Malachite

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO at HairCare.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Malachite?

We had an idea for an app in the healthcare sphere. We needed a company to develop the UI/UX for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with low-fidelity UI/UX work before moving step-by-step to our first prototype. They created a working prototype, which acted as our MVP. They created all the UI/UX and did some user testing. For user testing, they targeted 10 people. We applied some changes after getting the test results. We continue our work with them, but it’s not as intensive as it was before.

What is the team composition?

There were three people on their end.

How did you come to work with Malachite?

They were referred by a friend of mine that had been working with them for a few years.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $5,000-$10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2019, and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re highly satisfied with the results. They provided all the resources: a working prototype and all the files we needed. Everything was done very well.  

How did Malachite perform from a project management standpoint?

We discussed due dates, and they reported their progress. Everything was great. We had good communication with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m really satisfied with working with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they did everything that we wanted. We’re happy.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We have a good relationship with them. I wouldn’t consider anyone else for similar work. I recommend using them. They’re very dedicated to the project and good at what they do.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder of IT recruiting company EvoTalents. We help IT companies from Europe find people who are right fit for their company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Malachite?

There were many challenges. The main channel of digital sales in our area are social media networks, especially Facebook.

Our goal was to find an agency that will help us set up an advertising campaign on Facebook correctly and after that will be able to teach us how to do it by ourselves inhouse (support current campaigns and set up new from scratch).

What were your goals for this project?

Find the most effective type of paid campaigns on Facebook for our company and learn how to set it up by ourselves.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were recommended to me.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

They developed a strategy for paid campaigns, selected the types of campaigns that would be effective for us, set up new campaigns and optimize them. Then they made individual training for us. After this training, we learned how to set up and optimize campaigns ourselves.

What was the team composition?

We worked with two people: marketer and ppc specialist.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Now we're running up advertising campaigns on Facebook by ourselves. We have an online school for recruiters. We're going to start a new course and need to make advertising to find students. We have developed a strategy and set up campaigns on our own. At the moment, advertising is helping to recruit a new group of students.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow between us and their team was effective and transparent. They also deeply integrated with our team.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were surprised at their reaction speed, how polite they were. When we didn't understand something, they helped us figure it out.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nothing special. Everything went pretty good.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CEO of an innovative development company. Our company provides high-quality electronics and embedded software development services. We serve clients from Europe, the USA, Australia and Asia.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Malachite?

We needed to improve user-experience and user-interface of our existing website. We looked for the professionals who would suggest us handy user experience solutions and could apply trendy UI on it.

What were your goals for this project?

The main task was to create a nice looking website that can give wider information about our services and key competencies.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our vendor that provided us the main scope of work recommended Malachite as an experienced design team. We also were impressed by their references on Dribbble.

Describe the project in detail.

After an initial kick-off meeting, Malachite started their work by exploring our main competitors and the references we had. They also received a low-fidelity prototype made by marketers. Guys told that it was useful and they can prepare an improvement list for us.

After that, we agreed on high-fidelity wireframes and moved the process to the concept design stage. It took us a couple of iterations, but we definitely were impressed by the final template they’ve delivered. Once that was done guys made the rest of the pages for us. Their extremely smart ideas were super useful.

What was the team composition?

We worked straight with their creative director Alex. Also there was a designer in their team, but we didn’t need to cooperate with him much.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

According to data, we receive so far, our users navigate much easier through the website’s pages. We see the positive feedback from our loyal users as well. In my opinion, their designer showed us an approach on how to keep our design system consistent and see how we can visually scale in the future. Finally, we have own styleguide.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Since day one guys had to cooperate with our in-house team, outsource marketers and developers. Malachite team was quite responsive. We used Skype for voice calls and Slack to connect the different teams. Their creative director Alex stayed connected with us and always sent feedbacks in time.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Malachite has the ability to understand end-user needs and easily implement design solutions. We were very pleased with how the guys understood the business side of the project. So from the very start to the end, we’ve been on the same page. Their team always kept us up to date.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Honestly, I don’t have much to add. Work with them looked like a nice journey.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the COO, CTO, and co-founder of a modern jewelry design workshop based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. We create custom sculptural jewelry. I deal with customer satisfaction, and production/support costs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Malachite?

Jewelry websites are notorious for poor UX/UI because of the complexity of the industry and its massive array of product options. We needed a development team with advanced UI/UX design skills to deal with our requirements.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a responsive design for our website while keeping it minimalistic. Through these improvements, we wanted to increase our lead generation and reduce the burden of our call center and sales managers.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We selected a dozen individual designers and studios that were producing visual style and quality we were striving for through a vendor marketplace. We chose Malachite because of their positive general impression, communication, understanding of our concept, and reasonable timeline and costs.

Describe the project in detail.

We already had a detailed view of our website's information architecture, UI wireframes, and a technical demo version. However, the abundance of our materials and options brought more structural complexity. We needed Malachite to work within these additional constraints and adapt our existing concepts into functional features. Their team formed working sessions for two weeks, created responsive mockups in four months, and fashioned a motion design in one and a half months. Throughout the project, I reviewed their work, contributed ideas, and relayed our business requirements. Their team was proactive and suggested improvements along the way.

What was the team composition?

We had limited funds, so the team consisted of one employee that acted as our project manager and UI/UX designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They met 100% of our goals.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our communication was good with updates twice a week. They managed our expectation brilliantly and responded quickly to our preconceptions, issues, and outstanding questions. We were always on the same page. We used Asana for task management, Skype for group calls, and Telegram for instant messaging.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were impressed with Malachite's expertise in the subject and how they treated our product like their own since the beginning of the project. Quality was much more important than speed for us, and in the end, they delivered a beautifully designed website.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Everything can always be done faster with more people, but we were very satisfied with their work every step of the way. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a founder of several Slack bots. Our bots are used by over 20,000 companies around the globe.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Malachite?

We had a task to improve our current bot websites and add a few new pages.

What were your goals for this project?

We had several goals:

1. Analyze the current design and make some suggestions on how it can be improved.

2. Create a new design with all the fixes and improvements.

3. Create a new icon.

4. Create a design for a new “Features” page.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We've already had a pleasant experience working with Malachite on another project, so we decided to choose them again.

Describe the project in detail.

Everything started with an initial discussion. The guys then took one week to analyze our needs and presented us with some cool suggestions. Once they had our approval, we divided the rest of the work into several milestones that took two months to complete.

What was the team composition?

We just had one designer. It was more than enough to meet our expectations and timelines.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were pleased with the results of the work. The guys managed to not only meet all our expectations but also offered several great ideas that helped improve our product.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We used Trello and Skype for communication. The designer was very friendly and answered our questions very quickly. We had no problems at all.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They had a lot of cool suggestions about the product. It is a privilege to work with such an experienced team that can bring so many new ideas to your product.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Everything is fine so far. We love the team dynamics.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CEO of Goozix, which specializes in building iOS, Android, and cross-platform applications.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Malachite?

We were looking for a team that could design our iOS app.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal was to create a stylish, fun design. We wanted a company that could make a trendy app with bright, juicy visuals.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our perfect candidate needed to have the following qualities: a good looking portfolio, a decent final proposal, and a fair price. Malachite had the best combination of experience and rate.

Describe the project in detail.

We started with initial negotiations. Once we had clarified the first questions, the guys started to work on low-fidelity mockups and wireframes. We received the first results in a week and loved the visual direction of the project. After a few minor fixes from our side and few great suggestions from Malachite, we began the second design iteration. It took about 3 weeks, after which our developers started to work on implementation. We were pleased with the results.

What was the team composition?

Two designers and an art director who was responsible for all the negotiations. We had meetings two or three times per week, which gave us enough time to track progress and discuss questions.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Right now, we are working on the actual application development and adding new features. We’re expecting to publish the app in two or three months.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We used Trello, Slack, and Skype for communication, which helped us to complete all the tasks on time. The guys kept everything up to date so we didn't have any communication issues.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was impressed by how deeply they involved themselves in the project. They had lots of useful advice about the app. It felt as if we were working with a devoted product team.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We were pleased with the quality of their work. I hope Malachite will grow and add more talented designers to their team.