Launch by NTT DATA

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Large Public Utility and I'm the Head of Innovation

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Vectorform?

We need support to mature the innovation practice and people to help execute the current agenda.

SOLUTION

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

VF has been a long-standing and trusted partner of DTE and Innovation.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Annually, we need to identify and improve Innovation capabilities plus engage the rest of DTE to identify opportunities and challenges to backlog, sense, and experiment.

Describe the recruitment process in detail.

Annually, we discuss current DTE environment and focus areas for innovation and outline key competencies needed for support by the VF team. Our Account Manager ensures to align the engagement to best address these identified needs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The DTE Innovation team continues to receive repeat work from a few key areas and that repeat business is a sign of confidence from some business partners. Additionally, our NPS scores saw a nominal rise from prior period but was in margin of error.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow between company has been good but looking for great. Their approach felt more proactive and responsive, thanks to their knowledge and expertise.

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

VF has consistently been nimble and have been able to provide expertise when asked to support.

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

There has been significant turn-over in team and team member incorporation, knowledge spin-up, and coverage during transition to active member has been lack-luster. Additionally, there has been institutional knowledge lost with some transition as some process/practice had not been codified.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a director for Axon Enterprise, a large public safety tech company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vectorform?

We needed someone to provide us with AR/VR development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Vectorform first built an app that they transitioned to our internal development team. The second app they developed was from another vendor, which they quickly ramped up and collaborated closely with our team.

They mainly focused on the VR app's front- and backend development, animation integration, and trained our team on its features and functionalities. They used Unity as their primary development tool and have utilized other IoT Bluetooth devices.

Other than that, we currently have an ongoing maintenance and support contract with them.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with around 10 people from their team, ranging from Unity engineers, technical directors, animators, and project managers.

How did you come to work with Vectorform?

We have a personal relationship with Vectorform.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $1.5 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in May 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

80% of our officers feel more prepared based on the training that Vectorform provided. Moreover, we’ve sped up one of our product's sales, making it the fastest-growing product for our company.

How did Vectorform perform from a project management standpoint?

They perform excellently from a project management perspective. They mainly use JIRA, communicate through Slack, and share files through SharePoint.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed with their engineering capabilities, collaborative approach, and bias for action.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any constructive feedback as they’re very easy to work with.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise you to share as much information as possible so that they can be a true partner for your company.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and head designer of an interior and furniture design company. We’re based in Colombia and the US.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Umvel?

We wanted to improve our image and website in order to compete with others since we were doing business in New York and Florida.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Umvel created a website that featured our identity and the different projects that we did, both corporate and residential. The platform also featured the products that we designed such as furniture and accessories.

What is the team composition?

We worked with their developer and designer.

How did you come to work with Umvel?

A friend of mine recommended the team. I got along with them because they understood what I wanted.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together last January 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our customers loved our website. Other than that, we didn’t have any metrics to measure their work.

How did Umvel perform from a project management standpoint?

The Umvel team was very quick and on time with everything. We never had any problems with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were impressed that they got our aesthetics and that they were able to showcase our different services in a very clean way.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I couldn’t think of anything they could improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear with your expectations.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am an executive and member of the founding team at a company that makes former consular officers available to those with upcoming visa interviews via a scheduling and video conferencing web application.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Umvel to help conceptualize and build the web application. Our team had a deep knowledge of the immigration piece of the equation with very little experience in technology and software development. Umvel helped Argo form and optimize strategies that were used to launch the business. After accomplishing that first goal Umvel assisted Argo in structuring a team to further develope and stabilize the product and business.

SOLUTION

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

We looked local initially but we found that Umvel's proposal was a much more creative approach with a modern technology stack. We believed their proposal had value that other firms did not capture. Pricing played a role in our decision but ultimately it was how they conceptualized how to solve our problems.

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

The goal of the project was to create a consultation platform that schedules applicants with consular officers based on language, geography, experience, and other factors. Big picture the project consisted of two phases: build and refinement. We built the business and product from scratch and once launched we worked through Covid to refine and grow the business to a sale.

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

Being that this relationship has been ongoing for over three years we have gone through multiple iterations of a team. Our employees primarily interact with the Umvel Product Manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have developed and grown in partnership with the Umvel team. Our company was acquired in March of 2022, thanks in large part to the influence Umvel had over the product's life.

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

We settled into 2 week sprints once launced, we used Gitlab and other PM tools like Monday or Trello to track timelines and productivity. Eventually this became so routine that there was very little management on the Argo side.

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

Their ability to remove themselves as the agency and look at Argo as their own product. They are not afraid to tell us when we are wrong and there are multiple instances where that trait improved the value of the company.

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

Being a very early-stage startup made for a different breed of client. We did not necessarily have the resources that many of Umvel's clients leveraged. We were able to staff up around needs but some of these could have been identified earlier.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm Product Manager in OEIO, the first premium wellness marketplace in Latinamerica.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Umvel to develop the software (booking admin & marketplace app) from scratch.

SOLUTION

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

Umvel was refered by a friend of one of the associates , and after considering other options we decided to go with Umvel because it is a one-stop-shop, they offered a 360 solution, with transparent and efficient processes.

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

We first worked with the UX team to understand exactly what problems we were trying to solve, define user personas and our unique value propositions. Then we defines features and must haves for the platform and then we participated in weekly meetings to understand the development process. Once we launched we kept communication open to define the roadmap based on client and user feedback.

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

Aprox 12 people, including UX - UI - mobile developers (iOS & Android) Project Manager - QA

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We launched the platform on time, bugs and fixes where resolved 100% in less than 15 days.

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

We had assigned a very professional team, where a project manager was in constant contact with us. Weekly meetings with reports, progress and questions. The timelines were accomplished, and the communication channels were always efficient.

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

We were really surprised when their method showed us that we had some misconceptions about our "big idea". They made us question everything to build a product that really solved someones problem. Other companies would have built what we asked without first discovering what our business model was, if our value proposition was unique and strong and if we had an scalable model.

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

Not really.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the vice-chairman of an energy company. We have 10,000 employees and serve millions of customers across 23 states. As a part of my responsibilities, I work directly with our information technology team.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vectorform?

We look to them for accelerated innovation support. We want to ensure we’re using relevant technologies in the best manner possible to make our employees more efficient and better serve our customers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve been involved with several tech-oriented projects over the course of our partnership. We’ve given them access to our internal systems and processes and allow them to use their expertise from there. Their team works side-by-side with ours.

One of our most major projects was an app development project. We knew from research that if we provided our customers with an easy-to-use mobile app that helped them understand their energy consumption, it would help customers be more aware of and better manage their energy consumption. Based on this research, we asked them to build a mobile app that would give our customers real-time energy consumption information. They’ve delivered this app and now help maintain and market it to our customers.

Another project we’ve done together is related to virtual reality training. Safety protocols are incredibly important for our employees, so we worked with them to create a VR-simulated training course. This allows for employee mistakes as they learn the safety protocols without putting anyone in danger.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact is Jason (CEO & Co-Founder), but we’ve worked with a dozen members of their team over the course of all our projects.

How did you come to work with Vectorform?

We received inbound communication from Jason about the potential for an energy-monitoring mobile app. He came in and impressed our management team so much that we brought him in for the project.

How much have you invested with them? 

We’ve spent more than $10 million with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve worked together since January 2011.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The energy consumption tracking app has been downloaded by 500,000 of our customers and is actively used by 300,000 of those customers. On average, active users save 12% on their energy bills. These savings, a direct result of their work, have left us with happier customers. Our work together has been so successful that we’ve formed a joint venture to market their app to other energy companies throughout the US.

How did Vectorform perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a strong reputation for delivering on time and on budget. They’ve helped us implement agile technology teams for our work together, which ensures that we solve any bugs or technical issues quickly. I know we’re using a project management tool, but I’m not sure which one. We communicate virtually via Microsoft Teams but have also met face-to-face.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Through solid hiring practices and strategic partnerships, they deliver thought leadership and cutting-edge ideas. Their team has helped shift our leaders’ mindsets to keep our company consistently growing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything. They’re always asking for feedback and act on any suggestions for improvement very quickly.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Think about your work together as a partnership rather than a transactional relationship. If you’re willing to budge on your initial ideas, they’ll ensure you’re employing the most innovative ideas.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm currently the interim CIO for Kelly Services, a global workforce management solutions company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Vectorform?

When Kelly IT engaged with Vectorform, I led the innovation team, where we collaborated with VF to establish the innovation process for evaluating new technology and concepts. Kelly has worked with Vectorform on many engagements from our UX/UI design for our Talent Portal as well as working with our Product team to establish and structure our customer advisory board.

SOLUTION

How did you select Vectorform and what were the deciding factors?

The decision was based on the excellent work experience we've had on several initiatives with the Vectorform team and our knowledge of their domain expertise in innovation consultancy.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

VF started with an evaluation phase with various stakeholder interviews and reviews of our current state to baseline our innovation capabilities 'maturity'. Next phase was collaborating with the key team members internal/external to IT to establish the innovation program and innovation processes to evaluate new concepts.

Final stage was implementing our program and utilizing hte new process to deliver innovation concepts all the way through to delivery/implementation and measuring business value results.

How many resources from the Vectorform team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with an account manager, and the 3 folks from the innovation consultancy team. We had a dedicated Innovation project manager consultant and two senior leaders in the practice who worked with us closely.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have a comprehensive business value data recorded for all the projects that we executed thru this new innovation program. We recognized for jsut one project (implementation of AI assisted technology) that we were able to increase our 'front line' recruiter capacity by 20 full time equivalent resources.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The exchange and collaboration were very effective. We had regular meetings with the VF team at all levels which ensured continued alignment to Kelly's goals and expectations.

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

The team's diverse strengths which created a great mix of skills that complimented my internal team.

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

Nothing - the engagement was executed really well . Communication was open and transparent.. if there was feedback , it was provided immediately and the VF team was always very responsive.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

At the time I worked with Vectorform, I was the communications manager at Nike’s sustainability department. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vectorform?

We were creating a serious game to educate and motivate people to take action against sustainability challenges, which included environmental and social components. Our main goal was to compel organizations to work together in the real world. As a result, we wanted to design a game for them to play, helping us bring our vision to life. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

For context, this project was called the System Innovation Experiment (SIX), and the idea was to build a collaboration game where we’d have a large conference of around 300 people. We brought them in from external organizations, which were mostly footwear and apparel companies, nonprofits, and government organizations. Nike staff also joined the program. Overall, we made a four-hour-long, 300-people collaborative game.

To help us do this, Vectorform created a piece of software that allowed people to acquire gameplay information, work together, and make decisions. After inputting those decisions into the software, the participants would get game results in real-time around how they were performing. The software ended up being an app that was downloaded onto Microsoft tablets. Each participating team had their own tablets, which they used to interact with the app. 

What is the team composition?

We worked closely with five people from their team, but more people were working in the background.

How did you come to work with Vectorform?

An internal resource at Nike’s IT department directed us to Vectorform because they had done some work for the company before. We also checked in with 3–4 other companies, and they didn’t have the bandwidth to do the project. They also didn’t think it was possible to do such a large project in such a short amount of time. That was why we chose Vectorform over them. 

How much have you invested with them?

Our budget was around $175,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement lasted from June–September 2015. When we launched the app, it was pretty much the end of the project. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This project was definitely fun and interesting, and the Vectorform team was great. When we started it, we only had two and a half months from the moment we decided to do it to the moment that it was due. We also had a large VIP guest list coming to Nike. Fortunately, Vectorform stepped up, threw a ton of resources on the project, and worked with us extremely closely. 

In the end, the event went off quite well, and we received positive responses for the game and experience. Vectorform did a great job; they put in an amazing amount of work in a short amount of time to make our project happen. Overall, they delivered a big win for us. 

How did Vectorform perform from a project management standpoint?

For project management, they used the agile methodology, and it went truly well. We worked hand-in-hand with them the whole time because we were a build-the-plane-while-we’re-flying-it type of company. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Vectorform’s biggest differentiator was their willingness to take on a risky project in terms of budget and time. Our timeframe was so short that most companies didn’t even want to think about doing it. Meanwhile, other companies would have done it, but they wanted 10 times our budget for it. 

By contrast, Vectorform was willing to do it despite having a large potential for failure — they were willing to partner with us and make it happen. When we approached them, we didn’t even have our content; we didn’t know how it was going to play out. In other words, while the timeframe was two and a half months, their team only had 2–3 weeks to build the software since we had to create content first. 

To think that a company could do as much as we were asking them in such a short amount of time was nerve-wracking. However, Vectorform remained confident throughout the whole engagement. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there weren’t any. We were all happy with their work. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You can trust Vectorform; trust that they can pull off a miracle — that’s what they do. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of business development and strategy at Esko Graphics. We are in the business of helping clients manage their product packaging and product information.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vectorform?

We typically service the enterprise side of the market, and we’re looking to expand our product portfolio to address the middle market. Vectorform helped us design a new piece of software that is adapted to that specific audience.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Vectorform designed software that had a simpler, more approachable UI/UX for the middle market audience. First, the team familiarized themselves with our challenge by capturing the voice of the customer. We did this by getting a real customer or roleplaying as one to walk them through the problems we were looking to solve. Afterward, they did a detailed analysis of about 10 of the different software packages we were already selling for enterprises. Their goal was to pick the best elements from what we have and identify what we could add to the new platform. The team conducted quite a detailed study.

Once that initial phase was done, the Vectorform team began creating the elements of the UI. They installed these pieces into a system called Sigma Software, which lets UI/UX designers choose components to produce a cohesive UI. Afterward, Vectorform built the wireframe and mock-ups of the software. It wasn’t a functioning software, but a visual design that they handed off to our company for us to develop. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with Xtian (Lead UX/UI Designer), who led some of the component design processes and provided some consulting. Overall, the effort was led by Lindsey (Associate Experience Director), who was also the lead designer and consultant. 

How did you come to work with Vectorform?

I found them through an industry contact. I went to the Vectorform headquarters and met the owner. Their leadership style and openness made me feel comfortable working with them. Additionally, they were entrepreneurial and open while still being aggressive in a good way. Our styles matched, too.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost was around $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from October 2020–March 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The best evidence is our lead CTO was very pleased with the project. He’s very selective and not the easiest customer, but Vectorform’s work made him extremely happy. The team delivered a high-quality product on time, and they brought new ideas to the table that added value to the project.

How did Vectorform perform from a project management standpoint?

Despite the time difference between us, the Vectorform team persevered and managed to deliver all the deliverables on time and as promised. They were responsive, and all the elements and components were delivered either on time or even early. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m most impressed with their listening skills. I worked with many firms in their industry, and most of them assumed they understood what we wanted without asking a lot of questions. In contrast, Vectorform asked clarifying questions and let us know when they needed more context from us. This deep listening turned into deep understanding, which was the number one element that stood out.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they could’ve done better.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to meet the team that will work with you before starting the project to ensure you feel comfortable with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive in Unity Technologies, a software company based in the Bay Area. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Vectorform?

Vectorform works as our partner in different projects, including human-machine interface work and extended reality solutions development. We’ve also hired them before to handle proof-of-concept (POC) projects. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I’ve worked with them on a couple of projects over the course of the relationship, and these projects include human-machine interface design work such as automotive interior conceptualization. I’ve also worked with them on infotainment and cluster design concepts. 

Typically, when we work with the Vectorform team, we have a list of features and concepts that we want to explore or build. We then engage them to vet approaches and come up with ideation of concepts where they can showcase product features. Through that process, we form a scope of work and move into a development phase where they build those features. 

What is the team composition?

I frequently work with 6–7 people from their staff, and we’ve collaborated with quite a few other people on different projects in which I’ve been involved.

I mainly interface with Damien (Executive Director for Business Development) and Clemens (Executive Experience Director). In the past, I’ve also worked with Jason and Kurt (CEOs & Co-Founders).

How did you come to work with Vectorform?

I had a previous relationship with Kurt and worked with Jason years prior to that. Over the years, I got to know their capabilities and solutions. When I joined Unity Technologies three years ago, Vectorform was already involved with some of our buildouts. As a result, it became natural for me to work with them since I had trust in their skill sets and had prior relationships with them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent roughly $100,000 on their services. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2015, and the partnership is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

What I appreciate about them is their thorough approach. Vectorform spends a lot of time in the early discovery phase to gain a deeper understanding of our needs. The team also does a great job of providing documentation. I’ve participated in facilitated meetings where they use media and online tools to extract requirements and distill ideas. Overall, they’re a great team and the way they work is fantastic. 

How did Vectorform perform from a project management standpoint?

Vectorform has great skill sets and methods of communication. I give them highly positive marks on how well they manage project executions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m frequently impressed by their approach to design thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills. Their facilitation processes are great. Moreover, they do a lot of work upfront to gain a deep understanding of the problems we seek to solve. This process yields good results, and it's the reason why they're so successful. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. I haven’t had any negative experiences with the Vectorform team. They’ve always been solid so I don’t have any constructive feedback to mention. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Come prepared. Through certain points in our engagement and requirement gathering, I’ve found out that our company isn't organized in terms of information. Vectorform uses a thorough process upfront, so you must be prepared for that process if you want to give them a timely information set. 

UPDATED REVIEW