Millennial Web Development

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the marketing communications manager at a belt manufacturer and retailer in California.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Millennial Web Development?

We recently commissioned a website redesign through a different vendor, but that firm was unreliable as we neared completion and left many components unfinished. We hired Millennial Web Development to fix various flaws in our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The original task was to redesign our WooCommerce emails to make them more branded than the generic emails available to everybody. I provided wireframes and mockups of what those would look like, and Jim (Owner, Millennial Web Development) did very well with the rest of that process. We also experienced troubles with our website’s cart. When users added a product to their cart, it would still reflect that the cart was empty. This obviously caused problems when users attempted to check out, but Jim found a way to fix that, as well. Additionally, when we were in the process of moving our warehouse, Jim placed our website in a maintenance mode so that it did not collect orders while we moved our inventory management system. Once the site was brought back to normal, Jim addressed credit card processing and zip code entry issues we experienced.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked exclusively with Jim.

How did you come to work with Millennial Web Development?

WooCommerce referred me to a company called Codeable, a freelance platform. I found Millennial Web Development through that site.

How much have you invested with them?

Because it’s been several very small projects, the total cost has been about $1,500 so far. We don’t necessarily keep Jim on retainer, but he’s always available for when these kinds of issues crop up.

What is the status of this engagement?

The bulk of this work was completed in May 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Because these fixes have largely occurred in the backend, we now have a much more responsive and reliable site. Our cart bounces or cart abandonment numbers have decreased dramatically.

How did Millennial Web Development perform from a project management standpoint?

Jim is very organized and usually responds to any of my requests within an hour through emails or text messages. I’m not sure what his workload is on a daily basis, but his time management skills are quite refined.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The owner is highly professional and a pleasure to work with. He has great people skills and is very in-tune with what his clients understand about web development so he can explain what they need to know.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t identify anything that needs to improve.

Any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that you have your affairs somewhat in order so that Jim can work as effectively as possible. It’s unfair to throw spaghetti at him and expect him to put it all back in the bowl. As the customer, you have to have some idea of what it is that you need.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the product manager at ShareASale, an affiliate marketing network that works with online retailers. As Product Manager, I keep in tune with the industry, competitors, and internal teams to decide the direction and vision of our product roadmap. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Millennial Web Development?

Our website didn’t live up to our reputation in the industry. As a result, we decided to relaunch the outdated main site and blog on WordPress. Since we had a substantial budget but lacked resources, we decided to engage outside help.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a responsive, professional, and highly-experienced WordPress vendor in the area of customizable theme development. They needed to take our designs and turn them into a theme with little hand-holding.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found Jim (Founder, Millennial Web Development) on Upwork and then researched his past projects. He was local and had several positive reviews. I only considered two or three other vendors.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Jim created a custom and responsive WordPress theme using our UI/UX and marketing teams’ wireframe designs. Our in-house team includes my boss and resources from our marketing, sales, and client services departments. Our parent company’s U.S. board had to approve the designs.

What was the team composition?

Jim ran his own internal team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The new site was long overdue and will make a huge impact. We plan to use Google Analytics to gauge its performance.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Jim and I had weekly follow-ups and a few meetings as he hit each milestone. We used GoToMeeting to connect and record our meetings.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Millennial Web Development had an extensive portfolio on Upwork as well as positive reviews for projects similar in size and scope.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

Although Jim was the first outside developer we worked with, there was little room for improvement.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a co-founder of a business that offers a free platform for employers to post internship and full-time job opportunities. We are in the infancy stage of our company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Millennial Web Development?

We hired Millennial Web Development to help us develop and customize a WordPress-based site. They were the third developer we’ve worked within the past two years.

What were your goals for this project?

Millennial Web Development’s objective was to build out our website in accordance with the specs we provided. We tasked them with turning the drawings and sketches of pages we’d made into a fully designed and functional job board site

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I found the team on Upwork.com and chose them after reading all their positive reviews from past clientele.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Our project had an extensive scope. Millennial Web Development examined the sketches I had drawn and turned them into a fully functioning website. They developed the front-end design and functionality and built an administrative dashboard that would work well with our business model. Our site was complex to build because it has many different views available for our different types of users. The team helped us create a platform that works well for students, businesses, and recruiters alike. 

What was the team composition?

Jim (Founder, Project Manager, and Developer, Millennial Web Development) was the only person I interacted with from the team. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Millennial Web Development played an absolutely crucial role in making our ideas a reality. They were definitely the most organized and professional company we’ve worked with during the past few years. Jim and his team created the entire platform for our company to function on. Without their help, we wouldn’t have a presentable website or viable business at all.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project management style was very effective and helped me feel confident about our project’s potential for success. We mostly used email to touch base. The founder sent me several updates per week. Each Friday, he sent a weekly recap of what the team had accomplished and our objectives for the upcoming week. He regularly shared notes from his internal team and requested feedback for clarification for the tasks at hand.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The most impressive aspect of this company is the leadership and communication. The founder was consistently involved in our project hands-on, from the initial contract discussion to day-to-day progress updates. He did a phenomenal job with delegating responsibilities and keeping track of any issues that arose.

Jim (Founder, Project Manager, and Developer, Millennial Web Development) is professional, timely, and a strong leader. His open transparency and professionalism in all aspects of the project made me feel at ease. His professional demeanor and communication skills gave me a very high expectation for future development partners. Without Millennial Web Development, our business would still be a dream.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

I’ve learned a lot from working with three developers in the past two years. With each new team, I became more aware of the right questions to ask and how to effectively utilize their development skills. As I create an intricate business from scratch, I know there are always ways I can improve. I would enjoy any feedback from Millennial Web Development) on how I was to work with as a client. I’d also appreciate their insight on ways I could enhance the project’s flow

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the president and owner of Howard Medical company, a second-generation family owned and operated medical distribution company in Chicago, Illinois. Since 1978, we have been a leading distributor of medical supplies and equipment to healthcare providers including hospitals, physicians, and medical centers. We strive to be a strategic partner for all medical professionals that allows them to pursue improvements in patient care.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Millennial Web Development?

We have an e-commerce website that has been under performing since inception. I hired Millennial Web Development to improve the site and increase our capabilities to serve both current and potential future clients.

What were your goals for this project?

To celebrate our 40th anniversary, we are launching a referral marketing campaign to increase our e-commerce business. Before launching, however, we needed to make several improvements, most important of which were: perfect the client onboarding process; ensure all items available in the warehouse were accurately inventoried on the website and ready at checkout for same-day shipping; and create multiple landing pages for a variety of segments in order to run client-specific marketing campaigns. We also needed to repair myriad other issues on the poorly managed page. 

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I have been struggling to find a good web developer for the past three years, resulting in unending stress and an unacceptable amount of business lost. After speaking with, interviewing, or working with roughly 100 vendors, I knew that I needed an experienced local company that could communicate well. While researching top web developers in Chicago, I came across Millennial Web Development's profile, which featured a solid portfolio and an abundance of positive reviews. I initiated contact and set up a call to discuss the current status of the site and my future goals. They explained how they had accomplished those things in the past and what they could do for me moving forward. I hired them right away and they immediately began improving my site and my happiness in general.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

We began cautiously with some small tweaks, like fixing broken links and changing minor details, to make sure our communication and deliverables were mutually acceptable. They accomplished these tasks almost instantaneously, so we expanded to bigger projects, such as revamping the new client acquisition process. Before we hired Millennial, our entire rental order process was in shambles. The team diligently incorporated every single change we requested and we now have the only website in Chicago capable of receiving rental and medical product orders exclusively online with availability for same-day delivery. The website’s lack of capabilities had also been preventing us from launching a marketing campaign for over a year. Thanks to Millennial’s additional services like SEO consulting, we are on target to launch a campaign in September, and our current and potential progress gives me confidence it will go well.

What was the team composition?

I have been working directly with the company’s founder and senior developer. He has been spectacular as my primary contact, constantly delivering above and beyond my requests ahead of aggressive time estimates. This unparalleled level of communication with a sole individual has really simplified my life.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

A year ago, I was losing sleep over the performance of my then-developers and the website. Now, with Millennial Web Development on my team, I’m wide-awake with excitement at the possibilities of having a developer who can fulfill my every request. I used to avoid telling existing clients that we even had a website; now our platform is the focal point of all of my sales calls and my clients are delighted with it.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Although we began communication by phone, they were receptive to my request to work via email. Their response time is unmatched, every deadline has been met, and I have never had an email unanswered. Here is an example of their fantastic communication: while discussing instance sizes over the phone with Amazon Web Services, I was asked a question I did not know the answer to. I immediately emailed Millennial and received a response before completing two more sentences of my conversation.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They provide what I want: open and honest communication, the ability to produce results in spite of vague direction, and an organized method of delivery that encourages feedback. On the rare occasion a task is outside their wheelhouse, they will notify me rather than try to learn it in haste and bill me for the time. Although my requests are often unclear, they ask me the fundamental questions they need to execute and then request feedback on the progress multiple times before finalizing a change. 

Are there any areas where they can improve?

I wish I had found them sooner!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a staff architect at Weese Langley Weese Architects Ltd. We’re a small architectural firm located in Chicago.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Millennial Web Development?

We needed someone to completely revamp our outdated website.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a complete redesign focused on our project photos. Our architectural firm has four decades of experience that needed to be displayed better.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I found them though various web searches and by reading reviews. We contacted three other local companies and chose them based on their experience, response time, and cost.

Describe the project in detail.

We gave them a carefully selected template, parameters for our layout and navigation, and all our photos, drawings, and text. They first created a sample layout that we tweaked and adjusted to our needs and then went on to build the rest of the site. He created the website in WordPress so we could easily make changes in-house.

What was the team composition?

Jim, the company’s principal, was my single point of contact throughout the process.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everyone in our office, as well as outside sources, are incredibly pleased with the new website.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Millennial successfully managed the project and effectively communicated with our team. If the ball was in my court, they’d remind me, which helped move the project along when I got tied up with other tasks.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Millennial was incredibly responsive and produced a quality product. Jim's persistent pleasantness made him easy to work with. Overall, we didn’t have any issues. He handled all our changes like a professional.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There wasn’t anything during our project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Creative Director of Faraday Bicycles, an electric bike company that sells both direct to customers and to dealers across the United States.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Millennial Web Development?

We hired them to build and customize a new website using WordPress and WooCommerce.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to improve the UX/UI for customers, upgrade the SEO sitemap structure, and add a dealer locator and “bike Builder” feature.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I liked their portfolio. Their websites work fast and have creative details that show they care about the frontend as much as the backend.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

I provided wireframes and Millennial built the website. They improved and optimized my designs for speed and consistency. They imported the settings and content from our former site and went above and beyond making the back end user-friendly for the team to control. I reviewed the site as it was under construction, collecting feedback from our team, our customers, consultants and then Millennial transferred it into upgrades on the website.

What was the team composition?

I had a project manager from Millennial who handled my notes and managed the task workflow among their team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Site speed, SEO scores, organic traffic, and conversion rates all improved significantly as a result of the quality and speed of Millennial’s work.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Project management was superb throughout the process. They responded quickly, communicated clearly, and finished tasks effectively.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They paid attention details on both the frontend and backend. The backend UX design was particularly impressive. I worked with several developers in the past that left a mess for web administrators. They also showed initiative and did not wait around for minor design decisions which made the build easier to manage and faster to launch.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

There's very little I think they can improve upon. It took us a few strategies to figure out the best way to communicate feedback when we have a large volume of tasks, but once we found the current solution the workflow became very efficient.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work for an advertising agency with an in-house production studio where I am the VP of brand development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Millennial Web Development?

We hired Jim (Founder, Millennium Web Development) for a quick rebrand for our in-house production studio.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed a modern website fast. We wanted a website that looked great, was fully responsive, and had a simplified CMS that we could use on our own for future updates.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I worked with Jim before three or four times and it’s always been a great experience. His end products always exceed expectations and he is my go-to developer for projects moving forward.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

We hired Jim to build a single page, responsive WordPress website.

What was the team composition?

We had three creative directors and one designer on our side working with Millennial Web Development’s team, which Jim headed up.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The project was completed quickly. It looks great and is easy to update. Jim always exceeds expectations and the price was fair.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

As a project manager, Jim was a great communicator and always met deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Jim’s great communication and modern design exceeded my expectations.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the head of content at Lime, a smart mobility service offering electric scooter, e-bike, and pedal bike rentals in over 70 markets throughout the U.S. and Europe.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Millennial Web Development?

We've been working with them for all of our frontend website development needs.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to create and maintain a world-class website that was designed to allow visitors quick and easy access information, as well as to download the Lime app.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found Jim (Founder, Millennial Web Development) and his team through a third party platform.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

They've been responsive and easy to work with, helping us realize our functionality needs and design goals. They've made our website intuitive and ensured it funnels visitors to their desired destination without friction.

What was the team composition?

The team is usually composed of five to seven individuals, including a project manager, designers, and department heads who sign-off on the work.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The project is ongoing, but major improvements have been made with regard to its design and functionality. The site now flows seamlessly, new pages and page edits are thoroughly tested before being made live, and schedules are met with minimal back and forth.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Daily conversations with Jim help us stay aligned with our development needs and priorities. We also use tracking sheets to monitor work and sign off on deliverables.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The ease of communication and the thoroughness of their work.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

Perfection is what we strive for, so obviously, there's always room for improvement in every aspect of what we do. As we continue to scale and our website needs continue to grow, we'll be looking to them to scale with us and maintain consistent quality, while pushing faster deadlines.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a senior project manager on the web team at a growing, mid-sized digital marketing firm that specializes in PR, demand generation, branding, and websites for B2B companies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Millennial Web Development?

We continue to use Millennial Web Development for ongoing website requests for one of our retainer clients, and have used them for short-term development projects to support paid marketing campaigns with various demand generation projects.

What were your goals for this project?

Our primary goal was to solidify a relationship with a reliable freelance developer to increase our bandwidth and continue to take on new work when our in-house team is at capacity.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We used Upwork to select a handful of candidates that met our specifications, with an emphasis on flexibility with CMS development and related technologies.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

They manage a variety of web development projects ranging from smaller requests like promotional banners, landing pages, etc., to more complicated integrations with marketing automation software and external blogs.

What was the team composition?

Jim (Founder, Millennial Web Development) has been our primary contact and development resource.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Bringing on Millennial Web Development increased our overall development bandwidth by 20%. So far, they’ve allowed us to execute on two statements of work (SoWs) for existing clients that we would have otherwise had to turn away.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Our project manager gathers requirements and relevant background info and delivers design assets to the Millennial team, which they then execute on. It’s been a successful arrangement thus far.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We’ve really appreciate their reliability and emphasis on open communication. They've turned around work on short notice, and have been open and honest throughout the engagement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the Director of Communications for a Silicon Valley based Marketing Agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Millennial Web Development?

We like using Adobe Illustrator to design our websites, but many developers we used in the past preferred Photoshop and had trouble working with Adobe Illustrator files. We were looking for a new company that was comfortable with Adobe Illustrator to help us do web development for your clients.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Over six months we've worked on 20–30 web development projects with them. One of their first projects was developing a website for a bookkeeping company, using the design we provided. Another project was a website redesign for a large client. We had been working with a different developer on that project, but we were not satisfied. Millennial Web took over, starting from scratch (we provided the design), and got the website up and running within 30 days. They did everything the client needed: set up a payment gateway in our client's QuickBook system, created invoices, and marked them paid. They used HTML and PHP for most of our projects, primarily working with WordPress and CMS.

What is the team composition? 

We mostly work with Jim [Clement, Project Manager and Developer, Millennial Web Development], but he has a team underneath him.

How did you come to work with them?

I found them through Upwork.com.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent over $50,000. It's usually between $5,000–$15,000 per project.

What is the status of this engagement? 

We started working with them in September 2017 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They build websites with the user in mind: they make sure the sites are easy to use so that our clients don't get overwhelmed when they log in. They think through everything, delivering a high-quality product. Our clients are happy with the look and feel of the websites.

How did they perform from a project management standpoint?

They're transparent and always give us accurate timelines. We have developers in-house, so it's a very collaborative environment. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They understand our expectations and communicate clearly, avoiding technical jargon when talking to our clients.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we haven't had any issues with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Explain your needs to them and they'll do their best to meet them, staying within your budget. If you work collaboratively with them, they'll give you different options for advanced technical features.