Hiyield

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Research Fellow and Co-founder of TEXL of University of Exeter

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Provides higher education

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Build an MVP for new platform

SOLUTION

How did you find Hiyield?

Referral

Why did you select Hiyield over others?

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

How many teammates from Hiyield were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We engaged HiYield to custom build a new platform for us including designing the User Experience to give us an MVP to take to market.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

A functional MVP of the platform that users can engage with smoothly.

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

Building this platform was a very dynamic process with lots of complex features that meant some elements of the process fell outside of the norm. The complex graphics and results pages we wanted couldn't be demonstrated in the design pages so we needed lots more to and fro than would be typical.

HiYield were always highly responsive. We often had difficulty with timelines on our side and again HiYield were extremely flexible and proactive in their planning to enable us to work together and have all stakeholders involved. The testing phases required considerable effort on both sides and they were there with us every step of the way. 

All these aspects meant that it was a difficult project to plan and deliver but HiYield always kept in touch well so we knew where the project milestones and deadlines were or how they needed to shift.

What was your primary form of communication with Hiyield?

Virtual Meeting

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

HiYield were really creative in their thinking, always challenging themselves in how to achieve the results we needed and fit our tight budget. They thrived off the technical difficulties we posed and really demonstrated their care and enthusiasm for helping to make our project a success.

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

HiYield actually helped us to learn how to do things differently so that we can make the process even more efficient next time and that was a great part of the experience too.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.
James Mugleston: I'm the co-founder of a bulk storage business. We ship our boxes to our customers, who pack them with their belongings, and then we collect them and store them for as long as they need.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Hiyield?
JS: We were looking for a web developer for our new business. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?
JS: Hiyield has created our website from scratch. Since we’re a new business, Hiyield created our branding and designed our logo. The team has also designed our website’s layout. We’ve had initial meetings with Hiyield to share our design vision, which was clear to us. We’ve changed elements according to the abilities they can implement. Hiyield has built our backend code and management dashboard in-house and integrated third-party APIs for tracking.
Reviewer 2: Hiyield provided mood boards in the early meetings to find out what we liked. We also discussed our brand tone, and Hiyield came back with our branding. We’ve requested a few amendments to their proposal.
What is the team composition?
R2: David (Head of Client Growth) has been responsible for onboarding. We’ve also worked with Hiyield’s project manager and development team.
How did you come to work with Hiyield?
JS: We interviewed several developers and felt like Hiyield was the most enthusiastic company about our project. Hiyield came up with ideas from the set-off, and we felt they wanted to be on board with our project.
R2: Hiyield had a full-team approach. When we talked to other companies, we usually talked to just one developer. Hiyield’s team seemed invested and showcased a problem-solving approach and collaborative approach.
What is the status of this engagement?
R2: We began working with Hiyield in August 2022, and our engagement is ongoing. The website’s MVP was completed in July 2023.
JS: Hiyield completed our website’s MVP in July 2023 and continues to work on queries and feedback from our customers that they’ll launch soon.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
R2: Having Hiyield’s support in our business launch has been vital. I don’t think we’d have been able to launch this business and website if we had gone with a different company. Our project’s outcomes are a team effort, and all of Hiyield’s team members’ opinions are critical to us. We’re always open to listening to ideas and changes.
How did Hiyield perform from a project management standpoint?
JS: Hiyield has created our site’s MVP, and naturally, there are certain elements that haven’t been able to launch. Hiyield has helped structure the project and build the most part of the product according to our budget. We’re happy with what Hiyield has delivered so far, and they’re working towards developing all the functionalities we want.
R2: Hiyield has communicated well from the beginning to keep our project on budget. They’ve made it clear that we weren’t a priority client, but I’ve never felt like we weren’t a priority. We always receive a notice via email when a team member is away, and Hiyield never leaves us in the dark — they always have a cover in place.
What did you find most impressive about them?
R2: Hiyield’s owner has been incredibly supportive and flexible with our new business funding. Hiyield communicates excellently, and some team members have even worked on a Sunday when we had issues during the weekend.
JS: When we contact Hiyield, we trust that they’ll get back to us when they have the answers we need. All the team has gone above and beyond, and not a single person has underperformed.
Are there any areas they could improve?
R2: I can’t think of anything for Hiyield to improve on.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
JS: Be open to listening to the advice that Hiyield will give you.
R2: Thinking hard about your available budget is important too. We tried to stay on a tight budget, and Hiyield sorted our project along the way. The team knows if something is worth doing. We’ve never felt like they were just trying to get off money from their clients. When Hiyield says something is necessary to do it, we trust them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of Utopia Plates Ltd

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Utopia Plates is a Registered Number Plate Supplier and DVLA-authorised (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) Private Registration Dealer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Expand our business into a new market (Private Registrations)
• Innovate in the online space for number plate suppliers
• Refresh and redesign our web presence

SOLUTION

How did you find Hiyield?

Online Search

Why did you select Hiyield over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Hiyield were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Objective: To create a comprehensive solution for searching and purchasing private registrations with an integrated platform. 

• Development of a Modern Front-end Interface: 
  • Design and develop a user-friendly and responsive interface for users to seamlessly search for private registrations. 
  • Implementation of a 3D configurator tool, allowing users to visualize their chosen number plates, enhancing their buying experience. 
• BigCommerce API Integration: 
  • Integrate with the BigCommerce API to ensure all transactions and purchases made through our platform are secure and reliable and provide a smooth checkout experience for users. 
  • Handle all payment gateway functionalities, ensuring data protection and compliance with e-commerce standards. 
• Integration with DVLA API: 
  • Connect to the DVLA API to access and retrieve private registration details. 
  • Design a system to format the retrieved registration details appropriately, ensuring accuracy and usability. 
  • Create a database structure to efficiently store and manage the private registration records, facilitating quick searches and streamlined user experiences. 
• Key Deliverables: 
  • A modern and intuitive front-end interface for searching private registrations. 
  • Fully functional 3D configurator tool for viewing number plates. 
  • Secure e-commerce integration with BigCommerce for transaction handling. 
  • A robust database system storing formatted private registrations retrieved from DVLA API. 
  • A rapidly responsive elastic search data store for quick retrieval of private registrations.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Turnover increased by 400%
• We were authorized by the DVLA to join the Linked Dealer Scheme
• Constant compliments from customers about our new website

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

Hi Yield was always clear about delivery times, setting expectations appropriately and ensuring that their timings worked with ours with regards to go-live dates. We never felt pressured by Hi Yield to push the project earlier than was needed.

What was your primary form of communication with Hiyield?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The team at Hi Yield is genuine, kindhearted, and a pleasure to speak to. We quickly felt like we had joined forces as one big team, and they were not just an agency doing work for us. They were always understanding and wanted to see things from our perspective to ensure they delivered what we needed. The upper management team, in particular Matt, was very understanding of our situation as a company and worked with us to ensure a smooth experience working together.

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

The only area for improvement would have been a more accurate estimation of the timeline, but the project changed as it progressed, and they worked with what they were given.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm one of the founders of BCS, the digital built asset consultancy

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our website was created 6 years ago and at that time was very different in presentation to our competitors. Over the intervening years, it has become copied in style and is now one of many that are similar. As we are not experts in web development, we hired Hiyield to develop a Wordpress site for us that would help us stand out once more and increase our brand awareness.

SOLUTION

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

We undertook a websearch and shortlisted 3 companies based on feedback and examples of their work. We conducted interviews and as equally important as track record was how they proposed to work with us and understood our requirements

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

We had a kick off meeting to map out timeframes and deliverables. From this plan, the team delivered mock-ups and wireframes for the new site. At each stage, our key people were afforded the opportunity to comment with these comments being integrated where appropriate.

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

A project manager, Laura, was our main point of contact through weekly touchpoint meetings. At key stages, various specialists were introduced taking us through specific points on the development cycle and clearly articulating what was required from us and patiently listening to and answering our questions.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

There is a greater clarity in the services we provide and the website as a whole set us apart from our competitors. We have seen an increase in traffic and longer interactions on our pages

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

As stated above

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

Their patience in answering our questions in a non patronising way! The whole interaction with them was a pleasurable experience

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

We had a few minor bugs, some of which were picked up by themselves, but these were dealt with quickly and efficiently

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Softer Success is on a mission to end burnout. We offer companies solutions , consultancy and training to help prevent people from burnout. Is burnout costing your business millions? How do you know if your employees are burned out? We can help you! By helping you identify the root causes of disengagement and fatigue in your organisation with our burnout assessment tool. We then help you revolutionise your wellbeing plans to eradicate burnout once and for all .

Knowledge is power. The more people understand burnout the better equipped they are to prevent. We deliver workshops that help your employees understand what burnout is, what the warning signs are and we share a powerful three step strategy to prevent it .

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We asked Hiyield to create a web app wellbeing assessment with a focus on the UN SDG's on good health and wellbeing. It is short sweet and easy for people to use and takes 90 seconds to complete. Hiyield designed an incredible product!

SOLUTION

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

We were recommended them and after they showed us an app they created called 'hug' we knew they were the right fit!

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

6 weeks to do mini branding and create the web app this was managed very efficiently by hiyield. absolutely spot on and on time delivery!

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

about 4 people

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Hiyield designed an incredible MVP that is easy to use and has already had amazing feedback

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

weekly meetings, highly communicative via email and product management system. We were incredibly impressed!

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

very smart talented people who do their absolute utmost to help you create an incredible product. I would highly recommend!!

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

a few minor changes when we went live and we could have had the cookies installed earlier but other than that it was amazing!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work for The Wave, an inland surf destination, we are a leisure and sports facility with on-site glamping.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Hiyield to completely refresh our website. We needed a website that was fit for purpose, unlike our old website which we were unable to make big development changes to. Our key goals were to improve the customer experience through better navigation and to have a website that better represented our brand.

SOLUTION

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

We had previously worked with Hiyield on other projects and we were really happy with the working relationship and felt Hiyield understand our goals and ways of working well.

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

Hiyield already had a good existing knowledge of how our company worked and what we were looking for which helped the process. Hiyield helped us to decide on a new CMS (WordPress), worked with us to build a new site map, created design examples for us to discuss and decide on and then ultimately went on to develop the new website for us.

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

I'm unsure of exactly how many people worked on this project for us, I'd estimate 5 to 7, including project managers, developers, designers, and user experience experts.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are still in the process of measuring the key outcomes of the project such as site traffic and conversion, however, we have a lot of anecdotal evidence that the project has been a success including customer and stakeholder feedback.

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

I already had a good working relationship with Matt at Hiyield which helped the process. Early on the project, we had meetings with Matt and other key members of our internal team to keep on top of the project and what was needed at what stage. I knew throughout that I could count on Matt to answer quickly any questions that I might have or keep me updated on the project.

Matt used our own internal communication tools (Teams) for this which helped me. Once we got into the development stage of the project we used Productive which was a great way for me to communicate any issues, bugs or questions I might have with the wider development team.

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

Hiyield really did their best to understand our needs as a business, and they felt like an extension of our team. They're also happy to question our ideas when needed, which is helpful for our team.

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

There was a period of time when the communication wasn't working correctly through the Productive tool, as soon as this was identified by Hiyield this was resolved and didn't happen again.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Xigxag, a small, UK-based audiobook startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Hiyield?

We wanted to have a dramatic improvement in our website, but we didn’t have the resources to do it ourselves. So, we decided to hire Hiyield to develop a professional website for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Hiyield designed and developed an audiobook catalog website for us. We started the project with a kick-off meeting, which involved discussing our company and our goals, followed by a mind-mapping session, wherein we really went into detail about our site’s target audience, what their needs were, and how we’re planning on fulfilling those needs.

During that time, Laura (Project Manager) set up a Google Drive in which we shared assets that might be relevant for them to review, such as our brand guidelines, sketch templates, and logos. We also gave them access to our app because we wanted the site to be consistent with the app’s branding and visual design. They then sent us mock-ups for different pages as well as design examples for what the visuals would look like. 

During the development process, Hiyield did some SEO for our catalog pages and set up our APIs to link over 30,000 books into the site, filling all of the pages based on the metadata that we provided them. They also built a site map, which allows us to have Google Index so that we’d show up in search results. 

Throughout the project, we did some back and forth iterations; they would send us designs, we’d sign off on them, and then their development team would make the appropriate changes.

As of now, the website is already live, but we’re still having them do a bit of follow-up work for the site. They’re also handling the site’s hosting for us going forward.

What is the team composition?

We worked with four people from Hiyield in total: Matt (CTO), the technical lead of the project, Laura, the project manager, and Neil (Digital Experience Lead), and Nick (UI & UX Lead), who were in charge of the site’s UX and UI design, respectively.

How did you come to work with Hiyield?

Our co-founder was introduced to Hiyield by someone from Cornwall, which is where Hiyield is based. We decided to give them an opportunity to work on this project because we really wanted to support local businesses. 

We set up a meeting with them and right off the bat, they seemed really credible and they understood what we wanted to do with our site. They also showed us a couple of great projects that they’d done in the past, which made us feel like they would be a good fit for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around £22,000 in total (approximately $30,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on the website from June–October 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re really pleased with how the site turned out. We’re already seeing the impact of Hiyield’s work — we saw almost 4.5x more clicks and 67x more impressions from our site within a month. So far, we’ve only indexed 17% of our site's pages, so we are expecting those numbers to still increase.

How did Hiyield perform from a project management standpoint?

Hiyield performed really well. They kept us updated with their progress throughout the project. I appreciated how hands-on they were — they always delivered everything that we asked for really quickly.

We initially communicated with them through email, but we mainly used Productive once we got to the project’s development phase. It’s a collaborative tool that helped us effectively track the project and communicate the changes that we wanted to be made.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really appreciated how responsive Hiyield was to our feedback and requests. They were always willing to work with us and accommodate the changes that we wanted to make to the site. It was really exciting to watch their progress and how they were bringing the site to life through each iteration.

They provided great value for our money. They deliver high-quality work at a lower price, which we think is one of the biggest benefits of working with a local company.

Finally, they were just really lovely people, and we really enjoyed working with them. They made this entire project a very painless experience for us, which was exactly what we needed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We did feel that the collaborative tool that we used made it somewhat harder for us to keep a trail of knowledge. We’re a technical company, so we would have preferred if they’d provided a repository of information that we needed. That would have made getting answers and assigning people to certain tasks easier.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to invest some time up front to explain what you’re trying to accomplish. Another thing that would be really helpful is to be responsive and engaged throughout the process.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Co-Founder at GoCollaborate Limited. I'm managing daily operations, social media presence and Content management system.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Hiyield to develop a platform for community consultation on Neighbourhood development Plans. The goal was to give a community chance to contribute to the Plan more easily, from the comfort of their home. We tried to replicate the traditional process, but also build on top of that to add more value to those who are involved in that process of producing the Plan.

SOLUTION

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

As part of our funding for the project we needed to submit 3 quotes. The Hiyield was significantly low comparing to others, not to mention they have been more responsive to our needs and provided great customer care throughout the complex design and development process.

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

We had started of with design workshops, so we can explain them what specifically we needed. Then they have presented the design and layout of the platform. When the build was commenced, we had weekly meeting to check the progress of work.

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

A project manager/coder - Matt, was our main point of contact, but we have also communicated with Rachel full stack developer and designer Michael.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our platform was an MVP project, that was positioned to test the market. We have achieved success with our first pilot, and Hiyield team was always been there to assist us with any technical problems. We had received 215 comments from 110 registered users, so we was happy with an outcome.

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

We had weekly meetings with project manager and Hiyield always delivered the work on time. We have used Productive to communicate about any technical issues and Slack for general communication.

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

They have given us Content management system that is easy to use, and we keep building more features that speed up our work. We have now full dynamic platform that we can manage ourselves. This allows us to scale our business.

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

When we first launched there were few minor bugs, but Hiyiled team has quickly resolved that. They worked along with us to make the user experience as smooth as possible.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder of Kraken Marketing - a totally badass marketing agency that works with tech companies, helping them say no to vanilla!

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

When we launched Kraken Marketing we knew we needed a freaking badass website that represented our bold brand. We work with tech companies so it had to be technical awesome and built for SEO perfection. We wanted a website building that was nothing short of awesome.

SOLUTION

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

I spoke to a number of agencies but hiyield really understood my vision. They're also a great group of people, the sort of people you'd want to go for a beer with. They're great fun to work with, efficient, and total professionals. They really know their stuff.

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

We had discovery sessions to help us get the best out of the project. Then mood boards followed by wireframes. Then building in sprints where I could also add the content as we went. Followed by final reviews, bug fixing, and sign offs.

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

I worked with the CEO, their designer, a junior developer, a project manager, and their marketing lead.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We now have a totally badass new website that is helping us attract tech companies from around the world to work with us.

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

Agile awesomness Slack, Productive, Trello

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

They're freaking awesome. They do great work and are a pleasure to work with.

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

There we're some bugs, but that's to be expected. They were really quick to fix them.