Guidea

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the vice president of member experience at a credit union for state employees.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We wanted to launch a complete overhaul of our digital banking platform. We needed a team that had experience working with some of the tools we planned to use to build a more advanced UX design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Guidea (A Theresa Neil Design Company) was responsible for the foundational information architecture as well as the primary navigation for our site. We started with a kickoff meeting where we shared our objectives with their team. After collecting data, the Guidea (A Theresa Neil Design Company) team ran multiple phases of rapid iterative testing and evaluation (RITE). The process was primarily a collaboration, and they handed the final product off to us after creating foundational pieces for our navigation and some core design tenants. Later, our internal designers propagated the work throughout all of the pages of our site. We found this cooperation to be very effective, and it’s the primary reason we continue to go back to them.

What is the team composition?

At any given time we were working with two to four members of their design team. Although, depending on the phase of the project, they would pull in user research experts or analysts to assist.

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

Because our internal team didn’t have the right expertise for this project, we decided to pull in an outside resource. After reaching out to a couple of firms, we received a referral for Guidea (A Theresa Neil Design Company) from the vendor who supplies the new platform we were migrating to. It was still relatively new in the US, so we were looking for a team that already had the experience. We spoke to the team and after a couple of meetings, it became clear that they had detailed knowledge of the capabilities and limitations of the platform. Their team did the primary UX for its out-of-the-box offering so we selected them for the project.

How much have you invested with them?

Altogether we’ve spent $250,000–$350,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began the project in January 2017 and the website launched in March 2019. The work by Guidea (A Theresa Neil Design Company) was wrapped up in the middle of 2017, but we had some execution issues on our end. They continued to work with us on other projects while we finished up the digital banking platform.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have really productive discussions with their team. Any work we’ve done with Guidea (A Theresa Neil Design Company) has been high quality, and we always end up with an outstanding product. We are able to bounce ideas back and forth and this creativity allows us to produce something incredible.

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

They were always on point. The team was consistently accurate in terms of their estimations for project length and resource utilization. They always came in at or under budget and there were never any surprises

What did you find most impressive about them?

Every time we have worked with them, their methodology has been different—but in a good way. The team is flexible and adapts its approach to suit the individuality of the challenge. Guidea (A Theresa Neil Design Company) does not rely on scripted approaches and instead addresses each project on a case by case basis. It always felt as if they were highly engaged and thinking about the problem as thoughtfully as we were. They are one of the most creative vendors I’ve had the opportunity to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There are no areas that come to mind. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would encourage as much transparency and honesty as possible at the beginning of the process. The more you share with the team, the better they are at delivering solutions that will work best.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the vice president of engineering at Zenoss, Inc., an IT company that mainly focuses on the Global 2000. I’m in charge of our on-premise and software-as-a-service (SaaS) products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Guidea?

We initially needed a partner to do a UI refresh for our on-premise product. It’s been a few years since that project, and we’ve since changed our focus to SaaS products, so we engaged with Guidea (A Theresa Neil Design Company) again to form the new UI.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Guidea team met with our internal stakeholders to get an idea of our project scope and where we wanted to take the project. We gave them a list of about ten clients that they contacted to interview and determine what the customers wanted out of our product. From there, Guidea came up with a few ideas and presented a proposal. We approved the design and then iterated back and forth on the navigation, layout, and wireframes of the SaaS product. This resulted in two different options, and we chose the one we liked the most.

After that, they began implementation, and we provided regular feedback and clarification on the design. Guidea created a full HTML-ready sample with all of our colors and images to provide a guide for how the UI would be laid out. They then continued implementation until the final product was developed.

What is the team composition?

I had one main point of contact, and there were about four people in total on the team.

How did you come to work with Guidea?

We’d used them in the past and knew they were familiar with our domain. However, we also got bids from two other consultants but chose Guidea because they were creative and their past work aligned more with our domain.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $200,000–$400,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership lasted from November 2017–May 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We received national recognition for the product by being named a leader in the intelligent IT operation space in the Forrester Wave report. Within a year, the pipeline for our product has grown and now makes up between 60%–85% of our sales.

How did Guidea perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated multiple times a week and then daily when we began implementation. They provided documentation before each meeting, giving us time to review it. They clearly explained the various project phases and gave status reports along the way. We used Basecamp and a few other project management tools to make sure everything went smoothly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They took time to learn our domain and provide a tailor-made solution. They were creative and found a good balance between making the product both modern and functional.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of any ways they could improve. They’re in high demand, so it may take some planning to partner with them.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Let them work their process, even if it seems elongated. They know what they’re doing and will create great results. Make time to give feedback on their work and build a constructive working relationship.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the managing partner and founder of MapRight, a web-based GIS program.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We needed help on a major redesign of the way we handle users. As our interface gets more complex, the challenge is to make it seem easy.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Guidea (A Theresa Neil Design Company) led an overhaul of the UI on our website. They helped redesign about 70% of the site. To start, they flew into Austin, Texas, for a multi-day in person meeting with our design team. Their process required them to interview our users, but generally, they worked directly with me. They provided design mockups, and then our internal team developed out the design changes. 

What is the team composition? 

We worked with three members of their team.  

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

One of my business partners actually had Theresa (Founder & Creative Director, Guidea (A Theresa Neil Design Company)) 's design book on his shelf. So he knew of them and the quality of their work. We reached out to them and they were nice enough to work with us. 

How much have you invested with them? 

To date, we’ve spent $80,000–$90,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project took place from February 2018–May 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We released their design in mid-March, so it's only been out for a few months. All of our users are very happy with the improvements. We got positive comments right from the initial release, which is rare. Usually, people are unhappy when you change the interface. The fact that it rolled out so smoothly, and been so well-received right from the start, is really exceptional. I would definitely use them again. Guidea (A Theresa Neil Design Company) will be one of the first groups that we contact to design the third major component of our site.

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

I was very impressed with Guidea (A Theresa Neil Design Company). I've been thinking about this redesign for years, and they were able to help me produce the vision I had in my head. We're a specialized niche. Their designers came in completely unaware of GIS yet were able to catch up quickly to my thinking. They always delivered what they said they would, and did so on time. They used Basecamp as a communication tool and to host designs. We had weekly meetings, and I could contact them on Slack or email at any time in the process. 

What did you find most impressive about them? 

I've worked with several marketing and design groups in the past and I've always been thoroughly unimpressed. I felt like I was just telling them what to do, but I wanted more of a collaboration. Guidea (A Theresa Neil Design Company) was the best. Their people could keep up with me and had thoughts on the way things should work. Not only did they have ideas that I’d never thought about, but they were also an improvement to my thinking. Not many people can do that in this realm.

Are there any areas they could improve? 

I really don't. They're the best design team I've ever worked with, and it's not even close. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

They're really good at what they do, but you also need to have an understanding of what you want to accomplish. It’s your responsibility to convey your vision to them. They’re good at giving suggestions on how to improve ideas. As with anything, you have to still run the show and make sure things get done efficiently.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the product manager for a software platform that manages complex genome sequence data and related annotations and experiment data. Based in Basel, Switzerland, our company is a leading provider of bioinformatics solutions for biopharma, agribusiness, and industrial biotechnology industries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our web application needed a new UX/UI design. 

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to release a new web application that was more engaging, and that increased efficiency and productivity for our customers. We also wanted to reduce the effort needed to bring new users onboard our platform.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our team performed a search and narrowed the selection to a handful of candidates. A primary reason we chose Guidea was their experience in working with complex scientific use cases.

Describe the project in detail.

We started by building a stand-alone application for a specific use case. Guidea participated in strategic discussions to help us define effective epics and stories. They also developed wireframes and visual designs to create a friendlier UX for our customers. At each step, we reviewed, iterated, and tested with potential customers to make sure it was on the right track. I also reviewed the designs with our internal team of scientists and business managers. 

What was the team composition?

I worked primarily with 2–3 contacts at Guidea who could bring in specialized help from their team as needed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The response from our existing customers has been overwhelmingly positive. We were able to address many of their concerns about our previous web portal. Users are working more productively in the new web application. Software demos are also more successful, allowing us to onboard new users and expand the user base. 

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Projects and expectations were managed well. We would frequently measure our progress in order to catch risk points early. Guidea was so helpful when we needed to make changes to address issues that came up unexpectedly.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The team at Guidea works very well together. Collectively they have a tremendous breadth of knowledge in various creative areas. I was impressed with how they’re able to think through challenges involving complex biological data. There was no problem too difficult to for them to conquer.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, no areas for improvement come to mind.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the head of product for BrightInsight. We offer a medical-grade IoT platform that integrates with connected medical devices to provide real-time intelligence to pharma and med tech companies where privacy and security regulations are managed globally. Our pre-built and pre-validated capabilities allow both our clinical and commercial customers to accelerate their time to market, reduce costs, and minimize risk.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We have worked with multiple Guidea teams on a number of projects to address challenges in the healthcare regulated solutions our customers are developing. These solutions, which include sensors, wearables, implantables, and algorithms that make clinical recommendations and predictions, often involve multimodal user interfaces, non-deterministic workflows, and complex data analysis. 

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to understand our customers’ users and unmet needs in order to help them develop optimal digital health solutions. By understanding the user—be it a patient, caregiver, healthcare provider, trial provider, trial sponsor, trial investigator, brand manager, or product owner—we can create solutions that not only improve patient outcomes but fit seamlessly into their digital lifestyles.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We compared Guidea with many other strategy and design agencies. They impressed us with their experience in the digital health space specifically as well as their work in general. 

Describe the project in detail.

The first phase was a design thinking workshop. Guidea conducted research (recruiting, interviews, observations) with patients and providers to understand their pain points and opportunities. From there they developed six user archetypes with specific unmet needs and concerns. These requirements were reviewed and then categorized using an evaluation framework based on needs and constraints. Guidea then conducted in-person workshops, managing over 20 participants to collaboratively design and prioritize conceptual solutions. They field tested the solutions with patients and providers and made a final recommendation.

The second phase was UX/UI design. Guidea applied best practices to design an optimal user experience involving a connected drug delivery device. This solution, as a clickable prototype, was enhanced over several formative studies. Final deliverables included high fidelity visual assets for development.

What was the team composition?

The team consisted of a creative director, a researcher, an experience designer, a UI designer, and a relationship manager. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our best measures of success to date are the high quality of the deliverables we were able to input into the commercialization process as well as end-product customer satisfaction.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was smoother than anticipated. Guidea integrated well considering their involvement and deliverables were part of larger and longer projects. As a partner, they demonstrated great interest in our success, maintained accountability, and remained flexible, accommodating all of our last-minute requests. 

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Every staff member with whom we have interacted possesses deep expertise within his or her respective fields. 

Are there any areas for improvement?

There are no areas for improvement at this time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of experience design at Humana. We work in the health, wellness, and insurance fields.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Guidea?

We were creating digital solutions for provider practices, and we didn’t have a design language suitable for payer-agnostic situations—many times, provider practices want to brand online and physical materials with their own brand language rather than leveraging Humana’s branding.  We needed to create a flexible design language system that enabled quick modification of material appearance to support different practices’ brand identities.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Guidea created a design language system that enables us to quickly brand digital and physical materials for our provider practice clients.

Our work with Guidea began with Discovery. They sought to understand what we wanted to achieve and conducted a design inventory of representative digital, print, and web assets.

In the next phase, Guidea explored different strategic directions for provider and patient materials. We eliminated those that didn’t align with our vision. Once a direction was chosen, they developed design principles and prototypes, which we further refined before testing.

Guidea then conducted consumer research with patients and providers to explore what each audience expected visual and digital collateral to look like from a health and wellness brand. They investigated two potential executions and determined which one or which combination of them rose to the top. They shared the results with us, and we aligned on what their recommended direction was.

Based on the research learnings, Guidea began constructing the digital and print components for use when creating websites, mobile apps, wearable apps, and physical print materials. As part of the component library, they included behaviors, examples demonstrating proper execution, and explanations so users of the library understood how the components should be applied. The end result will be a cohesive set of digital and physical assets for each provider client.

The collateral library Guidea helped us build is located in a centralized online application that people can access when building a new website, digital application or physical collateral. Components can be easily dropped into applications for convenient construction of digital or physical assets.  In addition, this library enables users to rapidly change the design language. For example, if a provider’s practice is acquired by a competitor, their materials could be transitioned to the new brand language in about a week.

To ensure the component library maintained its consistency, Guidea recommended we establish a gatekeeper and a governance committee.  They worked with a pilot team to demonstrate how to use the design language system and trained the gatekeeper on how to grant access, educate others, etc.  Once the team understood how to use the system, they launched it and it’s now in use.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 5–7 Guidea staff with UI/UX, Interaction Design, Developer and business backgrounds on the two workstreams.
 
How did you come to work with Guidea?

I identified five design consultancies as potential partners for this work. Guidea came recommended by a senior design leader I knew at another company. Their response to our RFP was solid, and once I discussed their proposal with them in more detail, it was clear they were the best fit for the project.

Guidea’s proposal reflected a best in class process with delivery of valuable materials in a format that made the most sense for our organization.  Humble and supportive, they explained technical details in an easily understood way, and they proactively provided recommendations based on lessons learned from past projects. They also had extensive experience creating design language systems for complex situations, which the other candidate firms didn’t.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Guidea in January 2018. They’re still working with us on projects, but I’m no longer involved.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

People were delighted with the outcome. As a result, Guidea received a follow-on project to apply the design language system to a digital application alongside our team. That follow-on engagement gave our team experience with the new system and enabled us to ask Guidea questions as we were learning how to apply it. It was an important project, and it was essential that the work be done quickly and to high quality.

Now that the design language system has been launched, multiple digital groups within our company have a central repository that they can leverage when creating digital and physical collateral. Broad use of the system is still ramping up. Thanks to Guidea, we have a shorter turnaround time when building digital and physical assets, as well as increased consistency and speed when changing brand languages.

How did Guidea perform from a project management standpoint?

Guidea was incredibly flexible during a time of uncertainty at our company. Expectations changed during the project, and Guidea rolled with them. Sometimes, they gave us more leeway than we deserved, but I appreciated that generosity. I truly felt they cared about our relationship and were looking out for our best interests. They managed well, delivered on time, and produced high-quality deliverables. I’ve worked at several top tier design firms, and I found Guidea’s work to be thoughtful and visually compelling.

Throughout the bulk of the project, I was in constant contact with Guidea. They never disappeared. We had weekly status meetings, and when questions arose during the week, I could reach out as needed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Guidea’s talents are extraordinary, and the quality that really distinguishes them from other consultancies is their lack of hubris. They aren’t shy about sharing recommendations based on lessons learned from past projects, which is refreshing. The team was upfront about offering this guidance when we were trying to make important decisions, which established them as a trustworthy partner. Guidea helped us avoid several costly mistakes, and we’re in a great spot because of their guidance.
 
Are there any areas they could improve?

No. They did an excellent job across the board, and I always felt well-informed. I have nothing but good things to say about them and would certainly recommend them to anyone else who’s looking for someone to help with this type of work. I’ve already recommended them to another senior design leader at a different company.
 
Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Clients shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions. This project wasn’t in my area of expertise, so I asked lots of questions and am much wiser as a result. Even though we got a great result, the most valuable takeaway for me was what I learned about this space from Guidea.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CEO of Edthena, an education technology company. We focus on teachers’ professional development, serving clients primarily in the US education system.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our core user interaction is leaving timestamped comments on videos. Our beta platform allowed us to gather data that would guide the design of our production interface, and we needed to bring those ideas to life.

What were your goals for this project?

We set out to develop a new version of our product that solved the beta version’s limitations.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

A former colleague recommended them to us based on their founder’s significant industry experience related to UX design and video interactions.

Describe the project in detail.

We started with several interactive scoping sessions to define project goals. Then, they iterated on UX diagrams before ultimately translating them into UI specifications. I say translated because, in a very good way, the UX specs didn’t try to answer UI questions. This ensured that our functions and flows were strong before we started exploring specific UI techniques that could help us achieve our necessary interactions.

What was the team composition?

We worked with their CEO, CTO, and UI designer, as well as with the founder herself, Theresa.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Good designs age well, and, six years later, we’re still using key ideas developed in our engagement.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Theresa was good at communicating and managing a design process remotely.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their depth and breadth of experience stood out to us.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, not that I saw.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the CEO of an information technology company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Shine light on the operational blackhole in medical imaging

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Guidea to accomplish?

• Design the Quantivly Hub, new portal for all our visualizations

SOLUTION

How did you find Guidea?

Referral

Why did you select Guidea over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Did many healthcare related projects in the past

How many teammates from Guidea were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Design from the ground up our Quantivly Hub

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Clikable prototype

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

yes 

What was your primary form of communication with Guidea?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

I liked the people we worked with

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

no

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Product Research Manager of a health and fitness app provider. 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Health and fitness app

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Guidea to accomplish?

Understand future product development opportunities

SOLUTION

How did you find Guidea?

Online Search

Why did you select Guidea over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Company values aligned
• Industry Expertise

How many teammates from Guidea were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Guidea was engaged to conduct generative research and concept testing with target segments to help guide product strategy.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Reports and virtual share outs.

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

Guidea were organized and incredibly responsive, offering ideas and solutions to issues. Everything was delivered on time with great communication at every point.

What was your primary form of communication with Guidea?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The quality of the research conducted and the depth of analysis were impressive.

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

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Partner of an investment firm.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are an investment firm with operators working across all of our portfolio companies. This project took place within one of those portfolio companies and was run by the investment firm along with company management.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Guidea to accomplish?

Strategic UX research and design for a medical device platform

SOLUTION

How did you find Guidea?

Am a previous customer

Why did you select Guidea over others?

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

How many teammates from Guidea were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Project involved information architecture (IA) for a developing technology and services concept in the healthcare space, followed by user experience design work, UI design, and development of clickable prototypes.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Delivered IA, Figma design comps and workflows, and clickable prototypes. Team also provided extensive documentation, Loom recordings, and captured all work and deliverables in our project documentation repo.

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

Resources were always available, communicating clearly and with frequency. Project timelines were frequently provided and updated, and shared with our team in Slack and Notion.

What was your primary form of communication with Guidea?

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

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

Their focus, diligence, curiosity, thoughtfulness, and quality outputs impressed us.

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

Nope