Materiell

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the owner of a K9 protection firm. We source and sell carefully selected protection dogs for people who feel they need them.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Materiell?

Our company falls under a luxury market, so we needed a website that reflected that. We wanted a professional quality site with a clean design to represent the quality and efficiency of our company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Materiell is developing and designing our website for us. I told them what we wanted and about the type of clients we’re trying to appeal to. Their team came up with a design and we went back and forth over it. 

Once we had settled on a layout, they went on to build our WordPress site. They made sure we were able to adjust and update stuff internally since we regularly have to update what dogs are available. The Materiell team ensured the site was user-friendly. They are still making some changes to the site and sprucing things up a bit.

What is the team composition?

We mainly worked with Susan (Founder & President), Devon (Creative Director), and Jeremy (Project Manager). I reach out to Susan and she filters each task to the appropriate person.

How did you come to work with Materiell?

I found them through word of mouth. I contacted them and it just worked out. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in January 2018 and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website serves as a landing site for our clients. We get most of our business through word of mouth, so when someone is referred to us they can easily find out about our services through the site.

Materiell provides valuable suggestions for how to use the website to generate business, such as setting up our blog, but we are comfortable with being an exclusive, word-of-mouth business. Clients can now visit our attractive, professional, and informational landing page, assess who we are, and decide if they want to move forward with us. 

How did Materiell perform from a project management standpoint?

I have no complaints. It’s like this magic happens behind a curtain, and I get great results. Our teams communicate via phone and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Materiell is adaptable and cooperative. They make sure to create results that meet my needs. Other companies try to sell you things you don’t want, but that’s never been the case with Materiell. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, everything has been great. We had a lot of back and forth, but that’s because I was nitpicky. If I called tomorrow and asked them to change something, they’d do it. I don’t expect results immediately if I request something out of the blue, but I’ve always gotten everything incredibly fast. It’s always been a pleasant experience.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Anybody who wants to work with Materiell should be precise in their request in order to get the best results. If you give them vague specifications, you’re going to get a vague product.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of an outdoor storage facility.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Materiell?

We needed help updating our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Materiell designed our first website, and we hired them this time to design an entirely new WordPress site. The team incorporated a modern look and heightened security. I was able to create the wireframe designs myself in Canva, and Materiell’s designer was able to recreate them.

It also has custom design graphics on the homepage and a photo gallery. The site provides information for our facility and allows clients to log onto a portal. In the past, we also did some SEO work with them. Materiell continues to host our site, too.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Susan (Founder & President) and Deven (Creative Director).

How did you come to work with Materiell?

I found Materiell through an internet source.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $10,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2011, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Every time we have an issue with the site, Susan or someone on her team handles it immediately. It’s very easy to get support. Working with them is simple and seamless.

How did Materiell perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate via phone and email. We’re always able to reach out if we need anything.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The service and communication really stand out. We don’t feel like we’re a cog in a wheel. Materiell is always accessible. Reaching out to Susan is always easy and quick.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t have any negative feedback.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to come prepared with your goals for your site, whether it’s displaying your brand or making conversions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of JST Coaching & Training, a coach training platform. We provide coach training for individuals and institutions of higher education interested in learning how to use coaching skills to help students become more successful. I also provide coaching to individuals who need coaching.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Materiell?

We needed someone to design and develop a new website. I wanted to get a new message out around reaching diverse communities and wanted to make sure the marketing message for the company was clear.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The first phase was looking at a combination of what I wanted for the company. It was figuring out what I wanted the website to look like as well as the functionality. I wanted to balance that with the fact that Materiell works with a number of very large clients and we’re small. In many ways, we were different from a lot of the companies they work with. We had to play around with how much my company could afford and get what we wanted.

Our teams spent a little extra time on the frontend figuring out what pieces I could do with my team and how much I needed them to do in terms of design. We broke it down into who would do what. I wrote all the text and created wireframes, and they could update them or tell me if I’m doing it wrong.

Then, I put the copy together and looked at the wireframes. We had weekly meetings to figure out exactly what needed to be done and when. From understanding how to design the wireframe, what I wanted each page to look like, what was on there that we didn’t want anymore, we just had conversations about it as we went through.

Materiell knew what we liked and didn’t like about our current site. What we provided them, they made sure that they took care of everything on the backend. All the functionalities we had, like a shopping cart, they migrated them over and made sure everything was going to work on the new site.

We provided them with the wireframes and gave them a sense of when we wanted it to launch. Our team considered options for text and photos. We picked all our own photos and provided those. Then, we wrote all the text and anything else that needed to be done design-wise, we worked on together. They gave us mockups and templates. Their team used Envision and we could look at it page-by-page and go in and comment on any adjustments we wanted. It’s so much easier than having to have a conversation around it. They could do their behind-the-scenes work while we were making our edits to the framework.

It’s a WordPress site. Materiell tested out plugins for cookies and a plugin for people to sign up for our newsletter. We had to connect to a new CMS. We gave them all of that so they could connect us to Constant Contact instead of the company we were using before. Their team did a lot of testing. We had a directory where the functionality was horrible. They redid the entire directory with a better search function.

Materiell did extensive research and when I asked them to fill me in on what they’re looking at, they were good at sharing what they’re looking at, how long it’s going to take them to figure it out, and the cost. They really worked with us step-by-step. Now, they continue to do hosting, updates, maintenance, and SEO.

What is the team composition?

There’s one account rep and four team members. Most of the work is being done by two individuals.

How did you come to work with Materiell?

I was already a customer of theirs. They saved me from a webmaster who gave me 24 hours' notice to get off of his server and said that he was no longer going to support me. Within 24 hours, Materiell had my company up and running again. We became fast friends. They were doing the best they could to work within my budget to fix things as they broke with my website but I finally decided I needed to invest in a new website. It made sense to work with them on this.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $50,000–$199,999.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2017, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They worked very hard to make sure that every single thing was done right. Our organic reach through their SEO expert has brought in business just through people searching. He set it up in such a way that we stayed on top in Google. Their SEO expert really keeps an eye on what’s happening. The amount of organic traffic has increased especially in the last year. People are finding us because we pop up at the top.

The other piece of it is when we get monthly reports, 25% of our traffic is from people looking to find coaches for their kids because we focus on young people. That is a value-added piece for anyone who trains with us. That helps the business because they tell people that they get a free listing and 25% of their hits is for somebody looking for someone like me. From a marketing perspective, we have doubled our traffic in the last 18 months or longer.

With COVID-19, business was incredible which means people found us. We were absolutely swamped. I’d never seen anything like this in 25 years. Part of it was redoing the website and the other part is the way Materiell is able to take care of me as a customer on the backend. People come to us saying our message is clear and they want to work with us. That has doubled from before.

How did Materiell perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is very good. The only piece of it that was a little hard is we were doing more than their average customer. We were partnering up more with I do this and they do that piece. The only thing that was a little slower was the coordination on who owes who what.

It wasn’t a big deal but looking at it from a small business perspective, that was the one thing that made it harder because we’re not used to having our customers as involved in the project every minute. That was a cost savings thing for me, which is why I did it.

I prefer to write my own text anyway. It didn’t detract from the quality of the work at all. There was a Google Sheets schedule we used for a while. We communicated via email, and we’d get together weekly on GoToMeeting so they could share their screen and what they were working on. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their expertise and the care they take with their customers are impressive. Their customers are important to them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The tracking of who is doing what could be improved. We could use a different tool rather than just a Google Sheet maybe. It could be coordinated by one person.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust that their team knows what they’re doing. They’re very skilled. One thing I learned is that it’s more important to go for what is going to bring you business. It’s not about looking pretty. It’s about what it’s going to bring to your business and help your bottom line. Really understand that having an unusual website that’s designed and looks different than anybody else’s isn’t necessarily what you need. It’s more about looking at what’s going to serve your visitors.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work in the communications department for National Industries for the Blind. We’re a nonprofit that creates employment opportunities across the country for people who are blind. Our members work on federal government contracts and provide products and services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Materiell?

My department is tasked with updating our website with organizational information, and the platform wasn’t meeting our needs; it was very rigid and out of date. Materiell created a whole new website from scratch. Our number one priority with the site was to make it accessible to people no matter their ability

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

This project really was a soup-to-nuts endeavor. Materiell helped us identify stakeholders, potential users, and the way users would use the website. All these considerations framed the skeleton plan that we didn’t currently have in place to ensure the final product was as dynamic and efficient as possible.

They developed the site on WordPress. Going a step further than simple delivery, they implemented their own custom backend services that make it easy for anyone to update the site and change or build pages. This was very important for our team.

Even though they built the site a few years ago, my people still interact with Materiell on an almost daily basis; they fix bug fixes and help with page creation when we need it. They also answer questions about social media best practices and Google Analytics.

We’ve developed several other projects over the years as well, including three microsites. Right now, Materiell is tasked with developing a website for a new leg of our nonprofit.

What is the team composition?

There was a team of three core people for the initial website development. We also work with Jeremy (Project Manager & Developer). He’s a good communicator.

How did you come to work with Materiell?

We put out quite a comprehensive RFP to vendors in the Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia area, and Materiell had the answers we needed. They had knowledge regarding accessibility and could help with general housekeeping for the website. For example, when we asked one vendor how we should migrate our content, they advised us to hire interns, whereas Materiell told us they would handle it. They offered a customized, personal experience.

How much have you invested with them?

The investment for the website was around $150,000

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since September 2016. The website launched in the spring of 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our previous website was so broken that it doesn’t serve as a good comparison tool. From an accessibility standpoint, the members of our team who are blind recommended very few changes when they evaluated Materiell’s work. They praised it as strong and solid. Regarding technical soundness, we rarely have 404 errors on the site.

Whenever we submit anything to their help desk, it goes to everyone in the organization, and the issue is resolved within 24 hours.

How did Materiell perform from a project management standpoint?

We don’t use anything fancy in terms of tools; we pick up the phone and call them. I’m a project manager myself, so I believe that between our two sides we knew how to set up the processes organically. We’ve had an old-school collaboration.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality of the products regarding accessibility stands out. Materiell is passionate about making it the forefront of what we needed. Materiell is understanding of our budget and resource limitations as a nonprofit. They offer us five-star customer service.

The relationship we formed with their team — it’s not something that other organizations could buy or reproduce. It’s based on their people, passion, and motivation to put out the best product possible. I’ve been working with the same people for the past five years, as their turnover is very low.

I give a lot of credit to Susan, their CEO. Rather than sit up in an ivory tower, she talks through problems and answers my questions over the phone.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only factor they could improve upon is building a more responsive phone system.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Set the bar high for what you want. Don’t play down to what you assume their abilities are. They plan to reach and exceed high bars.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of operations for Eagle International Associates. We are a professional organization of insurance defense attorneys and independent adjusters based in the US and Western Europe.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Materiell?

Our website was dated and no longer meeting our needs. We engaged Materiell to update our site.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We first had a meeting to go over our visions and goals for the website. We looked at sites for competing organizations and assessed what elements might work for us. Materiell then designed a template and implemented it. They sought feedback at each stage.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Deven (Creative Director, Materiell) who designed our site. Jeremy (Project Manager/Developer, Materiell) then led a team to implement the designs and make any changes we needed. 

How did you come to work with Materiell?

One of our member firms had used their team and recommended their services to us. I prefer to find firms through personal recommendation, and Materiell came with an excellent reputation.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $10,000–$25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2017, and the website launched in March 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our site is now highly useful to our members and target audience. We can quickly get across important information ranging from our mission to when and where our next seminars will take place.

How did Materiell perform from a project management standpoint?

The project was painless from start to finish. Jeremy responded quickly and had excellent turnaround times. If the team couldn’t get to a task within two weeks, he told us up front. We never had to chase them for progress updates or deliveries. We communicated through email and conference calls where we could screen share as needed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Materiell was highly responsive and invested in our project’s success. They explained technical concepts in layperson’s terms that I could easily understand. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we were extremely pleased with their work. Materiell continues to support us even though the project has officially ended. About six months ago, we ran into an issue with the site. We told Jeremy, and he was right there with a solution.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be honest about your needs and be patient with their work. Materiell will deliver an excellent product at the end of your collaboration.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Dr. Axe has a large natural health and wellness site, and also manufactures and sells natural health supplements. I manage e-commerce, site design/development, social media, and some creative functions for the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Materiell?

We wanted to entirely rebuild and redesign our Dr. Axe content site. We didn’t feel that the site accurately reflected the company’s updated brand. We also wanted to optimize performance on the backend.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired another outside team that we’d worked with on design and branding in the past to do that side of the project, and they worked closely with Materiell’s staff to align the user experience. They were good partners from the start. The other team completed the design and handed them off to Materiell’s staff, who then built the templates for each area of the site in WordPress.

After we went through the review processes and everything was approved, we worked together to transfer the content. They also rebuilt the information architecture, and the sitemap is completely different than it was now.  We were initially hosting on Pagely, and switched over to Pantheon to improve stability. They also worked closely with another outside company that did SEO for us to make sure we were in line with best practices. Since completing the project, they’ve provided maintenance services as well.

What is the team composition?

Susan [Founder & President, Materiell] was involved in the outset, and Jeremy [Project Manager, Materiell] was our primary contact. There were one or two developers that were on most of our calls as well. 

How did you come to work with Materiell?

People I work with had interviewed Materiell before I came on, and after speaking with them again we were confident that they would get the work done well and on time. They had a very organized approach, and we appreciated that.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January of 2016, and we launched the site in the beginning of August.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After the new site’s launch, we were ranked as the number one natural health site globally. Everyone’s thrilled with the performance, and we’re getting great engagement numbers.

How did Materiell perform from a project management standpoint?

They were the best team that we’ve ever worked with from a communication and project management standpoint. We had weekly scheduled calls, but we were probably speaking daily leading up the launch. We usually communicated via phone and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were very impressed with their ability to shepherd so many different partners throughout the process. They had a great eye for detail, and things didn’t fall through the cracks. They were very responsive and very easy to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’ve been great, and that’s why we’ve continued to work with them. There were a few last-minute pivots and changes that pushed the site launch back a bit, mostly on the business side - not on their end. For such a large project though, the process was incredibly smooth overall.​

​​​​​​Advice for potential customers?

Make sure you know exactly what you’re looking for prior to the engagement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a program officer at my organization, which provides funding for basic research, instrumentation, and computing resources for scientists across the U.S.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Materiell?

We needed to develop a website for submitting responses to a request for information to inform our future investment plans. We advertised for the scientific community to post their responses on a unique website that adhered to the branding of our organization, and we needed the developers to also collect and transmit that data in a trustworthy way.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The site and data collection were brand new; we had Materiell build it from scratch. They were subcontracted by one of our prime contractors, but we provided Materiell a detailed statement of the work, including all the features we wanted. We chose a domain name together, Materiell purchased it, and then we decided on which platform they would use. The project was a basic survey site with a landing page that explained the purpose, the actual submission page, and generation of a PDF copy of each response that was sent to the participant’s email.

After Materiell built the site, they spend some time providing maintenance and organizing all the data we received.

What is the team dynamic?

There were about four people on their team: a project manager, a designer, a web coder, and someone in charge of the wireframes. The project manager was our direct point of contact, but we could also contact the owner of Materiell.

How did you come to work with Materiell?

They were brought on by our prime contractor, and we approved them to work on the project. We conducted all the oversight and interacted directly with Materiell, though.

What is the status of this engagement?

We awarded them the contract in December 2016, and our final meeting was September of this year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This project was extremely successful. We had a robust response rate with extremely well-though-out answers. We’ve already begun analyzing them with our advisory committees, and we’ll be using that analysis as part of the input to plan our future investments.

The website looked extremely professional, and had our company’s branding on it. We had an email address for complaints, comments, or questions, but we didn’t receive a single complaint. We received 136 responses with over 360 authors from around the country, which is a big number for this kind of survey.

How did Materiell perform from a project management standpoint?

We had weekly phone calls with Materiell during the development phase, and they provided regular prototype testing. We also maintained contact via email, and our prime contractor was always involved in those conversations.  Materiell had a well-defined schedule of development and testing milestones, and accomplished each one at the agreed date.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The owner and our project manager were willing to accommodate to our needs, and they resolved most of our questions or problems that arose. They responded quickly to inquiries and gave us all the code and products that they created. We had nothing but positive interactions with them, and it was an excellent experience.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They have a standard approach they’re used to implementing, but a few features were not ideal for our project, so it took a bit of iterating with them on these items to finalize a solution that met our specific needs.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend having a well-described statement of work. Keeping things simple and well-planned is likely to help any customer succeed.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law was founded in 1963 at the request of president Kennedy, who brought 250 lawyers to the White House in order to help address the issue of discrimination in America through the rule of law. Our projects today include voting rights, educational opportunities, employment discrimination, as well as housing and community development.

We continue to work 50 years later with the remaining issues of discrimination, which have taken a different form since 1963. We also focus on modern-day civil rights, advocacy and legislative fixes. We have a robust public policy project that is aimed at addressing these issues from a legislative perspective. Our new president started working with us in January 2016. We’ve since launched several initiatives aimed at reentry for formerly incarcerated persons. We are in an election year, so our election protection program is also very active. Another subgroup running within our organization is a national parental readiness and empowerment program.

What are your responsibilities, please

I am in charge of executive communications, media relations, digital communications, brand reputation management and internal communications within the organization.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Materiell?

We needed to redevelop our website.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

Materiell consulted with us to understand what we needed and presented several design options. But they simply didn’t disappear after the site went live. Instead they have offered ongoing support, well beyond the monthly scope of work retained for hosting and assistance. Materiell has gone above and beyond in being partners with us. It never felt like the collaboration was a box-checking process. It has been an ongoing partnership.

Materiell is not actively involved in digital marketing, but they do offer advice and guidance on industry best practices. We are a non-profit organization and don’t have members per se, but it was good to receive SEO guidance on what would influence people to become repeat visitors. Materiell was instrumental in doing the right tagging for optimization purposes, helping us think through how we should tag content based on relevance.

We haven’t developed any mobile applications using Materiell.

How did you come to work with Materiell?

We met with three companies, inviting them to provide proposals for our project, outlining what they saw as the full scope of work and timeline. From the three, Materiell emerged as the most cost-effective and capable. We selected Materiell based on the unanimous decision of the review committee, which included myself and three other employees—our technology coordinator, our strategic campaign manager for one of our largest program areas and another communications professional. All three agencies were obviously qualified, but the fact that Materiell was a small, local, woman-owned firm mattered to us.

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

The total cost of the development with Materiell has been $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We have an ongoing relationship with Materiell.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics, metrics or other feedback from this engagement?

Our website is very professional and presents a lot of information quite clearly. It’s easy to navigate and doesn’t require constantly searching for content. We do have a search button, but Materiell was effective in working with us in order to migrate information from the old site, thinking forward about how it should be organized and presented to end-users.

Materiell was consultative in making sure that industry standards and best practices were met, while also incorporating some of our unique wishes. From color pallet selection, to font color, to deciding on whether to use promo boxes, sliders or rotating images, Materiell gave us examples not only from their own work, but from other sites they liked. They were great in helping us figure out how things should appear.

We did some tweaking before launching the site, working closely with Materiell in order to ensure that it would work as expected in terms of easy navigation. We received great instructions and guidance in terms of photo selections and other multimedia components that would keep the site compelling and fresh. Beyond the design, Materiell gave us some great best practice tips on making sure that the site would be used in the best possible way and would gain traffic and traction for the organization.

We’d never had a blog on our site before working with Materiell. They helped us walk through how it would look, how social media should be incorporated on the site, where the donate button should be placed and so on.

The backend support and training we received was fantastic. If I can use the site, which is in WordPress, then anyone can. It’s not so technical as to discourage a person with no coding skills.

How did Materiell perform from a project management standpoint?

Materiell used Basecamp in order to make sure that everything went according to schedule. They made sure to check in, even when we didn’t provide material, according to deadlines. Materiell guided and managed our timeline and gave us nudges when necessary.

What distinguishes Materiell from other providers?

At the end of last year, we had a slow period in terms of finances. Materiell stepped up and helped us provide a holiday luncheon for the staff. I mention this because the relationship with Materiell didn’t feel as if it was only about money. They showed a heart, which meant a lot for us as a client.

Is there anything Materiell could have improved or done differently?

I can’t think of anything. Materiell has provided top-notch performance from the beginning.

RATINGS

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

The Ford Program-Global Education Initiative [GEI Project] is an international donor of MultiMedia STEM Education Materials to close public school education gaps, K-12->College-Career. The Ford Program-GEI Project's donations are made directly to governments and countries for the benefit of all their public school teachers and students, K-12->College-Career.

What is your position?

I'm the president and chief executive officer. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Materiell

During the past 20 years of operations, we have worked with numerous technology companies trying to leverage them as resources to complete mission critical work. The grand majority of these companies have overpromised and underdelivered. Our very first engagement together revolved around salvaging a partially built site developed by a different vendor. We were so dissatisfied with the previous vendor and their performance that we decided to terminate the contract and find another partner. 

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement.

Materiell was responsible for developing new WordPress code, repairing existing code that was defective, and updating our four independent microsites. Under normal circumstances, Materiell would have been involved in every aspect of the implementation from strategy to design and development and then implementation, but in this case, they were primarily redeveloping the codebase and implementing our various sites with improved performance speeds. They performed so well given these difficult circumstances that we decided to expand their involvement to include ongoing maintenance and support. Now they serve as our exclusive technology partner. 

How did you come to work with Materiell

They were recommended to me. I reached out to Susan [CEO & Founder at Materiell] and had to basically convince them to take on our project because it was such a mess. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics, metrics or user feedback from their involvement?

Because our project work is covered under non-disclosure agreements, I cannot share any specific metrics. I can tell you that the board of directors here and myself have all remained thoroughly impressed by Materiell and their performance. They bring serious technical chops to the table, a proactive and creative approach to solutions engineering, and excellent project management skills. Unlike so many other vendors we had used in the past, Materiell was consistently able to deliver all of their assigned work on time, sometimes early, and definitely within the specified budgets. That's not something you can expect in a normal IT project. 

Is there anything else that distinguishes Materiell from other providers?

They have a great business sense. Too often these technology partners focus entirely on the functional side of things, the actual features, and bugs, but then neglect the big picture stuff like usability and intuitive design. Materiell doesn't do that. They really go out of their way to understand your objectives before they build a solution. They really grasp how users interact with online content and ensure that everything is fluid, almost seamless. 

Could you share any tips for buyers without much experience managing IT projects?

It's extremely important to be involved with your technology partner. It's essential that your requirements make sense to them from a business logic perspective because they will need that understanding to guide their development, otherwise, you're liable to receive a developed product that users won't want to use or simply won't be able to. Providing structured feedback is key. Materiell is great at incorporating stakeholder feedback into their design and development process. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

Our organization is a law firm focusing on estate and trust planning and administration, as well as elder law. We have seven lawyers and another 12 staff members. We've been in Arlington, Virginia, since 1989.

What is your position?

I am one of the principals.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

Could you describe the business challenge that you were trying to address with Materiell?

We had a website, which we felt was outdated and needed to be refreshed. It was no longer meeting our needs as a company. We view ourselves as an industry leader, and we wanted a website that was aligned with that viewpoint. When people visit our site, we wanted them to feel like they were dealing with a firm that was on top of their game. We were also trying to make our image more consistent with our print material, and we wanted it all to be done by one design firm.

Most of our business comes to us through word-of-mouth from other professionals, so we weren't looking to generate business through the website. Most of the people visiting our site had probably already had our name from another source and were coming there to check us out. When they hit our site, we wanted the initial impression to be that this is a company that they would want to do their estate planning with.

SOLUTION

Could you describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail?

Materiell did the initial design of the website. They started out by focusing on the home page. To us, that was key because that was the first impression people would get. We gave them some colors we were interested in using, and some information about the feeling we wanted to convey. They showed us different designs, and there was one in particular that we both really liked. The graphics they came up with took a lot of time, and it was a collaborative process on all of our parts. We went back and forth until we got to the visual presentation that we all agreed on, along with the basic layout of the home page.

We then moved into developing the other pages for the website. Again, the Materiell was responsible for the layout and design, and they wrote the content for our biography page using the raw information we gave them about each lawyer. We were responsible for generating the content for the various practice areas. They also did the photography, and we worked together to ensure that the photographs were consistent with the feel of the website.

In addition, they did the layout for our brochure, letterhead, envelopes, and business cards. There was a lot of back and forth on that. The whole process took about a year because we're not the fastest movers in the world, but they were very patient and flexible with us.

How did you come to choose Materiell?

We obtained referrals from different sources, including our own IT [information technology] people, and we also did some online research. As I recall, it was one of the lawyers in the firm who identified them through online research. We made a list of any firm that we thought might be worth looking at, and then we started contacting them and doing a pre-interview. We whittled the list down to about three firms, and we asked those firms to come in and meet with us. After meeting with them and receiving their proposals, we selected Materiell.

Their portfolio looked very polished and very cutting edge. Everything they did suggested quality. We initially met with one of their principals, and she came across as someone who was technically very capable and competent, experienced, and understood what we wanted to accomplish. So, the key deciding factors were their professionalism, technical expertise, business competence, the quality of their portfolio and their understanding of what we wanted.

Can you give a sense of the size of the initiative?

I'm sorry, but that information is confidential.

When was this project concluded?

The website was launched in December 2014.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics or metrics on the project?

They provided instruction around how to track the data, as well as make edits to the site; however, I have not looked at that information as we are not really using the site to increase traffic. At some point, I probably will look at the numbers but, from our perspective, we achieved what we wanted, so the numbers are sort of secondary.

When the site was first launched, we noticed a few bugs. We brought those to their attention, and they quickly resolved those issues. To my knowledge, we have not received any negative feedback from users. I have, however, received considerable positive feedback, the most recent coming from our printer. He does a lot of work for different law firms, and he was really impressed by the design of the site as well as the print materials. I've had clients say that they like the site and found it easy to use.

I was more than satisfied with their project management. In fact, we probably called on them more than we were entitled to under the contract, and they didn't bill us for it. I was very appreciative of that. They met all their deadlines, and they didn't go over budget.

When working with Materiell, is there anything that you'd consider unique about their practice?

I would put them in a class above most other design firms. I think they strive to be at the top of their game. They seek to deliver an excellent product with high customer satisfaction. They don't want to produce work that is sub-par or is only somewhat good. If their name goes on it, they want it to look good, and I don't know that all firms are like that. Every project that I saw in their portfolio is high quality, top notch, and well thought out. I think what distinguishes them is that they strive for a level of quality that is beyond that of most other firms.

What advice, if any, would you give a future client of theirs?

I would advise people to deal with the person I dealt with, if possible. I had good success working with her.