Mayven Studios

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the co-founders of Nurture Life, a subscription service that provides fresh, organic, ready-to-eat meals for children.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Mayven?

We were looking for a partner to do the development of our marketing site and our subscription-based customer ordering site.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Mayven spends 95% of their time working on the subscription site and 5% on the marketing site. The marketing site is a PHP site on WordPress, while the subscription site is also PHP but with a Laravel framework. Mayven handled the development work from scratch while a different company did the design work.

The marketing site is a static content WordPress site, making it the simpler of the two sites. It has over 30 marketing-related pages that describe who we are, what we do, and the services we provide.

The subscription site is quite robust and much more complex. The site enables dynamic meal selection as our meals change every week. Once customers sign up for a subscription, they have the ability to order certain meals, skip a week, add on meals for any age, etc. They can also update their shipping information and email address.

We also have a few integrations on the subscription site, including a payment processing system, a customer support system, and a shipping and logistics system. An administration backend enables us to use the site from a customer service perspective. For example, we can download reports, create promo codes, start a referral program, etc.

How did you come to work with Mayven?

They were highly recommended to us by the firm that designed our sites. While we also interviewed a few other web development firms, Mayven immediately demonstrated a strong understanding of what we were trying to accomplish. They also had the development resources required by the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Mayven in early 2016 and continue to work with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Our sites have performed according to our expectations. People love our site, and the feedback has been very positive. Mayven has thoughtful developers who can figure out what needs to be done and how to do it.

How did Mayven perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very strong in terms of communication and project management. When we first started working with them, we had some kinks to work out in terms of communication, but I wouldn’t say there were issues on their side. Their response times are great. For urgent requests, we usually hear back within an hour. Their resolution times are also really strong, anywhere between a few minutes to a few hours, depending on the complexity of the issue.

What did you find most impressive about Mayven?

They’re a bright team of developers who understand complex sites and can provide elegant solutions. They also take the time to ensure that they can align with a client’s priorities, business needs, and concerns. They challenge us when we need to be challenged. We’ve found that they’re direct in communicating what can and can't be accomplished within a given timeframe and budget. This helps us set our expectations and plan appropriately. Overall, they are a great development partner to work with.

Are there any areas Mayven could improve?

Like most new partnerships, we had a few bumps in the road when it came to communication. Fortunately, these were quickly addressed.