. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of a fintech company delivering solutions to the financial services industry that help create more inclusion and develop better financial health for consumers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Guidea - A Theresa Neil Design Company?

We were trying to pursue continued improvements in the financial health of our clients, and so we developed a short-term lending product that lets financial institutions help consumers bridge the gap more easily when they need money in the form of short-term loans.

We pulled Guidea in to help us consult our consumers and brainstorm how we could further address the challenges of the people we were already serving.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their primary role in our first engagement with them was market research and bringing industry experts to the table so that we could discuss with both our customers and other voices in the industry to figure out what new products we could come up with to approach some of the still unresolved challenges for our clientele.

We worked with them to brainstorm some ideas and then begin to design prototypes of new products. We got customer feedback on those and then launched a pilot program in which they helped us to monitor the feedback we got and understand the successes and struggles in each new step.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 4–5 different members of their team, ranging from strategists to information architects, as well as UI designers.

How did you come to work with Guidea - A Theresa Neil Design Company?

They were referred to us by our parent company, the Washington State Employees Credit Union. When we started our discussions with our primary owner, we just took the lead from them and started working with the Guidea team.

How much have you invested with them?

In total, we’ve spent over $100,000 with them over the years.

What is the status of this engagement?

I believe we first started the engagement in August 2018, and we’ve worked with them on and off since then on an ongoing basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They really know their stuff and are extremely professional. On top of that, they take the time to listen and learn about your organization and tailor their approach to the client. The team takes an adaptive approach to every challenge they face rather than trying to apply cookie-cutter solutions, which I really appreciate.

How did Guidea - A Theresa Neil Design Company perform from a project management standpoint?

They set aggressive targets and always meet them, and they make use of a very collaborative, simple project management style to keep everybody engaged and on task without being overly authoritative.

We have had a few on-sight visits, but primarily communicate via phone calls, emails, and text. A lot of that depends on the complexity of the topic or project that we are currently working on, and they are very flexible in meeting the needs of the moment, whatever those might be.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Trusting our parent company in working with Guidea was one of the best decisions we’ve made, because of the breadth of experience that they have working in different industries. They brought all of that knowledge and insight to bear and really delivered some powerful insights on specific questions that helped guide how we moved forward on the project.

Their team is able to dive into the situation and understand your business and the problems you’re trying to solve very quickly. There’s not a lot of back and forth, which allows them to get to work finding solutions almost immediately.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I really don’t have any particular areas for improvement with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Connect with Theresa if you can, because she really is a driving force for the organization and will ensure that you have the best people working on your product.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and co-founder of ClosedLoop.ai, a healthcare data science platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Guidea?

We hired them to help with a UX overhaul to make our web UI more intuitive for our users. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their team focused primarily on UX design and the overall information architecture on the platform. They delivered user personas, primary user flows through the application, wireframes, and so forth. 

What is the team composition?

Two people on their team worked with us, including Nikki (Associate Director of Research & Strategy). 

How did you come to work with Guidea?

I’d known Theresa (Founder & Creative Director) for quite a while and had worked with her previously at another company. She’s a published author and is well thought of here in Austin, so she was my first call when we needed some help with UX. 

How much have you invested with them?

I believe we spent around $80,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from May–July 2020. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t completely implemented their work yet so we don’t have any hard metrics at this point. However, they brought a ton of domain expertise and did a fantastic job. We couldn’t be happier with the results and we’re going to take what they gave us and run with it. 

How did Guidea perform from a project management standpoint?

They delivered within our timeline 100% of the time. Expectations were communicated very well and they helped guide the scope of the project. They used a number of different collaboration and project management platforms, including Miro for an ideation and whiteboard standpoint. We also used Asana for tracking tasks, too, which was great. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Being collaborative and bringing their own expertise and ideas to the table, while still pulling our team’s ideas and knowledge into the project was a strong suit. They didn’t just jump in and tell us how it’ll be done; they asked the right questions and came up with solutions in response. Overall, they had a very nuanced ability to create a collaborative environment, which was powerful and impactful for our project. 

They were extremely knowledgeable on our target personas, who are Ph.D. data scientists who are our primary users. They’d already spoken to people in that niche area. The team was off-the-charts with how professional and organized they were in guiding us through the process. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

From our perspective, it was an A+ project, so I don’t have any criticism. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Doing our homework and showing up to the collaborative sessions was really helpful. They help get the most out of your time by providing things in advance. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a pediatric behavioral health company that uses machine learning to help identify and diagnose children with autism.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Guidea - A Theresa Neil Design Company?

We were in the process of conducting a pivotal trial so that we could submit our product for our first FDA clearance. We needed Guidea’s assistance with human factor testing on the physician portion of our product interface.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Guidea helped us craft UX tests within a tight timeline so that we could make sure we weren’t slipping in any of our company objectives. 

At first, we engaged them to give an overview of what we hoped to accomplish, providing information on our product. They looked at our risk analysis and went over the user types that we expected for our product.

From there, they created a protocol for user testing and partnered with a group to recruit participants. They finished the tests with recorded interviews, going over general usability questions as well as asking about overall impressions.

Guidea generated a final report and engaged with our regulatory quality group, too, to make sure that the output would be what we needed for our FDA submission.

What is the team composition? 

My main point of contact was Karen (UX Researcher). She would filter any additional information from us to the rest of the team. In total, there were probably about four people.

How did you come to work with Guidea - A Theresa Neil Design Company?

One of my colleagues had utilized Guidea at his previous company and was impressed with their work. He spoke highly of their services because he felt that they were able to deliver for his company. 

When we did an RFP, we evaluated Guidea with two other groups, and they came out on top thanks to their knowledge within the space.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost about $95,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We engaged them in Q4 of 2019 but didn’t start working on the project officially until January 2020. The total timeline was about 7–8 weeks, ending in early March 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The most important thing for us was that Guidea understood the purpose of the tests. We needed to structure the final report in a way that we would require little effort on our part to send through our FDA submission.

As with any type of human factor testing, it was also key that they understood the intricacies of our product so that they could get what we wanted to accomplish with our main features. 

Guidea did a really nice job of putting in the upfront time to review documents as well as sitting through our demos and asking the right questions. That allowed them to create a testing protocol that would pull out what we needed to focus on.

How did A Guidea - Theresa Neil Design Company perform from a project management standpoint?

We had certain timeframes for our company objectives in addition to making sure that we were maintaining our timelines for the overall studies. Guidea was able to meet those commitments well, hitting their initial estimates. Recruiting was also a similar uncertainty, but they were able to find the number that we needed. It wasn’t an issue at all. 

Even within touchpoints through the project, they were communicative. We got an informal report prior to the final, and everything was very clear.

Again, I appreciated that Karen was the face of Guidea for our account. She passed on any messages that I had and responded quickly when needed. She could also move from email to face-to-face, staying flexible enough to schedule meetings on short notice.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It was the upfront effort that they took in really understanding our space and how our product was unique. Using AI to help diagnose children with autism — there’s nothing else like that. This meant that our audience wouldn’t have previous experience to reference.

I appreciated that Guidea took the time and effort to engage with us internally to build a framework before proceeding to create protocols and conduct the study.

Are there any areas they could improve?

When moving into a deal with new partners, you’ll realize that common terminology isn’t as common as you’d think. I’d suggest that both parties make sure they’re on the same page when using certain terms. A term could mean different things coming from the client side versus what they’re used to on the service side.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d highly recommend them. Not only are they easy to work with, but also I was impressed with the consistency and skill level of the team. They’re experts at what they do. My only advice would be to make sure you define the terms you use upfront so that the expectations for the deliverables are clear.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the technology director for a small startup that offers pharmacy discounts for retail and home delivery. I oversee all the technology that powers all digital channels as well as all services for B2B and B2C.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Guidea - A Theresa Neil Design Company?

Our user-based has changed rapidly over the course of 3 years since launching. Faced with the rising focus on a mobile user, we felt the best course of action was a redesign that addressed numerous problems and lowered the friction for many of the most underserved populations.

What were your goals for this project?

The biggest thing we wanted to achieve, was improve the mobile expeirence. We also wanted to solve many aspects around clarity of our program, and transparency about prices.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

This vendor was a internal recommendation. Our parent company has an existing relationship. But it was the initial meetings that really sold us it was worth pulling the trigger. They were very flexible with our desire to work cloesly with a designer during the process.

Describe the project in detail.

The project was a baseline usability test of our existing site, through a mobile design. There was design work to reimagine the experience mobile-first. This included validation with an early prototype.

What was the team composition?

We were mostly engaged through the designer. A VP of Strategy was present for many meetings that involved larger topics, like budget or direction. Additionally, the design worked with a researcher during the studies. It also sounded like everyone had larger resources they could pull from when looking for alternate ideas or solutions.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Unfortunately, the redesigned product has not launched yet. That being said, all internal testing shows it is the right direction. And everyone loves the new approach to our critical flows.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was excellent between the teams. They were willing to jump into our Slack and integrate as much as we needed. This greatly reduced any friction, or "throwing" assets over the wall at the end of the project. Because they were open to us being so engaged at every steps of the way, we were able to hone in on the perfect vision quickly, as a team.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were able to understand a complex problem within a short timeline. The fresh ideas they brought really keyed us into better directions. Overall they worked as a partner with us, and was as excited about our product as we are.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Looking back, we may have wanted to see desktop comps a little sooner, as there was some large delta between the mobile and desktop flows we had to resolve. But overall it was really minor and to be expected given the timeline.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a consumer goods company and I’m the digital product lead for a new mobile application.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Guidea- A Theresa Neil Design Company?

We hired Guidea- A Theresa Neil Design Company to do a general usability test of the app to determine if we had put the right version in the market. We partnered with them on the design prior to the launch of the app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were rebuilding an already existing app from scratch with a new design and tech stack.  We took some of the insights and analytics from the previous app and then started building out user stories and MVP requirements to put the product to market. I provided them with our user stories and some of our goals and they did the initial design for the app. Once the design was approved, we built the app and launched it. Then they did usability research to make sure the design was automating with consumers.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three people from their team including a UX/UI designer, account manager, and researcher.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $150,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from May–September 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

By putting the MVP version of the app on the market, we doubled our organic monthly active users and increased our ratings almost right away. We’re seeing significant improvements in our metrics just based on their design. Everyone was really happy with the new platform.

How did Guidea- A Theresa Neil Design Company perform from a project management standpoint?

They were wonderful, especially from the design side. They were very proactive and we rarely had to ask for anything because they anticipated what our needs were anyways.

When we got into the research phase, it was similar in that they never brought us a recommendation or anything that wasn’t thoroughly researched or vetted, so we felt confident in approving things quickly, which helped us move faster. During the eight-week design period, we were in contact multiple times a week and then during the research period, we were in contact about three times a week for about six weeks.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The amount of thought they put into anything before it even came across my desk was really helpful. They just took the lead and ran with it and didn’t need attentive feedback along the way. They were doing things readily and surely, which was really great. They’re one of the best partners I’ve ever worked with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there isn't anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Having a good idea of what you want to learn and how it supports your business would be helpful because that’s really all they need to get started.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the coordinator at Forest Carbon Works, a company that creates forest carbon offset projects.

We work with landowners who are seeking to quantify and sell the carbon sequestration value of their forests. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Guidea- A Theresa Neil Design Company?

One of the tools we’re working to develop is a downloadable app that can be used by landowners and other users who don’t have much knowledge about forestry or forest collection methods.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

When we first met with Guidea- A Theresa Neil Design Company, we worked together on a series of capacity building exercises where the team was able to learn about our company, carbon projects in general, and our goals for the app.

Next, they helped us create wireframes and to storyboard our desired user experience. A palatable, accessible design that easily guides landowners through the process of collecting information about their property was one of our primary concerns.

The team created some initial designs and put together an orientation package before transitioning into beta testing with former clients. That process helped inform some of the decisions we ended up making about the final product, allowing us to see which of the design aspects were really strong and which weren’t. 

From there, we went into the final design stages and actual creation of the app. Guidea- A Theresa Neil Design Company implemented some of our desired functionalities that they’d helped us choose.

What is the team composition?

I worked primarily with about four people. We were in contact with Theresa (Founder & Creative Director, Guidea- A Theresa Neil Design Company), Jessica (Content & User Experience Design, Guidea- A Theresa Neil Design Company), Ryan (Associate Director of Strategy, Guidea- A Theresa Neil Design Company), and their project manager. 

How did you come to work with Guidea- A Theresa Neil Design Company?

We reached out to several different design groups, and Guidea- A Theresa Neil Design Company responded very enthusiastically. They were excited about the opportunity to do something fresh and new that also serves a greater purpose in terms of environmentalism and land conservation. Ultimately, given their passionate response and quality of their portfolio, the decision to partner with them was easy.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement lasted from April–July 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re still working on the functionality of the app. However, having Guidea- A Theresa Neil Design Company’s design work completed has allowed us to make significant progress in the development process. It’s helped to influence some of our updates, and we’re overall quite pleased with the deliverables they provided. 

How did Guidea- A Theresa Neil Design Company perform from a project management standpoint?

Throughout the project, we were working within a timeline based on our grant funding, so we had some really strict deadlines. Guidea- A Theresa Neil Design Company was extremely flexible, always making sure to deliver on time. 

Early on, there was heavy communication between our teams multiple times per week. We eventually scaled it down to weekly or biweekly meetings, which were very content-heavy and engaging.

Overall, they managed the project really well. The team was in touch with updates, deliverables, and any changes to the budget or scope as they arose.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were quite impressed with the amount of effort the team put into the conceptual phase before even launching into design. We were able to sit down together and comb through everything that was important to us as a company that we wanted to see replicated in the app. The entire process was very robust.

Also, the quality of their design was incredibly high. We really appreciated watching them create such a great product in such a short period of time. They weren’t just concerned with creating the product, they really wanted to achieve a positive experience for the user. Guidea- A Theresa Neil Design Company delivered beyond our expectations.

Along the way, everyone on the team was extremely enthusiastic, immersing themselves fully in the details of our project and industry. Our platform is niche and complicated, but Ryan and Jessica especially were dedicated to understanding all aspects of the process to tell our story through design as effectively as possible. Their attention to detail and enthusiasm really stood out. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we enjoyed our time with them and would happily work with them again on future design projects. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be prepared to share what you want to achieve in detail. Whatever you’re willing to put into the engagement with the team, you’ll get back ten-fold. The more you can provide, the more they’ll be able to accomplish.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and CEO of a company called Yotascale, which offers collaborative cost management for AWS. We help businesses gain insight into their cloud spend, which, based on unique circumstances, varies for each company.   

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Guidea (A Theresa Neil Design Company)?

We were looking to create a deck to present to potential investors. To make a successful seed-funding deck, we needed to solidify and effectively visualize our corporate mission. Our solution is rather complex, so we sought to distill that sophisticated concept into something powerful but digestible.   

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Theresa (Founder & Creative Director, Guidea) worked to represent our company’s vision. She first helped establish our corporate narrative. Then, conducting research on different icons and concepts, she worked to visually represent that story in a cogent way. They focused on UX/UI design to accurately convey work permutations and resource shifts in our business model.

What is the team composition?

My primary point of contact was Theresa, but I also worked with Jon (Principal UX Designer, Guidea).

How did you come to work with Guidea (A Theresa Neil Design Company)?

I’d interacted with Theresa before, during my time at PayPal. We shared many mutual connections. She has extensive experience working with both enterprises and startups, so her wide breadth of knowledge led me to start working with her.

How much have you invested with them?

While I don’t have an exact estimate, we spent somewhere between $50,000—$100,000 over the years of our engagement.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in 2015 and wrapped up in 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They delivered an effective seed deck that raised $2.6 million in investments. Their visual designs received stellar feedback from our customers, and their contributions were key capabilities that differentiated us from competitors.

Jon really put his heart and soul into consolidating the design components—he worked diligently on updates until the very day of the demo launch.

The finished product allowed our customers to gain a deeper understanding of their cloud spend. Their team internalized customer pain-points to deliver an extremely effective solution. Guidea’s commitment to their customers, and their craft, is contagious. They’re clearly passionate about problem-solving.

How did] perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was excellent. Everything was delivered on time, and they understood the fluidity of our corporate situation. They were collaborative, engaged, and always available.

Theresa always ensured that their services were effective, by consistently inquiring about feedback. She demonstrated great responsibility and ownership of her work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I would emphasize the scope of Theresa’s experience and knowledge. She’s extremely qualified and has worked with many different domains. She has an almost-uncanny ability to attract the right people by having the right professional mindset; I was very impressed by that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

While I can’t think of anything significant, I would’ve appreciated a greater degree of engagement and participation. I invited her into conversations that I felt were relevant, and I think more of those discussions would have been helpful.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re not the cheapest solution out there, but you get what you pay for. They’re reasonably priced for the very high quality of work that they provide.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work on customer experience research and strategy for Priority Health.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Guidea?

We reached out to Guidea to conduct user experience research to help us gain deep insights regarding our members. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Guidea conducted user experience research, including a deep-dive into genitive and evaluative research. They also taught our team some best practices and helped us find and champion those approaches internally.

They initially conducted a lot of stakeholder interviews in order to fully grasp our goals and challenges to help us redesign our member experience. They also interviewed about 30 members across all four of our segments and made recommendations to help inform the evaluative research component. They proposed a new information architecture based on member feedback and analysis to help us restructure our website. 

What is the team composition? 

For the generative research, two people worked in the field and two people worked remotely in addition to some external recruiters they hired. During the second round, they had one person in the field and two people working remotely. Theresa (Founder and Creative Director, Guidea) also worked directly with us throughout the project.

How did you come to work with Guidea?

Someone in the design community recommended them to us and we liked them more than another vendor we were considering. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested at least $300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from May–August 2018 and plan to work with them again on more research projects next year. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Guidea established an important platform for approaching consumer research at our company, succeeding in proving the value of their work to our executives in the process. After a 16-week engagement with their team, we decided to establish a dedicated team of researchers internally to continue to focus on member feedback. Our previous perspectives were way off, so their findings have been tremendously valuable. 

How did Guidea perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great to work with. I didn't have to micromanage them at all. Although they have project management tools they use internally, we're somewhat limited in our industry so we mainly communicated via email and tracked work in spreadsheets. They were in touch with us every day, sending summary reports and hot notes at the end of each of their long days of field research. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Compared to other research firms I've worked with in the past, Guidea is more specialized and thorough in their approach. They've really honed their skills around the customer experience aspect of research. They also continue to grow and expand their understanding of our industry.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Although they do a decent job of managing it, there's some room for improvement in the way they present qualitative research, which is vastly different from quantitative research. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I just recommend working with them–they're amazing. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the CTO of a company called Silvercar, which was a car rental startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Guidea (A Theresa Neil Design Company)?

We were building the first version of our product, a rental car company, built from scratch, that would offer a single make and model vehicle you could access with your phone. We needed somebody to help us with experience design and UI/UX.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started by defining the customer journey. We wanted to highlight all of the things that were wrong with airport car rental and come up with ways to apply technology and human-centered design to remove friction from as many of those pain points as possible. We did some user research that was very generative, and then Guidea’s team focus-grouped a bunch of the initial concepts we had with paper prototypes.

From there, we moved to low-fidelity digital prototypes to high-fidelity digital prototypes and then eventually to actual interface designs that the engineers on my team were able to implement. That version included every feature we had envisioned for the product, not just with the MVP but beyond—the final product consisted of a native iOS, Android app, and website all tied into a vehicle renting process.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three members of their team, specifically Theresa (CEO, Guidea (A Theresa Neil Design Company)), Paula (Advisor, Guidea (A Theresa Neil Design Company)), and one other woman as well.

How did you come to work with Guidea (A Theresa Neil Design Company)?

I ran a search process over the course of a month or so, looking at every product and experience design team in and around Austin. It was important for us to find somebody local because we needed a partner who we could spend time with and who would be able to understand the hardware aspect of the products we were designing.

We interviewed 6–8 companies and through that process whittled it down to a couple of places that had a bit of a competition which Theresa’s team won. They were much more aligned with the philosophy of our company at the time because we were both just getting started and felt like kindred spirits from that perspective.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together for 5 months, from about June–October 2012.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We implemented most of what they came up with to create the very first version of Silvercar which launched in January 2013 at DFW airport. That product helped us raise three rounds of funding and then sell the company to a luxury car manufacturer who continues to operate it in 25 locations across the US. It took us about five and a half years to raise all the funding and then sell the company, and we used the version of the product that they designed for us probably three of those five years.

How did Guidea (A Theresa Neil Design Company) perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management worked really well for us. They kept on top of each aspect of the project flawlessly—in fact, if anything, our team had trouble keeping up with their pace of development—but they always made sure we were all on the same page.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of the things that still stands out to me when I do reference calls for them is how fast they are. Everybody on that team who I’ve ever worked with has been extremely fast and super focused. The quality of the work doesn’t suffer for the speed at all, so the speed is kind of mind-blowing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I think for any kind of product or experience design they are as good as companies get.