KODEN Studio

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CTO of a small online education company focused on the finance market. I’m in charge of most of the digital aspects, including design for the site.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Gold Development?

We hired them to come up with new design concepts for a new website. Once the site was done, we retained them for ongoing design work, ranging from individual page designs to YouTube thumbnails to social media designs and everything in between.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a clean and modern design that fit our demographic.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We posted the job online and Gold Development was one of the applicants out of about 20. They stood out for a number of reasons: first, their portfolio was impressive as it had really nice designs; second, they were very prompt in replying to queries and messages; and third, they had excellent reviews from previous clients. For these reasons, we decided to go with them and haven't looked back since. We've worked with a large number of contractors over the years, including designers, and Gold Development is by far the best we've worked with.

Describe the project in detail.

Our process is pretty simple; we provide the key points that we need and some guidance as to what look/feel we are after. They then go ahead and get the design done. If there is any need for adjustments, we make the request and it's done quickly.

What was the team composition?

We deal directly with 1 team member, therefore communication is extremely easy.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The success is the fact that we continue to work with Gold Development even after the initial project we hired them for was completed over a year ago. Since that time, we have given them a few other web design projects and ongoing smaller graphic design jobs on a weekly or bi-monthly basis.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Extremely effective. Most of the communication is done via email by our choice, but they are also comfortable using Slack.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

There are 2 main points as to why they are so impressive: they have an excellent eye for design and they suit our style perfectly. They’re also extremely efficient, capable of turning around work really fast.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that we can think of right now.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We’re a provider of commercial finance services to small businesses. Within the team, my role is to manage and co-ordinate the marketing and digital marketing functions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What were your goals for this project?

As a growing business, we were looking to change our brand image across all of our digital channels. We needed to relaunch this new image across our new Partner Portal, website, digital forms, and advertising collateral.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We had worked with them previously on ad-hoc design jobs—flyers, printed collateral, and template development. I found them to be responsive, hard-working, and efficient. Yaroslav [Lead UI/UX Designer, Gold Development] and the team consistently delivers the whole package, from design to brief, on time and per branding standards.

Describe the project in detail.

We worked with Yaroslav to develop new materials and resources. They created the UI [user interface] for our Partner Portal, website, and interactive form. They also handled development and website UX [user experience] enhancements, along with marketing collateral, over a period of 8 weeks. The project is still ongoing and we will continue to use them for these requirements.

What was the team composition?

We work directly with Yaroslav, who provides project management advice and integration as well as UX recommendations and UI designs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

So far, we've launched our beta Partner Portal to a number of stakeholders who have reported that the functionality, UX, and design is "best in the market". We've also received great feedback from external stakeholders regarding new advertising materials we have released to market.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow between us is great; they’re quick to respond, quick to discuss upcoming projects, and quick to work with us on any change requests or amendments we require. Internally, we manage our workflow using Google Suite, and Gold was happy to use that platform.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They’re responsive, have innovative ideas, beautiful designs, and incorporate best practices into their UI/UX work.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I’m sure there’s something, but nothing come to mind. Every time we've needed something enhanced in our work together, they’ve been quick to respond to these requests.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of a small startup company focusing on building mobile fitness applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Gold Development?

Our application has multiple functionalities which assume a lot of user interaction. The size of the screen on a mobile device is always an issue, especially if we have to provide a convenient, high-quality user experience that lets the user enter a lot of different data with minimal effort. The question of how we could fit this in nicely, without sacrificing important aspects of UX, came up. This was the reason we started looking for UI/UX experts, and how we came across Gold Development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

At the time, we had 2 separate applications, including one in the works, and one that had been launched. We approached Gold Development for help with the UI/UX design of both.

The project started around the middle of 2014,  and the basic starting point was putting together wireframes for screens. Once we sourced a company, we reached out to them and set up a Skype call in order to have a conversation around the wireframes. They took a few days to digest the information we provided, then came back with a handful of options. We proceeded with a small trial project in which we asked Gold Development to design a couple screens.

Once we reviewed the result and approved it, we tried to attach that UI to our code. After this exercise, we came back to the company and asked them to complete the rest of the user interface based on our wireframes. Coding was handled internally, and Gold Development’s services were the same for both our applications.

We didn’t have an idea of what the fitness application logo would look like at the time, which is one of the things Gold Development helped us with. We were very pleased with the outcome of that. Even though the primary goal of the project was UI for iOS and Android apps, the company did a great job making sure the specifics of those platforms were accounted for from a usability standpoint. They also helped us with the design of our website, including putting together landing pages.

Our fitness application allows users to log in with an account and track their progress as they exercise. It captures all kinds of metrics, such as number of repetitions, weight, and number of laps or miles covered for either running or swimming (the application is agnostic in this regard). Tracking workout metrics is the first function, and the second one is heart-rate zone training methodology using heart rate monitors. The app advises users on how hard they should train during workouts at different points in time. There is also an ability to measure another health metric called HRV, or heart rate variability. The app tracks how quickly or slowly a user is recovering from workouts, which is an important aspect overlooked by many people.

There are features for tracking stats at a higher level of abstraction across the training course, including the ability to track fitness goals. If someone wants to lose weight, some of the things they can track through the application are their body-fat percentage, BMI, body shape, water percentage, and bone density.

The app tries to be a kind of virtual coach, and one of the challenges Gold Development helped us overcome was designing the UI for the use of a so-called character, or animated coach. The company helped us visualize this interaction aspect better.

What is the team dynamic?

As Gold Development went along, we had a number of conversations on email to make sure that they would deliver what we expected them to. The communication was smooth and without issue.

I know several people from their team were involved, including 2 designers.

How did you come to work with Gold Development?

I initially came across Gold Development on a freelancing platform almost 4 years ago, and at the time, we used different websites as well as connections. We chose them primarily because of a great review they’d received, and the direct relevance of what the company was doing compared to our needs.

One of the challenges we run into when trying to find a good UX designer is that companies claim to have great experiences in designing true mobile applications with high-quality user experience. However, when we start looking at their portfolio, we quickly realize what they meant by this claim was a flash-based website design, not a complex UX-driven mobile app. This was a challenge, and was what made Gold Development stand out in comparison to competitors.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost was between $5,000-$10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Gold Development in June 2014, and the project ended in February 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Quantitatively, Gold Development accommodated our timeline. They also fell within our expected budget range, which is not necessarily a measure of quality, but still pretty great.

How did Gold Development perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was great based on the output, but it’s hard to tell objectively. I interfaced with 2 people, and Gold Development handled the work internally, which was appreciated because I didn’t have to manage them. I provided an outline, a requirements list, and an expected deliverable. Their ability to deliver within the timeline was an indication that project management was not an issue. There were no delays or bad quality designs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to stick to the timeline and to deliver what was expected were both strengths. One of the things I liked about Gold Development was the creativity put towards the logo and animated character we needed.

At times, we’ve had designers come back to us with their own idea of implementation, and then refuse to take our feedback. In many cases, they do know better than the customer, but in other cases, this is less true. Gold Development had a great balance in this regard.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Time difference was a challenge for us. Luckily, we only had 1-2 occasions when we needed to make an urgent change. If it’s late at night for Gold Development, they may not always be able to accommodate an urgent request quickly, but they did stay up late into the night to help us. They could remedy this by increasing company size and running double shifts. I’m unsure if Gold Development should be remedying this since it only happened a couple times, at most. It was tolerable from our perspective, and I wouldn’t lower my rating of them because of it.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

TrustSpot is a reviews and reputations management platform. We help business collect reviews from their customers. I’m the co-founder and CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Gold Development?

We have one development resource in-house, but we don’t have an in-house designer. We needed a nice design for our app. We had outsourced other web development services, but we were mostly looking for design for this project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve helped us with 4 major projects. All the projects they helped us with were related to graphic design and they helped a little bit with web development services. They did all the screens for the internal user screens and all the outside web screens as well. They made the mobile app and web app for all of our projects.

The latest projects have been along the lines of getting reviews from customers. We just launched one of the projects a week ago called TrustExpert. They did really good work with that. The third project has to do with video management and filming, and the fourth project is for video games.

TrustSpot is a pretty big web application. When we started building it, we realized we needed to turn our wireframes into what our vision was. We sought out Gold Development and they handled all the screens that customers would see when they log in. There are probably 50 screens they helped design along with our logo, the entire website, and the mobile application. Every asset we have for TrustSpot came from Gold Development.

Some of the development work they did was coding some screens for the website. They’ve done all the design work.

What is the team dynamic?

We work with 2 resources. We’ve had 1 designer the whole time and one web developer for the one coding project. We like working with the same people because they know exactly what we want and can deliver on time and to our vision.

How did you come to work with Gold Development?

We found them on Upwork. They had a big portfolio of past work which looked pretty impressive. They also had a good price of $25 per hour. That was competitive for our industry, and from what I could see, it was a good fit. Some agencies are really expensive or didn’t have the vision that we had. We gave Gold Development a few test projects to test them out and they did really well. We continued to expand our projects from there.

How much have you invested with them?

They work at least 100 hours per week for us. We’ve spent between $15,000 and $20,000 with them over the course of our relationship.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2015, and the work is ongoing. They’re currently working on some mobile screens for our web application.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen from the changes they’ve made to the landing pages that we’ve converted more potential leads into customers. We use them for every landing page and campaign we do. We also have our website design which looks really good. It’s been really good for us.

When we gave them a project, we gave them some creative control. We told them what we wanted and if they had any questions, they would contact me. They were extremely fast. We’re in constant contact when they have questions on the project. Otherwise, they were good at taking what we wanted and developing it into something we were expecting. They were good at being hands on and running on their own. They didn’t need a lot of control from us. They understood what we needed and made it happen.

How did Gold Development perform from a project management standpoint?

I’ve been a project manager for 13 years. I give them the requirements in a PDF with example wireframes. They know what we like because we’ve been working with them so long. They take our requirements and build off the design, and usually we have it back in a few days. If they have any questions, they send me a message and I respond within 24 hours. We haven’t had any issues with them. We use Upwork tools for managing tasks and communicating.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their attention to detail and creativity is impressive. I’ve hired many graphic designers whether they’re firms or freelancers. I’ve always run into problems. Either they don’t design what I’m looking for or they have questions and still get it wrong. When we wanted to hire someone for our design, we were weary of all the problems. With Gold Development, we give them our ideas, and they’re very creative in getting the work done. They don’t have many questions and are great at what they do.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes they’re doing something urgent, and it takes a few days to get back to us. That’s not their fault as a company. I don’t have any problems with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director and one of the programmers at Greenheart Games. We make premium business simulation games for PC.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Gold Development?

The challenge, as always, was to find really good people that can work remotely and efficiently with little guidance. We don't have a producer working at the company, so we really require contractors who can proactively work with us to fulfill our vision.

We were looking for graphic designers who could create high-quality vector art. Vector art is created using mathematic equations and geometric primitives that then allow the image to be rendered at any size. We were really fortunate to find Gold Development because they were specializing in that and made icons that looked fantastic in that particular style.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started development in 2012 of a game called Game Dev Tycoon. We were looking for a graphic artist to make a logo for this game, but also to create virtual consoles and PC icons that look similar to historic consoles, but with a particular style. In our case it was like an isometric perspective and we wanted vector art so that we could blow it up at any size and it would have a great amount of detail.

There are dozens of icons and each of them take a great deal of care to design. The involvement of Gold Development was essentially to the full icon production process. They made all of those icons for us and they made our logo for the game. Gold Development did a bunch of drafts and mock-ups for different console versions as well.

What is the team dynamic?

The artist that we've worked with the closest is Yaroslav, he made all of the art. We have been in touch with a few other people via email, they were assisting with communication. I know that Yaroslav used his whole team for input, but our primary contact was always the artist directly, which was very nice for us.

They worked independently and without much guidance, which is what we were looking for. We would send them a request when we needed an icon, or a new creation. They would then inform us of their availability and send us mock-ups, before producing the final result. It was very efficient and they knew what we wanted, it's been quite good.

How did you come to work with Gold Development ?

I found them via upwork.com (formerly odesk.com) through their portfolio. I was looking specifically for icons that had a certain level of polish and detail. Their portfolio had a few good detailed icons. We saw that and then approached them.

How much have you invested with them?

About $8,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in 2011, and since then we have used them from time to time to produce new content. When we do prototypes of something, or we need an update, we approach them and they work with us. It's been really good because they've made sure that they stick around and replicate the style, even years later.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our game was unusually well-received for a first product from a company like ours. I know that a lot of players found the consoles of particular high quality. This is about the visual aspect of the game and not part of the gameplay, but it's instrumental for the experience we were going after, every part of the game plays a role.

How did Gold Development perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate mostly through email. What I really like about them is that they're straightforward and honest. A lot of contractors that work remotely always say they will do work ASAP, but then they're four days late. It's really annoying because we don't always need everything the minute we ask for it, but certainty when we get an ETA we want that to be an accurate ETA. Gold Development has been exceptionally good with that.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I can't stress enough the quality aspect of the work. People who know this kind of style and the art would see the skill straight away. It's the outcome that really speaks for itself.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not as far as our involvement is concerned.