Lab

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and co-founder of Scout Alarm, a DIY wireless home security brand. We sell wireless home security and security services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lab?

We have a small team and limited resources. We found that a lot of our ongoing maintenance and day-to-day processes were eating up most of our time. We weren’t getting to some of the roadmap items that we wanted to get to. 

We worked with Lab to design and build the future of our end user application for iOS and Android. They helped us build Scout’s version 2.0 UX.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Lab designed our mobile app’s UX and helped build the app itself. They worked in tandem with our in-house engineering team to spec out what we were trying to build and find where they could add value.

Based on our scoping discussion, they presented a detailed proposal. We gave our feedback on what we liked, what we would tweak, and what we wanted to do, and then we finalized the scope and statement of work (SOW).

After that was approved, their team worked collaboratively with us over the project timeline. Toward the end of the project, we received our final deliverables. We tested everything and made tweaks before signing off. Based on what we built, our team had tasks that needed to be done over time, which we could either do ourselves or further engage Lab to work on.

What is the team composition?

Ash (Co-Founder & CEO) was our main point of contact. He was in charge of business development and client coordination.

How did you come to work with Lab?

I knew Ash in design school, but we lost touch for a few years. I saw that he was doing some work for other startups out in the Bay Area and in Seattle. They were working with some major venture-funded companies. Scout Alarm is also venture-funded, so I reconnected with Ash, and we started talking about their capabilities. They had good reviews, and there was already established trust based on the fact that we went to school together.

How much have you invested with them?

The initial project was around $40,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on this project between March–May 2018. We have worked with them on smaller projects since then. We like working with Lab to balance ongoing daily tasks with aspirational roadmap items.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As a team that has engineers on-staff, we were very happy with the work that they did. UI/UX is very subjective, so we didn’t have any internal KPIs. However, we were pleased with their UI/UX work, and it gave us a good understanding of where we wanted to go with our app in the future and the steps to get it there. From a code standpoint, there were no issues — it was a normal development process. 

How did Lab perform from a project management standpoint?

We had weekly check-ins to ensure that we were hitting milestones. We also answered their team’s questions here and there through email and sometimes via video chat. We used Google Drive and Dropbox to share files. We used all of the programs you’d expect in a normal engineering and design team workflow, like  GitHub repos and Slack. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive aspect about Lab was how well integrated their design and development functions were. That creates a much more streamlined workflow and higher quality expectations.

It is very rare to find a consulting group that can work on both the design and build processes. If they do, they are usually better in one area than the other. However, in this case, their design and development skillsets were really integrated and catered to Scout’s systems. One of the great things about Lab is that their work doesn’t stop at UI/UX design — they also provide development services. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any areas they could improve. Their rates were fair for the work that they did. From a work quality, workflow, and product outcome standpoint, I was very happy.

Any advice for potential customers?

I recommend asking for an understanding of their full capabilities. The Lab team is strong in areas that people don’t expect them to be.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a SaaS startup that creates software that’s used by other software teams. We have a SaaS web application.  

It’s challenging for product managers to message and engage their users without relying on their engineering teams to create changes or UI patterns. We aim to enable product teams to quickly create, deploy, and operate in-product experiences for their users. These could be models, banners, or slide-outs to help users understand various features of our clients’ software. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lab?

We needed some work on redesigning the main interface, which is the app that allows our customers to create these in-product experiences. We received feedback that said that these experiences weren’t very intuitive, so we engaged them for a design overhaul and frontend development work. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with engaging them for a design exercise, which included some prototyping because we wanted to test whether their designs would meet our customers’ expectations. Over the course of 6–9 months, we went through the process of research, design iteration, internal testing, prototyping, external testing, and some development work. When we were starting up, we showed them how the current product worked but didn’t need to provide them with too much information beforehand. We described our problems and associated issues, and they responded with audits and action.    

What is the team composition?

We worked with four people: one main point of contact, two engineers, and one other resource.  

How did you come to work with Lab?

They’ve done it all before—they’ve built companies, software, and products. Their design understanding was pretty high, and they were aware of the latest products. They could also iterate quickly, so we decided to choose them for the work. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $100,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from March–December 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We run customer satisfaction scores and noticed we have fewer customers canceling and complaining about UX issues. Through our quantitative feedback, we can say those metrics improved.  

How did Lab perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re comfortable using the tools we use. For example, we use Trello, and they adhered to our system. We also communicate through a Slack channel. It was a pretty seamless experience. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re quick in their iteration speed. The time it takes to turn around any design or prototype is very fast compared to what I’ve seen elsewhere. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re a little expensive and generally want to do projects that combine design and development. Initially, we were only interested in design, but they thought that they needed to do both in order to achieve the right results. I see the value there, but it was a little inflexible sometimes.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear on what the scope is. When you started engaging, there are so many ideas from them on what you can improve. Having a clear idea of what you want will help them focus on your core problem.  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a software service provider within the relocation industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lab?

We needed a combination of web design and development support to augment our existing team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

For development, our technology stack consisted of React on the frontend, Ruby on Rails in the backend, and InVision for design.

What is the team composition?

Three people worked with our team.

How did you come to work with Lab?

We found them through a personal network. They were a good fit because they had both design and development services.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent over $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from May 2014–December 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don’t have any metrics, but they provided all the features and products that were defined in our project scope. As a team, they took care of certain parts of the project.

How did Lab perform from a project management standpoint?

We used two different project management tools, including Trello. Unfortunately, I didn’t like Trello very much.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We liked that they provided both design and development services. Having one team handle everything end-to-end was very helpful.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

Communication between our team and theirs could definitely be improved. It wasn’t always easy to sort out where we were in the process.