Jordan Crown

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Paladino & Co is a sustainability consulting firm working in the building environment. I’m the director of marketing communications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Jordan Crown?

The previous iteration of our website wasn’t mobile-friendly. As a result, we were losing SEO ground and providing an inadequate user experience for mobile users. The desktop side was adequate, but we needed a mobile site. That’s a baseline requirement for a fully functional brand.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Jordan Crown created a site that’s responsive, rather than simply a mobile or desktop site; it snaps to the dimensions of whatever screen the user is viewing it on. They also worked with us on user experience, visual design, and technical implementation. They helped us establish a CMS strategy. We weren’t sure whether to use WordPress or an out-of-the-box template or build from scratch. We ended up building it from scratch using WordPress.

We also worked through our information architecture with support from Jordan Crown, addressing each of our unique market segments. These include architects, developers, and real estate owners, and they’re a fairly sophisticated B2B audience. Architects need completely different information on a building than real estate owners, for example. Jordan Crown helped us organize our content so that everyone finds what they need.

Lastly, they helped us begin to generate leads through the site. They placed the contact form in a more prominent place and have set up a lot of cross-pollination for our content. The idea is for the site to feel deep so that people get beyond the first page and explore a bit more. They added social integration, as well as filtering on our portfolio section, which was a new and much-needed feature.

We launched the site in September 2017 and transferred hosting and maintenance to them. We’re not doing any significant development with them right now, but we have an ongoing, open line of communication with them as issues come up. We’re also still in the warranty period. If we find things, we can ask questions.

What is the team dynamic?

There were two primary team members: Josh [Designer/Project Manager, Jordan Crown], who acted as project manager, and Karla [Designer, Jordan Crown], who worked on visual design and information architecture. The team would’ve included a developer, but they had a resourcing challenge at the time. Karla ended up being able to handle the development herself.

How did you come to work with Jordan Crown?

We invited four firms to compete and submit proposals. Two of them had experience indicative of a high-quality firm. The two had opposite perspectives on a solution: One suggested templates and the other a custom-build. They both had very good technical arguments for their approaches and their prices were within a few hundred dollars of each other.

The reason we went with Jordan Crown was the quality of our interactions with their staff. Regardless of the company we went with, we expected a comparable outcome either way, each with its own challenges and benefits. The people made the difference.

 Jordan Crown brought a level of organization, process orientation, and rigor in following up that gave us greater confidence in them.  

How much have you invested with them?

Around $25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2017 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Metrics aren’t yet available, but in the immediate term I’ll be looking closely at whether the bounce rate for mobile users goes down. We had a really high bounce rate on mobile users. Once that stabilizes, I expect to see a reverberating impact for our SEO, since Google penalizes websites that aren’t mobile friendly. We’re so glad to have a new site with a better mobile experience. That’s what we’re counting on.

Over time, we’ll also look at leads generated. We created a download center for white papers and long-form content that is linked to a lead generation form, so this should provide a success metric.

How did Jordan Crown perform from a project management standpoint?

Jordan Crown performs very well. There have been some instances where it felt a little disjointed, but there’s a lot of information exchange during web development. There was confusion at times, but they work hard on project management and process. That hard work shines through. They take that part of their role seriously and continually work to improve.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their quality of process and obvious investment in technical infrastructure is one thing that sets them apart from other agencies their size. They use technology to improve their processes and consistently use it well. For instance, the way they do PDF proposals, gather content, and use staging sites feels very clean and organized and well-practiced.

I’ve seen several agencies use homegrown tools, Excel spreadsheets, and back-and-forth email to track projects, which makes communication difficult. Jordan Crown, wasn’t perfect, but they’re better than I’ve seen anywhere else.

They’re a really great group of people–they’re highly collaborative with each other and with clients. They’re very positive and process oriented.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing that stands out to me for them to work on. Even with the minor things I referenced, I don’t expect perfection in such a fluid environment. They were aware of any hiccups.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of Sozo World Changers. We’re a platform-as-a-service marketing company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Jordan Crown?

We needed to put a site together. We had gone down a path with some web developers who totally messed the whole thing up and had us really backed into a corner. We needed someone to rethink the project, and Jordan Crown helped us do that.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a couple of websites already, but this was a new one that we were developing. The previous web developers got a newer and bigger project, and so they were off doing something else. We just couldn’t get them to finish it in a way that we needed it finished because it was a smaller project than the new one that they had. They were just not responsive in helping us getting it done. We ended up throwing it away and starting over with Jordan Crown.

We have companies subscribe to the website, and through it we handle their generosity and giving. The service allows their customers to be interactive with the kinds of charities that they want to donate to, so there’s a company registration component. There’s a component that allows customers to come in and vote. There’s a component that allows the votes to be displayed on the pages of the subscribing companies. Then there’s the rating system that we built so that companies can be rated by their customers in how they’re viewed from the perspective of being generous. Those are the core functions.

We took the ideas that we needed to put into the marketplace, and they helped us rethink how to do that in a step-by-step process. We built the new website around those ideas. The website is on WordPress with a number of different plug-ins, some of which are custom built by Jordan Crown, to facilitate some of the extra functions that we need.

The project isn’t over; we’re still adding new features every month based on what the marketplace is telling us. On the processes that we’ve continued to add, they’ve been very thoughtful in keeping us to a development standard that has really worked well for us.

How did you come to work with Jordan Crown?

It was word of mouth. Somebody was saying good things about them, and we went and met their team at their office. We discussed the project and asked if they could get us out of a bind. We told them we had a really limited budget, since we'd already spent the budget on the previous iteration. They said they'd give it a shot, and it was far more than we expected. It was great.

How much have you invested with Jordan Crown?

It’s in the $15,000-$20,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in the timeframe of August/September 2016. We continue to do updates with them on a monthly basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The website is working. We’re signing up new companies every day, and companies love the platform. The design, construction, and functionality are working in the marketplace. For me, that’s really the only metric—if it wasn’t working, then we’d toss it out and go do something else.

We design by what our marketplace is telling us that they want, and I don’t always know how to translate that to something that’s going to make sense for the website. We’re able to put those concepts out there, and they come back to us with some ideas. I have to say that their ideas are always better than mine. It’s been a joy to work with them because I’m always pleased with what we’re getting back. It never has to be perfect. I can throw something out there, saying “This is what I need. How would we do this?” and I get really great ideas back.

How did Jordan Crown perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent. I have a very simple process with them. I outline the specifics of what I need, and they tend to circle the wagons and come back with their one, two, or three ways that this can be done. I outline and identify what those look like, as well as the costs. Then I make my choice, and away we go. It’s really streamlined. For me, it’s perfect.

I don’t know how other companies do project management, but for features in a website, you can’t predict ahead of time what the marketplace is going to want. All you can do is get into the marketplace and start learning, selling, and listening to customers. That’s then going to tell you the next thing you need to build. Jordan Crown is able to work with me on those terms, which is exactly what I need. I watch people do this giant website design ahead of time, and thinking somehow that it's all going to work and that’s exactly what customers want—I can’t imagine doing that. So the way that they do project management with me works for me.

What did you find most impressive about Jordan Crown?

It’s been smooth. I have had no complaints. I’m going to keep using them as there is a lot more to do.

Are there any areas Jordan Crown could improve?

They tend to undersell. When we went into the relationship, I was concerned that they weren’t going to be able to do everything I needed. At the end of it, there hasn’t been anything that we have thrown at them that they haven’t been able to do, but I did not have that confidence at the beginning of the relationship just because of the way they positioned it. Maybe there are still things down the road that are highly technical that we’ll get into that perhaps can’t be done. But so far, there haven’t been any hiccups or things that couldn’t be delivered.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a general manager of a residential construction company. I basically oversee and/or do everything in the office.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Jordan Crown?

We hired Jordan Crown to help us with our biggest business challenge, which was identifying and pulling in qualified leads. Initially, we spent a few thousand dollars for a blog page to bring in leads, and when we realized that wasn’t working, we ended up spending $20,000 on a new website. After we did some research, we learned that we had outgrown that website: we couldn't convert the clients we wanted to target.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our website is a sales service site for residential homeowners, new construction builders, and management companies who want us to completely redo the exteriors of buildings and homes, including siding, windows, paint and gutters. We hired Jordan Crown to do a complete rebranding of our company, including a brand makeover, rebranded letterhead, and a new website and platform.

The new website features video and is visually appealing and simple to use. The new portfolio section, where people spend a lot of time, is much easier to use than the old website. Jordan Crown built the new site using WordPress. They also take care of our hosting, and we bought one of their packages, which includes a year of maintenance and updates every three months. If Google or someone comes out with new algorithms, Jordan Crown will make sure our website continues to rank well in searches.

How did you come to work with Jordan Crown?

I’d seen good reviews for Jordan Crown, and I liked the way they approached me without pressuring me to close the deal. That’s the way I do business, and it’s what I teach my people to do. Their business philosophy is similar to ours.

How much have you invested with Jordan Crown?

I can’t give you an exact amount for how much I spent right now.

What is the status of this engagement?

I think we started the project in November 2016, and we launched in mid-February 2017, which was about a month or two before our original deadline. The contract was for up to 6 months, but Jordan Crown only took three to four months to complete the work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We haven’t launched our marketing campaign yet and we’re still writing content, and yet we’re already getting the kinds of leads we wanted to get. Jordan Crown has been helpful when it comes to our marketing as well by asking who we want to target and offering to write targeted content for the site. That’s the benefit of working with Jordan Crown: they made sure the website met our needs. I really saw that in the way they would approach me and ask me certain questions. They didn't have to, but they wanted me to think about certain things that weren’t necessarily related to code or design.

How did Jordan Crown perform from a project management standpoint?

Jordan Crown was amazing from a project management standpoint. They use one of the best platforms. I could log in and see the wireframes, the design of the website, the mockups, everything before it went to code. If I didn't like something, it was easy to tell the designer to change and move things around. I’m a visual person, so it was fascinating to see that.

Jordan Crown never got behind schedule, and they were always waiting for me to provide information. As soon as I provided it, they would move the project forward. The designer was smart in using only four or five main email threads to keep our conversations organized, which was cool. They were intentional in not spamming me about this project.

It was a cool and new experience working with Jordan Crown. They were on top of their game. I’m an immigrant and English is hard for me, and “tech English” is something else entirely. Jordan Crown was always courteous, and they worked hard to explain things in a simple way. I loved it. I’m actually pursuing a different project with them right now. Joe wants to know if we can partner up somewhat for software he’s thinking to launch.

What did you find most impressive about Jordan Crown?

They’re not cheap, and I think that’s one thing that really distinguishes Jordan Crown from other companies. You will notice that. When you get a bid from them, it’s high-dollar, but it’s 110% worth it. I got top-notch service. I sent a coding friend of mine links to Jordan Crown’s work and asked him about their code, and he said, “The code looks good. These guys are legit.” From what I understand, good code matters. If it’s poor code, Google is not going to rank your site highly in searches.

Are there any areas Jordan Crown could improve?

Jordan Crown is transparent, honest, and clear in most aspects, including their billing. But I did have one issue in how they tracked their overage hours. We had two hourly projects going on: the rebranding of our office forms and the website work. We had some overage hours on the website because I kept adding features that weren’t in the contract, but I didn’t like that the overages for the forms were added to the website overages. Maybe I didn't communicate well enough; I might not have been explicit about how I wanted it billed. That’s the only thing I had to ask about after I looked at the billing, even though I scanned it over and everything looked great. That’s just the one thing I would have done differently.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the communications director for the National Fund for Workforce Solutions. We are a national organization that invests in and supports local communities in developing adult education, workforce development, and job training programs across the country.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Jordan Crown?

We wanted a brand new website, and Jordan Crown helped us from the start. They built the new site on a different platform and rebuilt our website with a bigger focus on simplifying our message. They also drove audiences to the key themes of our work and gave us good digital tools to be able to communicate to those audiences.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Jordan Crown was critical to every single part of the project. They built the website from scratch using a WordPress-based platform. We had been on a Drupal platform prior to that. They did the layout of the new design, built out the backend, and helped us with populating the pages with content and transferring content from the old site. They were essential to all of the technical services and helping us find what we needed. They helped us find a way to most effectively serve our audiences, and they helped us figure out how to lay out the pages and design certain elements to match our brand and look consistent across our digital and print resources.

How did you come to work with Jordan Crown?

I actually used Clutch to find Jordan Crown. They were well-reviewed. I really liked their portfolio; it seemed to match what we wanted aesthetically. I reached out to them and a couple of other businesses for proposals and found their proposal to be, without question, the strongest and most tailored to our specific needs.

How much have you invested with Jordan Crown?

We’ve invested $30,000 to $35,000 with Jordan Crown.

What is the status of this engagement?

We continue to work with them for maintenance and hosting, and we plan to use them if we need to build out other features of the website as our work continues to change. I think we started the contract around the beginning of March 2016 and launched the website in the middle of October 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I don't know if I can give you specific analytics, but I know that compared to analytics from the old site, the new site is definitely getting more page views, people are staying longer, and our bounce rate is lower. We’ve also seen improvement in how users seem to use the site. Anecdotally, we’ve had really positive feedback. People are liking the aesthetic and design, and they’re finding it much easier to navigate the information about us and the resources that we provide.

How did Jordan Crown perform from a project management standpoint?

I was pleased. Jordan Crown’s CEO has always been accessible and available for figuring out the scope of our project and our specific services. Our project manager was great in helping us figure out issues. She was super responsive, and she talked me through every issue I had. She was great in helping me figure out creative solutions to things that we realized were going to be needed but weren’t necessarily in the scope of the project. She helped us figure out solutions that were in and out of scope and how we could address them.

What did you find most impressive about Jordan Crown?

They give you a tailored experience. I noticed this even in the drafting of the proposal. The other companies that submitted proposals were just giving us template responses. Jordan Crown, I think, got me on two or three calls, talked through what we did, and asked me what the new website needed and where the current website was falling short, and then they developed a highly tailored proposal to address our exact needs. They carried that level of individual attention throughout the project.

Are there any areas Jordan Crown could improve?

Substantively, no. Obviously, there were a couple of delays, technical issues, and things that weren’t foreseen, but I was pleased with how they handled them. They were always communicative about what the problem was, and they tried to be as flexible as possible.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

PowerA makes third party accessories for gaming consoles such as Xbox One, PlayStation, Nintendo, etc. I am the associate marketing manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Jordan Crown?

We had a very outdated website that hadn’t been touched for 2 or 3 years and the information, style and design were lacking. Our website was for our old brand, so we wanted to create something that represented our current brand and where we wanted to go in the industry.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They talked to us about our needs and goals and created wireframes around that. They did everything including coding, designing, helping with data management and transferring all of the content. They helped us integrate our customer support system as well. We designed and developed shopping in-house, and they helped integrate the two websites together and delivered on time. The site is built on WordPress.

How did you come to work with Jordan Crown?

I found them at my previous place of employment by searching locally for web designers. I talked to him on the phone, and he was the most honest and down-to-earth out of everybody that I talked to. When I left that company, I came to PowerA and brought that relationship with me.

How much have you invested with Jordan Crown?

We’ve spent between $20,000 and $25,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in April 2016 and completed it in August 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We have consumers that are clients, but we also have partners in the industry that are our clients. We got a lot of feedback from our partners including Microsoft, Playstation, Nintendo, and other gaming licensures about how great it looked. Consumer feedback was great because they have somewhere to go for support and current information. Our traffic has increased, and we’re working on a content plan to get the most out of the website.

How did Jordan Crown perform from a project management standpoint?

I emailed on a daily basis, and they responded right away and explained things thoroughly. They’re very helpful. It couldn’t be any better in my opinion. We mostly communicated by email and phone. We also used GatherContent to set our goals for transferring everything over and creating new content.

What did you find most impressive about Jordan Crown?

Their proposals are very thorough and detailed. It really helps to select items according to your budget. They’re honest, open and communicative which I haven’t always had with other web designers. They’re very passionate about their projects.

Are there any areas Jordan Crown could improve?

It would have been helpful to see a visual timeline of where we were at, but it helped that they communicated with us so often.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a wealth management firm that services high net worth individuals generally in the Northwest. We are a full-service wealth management firm. We provide financial planning, investment planning, estate planning, and insurance. I'm the manager of operations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Jordan Crown?

We needed a refresh of our home page to give a better first impression to people who are looking for more information about our firm.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The site was built on WordPress. We worked with a Jordan Crown developer who gave us several iterations of mockups before they developed the site and pushed it live. They provided wireframes of what the page would look like. They had a recommended layout that we gave feedback on.

How did you come to work with Jordan Crown?

Our last web developer was no longer in the business and referred us to them.

How much have you invested with Jordan Crown?

It was less than $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started about a month ago [September 2016]. This project is complete.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What was the scope of their involvement?

The redesigned website has only been live for three days [as of October 2016], so we haven't seen much in the way of analytics. However, all the feedback we've received has been positive. Most of the feedback has been internal. Everybody likes the site and thinks it looks clean and was a significant upgrade.

How did Jordan Crown perform from a project management standpoint?

We used email mostly and sometimes on the phone. Our contract came through PandaDoc. I thought their communication was great. They were very responsive, worked with us well, and  tried to understand what we were looking for.

Are there any areas Jordan Crown could improve?

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a small consulting firm. The majority of our work is done through contracts with the Federal Government. We have around 60 employees, most whose work involves government facilities.

I am the owner of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Jordan Crown?

Jordan Crown supported us on 4 different projects, each of them being for the development of web-based emergency response support tools. All of these tools have since been turned over to the government agencies and are available as public software.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Jordan Crown provided unique designs for a solution that could be run locally on a PC, but not in the form of an actual .exe application. Jordan Crown built a web page which could be downloaded onto a local computer, giving it standalone capabilities. These systems need to be used in emergency response situations, so they couldn't be tied to an internet connection. Our main constraint was that, because of corporate and agency IT guidelines, we couldn't create an .exe or another kind of native OS application.

The first design that Jordan Crown came up with was called Response Options Calculator, or ROC. It is available to download on our website and on the federal one. As a follow-up to that work, we developed a series of oil spill response tools for another federal agency, which are also usable from a website or locally. They support being able to plan for an emergency response for an oil spill, allowing the user to review the maximum configuration of skimming, burning, or dispersant systems used in these situations.

The impressive part about the Jordan Crown staff was that they went from having no understanding of oil spill response tools to being able to translate some significant scientific algorithms into code and helping with the visualization process.

Another thing I appreciated about Jordan Crown was that they worked closely with us throughout the project, instead of going away after getting our requirements. This type of tight integration with our team was appreciated.

How did you come to work with Jordan Crown?

We were highly constrained by the technical limitations of the project. After asking contacts in the Seattle area, we were steered to Jordan Crown's principal, when the company was just starting out. We contacted him, explained the situation, and unlike other people who told us that it wasn't possible, Jordan Crown came up with a solution. We were so pleased with the performance for our initial project that we had no questions or hesitations in using Jordan Crown again.

How much have you invested with Jordan Crown?

In each of our projects, there were scientific and technical components involved in building the algorithms and the modelling of how oil breaks down in contact with water, for example. This was all done by our staff. Once we developed that material and created a storyboard, we went to Jordan Crown. I'd have to determine which parts of our projects were uniquely handled by Jordan Crown, in order to offer a cost estimate.

What is the status of this engagement?

We're between projects with Jordan Crown at the moment. Our first project ran from 2008 to 2011. The second application was started in 2012 and finished in the spring of 2016. Jordan Crown is our go-to team for creating web-based responsive tools.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Ours is a relatively unusual standard of tools in terms of marketing. The products we've created have gone to the Federal Government, becoming part of the public domain. Our success would be measured by the fact that we still get calls from international users who are logging on to our systems. They've been used successfully in the US, as well as internationally. The federal agencies involved have looked at using these systems to support federal planning standards for oil spill response. We have worked closely with these clients, while Jordan Crown worked closely with us. It all went very well. The Jordan Crown team was excellent at being able to understand what needed to be done in order to make the product work better for our clients and for us.

How did Jordan Crown perform from a project management standpoint?

To me, project management skills matter less than project integration skills. Jordan Crown was able to integrate with our team and they had a technically-adept staff which took part in a pretty unique scientific and technical discussion, carrying what they learned there into products which were constantly fed back-and-forth with our team in order to ensure that what was being done was right.

What did you find most impressive about Jordan Crown?

Often, when working with either web development or other software development teams, they will take the specifications and come back to the client when those specifications have been met. In our case, there were no tight requirements. We had a concept and an overall design, but we could not have completed it working with anyone besides Jordan Crown, because of their unique ability to be flexible in handling changes during the evolution of our project.

When we worked on the ROC application, Jordan Crown accomplished the task as a standalone solution that was not a native app on the Windows or Mac environments. By the time when we got to the later tools, Jordan Crown suggested new technology that had become available, allowing us to not use Adobe Flash, like we did the first time. On their own accord, Jordan Crown kept us up to speed and used the latest technology available. I appreciated that Jordan Crown didn't lock into a particular solution, but found what the best option was at that given time.

Are there any areas Jordan Crown could improve?

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Mutual Materials is one of the largest suppliers of masonry and hardscape materials in our area. We make construction supply products like bricks, concrete masonry units, brick veneer, and stone, aimed at hospitals, schools, family homes, etc. We also provide hardscape products, which are pavers and retaining walls for landscapes, public parks, backyards, and so on. We're a niche business operating in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.

What is your position?

I am in charge of marketing. I joined one year ago in order to turn around the company brand, build a new online web presence, and reinvigorate marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Jordan Crown?

The company website was at least 10 years old and reflected badly on the brand. The company had a poor online presence. I reached out to Jordan Crown in order to turn the brand around, creating something modern, which reflected who we were as a company, with visual search. We went through a rebranding exercise implemented in the form of a website.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Jordan Crown built our new website. The first phase was just the core informational hub. We plan to add e-commerce in a 2nd or 3rd stage, but our internal systems aren't set up for this yet. Jordan Crown built our site knowing that we'd want these features in the future.

Jordan Crown was in charge of design and development. Their head developer also has a great creative streak. We wanted icons which represented our product line. He not only developed our site technically, but also took care of those design elements.

I've worked on 4-5 other web development projects in the past. The one with Jordan Crown was by far the smoothest. In the wireframe stage, instead of simply showing us a template, they populated the design with a lot of real data, making actual mockups of the website. This saved us in making revisions downstream. We agreed upfront on many user-experience and creative elements. Once that was done, Jordan Crown allowed us to populate the site. Even before the first code was written, we could add images, colors and product attributes. We came to create the site in tandem with Jordan Crown. We have used Jordan Crown for testing as well.

How did you come to work with Jordan Crown?

I was referred to Jordan Crown by 2 different professionals which I know and trust. Jordan Crown was described as smart, honest, and able to get stuff done with good pricing.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The total development cost so far has been $50,000. Even though we plan to have an ongoing relationship with Jordan Crown, we don't have an agreement for a monthly fee. We negotiate every stage as a package.

What is the status of this engagement?

The website was launched at the end of May of 2016, after a 6-month development period. We are looking to start a second stage of development for the site using Jordan Crown, adding a user management interface, as well as other smart layers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The results of the launch have been awesome. Our new site has 20 different web forms which lead directly to specific branches of the company. Every employee who has seen the site has said that it will functionally help them in their job. The negative feed-back was very small and expected, relating to color swatches, spelling errors, and so on.

We track statistics through Google Analytics and we use Crazy Egg to see how people are using the site, but we haven't engaged in any official customer surveying because the site has only been live for 30 days.

How did Jordan Crown perform from a project management standpoint?

They don’t need a lot of iterations to get it right. They understand what you want quickly and get it done the first or second time, which helps move the project forward.

What distinguishes Jordan Crown from other providers?

Jordan Crown is a one-stop-shop for the company. I can give them any problem and see it resolved. I've worked in marketing for many years and have used many different agencies, as well as freelance graphic designers. Jordan Crown was by far the most competent one and they never nickel-and-dimed us. Not only are they great at what they do, but they're great to work with.

Is there anything Jordan Crown could have improved or done differently?

No. The lessons that were learned during this project were not of a technical nature, but rather internal lessons about the quality of our content.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Madison House Autism Foundation is a national organization working to address issues impacting adults with autism.

What is your position?

I am the digital media manager. I handle most of our communications and oversee the organization website, as well as our web projects, newsletters, and social media.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Jordan Crown?

We are running a project called the Autism Housing Network, which operates as the central hub of information for families across the country, giving them access to resources and a database of housing ideas. There isn't enough housing to meet the growing needs of adults with autism, so our website is meant to provide parents with the tools that they need in order to create their own options in local communities.

We received proposals from around 5 different firms. Jordan Crown's was by far the best. We enjoyed their style and competency. Jordan Crown also had a fair price, so we went with them.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Jordan Crown designed our website from start to finish, handling both design and development. Our site had passed through multiple iterations, and we were not too pleased with any of them. We were determined to get the current one right. Our 2 biggest goals were to have a user-friendly site on the backend, as well as on the frontend. Our institution doesn't have a big IT team, so we wanted the process of uploading information to be easy. Jordan Crown created a custom backend which was very simple. We couldn't have asked for a better layout and it functioned very well. For us to be able to use the site and have it look beautiful as well as function well, was a big achievement.

How did you come to work with Jordan Crown?

We went through a market analysis, figuring out what features we wanted the site to have. We then looked at a bunch of web designers and development firms, trying to find the best fit for our needs. Since we're a non-profit, we're very budget-conscious as well. We ended up writing a request for proposal and sent it to 8 different development firms, receiving 5 proposals back. One of those companies told us that they charge a lot more than our proposed budget, but they knew of a firm which did excellent work and has fair prices, namely Jordan Crown. We ended up working with them after reviewing all proposals.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The total development cost with Jordan Crown was $35,000. I showed the results to a developer friend who told me that it was a $50,000 project easily. Aside from the price, working with Jordan Crown was also a pleasant experience.

What is the status of this engagement?

In terms of having built the features we requested, the website is complete, but it will constantly evolve. The website was launched on April 21st of 2016. It was a 7-month process, so the project was major. We are still working with Jordan Crown and hope to continue in the future, since it was such a great experience. Currently, we are paying a monthly updates and maintenance fee to Jordan Crown. They send us reports on plug-ins and other issues, but they aren't doing any actual development work for the moment.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We've received tons of great feed-back for the site. Other organizations have even helped us promote the project because they saw it as a valuable tool. People have loved the design, information, layout, and user-friendliness of the site. We've gotten a definite uptick in terms of overall users on the site, which has been encouraging.

How did Jordan Crown perform from a project management standpoint?

Jordan Crown is immensely accommodating, patient, and willing to provide constructive feed-back, even when we're giving push-back on one of their ideas. They always let us know when something didn't make sense, and we've learned a lot from Jordan Crown.

What distinguishes Jordan Crown from other providers?

They have a good sense of branding and were able to incorporate our identity into the website. Jordan Crown was always mindful of our overall goals. I felt that they always asked all the questions that needed to be asked in order to make sure that we were happy.

Jordan Crown gave us a questionnaire in the beginning, through which we gave an overview of our values and what we wanted to see out of the project. In the end, if we were to look back at that initial document, we'd find that Jordan Crown met all of our expectations and exceeded them.

Is there anything Jordan Crown could have improved or done differently?

We had one hurdle within the process, which wasn't really anyone's fault. We were working with a designer who ended up leaving the company after 3 months. It was a bit of an inconvenience, but we expected that her leaving would affect the project more than it did. The person that filled her role stepped up and did a great job of bridging the little period of uncertainty. It all worked out great in the end.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are the world's largest Italian car show. We handle the entire registration process for participants, as well as cataloging the cars through our website for our annual event.

What is your position?

I am the Director of Operations and Communications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Jordan Crown?

We wanted to create a compelling website which would not only draw people in, but would also be user friendly. The majority of our user base is comprised of seasoned individuals, retirees who have numerous exotic Italian vehicles. It takes a while to get to that point in life, so our users aren't very familiar with newer technology. For example, the most common email domain we see in registrations is AOL. Our users needed a very intuitive solution which could walk them through the process, but we also wanted to attract the younger demographic, which is more tech-savvy and wants a more exciting experience on the site.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Jordan Crown offered both design and development for our website. We'd had a website created by another individual. It was pretty much disastrous. Jordan Crown overhauled the entire setup, keeping it largely the same, while completely reworking the backend. They kept the skin, which we were rather fond of, but completely redeveloped the coding, making everything work and be very intuitive to manage. I was largely able to manage the entire website, with a few pointers from the Jordan Crown team.

How did you come to work with Jordan Crown?

I had previously worked with their principal at a previous company, and was very familiar with his work. I got in touch with him again and was put in touch with our main developer at Jordan Crown. We gave him a test project which impressed us. It only got better from there.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The total cost of Jordan Crown's initial development was under $10,000. We've had additional updates and changes, adding in a 100-picture gallery at one point, a receipt development program, as well as making e-commerce changes. The total cost has been in the range of $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Everything has been completed. We have moved on from Jordan Crown. Our site has a heavy e-commerce side, and Jordan Crown made the decision of not working on e-commerce anymore, at least not on our level. Jordan Crown walked us through the transition and helped us select another web designer with e-commerce capabilities. Since then, the team from Jordan Crown has called and checked in on us a few times to ensure that the people they selected are doing a good job and that we've had a smooth transition.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I've been completely satisfied with Jordan Crown's work. Conversion rates are one of the elements which skyrocketed after they launced our new website. The conversion rate for our vehicle registration form, which is the landing page for all of our advertising, went up to 13.7%, which is tremendously high. Each vehicle registration has a cost of $150, so it has had a big impact on our business.

How did Jordan Crown perform from a project management standpoint?

I appreciated the fact that we've had a very personal interaction with Jordan Crown. They're not the type of company that would lump the client into Basecamp and call it a day. I could always reach our project manager directly. He was quick to respond and let me know where each task sat on their schedule, instead of letting my requests disappear into an abyss.

What distinguishes Jordan Crown from other providers?

The communication with Jordan Crown was always tremendous.

Is there anything Jordan Crown could have improved or done differently?

Jordan Crown could start working on e-commerce again. I would love to be able to go back to their company. Jordan Crown managed to get through the e-commerce portions, but it was always something that took longer than expected to complete. Each time we gave Jordan Crown a task which was outside of their scope of expertise, someone had to go out and learn it, so it would have been nice to have an expert on-staff.