Materiell

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Senior Director of Talent and Operations at the San Francisco Education Fund

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our previous website design/engineering firm had given us a sub-par website with little ability to edit the content ourselves. We were in a terrible spot of having paid them a lot of money to deliver something so un-useful. We hired Materiell to re-engineer the website in WordPress and make some design and accessibility improvements along the way.

SOLUTION

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

Over the summer of 2022 we worked with a few friends who volunteered their time to help us make small, time sensitive hard-code updates to the website. One of them knew of Materiell's work and suggested we reach out to see if they could help us overhaul the website entirely. We had an initial conversation, made some reference calls, and were SOLD on Materiell.

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

Materiell's expert and friendly staff provided a full project plan and timeline then met with us weekly to answer questions, propose solutions, and report on progress. They used InVision as a feedback tool and a staging site for us to approve final drafts of pages before the site went live. On January 25th they launched our entirely newly engineered website with full edit functionality in WordPress.

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

Each week we met with a Materiell team of 3:

• Laura, the Project Manager;
• Deven, the web designer;
• John, the engineer.

Susan, the founder, met with us for our initial conversation and to follow up with the firm's proposal for work. All of these people were professional, friendly, responsive and great at their jobs!

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The ease with which we can now update our website in WordPress is astounding compared to what we were left with from the previous company. Along the way, Materiell suggested accessibility improvements that have made the website cleaner and easier to read.

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

Laura's project management style was wonderful. She laid out a clear plan and timeline, kept us updated if there were changes to milestones and always was on time and prepared for meetings.

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

They are so good at what they do and are SO KIND while doing it! It felt like working with a team of talented friends who all cared about creating a wonderful outcome.

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

Nothing I can think of!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Project Learning Tree is an environmental education initiative that uses trees and forests as windows on the world to increase students’ understanding of the environment and actions they can take to conserve it. I worked as the Education Products Manager led all phases of the UX & design process for PLT's digital products and websites. In addition, I worked alongside the curriculum team to ideate, strategize, and develop educational content and materials for forestry professionals, nonformal educators, and families working with youth.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Materiell was hired to develop PLT's new website in WordPress and to consult on the UX of an existing design, information architecture and content strategy to ensure technical and admin efficiency and alignment with WCAG 2.0.

SOLUTION

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

Materiell was selected based on their expertise in WCAG as well as their experience working with education and nonprofit organizations. One of the deciding factors in hiring them was their expertise and ability to comprehend the various challenges of the project. They asked meaningful questions in just the preliminary stages of interviewing vendors which helped them to stand out amongst the rest.

They took the time to understand the organization's mission at a high level and why we had chosen the path forward to redesign the website which showed their investment and dedication to supporting our goals. Early on in the process, they worked to understand the decisions for UX and features were providing the best user experience and solving the problem at hand while staying within the budget and time constraints.

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

Key deliverables included auditing the existing design for best practices in UX, technical efficiency, and WCAG 2.0. Materiell worked with me and other key stakeholders to audit the designs and suggest improvements using Figma. Some of the key features of the design included a robust search for PLT's products and the ability to filter by product type and a product page that utilized modular tabs to organize content. A requirement of the product page was auto filter related products and resources based on categories and taxonomy.

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

We primarily worked with:

• Decen, Design
• Jeremy, Development
• Lauran, Project Managment

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Improvements included reducing post types from over 15 on the old site to just 5 on the new site, while still managing the various content types PLT desired. This made a huge impact in terms of admin management of the site on the backend, reducing the effort to publish new content and manage existing content. In addition, the old side had over 300 categories and Deven and Jeremey worked with me to reduce the categories to just 6 essential parent categories.

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

They are very organized and quick to respond. They have their own ticketing system to support the maintenance of the existing website which was very easy to use and communicate back and forth and track issues. They were not hesitant to push back if a request was not technically efficient and always offered suggestions to do something better that would work long-term.

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

Materiell's expertise in WCAG proved to be invaluable. There were challenges to meet design requests from internal decision-makers based on existing non-compliant and inaccessible style guides. Materiell has demonstrated the benefit of designing to meet WCAG while staying true to the existing design aesthetic. Deven and Jeremy were extremely effective at communicating the benefits while engaging key decisions to feel part of the process and become more informed.

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

No

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of P E Systems, a professional services provider to the US government. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Materiell?

We had a lackluster website that failed to get people’s attention, and we were afraid that it could even turn people off. Our old site didn’t speak to who we were as a company. We needed help developing a lively and engaging website. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, Materiell reached out to various parties — such as past and present employees — and talked to them about their preferences and expectations for the website. Materiell then identified our old site’s strengths and weaknesses. 

After that, Materiell used insights from those activities to plan and map out the new website. They wireframed the new website and helped us create its content. They proceeded with the development and implemented tweaks based on our feedback. 

Materiell used WordPress and other technologies to build the platform. We know it would be a work in progress, but they developed the site to the point that we could deploy. 

We needed the site to be engaging, especially as our old one was very drab. They found graphics in the free domain to use on our site. In addition, they extracted job posting data from ADP, a platform where we post jobs. They also created a blog page, which would allow us to tout our people’s professional and personal successes.

What is the team composition?

We worked primarily with Laura (Account Manager) and Deven (Creative Director), but more teammates assisted behind the scenes. They also hired an external UX consultant to help with the project. 

How did you come to work with Materiell?

Materiell was hosting our old website. When I looked for agencies to develop our new site, they came on top. We chose to work with them due to their familiarity with us and competitive pricing.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement lasted from March–December 2021.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had just recently launched, so we couldn’t provide any metrics for the project. Despite that, we received good engagement after sharing the site on LinkedIn and other platforms. Folks commented that the site was better and more exciting. 

Overall, Materiell had met my expectations. They also successfully transformed my idea of turning our site into a scrapbook featuring our employee’s professional and personal stories. 

How did Materiell perform from a project management standpoint?

Materiell had been a fabulous partner. Despite delays on our side, they rolled with the punches and had been adaptive. We had standing meetings weekly, and Laura checked in with us regularly. The whole process was collaborative, and they were very helpful.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Unlike other developers who gave an open price, Materiell took the risk and gave a final price for the project. We didn’t experience scope or price creep with them.

They focused on what we wanted the website to do, which was to excite and engage people. The fact that they insisted on hiring a UX specialist was impressive. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. I’m satisfied with the project. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Consider UX instead of just focusing on the content. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the project and website coordinator for a grant-funded research program.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Materiel?

We wanted to redevelop a more professional and accessible website that connected our educators with projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They redeveloped our WordPress website. They integrated our downloadable materials to make them more accessible. They also included functionality to display our YouTube videos, which we loved.

What is the team composition?

I worked with a project manager, a creative director, and a developer.

How did you come to work with Materiel?

I was looking for developers that had experience creating educational platforms. I also wanted a team that had accessibility as one of their areas of expertise.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $28,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 20201, and we wrapped up in June 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were super happy with how the website turned out; it’s user-friendly and streamlined. The site is also easy to maintain and build upon. The guidance that was provided to us was very good.

How did Materiel perform from a project management standpoint?

There were some challenges with communication; sometimes it felt like things were a bit rushed. We had access to InVision, but we never really used it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We appreciated the follow-through on some of our bigger priorities. When we did have particular design elements we wanted, they made sure to integrate them. The final product is beautiful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We felt like there could’ve been better coordination from start to finish. I did almost 100% of the QA, which was a bit frustrating.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear idea of your project would be good. They do great work, but you still need to have a lot of internal organization.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Modern Hiker, an outdoor website.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Materiell?

I had an unsupported website for several years, so I was looking for someone that could help me with hands-on management to solve technical issues. I also wanted to potentially move the website to a different host to improve its speed and stability.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Materiell initially offered me a certain number of hours of technical support each month, and if I agreed to sign on a 2–3 years contract, they would do a redesign of the front page. Thus, they started working on the stabilization and some redesign.

Once they started digging into the website, they told me that it would be in everyone’s best interest to start from scratch and rebuild the whole site. They estimated 25 hours of development time to do the revamp, and they offered to do that at no additional fee.

Materiell has been building my WordPress website, and we’re still working out some bugs. It is taking a lot longer than expected, but I believe the issues were more complex than either of us imagined. However, they’ve been wonderful during that process.

What is the team composition?

I work directly with Jeremy (Project Manager & Developer), who is my main point of contact for technical support. Occasionally, a tech lead that shows up for additional technical support.

I’ve also communicated with Susan (Founder & President). She was the person I talked to when I decided to go with them, and she has been very good with communicating when things were taking longer than expected.

How did you come to work with Materiell?

A year and a half ago, I cast a wide net to see who could potentially take on this project, and I reached out to several companies. I looked for many hosting options, and I hit Materiell’s submission form. I had a couple of conversations with Susan, and she was instrumental in moving the project forward and answering my questions.

How much have you invested with them?

I pay them around $1,350 per quarter.

What is the status of this engagement?

I believe we started working around January 2020, and the engagement is ongoing. We’re close to getting the redesign completed, so I estimate that we’re around 80%–85% of completion.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’m very happy with my new website, as well as with Materiell’s communication and the quality of their work. I know that it has taken longer than expected, but I understand why, and they’ve been really good about communicating that, too.

How did Materiell perform from a project management standpoint?

I’m very pleased with their work in terms of maintenance and fixing problems. They’re generally very fast with getting issues taken care of, and they’re very clear about what’s going on. They use Zendesk as a ticketing system.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Materiell’s most impressive characteristics are their communication and the quality of their work. Both characteristics have been better than I expected them to be.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only thing that Materiell could improve upon is that they use the Zendesk ticketing system for support and, every once in a while, when I’m sending them a couple of different things to work on, some of it goes into email chains and might get lost. That’s the only aspect that can be improved, but they’ve been very good in general.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I encourage you to work with them. I wanted someone who could handle technical support so I could focus on managing the site and creating posts and content for it. Materiell has helped to make that a reality for my team and me.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Senior Director of the Organization Digital presence (web and social media)

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Materiell?

We hired Materiell to handle the migration of our multiple sites form a proprietary environment to WordPress and then to continue to provide Managed Hosting and Support.

SOLUTION

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

We were impressed by their commitment to solving problems and maintaining a high level of client satisfaction.

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

The project began with an extraordinarily complex export of a multi-site from an opaque proprietary environment to an open-source WordPress environment. The migration had many roadblocks and challenges along the way, but following the launch of the WordPress sites, Materiell continued not only to manage and support the installation but continue work to refine and improve the custom theme in the new Gutenberg block environment. They also provided SEO insight and worked diligently on the backend to improve site performance.

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

We had several members of their team involved including the CEO. They also added new personnel as needed to strengthen their capabilities.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We now have a high-performing and strong web presence. The determination that Materiell demonstrated in the face of daunting challenges involved owning problems and solving them effectively. Their dedication to excellence was always present and now in our 3rd year on WordPress, their support services remain excellent. They also get out in front of potential issues that could affect site performance. We are pleased with our sites and with the level of support services.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

In the past two years, the workflow has become more and more efficient. In the early days of the migration, communication was a challenge as all hands were scrambling to deal with many unforeseen obstacles. But we had access to everyone on the team and worked through the problems of migration. The hosting services have provided excellent communication and response levels.

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

Their commitment to doing top-notch work and their willingness to embrace any problem or shortcoming that arose. They are solid problem solvers and can anticipate issues before they arise.

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

Because they are a smaller size firm, they sometimes cannot keep the level of information flowing consistently during a major project like a migration.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the manager of communications at the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. We’re a transportation safety organization specifically focused on large trucks and buses. 
 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Materiell?
We had a website in place and wanted to switch the company that handled it. Our team wasn’t entirely happy with the relationship we had with our prior website company. We were hoping to work with a company that was quicker to respond to requests, easier to work with, and more professional.
 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?
Initially, Materiell took over the existing website that the other company had built. Their team took over the site’s backend, navigation, and everything that was formerly set up. Then after working with us for a while, they made recommendations on ways to make the backend easier and cleaner. Their team also suggested a way to clean up and make our files more concise so we didn’t have so many on our website. 

In later stages, Materiell redesigned the backend of the website as well as did a partial redesign of the frontend. They cleaned up the way the website looks for the frontend user while keeping the general design in place. For the backend, their team did a lot of rearranging and redesigning of the way it operated. Our staff members are at various comfort levels with technology so the objective was to make the site as easy and intuitive as possible.

One of the features of our website is a database. Materiell redesigned it for us so the frontend features an online form and the backend is a database that has various options for actions we can take depending on what’s submitted. There are a lot of different functions on the backend for us to address all of the submissions that are sent in on the frontend. 

What is the team composition?
Jeremy (Project Manager & Developer) is my main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Materiell?
I did an online search for website development agencies and spent a lot of time going through ones that were local. We had wanted to choose someone local but it didn’t end up making a difference because we never visit them in person and most of their staff is offshore.

We spoke with a few companies, and Materiell was the best fit. They knew what they were doing and had an expert staff. We liked that their services were a wide range of options. Not only could they redesign our site, but there were other options in case we wanted to expand. When our team met and spoke with them, and we thought they’d be perfect.

How much have you invested with them?
We’ve invested over $70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?
Our ongoing engagement started around January 2018.
 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 
Materiell takes care of everything relatively quickly, and we don’t have any problems with them.

How did Materiell perform from a project management standpoint?
They have a ticket system that allows us to submit our issues online. If I need to explain something to them, I can call them. 

What did you find most impressive about them?
They figure out our issues very quickly. Whenever I put a ticket in, someone always responds within the same day. Even if it’s not our main point of contact, someone will always respond. If a task is going to take a few days, they let us know throughout the process so we know they haven’t forgotten. They’re communicative about their progress, even if it’s something they can’t address right away. There hasn’t been any problem — minor or complicated — that they haven’t been able to figure out and make the site better.

Are there any areas they could improve?
No, I can’t think of anything. I have no complaints, and everything is straightforward.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?
You can expect quick responses and for every issue to be addressed by Materiell. 
 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a daily news website focused on higher education. I’m the editor-in-chief.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Materiell?

My WordPress website was broken, and I needed help fixing it. It wasn’t loading at all.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Materiell was able to fix my WordPress site quickly. They diagnosed the problem and got it up and running. From there, I hired them to maintain the website. They also offer trends in online publishing and cybersecurity. They also made a pop-up for me. Currently, they update, protect, and backup my site.

What is the team composition?

I work with their tech team.

How did you come to work with Materiell?

The vendor that I was working with at the time couldn’t fix my site. I was in dire straits I realized I needed a more established, well-rounded company. I googled “WordPress experts” and found Materiell. I sent a message, and their owner got back to me quickly.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2017, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re great. I’m super happy with them; that’s why I’ve kept them all this time.

How did Materiell perform from a project management standpoint?

They track everything in a ticketing system. They usually get back to me right away. Some requests are a bit more complex than others, but with this system, I can see what they’re working on. If I have a quick tech question, I can email them. We know what we need from each other. Everything always gets done.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They run a tight ship. My website loads quickly, and that’s what matters.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t have any problems. I’m happy with the service. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

There are a lot of companies out there that do WordPress projects. Make sure they’re a good fit for you and your company’s needs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of knowledge management at APPA, an educational management company. Our members are campus facilities professionals at colleges, universities, schools, libraries, and museums throughout North America.

We started as a higher education-focused nonprofit association but expanded to include K-12 classes, libraries, and some members in Canada. Our members are responsible for everything from planning and designing the construction of campus facilities, colleges, and universities onto operations and maintenance such as custodial, grounds, fixing HVAC equipment, energy and utilities, and providing a comfortable environment for teaching and learning at the college and school levels.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Materiell?

We needed to update our website. Over the years, we’ve gone through numerous websites—our first going live in 1995.

We knew we needed better navigability, better readability, and needed to accommodate mobile-friendly versions. The other one had a fixed width and length of the page. It wasn’t relational at all. We had a lot of program, content, and delivery changes, so we looked into the need for a total website change.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

It was an all-around website change. We held many weekly internal meetings with a small staff of about 12 people to look at what we want to change and what we want to improve upon. The scope of work was pretty broad. We included not only the home page and how members see us as we get into the site but where we go from there.

We wanted to make it more visual. We wanted to have more control over it. We opted for a WordPress CMS.

The scope of work included the navigation, the tabs, how much we want on the homepage, and what kind of landing pages we wanted. We have a lot of professional development programs, publications, memberships, and certifications that we wanted to capture. They were helpful to us in looking at the tabs across the top and the links that are there. We’ve got so many different things going on in our association that we didn’t want our members to have to go four or five levels to get to some place and give up by the time they got there.

We were trying to make it as clean as possible, have some key items on the homepage. We wanted to try and show our members where to go for their trusted resources and educational facilities. We provide networking opportunities and ways for them to connect with each other.

What is the team composition?

Susan (Founder & President) was our point of contact. She helped wade through any major issues we might have had. She was on the business development side. Jeremy (Project Manager) was our project manager, and Deven (Creative Director) was our main developer and designer.

John (Software Engineer) also worked behind the scenes. The engineers always helped with technical aspects that we had no idea about.

How did you come to work with Materiell?

I believe that I sent a note to a local association executives’ group and got a referral for three companies. I also searched Google.

I interviewed them all, but I was most impressed with Materiell. They provided us with the best proposal and customer relation aspect. Their prices were also in the middle.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from August 2018–May 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website went live in May 2019, and it’s worked out well for us. We’re now in talks to do some tweaks and updates.

We did the branding a few years ago. We felt the website would help us as its own rebranding to look cleaner, more responsive to our members, and a little less dated. It also gave staff members more control over the content. We used to have to go to a funnel of outside contractors who weren’t the most responsive people for updates. Now, we can do it on the fly, and virtually, everyone is open to making changes to their particular areas, and bigger things go through me in terms of making sure that we’re addressing the needs in their program areas but also to fit the overall concepts that Materiell developed for us.

I’ve been extremely happy with them. We definitely had more traffic through mobile devices. We’ve had a great response from our members. They love it and see it as an improvement. We’ve done a couple of membership surveys, and we always ask about the value of the website, problems, questions, or praises for it. Most of them are quite positive. We just did a member survey about two months ago, and a big portion of that was the workability of the website. We’ve gotten tons of great information, and that’s why we’re going to have them help with updating the homepage and tweaking of some of the navigation pieces to coincide with some content changes. That will all take place in mid-July.

How did Materiell perform from a project management standpoint?

Materiell is very good at listening to what we’re doing and what we wanted. Their team knew all of our quirks, giving us great advice and looking at things deeply. They’re tremendous to work with.

We had numerous calls, and their staff is all over the place physically, but they were very responsive. They met with us regularly and listened to our needs. They developed a contract and agreement with what they were going to do. They’re very good about setting up pages for us to look at and overall concepts and designs. I was the point person, and I went back to the staff to received their input about what we wanted to tweak and improve upon. It’s been a very good working relationship. They really come through on the support standpoint if we have something we just can’t quite work with.

Jeremy is a great project manager for the website and all of our projects. He and Deven are a great team in terms of setting deadlines and giving us a sense of timeframes. As we keep throwing things at them, there might be a little time lag in terms of getting back to us with some things, but they can almost always schedule a Zoom call with us to give us an update on the project. We’re always throwing different things at them to tweak or add or update. We had our own internal weekly staff meeting. We’d look at things together in the conference room. I’d always go back to Jeremy and Deven with what we’re wondering and what needed to be done. They also were good about reminding us about not forgetting to look at the tags on certain pages by next week. I’d then get back to my staff and tell them what Materiell needs. We communicated very well together.

Two years later, we’re still happy with them and love their partnership, and want to keep it going.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their knowledge of website development was helpful. We had a meeting where they all came in to train us on WordPress and other site-related things. They came from all over the US, spending a few days with us. It was great to meet them in person, and it helped build the relationship.

They were able to introduce topics that we wouldn’t think about in a great way. They brought up accessibility, design, why a certain color wouldn’t work, and why the font we chose might not be the best. Their team was great at bringing in things regarding results. They bring a lot of knowledge and skill. They’re also easy to talk to.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m satisfied, but there are minor things. Over the last years, they’ve gotten a lot of business from major customers, which means their responsiveness isn’t quite what it used to be. It’s not a dig because they do end up getting back to us with an update.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Call other clients and me. I had called a school that gave me some background in working with them. They gave kudos to them. Make sure you consider all the options for search engine selection.

They’re good at considering SEO, which wasn’t on our wavelength much at all before. Take the time to get to know them a little bit. You can tell, by talking to them, that they’re knowledgeable and easy to work with.