Merixstudio

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

ELMARK Automatyka is a pure distribution company. We import technical automation products to Poland and sell them to our local customers. I’m a sales director, and I also sit on the board of directors.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

We've been selling goods for many years. These goods are very complicated because they are dedicated to the industrial environment. Because of that, we have to keep an online service center for most of our customers.

Our customers asked for a solution to register their needed service as soon as possible. They wanted to use our own forwarder to pick up the goods and deliver the service. Then they can repair and ship the goods back to customers.

We wanted to make an online web solution. When I saw that other companies had similar services to ours and the solution we were looking to build, I started looking for a company that had built this kind of application in the past. I found Merixstudio who had done so for other customers. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I have some experience on how to take care of RMA procedures and all the services. We know what kind of process should be introduced to the online service. I met with a Merixstudio representative, Slawomir Wilczynski, several times and showed him our needs. I showed him how the procedures look, how we work on our customers on repairs, and communicated our needs. We prepared some diagrams detailing how the repair process should look. 

They prepared some mockups of how the system would look. When I approved everything, we started on the design of the website. They prepared the layout of the service and executed on it. Finally, they prepared for us a special testing and production environment so that we could check everything out before it was published on the public webpage. We were able to prevent some errors because of that. They took care of everything from the beginning to the end. They used PHP and Zend for the development.

What is the team dynamic?

There were 4 or 5 people working on this project. They have a dedicated team leader, Slawomir Wilczynski, and he was responsible for all of the communication. He was the middle person between ELMARK and Merixstudio. They also have a dedicated person to take care of the layout and another person was responsible for the testing. 

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

Before we hired them, I met with several other companies. I had some experience with another company that worked with us on our e-commerce application. I vetted a few companies for this project. During the discussion about the project, Slawomir had the best vision of the application. I was impressed by him and the materials that he provided about the project. They offered a reasonable cost as well.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent close to 50,000 Euros.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together 5 years ago, and the project took less than a year to complete.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They made a very good application. Before the application was built, we had to do things manually. We had many problems communicating with our customers because they didn’t put additional information about the repair. We were never prepared for repairs. Right now, we know what repairs are coming our way. We also had some problems with distributors because every customer used their own. Now we use our own delivery service, so we can be sure that the package will not be damaged during delivery. We can track all of our shipments. 

Our customers are very happy because they don’t have to worry about the delivery. We can follow the communication between the delivery man and our customer. Everything is done automatically. We improved a lot, and we raised the satisfaction level of our customers. 

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

They use JIRA for project management. There were some delays, which is normal. In the few cases when we had problems, they were very helpful in solving it as easily and quickly. I didn’t find any problems that Merixstudio couldn’t solve. I would work with them again in the future.

It was not possible for them to keep the schedule because I changed so many things during the process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Merixstudio has a skilled team. They’re a good company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could dedicate more people to me. I always expect a quick response and faster delivery, but they have a limited number of employees. They have other projects they are working on.

UPDATED REVIEW

This review was updated by the client on April 2, 2020. The original star ratings were: Overall - 4, Quality - 4, Schedule - 3.4, Cost - 5, NPS - 4. New content is below:

How much have you invested with them?

Over the years, we've spent a total of €100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together over 5 years ago and they have been our main design and development partner ever since.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a dedicated project manager who is responsible for all of our questions and issues, and they do a great job of addressing all of the concerns that I have.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are the most professional team that I have ever worked with. They always deliver on time and within budget, which we really appreciate.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the managing director of a manufacturing company operating in local Polish and European markets. There are no official statistics, but we are one of the biggest companies in Poland in our field. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

The goal was to spread the word about our company. When we started collaborating with them, we were struggling to reach the first page of search engine results and we wanted to start investing in online marketing. For me, it was also important that the web page is optimized for Google crawlers so as not to have any issues in terms of spamming or internal errors. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

When we brought them on board, we had just finished rebranding and had a new logo and rules for presentation. We asked Merixstudio to create a new website adhering to the new guidelines from our design book. They first designed the site graphics and then created the communication wireframes and architecture—how the information would be presented and which sites would be linked to ours. Finally, they wrote the code and implemented the site.

We are using one of the most popular CMS solutions. I wanted to use an open-source environment, so we adopted Drupal. Merixstudio also made some Java implementations. Our website is not custom built, but the layout and content are very clear. 

Some of our distributors are maintaining domains by themselves, so we also wanted to be able to easily migrate the site to different domains. For example, we wanted clients in the French or Czech markets to be able to read the information on their own sites, in their own language. Merixstudio also created a zoom functionality for us.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

We needed someone who could help us with both graphics and coding. We researched a few options and the information on Merixstudio suggested they were reliable and had all the necessary tools for us to achieve our goal of increasing our online presence.  We also saw in their portfolio that they had worked with some large Polish companies, which was good for us as a company in Poland. It also proved that they were reliable since they were trusted with sensitive tasks like online marketing. In discussing the project with them, Merixstudio communicated very well and responded quickly when we had questions or asked for an offer, which ultimately helped us make the decision to go with them.

How much have you invested with them?

The initial cost was between €8,000 and €10,000. [$9,500 to $12,000] It’s hard for me to determine the overall cost since Merixstudio performed multiple small implementations. It is probably €25,000 [$30,000] or above.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We changed our server last month, and have had around 1 million hits per month, from several hundred thousand people, although not all visitors are clients.

All of our separate domains with their own translations for the external market where our services are present have been easily implemented by the local manufacturers as a result of the work. 

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

The first project was a long time ago, but they were helpful from the very beginning. Merixstudio introduced and trained us on Drupal. Our contact people within Merixstudio have changed over time, but their current project manager has been working with us for a long time, and we have a very good relationship. The support has been strong from the very beginning, and it hasn’t changed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Since we’ve been so faithful to them, I don’t have much comparison with other companies; they’re very good in terms of support and communication, so we haven’t even considered leaving them.

Not only does Merixstudio provide good service, they implement changes quickly. If we ever had a critical situation, they acted immediately and were reliable. They are quite strong in both graphics and coding, so could handle whatever issue we had for them. One thing we appreciated is that they were always flexible about the tools we wanted to use; they never refused a request. If something was too difficult, or if there were alternative approaches, Merixstudio presented those solutions. They were always open and helpful regarding the ideas we wanted to implement. As far as I know, Merixstudio has a team that can work with all open-source CMS solutions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could go back to having direct phone lines for their project managers. They recently changed it to a general hub, which, in my opinion, is a downgrade. The new system is working, but the previous one was better. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The product is a professional curriculum tool where you can put on assignments for students. I’m a co-founder, product owner, and project manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

We needed to find a skilled development team that could manage to do a beta version for our Chrome extension. We didn’t have an internal development team and we had a tight timeline so we needed an agency to help us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had our own designer and Merixstudio did the development with JavaScript and Django. The extension allows teachers to follow up on assignments based on the curriculum. In the end, there’s grading on the whole course. Merixstudio was responsible for the development of the system.

The tool is on top of Google Classroom. A core functionality is handling assignments. It lacks some features. The tool is an assessment tool to assess assignments and make grading at the end of the course. We used the API that Google provides almost 100% so it sticks really tightly to that tool. It slides out on the side, so if you click on a course or a classroom or a subject, it’s actually on that subject in our tool as well. It scales out from the right, so it’s like a toolbar to the right if the teacher needs it and the teacher can hide it whenever he or she wants to hide it. The teacher uses the curriculum and puts what should be graded on that assignment. This is an assessment tool to make grading at the end of the course.

It’s a feature that Google likes because it really needs to be localized to each country because each country school system has its own complex way of dealing with the assessment process. We started with Sweden and now we are launching it in the UK.

How many resources were assigned to your project?

It depended on the work. For two months we had three developers, QA, and a project manager. We have internal designers so we didn’t need a designer.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

I know that Polish developers have a really good working culture and have a really good knowledge, and I know the culture. It’s close to Sweden, so the flight fare is low. I found them on Clutch and saw their high rating.

How much have you invested with Merixstudio?

We spent $100,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2015. They were done with the first part of the project in August 2015, and then we continued with production. It’s quite a complex product, so it’s still in development. We had the base version launched last fall, and now we’re developing for the UK market. We’re launching the commercial version this year [2017]. During a period, we didn’t have much money and when we had and needed resources they couldn’t keep up with developers. It didn’t fit our way of working. Sometimes we needed five or six more so it was a little bit problematic. Together we decided to make a fresh start with a new company. Everyone left like good friends, so we’ll most certainly be back. It’s just that we needed a new start with a different view.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We launched a beta version in August and had 20,000 users in three months. At a tech show in the UK, the largest ed tech exhibition in Europe, we got some feedback that this is very professional features, and the company that we’re working with now says this is the best product at the tech show. Then we got into the list of the 40 most promising products out of 700. It’s lacking some features, which is what we’re working on right now to make it really good. It looks promising.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

In the beginning, it was great management. But then we had some problem internally money wise. So it was difficult for them to have standby developers. So once in awhile, we got fresh developers that needed to learn the system from the beginning, this was not optimal for our development process. We had a really good developer all the time. It was just some communication wasn’t that good. 

What did you find most impressive about Merixstudio?

They’re flexible and like to work with you. They listen and they welcome you in. We could go down there anytime we wanted to have workshops. They’re really good at English and easy to communicate with. We used Slack and Trello to communicate and JIRA for bugs. The communication was good, and we could see all the iterations.

Are there any areas Merixstudio could improve?

We had lots of amazing things but maybe it could have been even more amazing. I wouldn’t say it’s perfect. It worked out well. They could be better on securing resources over longer time and be able to go down on development in some periods, to speed up in other, and still have the same resources.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and business developer of a startup digital platform that connects photographers with businesses that are supporting sustainable development. We offer a complete service for companies that need new images to optimize their visibility.

We help companies find the right photographer online by viewing portfolios worldwide. Companies can also work together by choosing images, obtaining approval from the photographer, paying for the images, and receiving the images via delivery. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

We had problems with our previous developers. I think they accepted our project because they wanted to do something slightly different. They did not manage to launch our platform on time, and we had so many problems with the code that they had produced, that it was more or less a catastrophe, to be honest. We realized that they didn’t have the knowledge to make the site usable, which was a big problem because we are completely dependent on the site functioning properly. The platform is our only source of income, so we really needed to launch it quickly. After a delay of around 6 months, we were getting desperate. I took a big risk by firing the previous developers and starting over with Merixstudio. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Merixstudio was responsible for actually launching the site. They solved all of the bugs in the project rescue, as I just handed over a mess of code to them. Not much of the code was working. I told them not to worry about improving the design. I just needed all the functions to work to support users right away since we needed to show the product at an upcoming competition.

They created some new features, including a newsletter and a world map. We also have a “pic of the day” function to support user engagement. I had a design ready for them, and they executed it just as I wanted. They primarily focused on the technical backend, as the frontend was basically finished. We used Laravel and PHP code, which was set up before Merixstudio came on board. I appreciated that the developers were eager to use Laravel.

Merixstudio was the right fit for this project. They took over the work in a professional manner and actually launched the platform after just a couple of weeks. The site launched on the same day that we attended a startup competition. I was totally impressed by them. They solved all the bugs and came up with their own ideas as well.

I’ve heard that web developers in India or China do exactly as they’re told and don’t make suggestions. I hadn’t really worked with Polish people before, and I was worried they would be the same, but Merixstudio didn’t work like that at all. They discuss things and come up with their own ideas. If I shared a feature that I liked, they gave suggestions to improve the UX. I think they’re professional and trustworthy.

I’m also working with a developer here in Sweden, and he took over everything connected to the payment services. Merixstudio didn’t work on the payment services because we’re using Swedish systems, and I wanted a Swedish web developer to work on that. But, they worked together pretty well. We were all involved in the team and communicated through JIRA and Slack, which worked well.  

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

I googled web developers, trying to find a vendor with the right resources and knowledge to rescue this project. Merixstudio made a great impression on me. I felt like I could trust them, which was a vital characteristic of my new developer team. I decided to ask them to rescue this whole project. We had a very short deadline because we won a competition, so we needed the site to be launched just a couple of weeks after Merixstudio started.

How much have you invested with Merixstudio?

The hourly rate was $40–$45, depending on the resource. That’s half of the cost of my previous developers, so I was happy with the price.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April 2017, and the site was launched 2 months ago. We’re still working together on adding features, adjusting the design, and maintaining a lot of activity on the site to avoid losing users. We have lots of ideas about technologies and features that we would like to add in the future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The site just launched, so we don’t have any metrics. We do have some users, but none of them have gone through the whole process yet. As of today, users are registering and pitching and submitting photo projects. So far, everything is working fine. I feel pretty secure that the rest of the platform will also work well. Even if problems came up, I’m sure that Merixstudio will take care of them instantly.

Whenever I find minor things that we need to change and let them know through Slack, they respond within 10 minutes. I feel 100% secure with Merixstudio. I know that they’ll always be there when I need them. If the system went down, I’m confident that they’d take care of it. That’s the type of relationship that I need to have with my web developers because I don’t know the code.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent and trustworthy. They put everything in JIRA, which helps us work together as a team. I can communicate with everyone on the team through Slack. Also, I thought that having a quality-assurance person was great; my previous developers didn’t offer that option.

With our previous developers, we didn’t really have any communication systems at all. I didn’t know what they were doing, and they weren’t sure of my feedback. We didn’t really have any discussions other than via email, a few physical meetings, and occasional phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about Merixstudio?

Merixstudio is reliable. If they don’t know how to do something, I’m sure they’ll let me know. Since we have this level of trust, everything else just works out. I know that they will keep their promises and meet our deadlines.

Our previous developers weren’t transparent when issues came up. They didn’t let me know about massive delays.

Are there any areas Merixstudio could improve?

I haven’t hired them for front end development yet, but my gut feeling says that if you are picky about design (as I am), you should provide them with your web design ideas in order for them to get it right.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a game company. I'm the chief product officer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

We needed to convert some Flash games to HTML5.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were responsible for taking Flash games and converting them (cloning them) in HTML5. The work that they did was for the full functionality of a casual Flash game. They have completed one game, and they're working on another. From their end, I think there was one main developer and there was certainly a project manager.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

We were researching HTML5 developers online and we were impressed by their work. We spoke to them and were impressed by their communication, professionalism, and portfolio of work.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in roughly March of this year. The project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don't have any tracked metrics or statistics about the game because the goal, in this case, was to clone existing games. So if the games performed equally well on the new platform, then that's the measure of success. So far, that's the case.

We got feedback internally and from users (effectively because we track the usage of the games), and the feedback was mainly positive. The games are performing as well as we expected.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

There are very good with project management. They were good about communicating with us how the project was moving along and keeping with deadlines. Communication was mainly email, and we skyped as needed. I don't think there was a ticketing system that was used with them.

What did you find most impressive about Merixstudio?

The quality of their work has been very high. From their participation in the project (meaning we asked them to clone games from Flash into HTML5), they took an interest in seeing how they could make any improvements to the gameplay along the way. They went beyond what we hired them to do.

Are there any areas Merixstudio could improve?

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The company is an off-shoot of a current video game retailer. I’m the owner and director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

We needed a new website for a new project. We needed help with the visual part of it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did the design, wireframes, and mockups for an e-commerce site for video games. They were responsible for everything on the frontend. They did the wireframes and mockups for the home page, product page, category pages, and some other internal pages using InVision. They also did an HTML demo on our requests, which was developed in JavaScript. They did the static mockups and put it in HTML. It was a standard gaming site. There wasn’t anything too flamboyant about it. We will be building out the website ourselves in-house.

How many resources were assigned to your project?

They had someone doing UI, UX, a designer, and a project manager. We’re doing the main implementation ourselves. It still needs to be converted into the actual e-commerce engine.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

I had worked with them many years ago. I believe some of their work was on one of the forums that showcases art in general. One of their designers had some work on there. I found their work and saw other things they’d done in gaming

How much have you invested with Merixstudio?

We spent less than $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started discussing the project in February 2017, but we didn’t get started until March 2017. We wanted the project completed in May 2017. It would’ve been quicker but we slowed it down on our end. They did their work quickly when we gave them feedback so they could move to the next stage.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t implemented the website yet. The people on our team are happy with Merixstudio’s work.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

That was probably their best element of the relationship. They were fantastic with deadlines and communication. The issues we had were on our end. Some of my colleagues were changing their minds about what they wanted, which was out of Merixstudio’s control. Everything was on time. We used Skype calls to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about Merixstudio?

Their communication skills, as well as the way in which they set things up, were strong. They wanted us to come to their office, which was difficult for us. They’re very thorough in every aspect. They’re very organized.

Are there any areas Merixstudio could improve?

Any issues were more our fault than theirs. We didn’t give what they were asking for as far as our input.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a consultant in mobile gaming. For this project, I was working with a mobile game development company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

We were looking to build a website that would help promote a new game. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built a fully new site. Based on our requirements, Merixstudio scoped out the whole web development project which was frontend, backend and an area where users could sign up and log in to play a daily game. They also implemented several rules, what they can win and how this is communicated. They created the animations for the game and email notifications that were sent out to the users. The game lasted 21 days and then there was an email sent out to thousands of users that participated in the game and they were able to download the mobile game and redeem the prize they had won. They used Python with Django and MySQL database. They provided five resources for the project: a project manager, two developers, and two QA people.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

They were recommended to me by some friends who had worked with Merixstudio for one of their games.

How much have you invested with Merixstudio?

We spent between $10,000 and $50,000 for the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in July 2016 and the project was completed October 2016. They took care of the service during the 21 days that the game lasted.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don’t have any metrics. Everything was handled very professionally. There were a few bugs but that is normal. They reacted fast and we would work with them again.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

The project manager that was assigned to us was super helpful and very responsive. We communicated on Skype. He made sure I was on schedule with things I needed to provide.

What did you find most impressive about Merixstudio?

Their project management is superior to any other experience that I’ve had so far.

Are there any areas Merixstudio could improve?

There were a few bugs and I think the QA could have been a little better. There were some things you couldn’t foresee but I think there were some issues that could’ve been caught earlier.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for Pomegranate Media. We're a digital marketing agency based in London. We build digital products for our clients such as websites, applications, e-commerce, etc. We do the full spectrum. We current don’t' have any developers in-house. We specialize in UI/UX [user interface/user experience] design and subcontract a lot of work out to development agencies.

I am the production manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

With Merix, we were looking for an agency that could also help produce solutions, working with us collaboratively. Our client's end goal was to build a bespoke e-commerce platform for their product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We got a brief from our client to redesign their existing old e-commerce website, which was very basic and primitive. We took on the job and initially got Merixstudio involved. We were in the knowledge and strategy phase of our project. To get them on board, they helped produce the right solution and gave the right recommendation on what we should build, so they were a great liaison with the client, and gave us the perfect outcome that would meet all of their needs in terms of functionality and user-centered design process, which we applied.

It was an FMCG [fast-moving consumer goods] healthcare product, and it was a complicated project in the sense that it wasn't a simple e-commerce platform. It had other assets of selling the brand and the product to the market as well. It was a mix between a brochure site and e-commerce. Merix helped bridge the gap, finding the right solution, which was Magento, to really build a bespoke experience for the end user.

We've got a customized end desk and live person support feature that they built, which is integrated with the client's CRM [customer relationship management] system. We also have fulfillment. They worked on providing the fulfillment support with third parties. We also moved fulfillment at a later stage as an add-on to the project. They collaborated with the warehouse and the client in producing shipping rates all around the world on different deals and products, which was very useful.

They also built an integrated WordPress blog in two sections of the website, which is quite unique for Magento. Specifically, the client asked for a very flexible structure, so they built everything to be customizable in blocks and sections so that the client and we can test and move around ourselves through the CMS [content management system], which is very useful as well.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

One of our UX designers worked at that company previously. We were looking around for a development partner who focused more on Magento, on quality, testing, and assurance than we'd had previously. We sat down with a few agencies at the start and the feeling we got from Merix was they were very professional. They had a good structure to their business and they delivered end products. That's why we went with them. They were very competitive on prices as well.

How much have you invested with Merixstudio?

We have spent between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The actual building of the website was around Aug. 2015 - Dec. 2015. We've been working pretty much up until last month, adding on bolt-ons, testing, and tweaking the site to make it more optimal. The bulk of the work was probably done in about a four-month period. Since then, we've been working on more of a maintenance contract with them over the past eight or nine months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I do not have any metrics to share at the moment, but we’ve gotten great results from them.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

The Merix team is very good, very supportive, quick to respond, and very helpful. We don't have much technology in-house but they're very keen and very good at taking the lead, and at providing answers and helping us pitch new work for the client and suggesting why we should work this way. They're very transparent in their approach, which is very useful and good to see.

What did you find most impressive about Merixstudio?

Of all of our experiences with other subcontractors, I think their attention to detail and their quality assurance is second to none. Everything they delivered was thoroughly tested and worked pretty much perfectly every time, which was great to see. They really streamlined the production of the whole site so we didn't have to go back and forth with small tweaks because it was always perfect to our specifications.

Are there any areas Merixstudio could improve?

The only thing I'd say is that it'd be nice if we could have met face to face a few times, but that's maybe a bit hard considering they're based in Poland and we're in London. That's the only thing I could say. Maybe more collaborative sessions over Skype rather than email communication would have been a bonus for us.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The name is Opeagle, and we’re a political media website. I came up with the idea myself a few years back.

It’s a political media website where the content is provided by the user. We put up subject pages, and the users make comments. The idea is that the people they’re talking about, whether it be a political figure or a chief executive officer of a company, they don’t have the ability to change any opinions that are on there, and we don’t censor any opinions.

I’m the founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

I have no computer coding skills, so we were looking domestically to find a company to build the site for us. It was just out of our price range, so we finally looked overseas. We came up with Merixstudio. The main reason to go over there was the price. We actually shopped about five different firms over there before we ended up with Merixstudio.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

When I approached Merixstudio, I had already completed a wireframe of my initial idea. What I wanted them to do was take that wireframe concept and do the design. Then, once we approved their design, they went and put all the database and everything together to make it functional. Once that was completed, we went through and tested the site to make sure it worked across all devices and all different browsers. I believe they used Laravel to develop it.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

I searched on Google for companies that build websites or web applications in other countries. That’s how I found them.

How much have you invested with Merixstudio?

It cost between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from February to July of 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As far as the site is concerned, we’re in a dormant period. We’re looking for funding to do marketing, so the marketing effort has been nonexistent. The site hasn’t had the chance to prove itself yet. Merixstudio was great in what they did for us in terms of support and communication. They were on point all the time. They were very helpful.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great. They divided up the responsibilities. Merixstudio always had one person who was our main point of contact. We used Redline software to communicate back and forth to keep track of any issues that we had, and we could track the products or the issues. They were very forward with billing, and I never had any issues or complications. I was actually pleased throughout the whole process, and I’m a hard person to please. That’s saying a lot.

What did you find most impressive about Merixstudio?

Their team seems to be very specialized in their disciplines, whether I was talking with someone in design or someone in database. They just knew what they were doing. I felt confident, through their confidence that they were going to be able to complete the task, so I never worried about that. They are coders and computer programmers, and this is Merixstudio's forte.

Are there any areas Merixstudio could improve?

The only thing that was a challenge for us was the beginning. The face-to-face communication sometimes didn’t go over as well for technical reasons. Skype is a great platform to work in, but I wish we could have more control over our face-to-face interactions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The company is Homes.com, and we're the fourth or fifth largest search portal for finding your next or first home. The fourth or fifth depends on who you talk to.

I’m the Vice President of Search Marketing and Consumer Engagement. Essentially, I'm responsible for driving traffic and brand awareness to the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

We were looking at doing a brand awareness campaign that tied into a summer blockbuster movie.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had an idea of doing an online game that was fun, had the potential to garner brand awareness, the social aspect to it, and tying into a summer blockbuster movie that had to do with space aliens and things like that. From that standpoint, we decided to have a game built that was reminiscent of a space invader's look and feel - a game from the '70s.

We labeled it Defend Your Homes, to tie into us as a home search portal. We incorporated into that the home values of different cities and Q&A [questions and answers] about different cities. The goal was to feature these cities, and to have folks defend their homes in a space invader's type environment.

We ended up developing HTML 5 game, which was cross-browser, cross-platform compatible. We had a distinct mobile version with different controls for mobile devices and we had a desktop version that had an average keyboard control, to control your little spaceship.

As far as any other elements that we wanted, we wanted this to have a scoring aspect to it, so we also had a backend admin that allowed us to review scores that people put in. We were also able to have a ranking system, so there was a leaderboard on the game as well.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

We did an internet search to look for someone that could develop HTML 5 games. We decided that it was the best way of accomplishing something that was cross-platform, cross-device, and liable to work to what we wanted. We looked at a few examples and spoke to a few companies, and Merix was really a company that we felt was trustworthy, and had done something fairly similar but not exactly the same, for the Tom Cruise movie, "The Edge of Tomorrow", years ago.

We saw that there was an understanding of the kind of thing we were after. They had an understanding of the technology. We ended up speaking to their guys a few times before we committed, and thought that they had a very high level of expertise in actually making it a success. We had a high level of confidence we could actually build the game.

How much have you invested with Merixstudio?

It cost under $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We allowed a lot of time. The project actually took about three, three and a half months. We didn't actually launch it until about five months. It was launched this year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

There're a couple of caveats here. It did get tens of thousands of people to play it, but it did fall short of our targets, although we did have significant players of the game. We did have a contest where we chose some players randomly to win prizes, and that was a success from a standpoint of branding.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

If I can talk on a larger scale, basically what we were looking for was a partner, a partner that could actually help us develop this from an idea, because we're not game developers. We have home searches, so it's a little bit different. They really helped us understand game logic.

Merixstudio helped us understand what was feasible and what wasn't. They gave real solid feedback that was valuable, and then allowed us to basically make decisions that we thought would be best for us within the budgets that we had, to make sure that we got what we wanted.

They gave some different idea and some different concepts from a look and feel standpoint. When we told them high level, we wanted it to feel like a space invaders-type game, they came back with a few different concepts and ideas and really allowed us to hone in what we thought was going to be the best execution.

Throughout that whole process, they gave us a distinct timeline. They gave us distinct deliverables, milestones, and basically pretty much hit every single one; even delivered some a bit early, so their project management was pretty good.

What did you find most impressive about Merixstudio?

They executed. The biggest challenge you have in working with any external partner is the ability to execute. Everybody talks the talk and everyone has a great portfolio, pretty much. When you decide on someone because there's a level of trust, these guys really delivered. We obviously had to make some considerations based on the budget we had available, but Merixstudio gave us everything we wanted and everything that we could afford, and then a little bit more.

Are there any areas Merixstudio could improve?

From their end, I think they were quite transparent about what issues we might have with the game. I think the only challenge we did have, was the fact that it was kind of heavy on mobile so there was a download that was necessary, just from the CF files and stuff like that. I think that they could have had a better mobile-first approach because we had that as part of our spec. They could’ve improved the mobile controls as well because we had that as part of the spec. That was the only thing that was a slight negative. It still worked on mobile, but it did need ideally a Wi-Fi connection. That would be the only thing, I'd say.