Merixstudio

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.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Our company is a real estate investment advisory business. We advise investors on buying commercial real estate—mostly offices and large retail spaces. We only do commercial real estate, not residential.

What is your position?

I’m a director in the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

We needed help in developing a crowdfunding platform, which would provide an extra tool for us to connect with investors and provide additional opportunities for investment.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of your involvement with Merixstudio in greater detail.

In the first phase of the project, we asked them to design the front-end of the website. They started from scratch, using their own designers and front-end developers. They did everything. We did let them know that at some point we were going to have to build a back-end as well, because we were running the marketing testing at first. We asked them to make the site fully functional and search engine optimization [SEO] optimized.

After they had built the main front-end, we uploaded content on the website, along with some photos which we gave them. We also asked Merixstudio to build a blog page that we could update to be able to interact with the customers. 

As far as the technology is concerned, they used HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript templates based on PSD source files, W3C standard compliance CSS3 and HTML5 code, which loads fast and is SEO friendly.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

One of my colleagues was able to source potential vendors through his own contacts, and Merixstudio was recommended to us. We did go through a very limited tender with agencies and got three quotes. Merixstudio were the best choice for us.

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

We have spent about 7,000 euros working with Merixstudio, which is  around $10,000 to $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics, metrics or other feedback from your work with Merixstudio?

I’d love to be able to provide specific here, but I think it’s still too early. Although we’ve just been in the marketplace for a few months, we have had conversions at about a 3.5% rate, which was extremely good. This is based on marketing tests for the website and on Facebook, which has a link to our website. We used a lot of the content and design from the site to post on Facebook.

I think that conversion rate is a consequence of Merixstudio's design, and they did a very good job on that. I know the conversion rate is not directly attributable to the work of Merixstudio, but I think they did a good job on the landing page. That will only help in the future.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

The project management was fine. There were a couple of delays due to their developer, who wasn’t in the office every day. The delays, in general, were mutual and not a problem.

What distinguishes Merixstudio from other providers?

They were certainly more cost effective than some of the other people we’ve worked with. That’s really the main thing. They did a good job. We’ve worked with a couple of other people, and I think Merixstudio was more eager to get the job than anyone else. Regarding quality for the money, I think if we were to have used an agency in London, they would’ve charged at least double what Merixstudio charged us.

Is there anything Merixstudio could have improved or done differently?

My colleagues who were working on the project were quite happy with Merixstudio. From my perspective, however, I was frustrated that they didn’t provide a bit more guidance. For example, they should have pointed out early on that if we were to do a static blog page we would not be able to post anything. They were not very creative when it came to that. Having said that, the fault is at least partially mine.

If I have a client that tells me to do something I think they might regret in the future, I would probably raise a yellow flag and point out how that might not work. Merixstudio is not very proactive. They don’t take the initiative but do just what they are asked to do. Then again, having said that, we’ve just gone back to them to do precisely those changes that should have been identified earlier, to work on the website a bit more.

We did talk this issue through with them and suggested that in the future they should be a bit more proactive—that if they see us doing something stupid or silly, to tell us.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a polish company that helps to establish high school groups across the country. We help schools with IT [information technology] and marketing services.

What is your position?

I am the IT project manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

Our goal was to provide professional web development services. We had several websites that offered marketing and IT services to these schools. We wanted to outsource the work to create a better quality product, in terms of development and maintenance.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Merixstudio provides maintenance, updates, and new feature implementations to our Drupal 7 website. They also did some testing, analysis, planning, and deployment regarding our system.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

We researched companies that focused on Drupal development, which is what we used for the original development of our site. We found several companies that we analyzed, and we chose Merixstudio. They seemed to be the best in terms of quality and range of expertise.

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

It cost about $25,000.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I do not have any results to share, but their work has benefitted our company.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

Merixstudio's project management was great. We didn't expect such a high level of conduct and responsiveness from an IT company. Their work is very high quality, and we were always on the same page.

What distinguishes Merixstudio from other providers?

They exceeded our expectations. We are going to keep on working with them in the future.

Is there anything Merixstudio could have improved or done differently?

We haven't had any issues with them at all.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

The website is ebetbox.com. It's a website that provides a betting option for e-sport games such as Heroes of the Storm and War of Tanks.

What is your position?

I am the project manager of the company. I am responsible for our website.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

We were looking for a web developer to fully develop the website on which we base our business. We were also looking for a company with lots of design experience to help us with our logo and aesthetic.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

Merixstudio was fully responsible for the development of our website. They developed it in Django and Python. Besides the backend and frontend of the website, they designed a logo and banners for us as well.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

I researched companies all over the world, starting in America then going to Europe as well. I was looking for someone who thinks outside of the box because there’s only a few of us that are doing what we are doing on the website. We are trying to attract gamers, so I was looking for someone who could do an attractive design, young people who maybe do gaming as well, so they actually know what we are talking about when we're explaining it to them.

I reached out to Merixstudio, and we clicked.

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

It cost somewhere between €35,000 and €40,000, (US$50,000) for everything.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project is completed, but we have plans to expand our site with more features. We will re-engage with Merixstudio for that as well. They know the vision that we are going for, they are great developers and we had great communication.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We are still a start-up. We started having users about a month ago. We got great feedback from a lot of test users. The site that Merixstudio developed for us is very clear and user-friendly. People loved the design because it's very dynamic.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

The account manager we were working with, [Kamil], went beyond whatever he needed to do. Just as an example, he was doing Skype calls on Saturday with me because we are both in European times, and I have a full-time job. Sometimes, if I didn't manage to meet them from Monday to Friday, he was willing to Skype from his home on Saturday. I appreciated that a lot. In terms of being friendly, helpful and willing to help, I must say five stars.

What distinguishes Merixstudio from other providers?

They provided their opinions as developers, but also from the clients' perspective. For example, we wanted to do something, which they felt was not going to look nice to a user. I like that they told us, "Listen guys, we think this is not good because it's going to cause this and that, etc." On the other hand, they respected our decision. I like that they were not just following the orders. They engaged in communication and provided us with their feedback.

Is there anything Merixstudio could have improved or done differently?

Yeah, for example with the time of delivery, they were supposed to deliver earlier than they actually delivered. There was a delay. Now whether it's only their fault I can't say because, as I said, sometimes there was a delay from my side as well. On the other hand, I believe they thought the project was smaller than it actually was. They estimated a time, but at the end of the day, it was actually delivered two months after that.

The good thing is we didn't have a deadline. There was nothing pushing, so we were okay with that. I'm not sure how it would go with a company that has a deadline. On the other hand, because we didn't have a real deadline, they were not under much pressure to deliver. I think they could have improved on this.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization. What is your position?

I was the project manager for corporate website management and e-commerce website development projects for Toshiba Gulf FZE.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

We were looking for website development and website management services for our corporate website. We needed to partner with a company with a broad range of experience in e-commerce website development that could understand our company requirements. We needed a company with excellent design and programming capabilities that could create a website for a multicultural group of people that would be using our site in the Middle East.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

It was a complex project that Merixstudio completed end-to-end, starting with the initial design, wire framing, server setup, programming and full delivery of the responsive Magento website. They also integrated third party payment capabilities and uploaded content, all following our companies’ strict guidelines.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

We made a shortlist of 10 companies from all over the world based on their own websites, ratings, and feedback. Then, we sent them an overview of the project, asking for interest, price estimate and timeline for the project. We paid attention to the companies’ capabilities and responsiveness.

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

The project cost around $50,000 total.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ended towards the end of 2014 and took 4 months to complete.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

Merixstudio was a superb partner and were very quick to respond whenever we needed them. They were always very thorough in their communication and acted professionally. They were also very accurate on timing and never missed a deadline. I’ve enjoyed working with them and got a great end product.

Is there anything Merixstudio could have improved or done differently?

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a full-service marketing communications agency based in Belgium. That means we can do some more basic advertising like print, business cards, fliers, and ads. A large portion of our work is web based: we create websites, newsletters, set up social media campaigns, and SEO [search engine optimization] campaigns.

What is your position?

My role is of project manager. Whenever a project comes in, I'm responsible for delivering everything on time, and on budget.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

We had a very concrete project for one of our clients. We had to create a content sharing platform. Because the platform contains a lot of sensitive information, we had to make sure that the gateway was done in a very safe environment and make sure it's sustainable against hacking attempts and things like that. Of course, we also needed to keep the cost quite low. Everyone wants complex and great platforms, but usually they don't always have the right amount of money to do so. That's where Merixstudio came in. They could deliver us the project with the high quality and low budget that we were looking for.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

I can't give too much information about the end client, but they created a content-sharing platform. They're a global pharmaceutical company, and they need some single point of reference for sharing marketing and communication-related files as well as sales data.

Merixstudio created a content platform where they would have the flexibility of creating their own formatting and structures of the platform. They added different admin functions and allowances between members. Some people can only consult content, and other people can consult and create content. That was also very important thing. Because there will be many users worldwide,  the portal needed to be very user-friendly. The UI [user interface] – the GUI [graphical user interface] – need to be very intuitive and very easy to use to all end stakeholders. Merixstudio built this platform using Django. 

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

They contacted us. They gave us a presentation about how they would approach the project. They also had great references and portfolio items for big clients. That's why we chose them.

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

The project cost around $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The platform is active, and it's being used by the client. There are some small add-ons we've requested recently but, apart from that, in our minds it's been completed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

It's a bit more difficult. Of course, the end user is happy because, before that, he had to send dozens of Dropbox links and things like that. They had a shared drive, and it wasn't working properly. They're now happy with the result. 

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

In terms of project management, Merixstudio responds quite quickly and are great at communicating with their clients. If they need some input from you or you're looking to send, then they're always talking you, so it's perfect. Merixstudio delivered a great, quality product. They delivered on time, on budget, and we're very happy with the results. It was a good collaboration.

What distinguishes Merixstudio from other providers?

Merixstudio has a great QA [quality assurance] department. They got us a product with little to no bugs, which saved us a lot of time and effort. We were very pleased.

Is there anything Merixstudio could have improved or done differently?

I have to think about that. It was a good collaboration.  Maybe their quotes are a bit vague, but everything ran smoothly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We offer services for private and institutional clients that need financing, especially in the real estate business. We also provide trade financing and other services in the finance industry.

What is your position?

I work as a part-time associate and was responsible for our new website. I was given the task of evaluating possible service providers to create and design a website for us and then leading that project within the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

Our existing website was out of date, and we needed a new design.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of your involvement with Merixstudio in detail.

Merixstudio helped us with everything. We started with the concept. They asked what our idea was and what we expected from the new website. They then created some designs for us to evaluate. Then, they developed the front end and the back end of the website, which includes a contact form feature. The CMS [content management system] did almost everything for us except marketing. The website was built on Drupal.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

In the beginning, we were looking at local companies in Switzerland, but noticed a huge price gap between the providers here and those in Poland. We began looking in Poland, and we were impressed by the services and projects Merixstudio had on their website. They also sent us some examples of their work, so we decided that we wanted to give them a try because their price was better than we could find for a similar service here in Switzerland.

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

We've spent somewhere between $10,000 and $50,000 working with Merixstudio.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Merixstudio last January [2015]. The goal was to have the project done by the end of the second quarter of this year. We're a bit late and consequently only launched the website in September [2015]. This was partly their fault because they had one minor delay, but most of the delay was from our side because we added some late changes to both the front and back ends. During the process of development, we received some new requests, which they had to implement. Now, most of the work is done. It's on us to deliver the next step, which is to translate the web page.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've had more visitors to the website. The new website much more user-friendly than our old site, and it incorporates our corporate design, which was important to us.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

Merixstudio had good project management overall, and the quality of work was great.

What distinguishes Merixstudio from other providers?

It was really the uncomplicated relationship between our businesses. We had very good and very productive talks and calls between us. Even though we never met in person, I think the result doesn't lack the quality that we would have expected if we had been able to meet face to face with an agency here in Switzerland.

Is there anything Merixstudio could have improved or done differently?

This was my first website project, so perhaps at the beginning they could have provided a bit more of an orientation on how such a development process normally occurs. Maybe we could have discussed all the possible changes earlier on the front end development and not have waited until the back end was finished. If we had known more about the front end changes, we would have been able to finish the project sooner.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a business center development company in Norway. The concept is to build up a business park where all the facilities will be concentrated in one place. The area of our park is 1,700 square meters [approximately 5,600 square feet]. We have a commercial area, niche shops, a hairdresser, restaurant, bar, and so on. Our mission is to create a concentrated place where employees have everything they need.

What is your position?

I'm the social relations manager of the company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

We wanted to make a booking system for our tenants so it would be easy to reserve services through the website.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Merixstudio was responsible for website development and setting up a booking system within the website. They redesigned our website using Symfony, a PHP framework. They created booking featured for our business center, gaming center, and restaurant. Those three systems were integrated to our internal system. 

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

We had relationships with various developers from Norway and Poland. We met with them and spoke to them about our project. We chose Merixstudio because they are very professional, responsive and offered a lower cost for the project than other vendors.

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

The cost of the project is confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Merixstudio in November 2014, and the project wrapped in June 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We don't have anything to show right now because we launched the system in July 2015. We have tenants in two buildings, and room for up to 2,000 workers in our business buildings. The first building is almost full with around 960 tenants. Roughly 80 percent of them use our web application.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

The Merixstudio team was responsive, responsible and professional. The quality of website was very good. They'll find solutions to any problems you will face.

What distinguishes Merixstudio from other providers?

The first thing that sets them apart is price. They use the most modern and sophisticated technologies, but only charge a fraction of the cost compared to other providers. They also have a great CMS [content management system], that anyone can use without a lot of IT [information technology] knowledge.

Is there anything Merixstudio could have improved or done differently?

Sometimes, the work was a little bit delayed, but it wasn't so crucial for us. It wasn't a problem.