imaga ~ When UX & AI Both Matter

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of e-commerce at AlfaStrakhovanie, an insurance company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AGIMA?

We needed help with development for our company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve been developing and deploying our website and online sales. Our department’s main task is to sell insurance products with our website and mobile application.

Their team is engaged in developing the site and the integration with our internal systems. We have a CMS called Beatrix. Their team has helped us with design, architecture and programming, UX/UI, and testing.

What is the team composition?

We started with five people, and currently, we have 15 people from their team working on our projects including developers, designers, and a project manager. 

How did you come to work with AGIMA?

They are professionals and they know what they are doing, so we chose them.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent 40 million RUB (approximately $547,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We have been working with AGIMA since January 2014, and we are continuing to work with them. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We deliver an online service and for our website, we are number one. The website developed by their team has helped us win awards together. They’re the best partners in our company. 

How did AGIMA perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is one of the positive things about them. They’ve helped us out many times and when we give them a big task or problem, they quickly scale for that task. We use email and Jira for communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

AGIMA is a team of professional specialists who know what they’re doing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The cost was more expensive and when they started working the costs grew, which is one of the problems we’ve had working with AGIMA.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise potential clients to make a detailed statement of the problem or task you have as this will cause fewer problems in the future.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of marketing and brand communications of Snow Queen, one of the biggest fashion retail chains in Russia. I work with our contractors and am also responsible for branding, web design, and digital presence.

We operate more than 120 stores in 50 of our country’s cities. Our company has a 20-year history, which is quite old for our market. We’re the number-one retailer in Russia in the outwear segment, specifically leather and ship-skin goods. Our main season is winter.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AGIMA?

Our team launched our first-ever collaboration in early 2019 with a world-famous Russian fashion designer. We’d seen how this worked with our competitors, but it was completely new for us. Our goals were to attract a new audience and show a strong fashion image.

The Snow Queen brand in general is quite classical, and we wanted to make a small upgrade in the fashion market. One of the solutions we thought would work was to create several promotional websites, different from our main site, which would be relevant to the fashion audience.

Our basic site is a big marketplace where users can shop and see collections. We needed to have something completely different for this collaboration, and we had limited time for the project. We also had to keep the DNA of the designers’ personal brands — which was different from our main brand — and to make the execution of the whole project modern and in-fashion.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

AGIMA’s main goal was to create a mobile-friendly website. We understood that most of our new audience would come from Instagram, using mobile phones. It was placed as a subdomain of our main site.

The new site needed to show all the beauty of the collections and all the details of the project. We also told AGIMA that it should engage visitors and give them a wow effect. The site was done on Bitrix24. Our main site is on Magento, and the two are connected.

They also handled technical integration with our main website, for online purchasing. We had no time to create purchasing functionalities on the promotional website, so we made a redirect to our main site.

Their team made an automatic emailing set-up for news, with the system we’re using. We have fully integrated Google Analytics between the subdomain and the main website. This is in order to trace the full path of every visitor and see what the subdomain is doing for our business.

AGIMA also had to configure data collection for our remarketing communication channel. The site needed to work fast because the people coming from Instagram want everything fast, and it had to work properly across all country territories, where mobile internet isn’t very speedy.

They also implemented three seasonal updates. Our collections change and the page design updates accordingly. AGIMA provided 24/7 technical support for a whole year.

What is the team composition?

I worked with their account manager. They also had a designer, 2–3 programmers, and a PR manager who helped us with the release of the technical specifications. The team was quite small, but certain people were connected with us for a whole year.

How did you come to work with AGIMA?

Being a big and older company in Russia, our company was a desirable client for anyone, so we always had a good choice of contracting agencies to work with. We’d had a short project with AGIMA in 2018 — a digital quest that lasted one month — and we were fully satisfied with their work.

We did a price check with several possible contractors for the new project. The pricing was very important for us, and we found AGIMA’s offer in line with our expectations. Their previous work was good, and they had a strong portfolio in general, so our decision was quite easy.

How much have you invested with them?

Our investment was on par with Russian prices for similar work. AGIMA wasn’t overpriced at all, otherwise, our business owners wouldn’t have allowed us to work with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We launched the project in January 2019, and we had around a month to do everything from start to finish because we had a presentation for the fashion community in March of that year. We were under very crazy deadlines and didn’t know whether it would work, but AGIMA made it happen. They gave us a couple of design options from the very first meeting, and we chose one.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our project was successfully finalized in January 2020, and the website received lots of appreciation from our customers, who wrote a lot of comments on our social profiles. The fashion community was very impressed by our event, and the fashion designer herself found this site to be the best one among her numerous collaboration projects.

The site attracted new consumers, who spent more time on it than even on our main website. We got a lot of positive response from customers, and the collection sold much better than our regular ones — even better than we expected. We had no problems with the site’s loading speed. It was quite fast on every device type.

Most products from this collection were successful even before discount periods started, and the demand was greater than our stock. This happened through the promotional part of the site, where people could see how beautiful the goods were and become inspired to buy them.

We didn’t have any problems with new releases. We always had short deadlines for implementing changes for upcoming events, but AGIMA managed to do everything in time.

We used the same site for our spring collection, and we’re going to load another one in September 2020. Most of the work is done, so we only have to change the design, which is really good value for us.

AGIMA was well-connected with us, and they understood our needs. They showed a good understanding of the difference between this collaboration brand and the main one.

How did AGIMA perform from a project management standpoint?

I enjoyed their project management. We’ve worked with multiple providers and had no difficulties staying connected with AGIMA or asking them questions. They even pushed us to meet the deadlines and demonstrated a deep immersion in our needs in fashion.

This is a difficult field, and it’s even more difficult to find a web designer that can understand it. We had no problems with AGIMA in this area. They were really involved and interested in building the site in the best way. It was a pleasure for us to see this.

They gave us a schedule, and we communicated through Telegram. They were available 24/7, and no one complained. They often exceeded our expectations in this project, and the design reflected the brand DNA nicely. They kept deadlines very well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

AGIMA has a very modern type of communication. They worked fast and wanted to make things even better than we expected. The quality of their team is really high. They’re very careful about the people they onboard into their team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything. I hope they continue to work as well as they have. I’m quite happy with this project, which doesn’t happen often. I was nervous about the deadline and because we were doing something new, but everything was done fast. I can say only good things about AGIMA.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

We’ve already recommended AGIMA to some of our colleagues. I know that someone started negotiating a project and a couple of companies started something. I hope they’ll be really happy with AGIMA as well.

If the client has a good brief, understands what they really want, and can say it in words, it will work with AGIMA. They really understand us and can give us good professional recommendations.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the G2M Lead of a management company.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

a management company specializing in overseeing, optimizing, and promoting the operations of diverse high-tech assets

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• New Brand creative concept design
• Web-site design and development

SOLUTION

How did you find imaga?

Referral

Why did you select imaga over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from imaga were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Development of a website for an acquiring platform entering a new market, including branding, web design, and website development. The site features key sections such as the homepage, about the company, case studies, and services. Modern, professional, engaging, and easy to manage.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

1. Creation of a web presence in the region 
   • Before: no web presence or digital platform available
   • After: a fully functional website or digital platform has been launched, providing visibility in the region 
2. Sales enablement tools ready for use 
   • Sales teams now have ready-to-use tools (e.g., presentations, case studies, solution demos) to showcase solutions and implemented cases to potential clients

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

The team delivered fantastic results in the shortest possible time, completing the project from scratch in just 6 weeks. They demonstrated deep involvement in complex technological solutions and presented them in a simple, clear way—using creative and precise illustrations and graphics.

What was your primary form of communication with imaga?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The company is distinguished by its clear, structured, and systematic approach to project management, ensuring efficiency and high-quality results within predictable time frames. This approach is both impressive and unique.

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

Nothing comes to mind. Everything was managed professionally and to a high standard.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Managing Partner of OWF GROUP CONSULTING U.K.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Investment Consulting 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Mobile Application Development

SOLUTION

How did you find imaga?

Online Search

Why did you select imaga over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from imaga were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Create modified version of UI mockups in Figma format. Create an MVP version of the mobile application and enhance along with the documentation for further development...

A mobile application developed according to key features. Test version preparation...

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Project still ongoing, but so far so good. 

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

Project management has been very professional, knowledgeable and exceptional!

Deliverables so far has been on time and in some cases earlier. 

They are extremely helpful in ensuring our needs are met. The quality of their work is top-notch, and the results so far have exceeded our expectations. We are happy with the experience so far.

What was your primary form of communication with imaga?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

For me, it's the experience and ability to build a relationship, as well as high-quality services, reliability, availability, added value, and flexibility. 

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

There must be a conscious effort to stay top-notch and relatable always. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Communications of XDS Astana Team

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

XDS Astana Team is professional cycling team, a part of the UCI WorldTour, the highest league of world cycling.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• To create a new modern and high quality official web site of the team
• Easily administrated web site
• Attractive web site to the mass media and cycling fans

SOLUTION

How did you find imaga?

Recommendation

Why did you select imaga over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from imaga were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Creation of the new official web site of a professional cycling team, which include all information and history about the team, the roster, calendar, news, etc. New, modern, attractive, fast and easy administrated.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The growth of the web site visiters, citation of the articles published on the web, using of the information published on the web in the mass media.

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

Good creation of the plan and deadlines, accurate following the plan and deadlines, weekly updates, day by day accessibility, daily support during the project, all web releases on time.

What was your primary form of communication with imaga?

Virtual Meeting

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

The quality of work, communication with the client, client-oriented support, and product quality stood out.

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

Less involvment of the client, more initiative in work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Digital Projects Department of NL

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

For 21 years, we have been uniting proactive individuals and providing the opportunity to build their own business in partnership with NL International.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Update the website
• Сreate a mobile app

SOLUTION

How did you find IMAGA?

Referral

Why did you select IMAGA over others?

Company values aligned

What was the size of IMAGA’s team?

6-10 Employees

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

Colleagues have helped us improve our website; now, we are working together on developing a chatbot and creating a mobile application.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I would like to express my gratitude to the company for its strong and competent management. Together with IMAGA, we implemented analytics in the mobile application and on the website. We carried out DevOps work. We are pleased with our partnership; all tasks were completed on time.

What was your primary form of communication with IMAGA?

Virtual Meeting

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

They always offer the best solutions for the tasks.

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

I think no.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Product Owner at an IT Company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Marking of goods

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• The IMAGA team is responsible for technical support and regular updates of our mobile application.

SOLUTION

How did you find IMAGA?

Online Search

Why did you select IMAGA over others?

Company values aligned

What was the size of IMAGA’s team?

6-10 Employees

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

Together, we have launched new features: added support for digital signatures and integrated CryptoPro and RuToken SDK, implemented automated testing, organized support for working with new product groups, and regularly improve the current capabilities of the application in terms of document handling and user convenience. As a result, the application has become more convenient for tens of thousands of entrepreneurs across the country.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• ---

What was your primary form of communication with IMAGA?

Virtual Meeting

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

The team exhibited exceptional organization, communication, and technical skills, which contributed to the smooth execution and timely completion of the project.

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

-

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

-

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Marketing manager at a Veterinary Clinic

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

AniCura is a network of veterinary clinics and hospitals across Europe and Russia. We provide a complete range of veterinary services, with a special focus on specialized care.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Update the website design and add new sections.

SOLUTION

How did you find IMAGA?

Referral

Why did you select IMAGA over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

What was the size of IMAGA’s team?

6-10 Employees

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

They suggested a number of useful solutions that improved the website's functionality and increased its attractiveness to visitors.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

-

What was your primary form of communication with IMAGA?

Virtual Meeting

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

Our requirements and tasks were fulfilled on time and with high professional training. Many thanks to the team for work and help.

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

They’ve been great with project management as well.

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

I think no.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a product manager for a big retail chain store. We sell our products all over Spain.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with IMAGA?

We wanted to develop a mobile application that could become a new sales channel for us. However, although we have an in-house development team in charge of our backend services, we needed someone to help us with mobile app development. Thus, we hired IMAGA.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

IMAGA developed our mobile app from scratch. Initially, we provided them with preliminary documentation regarding our app development interface. Their team also helped us create an API, and we discussed the exact features the backend should be able to accomplish. Given that we conceived many features together, we also made big changes to our backend and API.

For us, it was important that our app allowed customers to shop and make purchases. Thus, we decided to add a feature for customers to place a delivery order. This feature was challenging because a successful order delivery involves different parameters, such as product availability in the store. Therefore, IMAGA had a challenging task developing this feature from the UI and technical perspectives.

Other features of this app include discounts and gift certificates, electronic receipts, shopping lists, and virtual queues. Customers can book a place in the queue and be notified when they should be at the cash.

As for the technology stack, IMAGA built our mobile app using Swift for the iOS version and Kotlin for the Android one. We also used GraphQL to develop the API, as suggested by them. GraphQL was new to us, so although we didn’t know if it was a good choice or not, we went with it.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 6–12 teammates from IMAGA, depending on the phase of the project. Teammates from every key department were involved in this project, including research, customer experience, analytics, graphic design, software development, and QA.

How did you come to work with IMAGA?

We found them online, and they also came highly recommended as a good development company. We chose IMAGA to help us understand our customers better because we weren’t sure of the exact features and functions we should have in our future applications.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from April 2020–January 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In the first 30 days after the app’s release, we got about 80,000 downloads. As general feedback, IMAGA was very understanding of our limitations, as well as the technology stack we should and shouldn’t use. For example, we weren’t sure about implementing GraphQL, but we now see that it was definitely a good choice because it’ll make future development even faster.

How did IMAGA perform from a project management standpoint?

IMAGA met all the deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Although we had some development experience, IMAGA’s approach surprised us — they wanted to talk to our customers in order to conceive better features for them. We weren’t sure about our priorities, so we were ready to do quantitative research through data analytics. However, IMAGA recommended starting with qualitative research by talking to our customers and asking about their needs.

IMAGA’s approach helped us develop a very strong hypothesis that later came true during the quantitative research phase. Their whole approach justified itself. Usually, those decisions are the product manager’s responsibility. Therefore, I was glad that IMAGA made those suggestions because they were of great help in my role specifically.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Product Owner

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We provide GameTech solutions and create different Customer Platforms.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Create design of our platform
• Make competitors research
• UX approach

SOLUTION

How did you find IMAGA?

Online Search

Why did you select IMAGA over others?

High ratings, Great culture fit, Referred to me

What was the size of IMAGA’s team?

2-5 Employees

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

It was necessary to analyze competitors, come back to you with design ideas for our product, it was important to use a UX approach. Create the design of all pages of the product website and adapt them to the mobile version.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Stakeholders was happy with a new design
• Clear user flow in a new design
• Fast reacting, quick work results

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

The company's management was very loyal to our tight deadlines and made some concessions. Requests were processed instantly and we were able to close the project in time.

What was your primary form of communication with IMAGA?

Virtual Meeting, Email or Messaging App

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

We were impressed with their loyalty, quick turnaround time, and high level of engagement.

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

No.