Merixstudio

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.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

We are a small software development company that focuses on custom development. We work largely with digital media companies that have digital content but, in the last years, we've been working with health and fitness companies.

What are your position and responsibilities?

I am the director of project management and general manager. I run all the day-to-day operations of our business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

We're a small firm, and we work largely with contractors. We had a bigger project come up, and we wanted to have a full-time team dedicated to the project. We had worked with Merixstudio in the past, before I joined the company. They were a rational choice for this project.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

The largest project I've done with them was for one of our largest clients – a fitness studio in New York. We built custom software for them that spans across multiple different platforms. We built software that allowed users to sign up and schedule a class in a fitness studio.

We did some in-depth custom development work, using algorithms that we built on our end. We sent that over to Merixstudio, and they used that to build software and algorithms of their own. We built it into a complex web application as well as an API [application programming interface] that allowed it to communicate with the platform from multiple different internet-connected devices. Out of respect for the client, I can't get into too much more detail about it, but it was custom development work, built from scratch. Merixstudio provided great support and development for us throughout the project.

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

I don't know how my company initially got in contact with Merixstudio. For this project, I knew they had all the necessary skills and ability to scale up on a project quickly. That's why we ended up going with Merixstudio.

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

The size of the last project was between $50,000 and $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our partnership is ongoing. At the moment, we're not undergoing heavy development with them, but they still do a couple of hours here and there for us as we need support for some of the products that they built for us. The next time we have a big project come through, they'll probably be my first point of contact to get that built.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

I can give some general trends, but I don't want to go into too many details to respect my client's privacy. The products that we built for our client are getting between 50,000 and 100,000 hits a month. Their whole business runs on the platform that we built for them. The application has to run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It can be used online as well as onsite, so it's a very usage-heavy application. Our clients haven't had any issues with bugs in the system, or the system going down. They are very happy with it.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

They have been excellent.

What distinguishes Merixstudio from other providers?

I enjoy working with Merixstudio. They're pleasant, and we can always get in touch with them when needed. They do good work, and they are very reliable.

Is there anything Merixstudio could have improved or done differently?

I can't think of anything specific, but they're always very receptive to feedback. When clients have issues, they're very quick to solve them.

BACKGROUND

Could you please describe your company?

My company, Wiadomości Rolnicze Polska, is a Polish agricultural newspaper. We have print and online editions that provide the newest information for people in the agricultural market.

What is your role in the company?

I am a graphic designer in the company. I'm also responsible for any IT [information technology] projects that my firm undertakes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was the business challenge that you were trying to address when you approached Merixstudio?

We were trying to implement e-commerce applications onto our site. We wanted to create a web market for farmers, where they could buy and sell machinery. Our aim was to be more competitive with other machinery markets in Europe.

What was your process for selecting Merixstudio?

We sent offers to a few firms. After receiving responses from a couple of the companies, we chose Merixstudio because they had a good portfolio, and they offered us a good price.

SOLUTION

Can you talk about the scope of the project?

This project was our biggest undertaking since starting the newspaper. Merixstudio worked on the back end development of our website. The whole site was created on Drupal CMS [content management system], with advanced modules for ad categorization, filtering and positioning on listings. Merixstudio prepared script that is "translating" the structure of our database to databases in other web markets. Right now, we can import and export data to two outside sources.

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

The project in its entirety took about a year to complete. By the end of the project, the cost was around $8,000.

When was the project completed?

They delivered a working product to us in February 2015. Merixstudio is still providing us with some additional work around maintenance, bug fixes and additional features.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

When working with Merixstudio, was there anything unique or special about them?

We worked with other firms that provide similar services to Merixstudio. Merixstudio is the most professional firm I've worked with. We had had some bad developers before we brought them on board, but Merixstudio did a great job completing the tasks we gave them.

Is there any area that they could improve upon or that you would do differently?  

Merixstudio provided exactly what we asked them to provide. I would probably have done some things differently. Right now, we are importing and exporting data to two databases that are similar. The problem is that our database has a different structure from the other databases. It would have been more cost efficient if we created a database structure identical to the others.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

Our company is SoftwareONE. We are a global software portfolio management company. We support our customer base in more than 65 countries in all the aspects related to software licensing.

What is your position?

I'm the global enterprise content manager. I'm responsible for our public website and other areas related to enterprise content management.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Merixstudio?

We decided to rebuild our public website. Our website was outdated, was not responsive and the message that the site conveyed about our company wasn't accurate. It was based on obsolete technology and hosted locally, so we had a hard time securing fast responses to clients in remote countries.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

When we approached them, we already had some graphical design work for the website. We asked Merixstudio to build the website using those designs. They studied the designs and offered suggestions on how to improve them. We then defined what the structure of our pages should be, what text we want on each page, what pictures we wanted. Once we approved of their plans, Merixstudio developed the site. We gave them a very strict timeline: the entire project had to be completed in not more than 60 calendar days.They built the site in four language – English, German, Spanish, and Portuguese – to support as many of our clients as possible. 

How did you come to work with Merixstudio?

We researched companies all around Europe. We reached out to 10 of those companies and discussed the project that we had in mind and our timeline: 60 days. Merixstudio was the only company that ensured us that they could make it happen. Other companies wanted to sacrifice quality for time, or rejected the timeline.

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

The size of the project is in the $10,000 to $50,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

The site launched in June 2015. Our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The response online time has been much faster since the launch of the new site. For example, our response time in India decreased from 15 seconds to 1.5 seconds. Everyone is happy with the look and feel and with the mobile support. In terms of unique visitors, we had 40,000 hits last month, averaging 4,000 per day. That is a significant increase.

How did Merixstudio perform from a project management standpoint?

They did a great job. We gave them a tight timeline, and they performed well under pressure. It required discipline from them and us in terms of communication, timely feedback, and timely reaction to feedback. It all worked very smoothly. Everything was delivered, and we didn't have any major issues. Of course, there were some minor corrections we were requesting, but that's normal.

What distinguishes Merixstudio from other providers?

Merixstudio was very flexible and open to our opinions. They worked very fast without compromising quality and stuck to tough deadlines.

Are there areas in which they could improve, or things you might do differently?

At times, decisions were made too quickly. I, sometimes, wished they had taken a day or two to think things through instead of making quick decisions. That being said, the project was great, but it's easy to look back and say, "That wasn't the best idea."