Nessa

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at Pari Passu Venture Partners, a syndicate that invests in early-stage technology.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nessa?

We hired Nessa to create the UI/UX design of an investment app that would allow users to easily discover new deal opportunities, make investments, and track their portfolios.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We first held a discovery phase, during which we defined the scope of the project in bullet points and what functionalities we wanted to have on the app. We also discussed quite a bit about what components made sense to include in the first version versus future versions. From there, Nessa proceeded with the work, creating the UI/UX design based on our specifications. We also shared with them our existing website, which they used as a basis for the color scheme.

We’ve already completed the first version of our app and are currently in discussions with their team about creating a second version and doing other projects.

What is the team composition?

We mainly work with three people from their company, including the founder and a designer.

How did you come to work with Nessa?

We found out about them through a recommendation.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Nessa in August 2022, and our engagement is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Nessa is wonderful to work with — they are very organized, knowledgeable in the space that we’re in, and helpful in narrowing down our key priorities for the MVP. Overall, they’re one of the best agencies we’ve ever worked with.

How did Nessa perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management and communication skills are superb. They’re easy to work with, punctual, and transparent. It’s also easy to approach them whenever we have a question or a request.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Nessa has done an incredible job from a design standpoint, providing us with unique and innovative designs that are rooted in research, not just aesthetics. We’ve also enjoyed working with their team; they feel like a true partner.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything that Nessa could improve on.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a SaaS social impact platform for retailers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nessa?

We needed to offset our resources and expedite the development timelines of our merchant management portal. This would enable merchants to self-manage their programming. As a result, we needed additional resources and strategy around development. We hired Nessa for that.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Nessa fully integrated into our team and joined our normal sprint schedules, scoping sessions, and development cycles. We migrated the product from Angular to React. The team also guided us on the design of the product. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with three people from Nessa. 

How did you come to work with Nessa?

We found Nessa through the Slack community. I chatted with Slack for resources and got connected with them. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from June–December 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

With Nessa’s resources, we were able to progress ahead of our deadline; we wouldn’t be able to do that without them. Their code quality was great and met our standards.

How did Nessa perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated virtually through Slack, Jira, and daily stand-ups. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their product knowledge and approach to product engineering had a lot of value for our engagement. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We experienced some team changes early on, but they quickly addressed them.  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and CEO of a software development company called Pack Digital. We cater to the e-commerce space, and our platform enables brands to communicate with their customers and help them shop faster online.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nessa?

We hired them to help us figure out the UI/UX design of our platform and the voice of our company.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Nessa helped us design the UI/UX of our platform and provided development support. They used Figma to create designs.

What is the team composition?

We worked with four people from their company: Humayun (Founder & CEO), a project manager, and two product designers.

How did you come to work with Nessa?

It was through a recommendation.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together on this project from January–July 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our teammates, customers, and partners had nothing but positive feedback about our platform's new design. Overall, we had a great experience working with Nessa.

How did Nessa perform from a project management standpoint?

They met deadlines, stayed within budget, and kept the project on track throughout. For managing tasks, we used Asana. For communication, we used email and Loom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team was buttoned up and very professional, and they went above and beyond to meet our needs.

Are there any areas they could improve on?

I can’t think of anything. It was a pleasure working with them, and we definitely plan to work with them on future projects.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate your needs and goals very thoroughly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Co-founder and Co-CEO of an online clothing retailer creating an equal world by investing 20% of our sales in gender equality advancement.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Nessa, and what were your goals?

We are start up launching our brand and our only point of sales would be e-commerce. We contacted Nessa to develop our Shopify e-commerce site since we wanted a seamless e-commerce retail experience for our costumers while explaining our brand's story and essence throughout the shopping experience.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

A colleague recommended working with Nessa. After reviewing their past projects and e-commerce experience, especially with Shopify, we decided to go with them. A crucial factor in our decision was their consulting capabilities, since we wanted a partner who could guide us through the e-commerce world and not just a design/developer provider.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We had a kick off session to understand the project goals and the brand. The team created brand guidelines, e-commerce strategy document, site map. We then reviewed the site woreframes and after approval saw design. We then worked on the content requirements and they developed our new Shopify plus site.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

CEO Account Lead Project manager Creative Design Lead UX Designer Back end developer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We have a very seamless shopping experience in the site. Customer feedback says is easy to navigate and easy to shop.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We had weekly status with the team where we saw and reviewed deliverables and other important agreements. We had a project calendar with milestones and deliverables and was always discussed ahead of time if there were to be delays or changes. We used drive for all document sharing and Invision for wireframes and design.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They have a lot of experience building e-commerce sites and are a great partner taking you through te experience, recommending best practices and helping you understand everything that you need to think about t deliver a great experience to your customer throughout the whole e-commerce experience, not just the site.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Looking back, I think we should have started with something a bit smaller and scale once the business began growing.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-CEO / co-founder of Stantt, which is a unique made-to-order menswear brand based in NYC.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Nessa, and what were your goals?

We needed an agency who was both nimble and an expert in Shopify. Moreover, we needed an agency with the tech chops to understand our complex codebase, as everything we sell is built to order in real-time by the customer.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We interviewed a range of agencies, and Nessa rose to the top with their skillsets and prior project/client history.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We've completed a series of complex projects with Nessa across the Shopify platform.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We've generally worked directly with the owner, project manager, and one of the devs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Nearly all deliverables are completed on time.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We use Asana for tracking and communication plus weekly touchbases with our project manager.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Nimbleness

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Hiring a project manager earlier in our partnership!