Neuron

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the original founders of Marvel Optics, an online retailer of affordable prescription eyewear.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Neuron?

We were looking to migrate our outdated web platform to a WordPress site with improved functionalities. We wanted to redesign the frontend of the site for a full rebrand.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Starting from a new logo and color scheme, Neuron was responsible for redesigning over 20 site pages. Apart from page-specific designs, they executed the graphics, typeface, and icons that span across the website.

They also reorganized the layout of our product pages. They took a mobile-first approach, so they implemented the mobile layouts first and kept UI/UX across all devices in mind. The team also streamlined the checkout process so users can reorder products quickly.

What is the team composition?

We frequently interfaced with Chris (Co-Founder, Neuron) and Lucia (Senior UX Designer, Neuron) but we know that there were a couple of developers working behind the scenes.

How did you come to work with Neuron?

If I recall correctly, we found them on Clutch. We were looking for an affordable company and shortlisted three; we eventually decided to go with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent somewhere between $25,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2019 until May of the same year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One of our goals was to increase our average order value—the average amount of products that a customer will purchase from us—and thanks to Neuron’s work, we saw that number double from $75 to $150.  

All of our repeat customers, including our corporate clients, have given great feedback about the usability of the new site. It’s much more intuitive and user-friendly than our previous platform.

How did Neuron perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was excellent. When there was something I needed to change, they were on it right away. They definitely have a sense of ownership of the project beyond the strict scope of the engagement. They showed commitment to making sure that everything worked out well for us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their responsiveness and communication skills are stellar. I was also impressed by their genuine investment in our success. They didn’t bill us for every hour but instead went out of their way to make sure that everything was going well, even post-project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

While they took a mobile-first approach where the site was created for mobile then translated over for desktop use, some of the pages displayed awkwardly on a PC screen. It would’ve been nice to see beforehand what the layouts would look like, on the desktop side. This wasn’t the case for all the important pages, but a few of the more minor ones.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear about your goals and requirements. Once you communicate what you’re trying to achieve, they take ownership of the project. Let them drive the creative process because they truly know what they’re doing.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the IT director for the City of Everett, Massachusetts.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Neuron?

We needed to revamp the look and functionality of our website. Ours was template-based, without a lot of original work, and we wanted to update it to retain users and increase engagement. 

Our main priority was shifting from a department-oriented site to a task-oriented site, so people could come to it with something specific in mind and accomplish their goals quickly and easily.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Neuron focused more on the design work than on coding, as we’re using WordPress as our CMS. The team decided how the pages would be organized and what the interface of each would be. They focused on keeping a unified look throughout.

The team has passed along final deliverables, so now we’re in the implementation stage. Neuron will monitor the conversion and follow up with any of the minor changes or tweaks we want to make before the website officially launches.

What is the team composition?

I directly interact with three people, but there are more on the team. Mark (Co-Founder & Director of Strategy, Neuron) was the leader on the project. Natalie (UX Designer, Neuron) was usually in on the weekly calls as well.

How did you come to work with Neuron?

One of my colleagues within the city had worked with Neuron on a project in the past. I really liked the samples of their work that I’d seen and felt they fit really well with our organization and goals.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $90,000 with Neuron.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2019 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have any metrics because the site hasn’t gone live yet, but we did do some preliminary testing that impressed us and gave us confidence moving forward. 

Since one of our primary goals was to improve workflow and navigation on the website, the team at Neuron came up with a test involving different test groups to analyze how long different tasks took to accomplish on the site. 

Their findings confirmed that for almost every task and group, users could easily find the information they need. The numbers we saw were a significant improvement from our old site, thanks to the design and organization efforts from Neuron. 

How did Neuron perform from a project management standpoint?

Neuron’s project management style is excellent. Dealing with the different requirements across departments was difficult, but Neuron handled the challenge really well. 

The team was very patient, often facing waiting periods of two weeks after requesting information from departments. 

We had a weekly call during the design phase of the project, and the team was always focused and ready to answer questions about the project as well as their progress and workflow. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Neuron didn’t start the engagement with ideas that they tried to guide us to. Instead, they listened to us and did their best to incorporate our vision. The team managed to come up with a unified final product that represented us well.

Also, we have a lot of third-party solutions in place for things like permits and parking tickets. Neuron collaborated with us really strongly in coming up with a solution to deal with those third-party platforms but retain the unity of the site. That was especially important to us, as it was one of our main concerns going into the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing that stands out to me. During the entire process, I was never frustrated with the team or their services. Working with Neuron was a seamless experience. It felt like they were working as part of our own team. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

While this is specific to organizations that are dealing with multiple departments with their own specific goals and needs, my advice is to collect as much information from all actors beforehand. 

If we’d had more prep work done before we started, we could’ve been a little more focused throughout the project and new ideas would’ve integrated more smoothly. 

That being said, Neuron did a wonderful job handling those difficulties.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for an investment firm that purchases e-commerce companies and runs them. I’m the CEO of Cards for Causes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Neuron?

Our previous design agency failed to redesign our website to our standards. Neuron was brought on to take their place.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

To start, we switched from a no-name e-commerce company to BigCommerce. With that, we lost some functionality, but that’s standard in the industry. It was important that we were able to freshen up the site and put a new spin on it.

Once they got a chance to know our business, they got to work. In the end, they presented exactly what we asked them for. We made a few revisions here and there for minor issues. They wrapped up the project but will stay on board to tweak other aspects of the site.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with Chris (Director, Neuron) and one of the chief designers. There were also developers working in the background. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $20,000–$30,000 on this project. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August 2019, and our team plans to collaborate with them in 2020 to tweak the design even more. This particular project wrapped up in November 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They worked closely with us to craft a site that was 100% better than it was before. Their responsiveness level was really important to us. They were willing to utilize a Slack channel and speak directly with each other about progress. 

How did Neuron perform from a project management standpoint?

I appreciated having a single point of contact that really understood what was going on across all parts of the project. Internally, they used Jira to organize the project. They didn’t have to expose that to us, because I didn’t want that level of detail. I was satisfied knowing that they were fixing problems as they popped up.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They always responded to us quickly, honestly, and at reasonable prices. I’m very impressed with their business, so they deserve credit where credit is due. Their price and responsiveness were the two most impressive things about them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing’s coming to mind at the moment. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

In general, it’s important to internalize your scope before reaching out for their help. They’re going to ask you scope-related questions early on, so you need to know exactly what you need to get things right the first time. Once you get them to know your business, they’ll do wonders for you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the Chief Creative Officer for a hybrid technology and creative agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Neuron?

We were updating our marketing website, and we needed a design and development team to execute changes quickly.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Neuron ran through several iterations with us and then built new web pages for our site. Together, we developed a plan to communicate what we do and our core products in a clean and professional way. They re-envisioned our product pages while following our existing brand guidelines and maintaining the look and feel of our site.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a designer who was in charge of the project, one principal, and a developer. While the site of our team was relatively small, they drew on other resources on their team to make everything happen.

How did you come to work with Neuron?

I knew one of the principals through a mutual friend. We were looking at a few different agencies, but Neuron was the right fit for what we were doing.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from February–June 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They elevated our platform and reorganized our pages to communicate what we did in a really impactful way. With their help, we were able to change the way our clients see us and steer the conversation the way we want.

Most importantly, Neuron delivered everything on time and on budget.

How did Neuron perform from a project management standpoint?

They did a stellar job managing everything. They kept things on the timeline and held us accountable. They completely understood what we needed them to do and everything was well documented. In this regard, their creative team really shined. They are definitely a cut above competitors.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Project management really is their strength. They’re able to move the project forward in a really helpful way.

They’re also great people to work with—they’re smart and great with ideation.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Everything they delivered for us was great, but I wish we could have utilized their UX background more.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Bring in Neuron early to help guide the process. They can help organize your thought process and find actionable ways to move the project forward when things aren’t clearly defined. They have some really smart ideas.

You will also want to dedicate time to the project because they work very quickly.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of AppFusions. We’re a digital transformation, experiences, and integrated solutions company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Neuron?

We hired Neuron to help us prepare for a large Fortune 100 demo. We needed help creating polished, clean, and top of the market templates.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Neuron provided digital experience, web design, and layout work. They learned about the product quickly to help create the feature’s look and feel. Their team designed templates for a new feature we were adding to our platform. We took the templates and codified them into the product. They also provided a summary document of the use case with little background knowledge.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two people One person had to leave mid-project, which didn’t impact the project negatively.

How did you come to work with Neuron?

Neuron reached out to me at the right time. There was pressure for this demo to be a winner and we had a weakness internally in terms of higher-end design, so I tried them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2019, and we’re still in touch. While the product’s at a new level, there’s an open door to bring Neuron back once we take on some larger engagements.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They brought unique ideas that we didn’t consider, which was the whole point. Neuron turned products around quickly. We gave them specific requirements. Their team figured the assignments out and got results quickly. We did that for a few rounds.

How did Neuron perform from a project management standpoint?

Neuron went above and beyond. They were proactive and self-run, so we didn’t have to manage them at all. Their communication was top tier, making the distance disappear.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Neuron was able to come up to speed quickly. The ability to grab a project, understand its vision, and be productive quickly is only done by people with a lot of experience.

Are there any areas they could improve?

At this stage, I don’t have any corrective measures. Neuron was terrific.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Give short deliverables upfront and trust them. When I hired them, I was specific about the outcomes and had a demo date out a month and a half later. We tried to make the calendar to make sure different milestones were going to happen in between.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Precision Wellness, a company that stands at the confluence of health and nutrition.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Neuron?

We hired Neuron while we were an early-stage startup company. Our team needed someone to build out a vision of what our product would look like. At this time, we had no internal resources in UI/UX. We had crude visual concepts, so we needed a partner to refine the design and form something tangible.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

At the time, we had just acquired a company and were blending the two visions into one. We had a fragmented and dated messaging platform, and we needed to revise that. The next step was establishing a new messaging platform for the company. We needed to ensure it had a competitive map and landscape. After that, we developed a buyer persona and the scope of what the product is trying to solve. They helped us showcase the product’s unique position for the investment community through UX design and branding.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Mark (Director of Strategy, Neuron) as our main point of contact. The other partners in the company also worked with us. The people that we interviewed worked on the project with us, which was great.

How did you come to work with Neuron?

They reached out to us. After researching them and looking at other agencies, we ended up choosing them because we liked them the most. They had a very distinct portfolio and a nimble team. Importantly, Neuron was willing to take a chance on a startup.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working in March 2019 and the project is active. We’re still developing our health and nutrition products.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Users and customers have given extremely favorable reviews of our new branding and design. We’ve received some funding for the project as a result.

How did Neuron perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very specific about the deliverables and scheduling from the beginning. We built out the schedule in reverse, giving specific deadlines we needed. They know their process well; their project management forced us to finalize our requirements for the product.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re motivated, creative, and agile. Their team produces high-quality work and doesn’t cut corners. They want to be successful and hold themselves to a high standard of excellence.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s hard for me to say. They performed exceptionally well; anything that they could’ve done better mostly came from our end.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you’re ready to have your own house in order. You need to be very clear about what you want.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of In the Know, a small company that started about a year ago. We teach Chinese immigrants conversational English.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Neuron?

We hired Neuron to help with the iOS development for our platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

After we ran a blog to test our content and seeing that 70% of our followers have iPhones, we decided to create the app with Neuron for iOS first. An Android version should be in future plans. We gave their team an Adobe XD mock-up with a basic interface, but they had to fill in a lot of blanks.

Our app teaches Chinese immigrants conversational English. We have to protect our users, so there could be no pictures, names, or any identifying information. It’s more of a cultural issue, and Neuron understood. They created an environment for this specific reason so that our users feel safer about asking questions and with interactions in general. Their team also helped with brand logo colors and graphics. While we gave them some colors to start in our mock-up, the final colors and compositions, as well as the logo, were all their work.

Matt (Senior UX Designer, Neuron) came up with a lot of the sequence, finding the music and video clips for the short video. I gave him Chinese translations, sentence by sentence, which he then fit into the video.

Additionally, as it is a requirement for the App Store, they created an explainer video and marketing website to prepare for the product launch. It was also an opportunity for us to advertise our product. We gave them information about what we wanted potential users to know about the app, and then they provided suggestions before tackling all the text and graphics.

What is the team composition?

Matt was my main point of contact, but I also worked with Mark (Senior UX/UI Designer, Neuron). Chris (Senior UX Designer, Neuron) was involved in choosing some of the third-party software for our API.

How did you come to work with Neuron?

I was briefly at a meetup, and during the ten minutes I was there, I talked to Matt and added him on LinkedIn. About a month later, I approached him, and the engagement started from there.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve invested between $70,000–$80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Neuron on this project from October 2018–May 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We couldn’t have done this without Neuron. Neuron tried to understand where we were coming from culturally and made the app even better than we thought it would be. Matt could’ve fooled me that he doesn’t understand a word of Chinese. We planned on launching the app this past March or April, but unfortunately, we ran into some approval issues by the App Store. Matt helped us tremendously in getting over that hurdle. Overall, their professional team addressed problems in a timely manner.

The app just launched, so there hasn’t been a lot of traffic yet. I received both Chinese and English versions of the explainer video. Potential investors and partners were pleased. The fact that we have a one-minute video that tells the story for us cuts down time tremendously when having to explain our product. It’s been extremely helpful, and everything was on point.

How did Neuron perform from a project management standpoint?

I enjoyed working with Matt and Mark because of their responsiveness when answering emails. They promptly answered any of my questions in any format. We used Skype, email, and Zoom to communicate. During our engagement, I was mostly in Beijing, so there was a time difference. In addition, there are several software platforms not acceptable for use in China. Having to switch between software a lot made things difficult. We met online once a week, and they were always accommodating when we had to change times. Because of the time difference, they had to stay up late for me.

What did you find most impressive about them?

When we saw the end product, we were amazed. The fact that Matt understood what we’re talking about without having learned the language is pretty fantastic.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have a bad thing to say about Neuron. When I saw Matt in person, I told him that they were too nice. Communication could be more efficient in the sense that we worked together for so long, and they could be more direct with me.

I definitely hope to work with Neuron on our Android version and hope that both of us can be more direct and straightforward. This could improve efficiency within the process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of a digital health company that acts as a real-time analytics platform, taking data from patients. We focus on patient-generated health data through mobile-connected health biometrics and then the predictive analytics behind that. Our services assist healthcare providers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Neuron?

We’ve worked with Neuron on various small engagements. For this project, we needed a company that would help us figure out an initial brand guide, which included a brand name and color palette. The branding guide needed to match our target market and services. They also needed to assist with our UX/UI on the mobile side of the platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Along with coming up with our entire brand guide, their team also helped with logo design. For the UX portion of the project, I provided Neuron with feature function descriptions, workflows, and personas. I also relayed what our intent and goals were behind the usability of the app. Their team took all of that information and created wireframes and screens during that process.

What is the team composition?

Ryan (Senior UX Designer & Partner, Neuron) was my primary point of contact. Along with their core team, I also interfaced with Chris (Senior UX Designer, Neuron) and Matt (Senior UX Designer & Partner, Neuron). I worked closely with the founder & director as well.

How did you come to work with Neuron?

They were referred to me.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started this project with Neuron in September 2017, and it wrapped up July 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Motorola adopted one of our white-label apps. Feedback regarding the UX has been phenomenal. We plan on working with Neuron again this summer.

How did Neuron perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management style was excellent. Their team is communicative and organized. The founder was closely involved in the branding process, assisting with messaging, naming, and logo design. Along with weekly video meetings, we communicate using email and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their founders aren’t only knowledgable in graphic design and technical aspects. They have degrees and other experience in topics like architecture. I find that very compelling. The same attention to detail needed in architecture is evident in their work output as designers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have anything. Everything I asked for, Neuron delivered.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be involved and candid in the process. Neuron is a great team that knows what they’re doing. Utilize them and stay involved. You’ll get more than what you signed up for.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work in venture capital with Altpoint Ventures, which is part of a bigger investment firm, Altpoint Capital. Our firm is also involved in private equity and hedge funds.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Neuron?

We needed a vendor to assist one of our portfolio companies with web development, promo videos, and related work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created a promo video to promote an app for our portfolio company, a modeling agency. After we approved their storyboards, they made the video and invited actors for voiceovers.

They also did full-stack development of a fitness app with responsive web and iOS versions. The app functions as a portal for fitness videos, allowing users to upload their own recordings, which other users can view. We received wireframes on a daily basis in order to make corrections on them, and they gave us monthly builds after that.

They built the web version as a wrapper that could run as an app, while the iOS version was coded in Swift. They created login screens, a paywall, and music layovers, including support for Apple Music and Spotify.

What is the team composition?

Soudy (Co-Founder and Senior Advisor, Neuron) worked as the product manager, and Chris (Senior UX Designer and Strategist, Neuron) later helped him with UI/UX. We worked with another team member for technical development. A couple of our internal team members helped on this project, controlling the code and doing QA.

How did you come to work with Neuron?

Soudy was on the board of a UX news and blog website that I liked. One reason we ended up choosing Neuron was their quick response to our request for a proposal. We met for 60–90 minutes to explain what we wanted, and they had a proposal to us the next day.

How much have you invested with them?

Overall, around $100,000. The video was around $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in September 2016 and the engagement concluded in January 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We presented the project to some stakeholders, who gave us positive feedback. The app did not perform as well as expected, but that was because of our internal strategy. We’re currently looking to sell the app. We were satisfied with the functionality and reliability of their deliverables, and we contracted with them for other projects. They worked on a second version of the fitness website and app, based on ongoing strategy work.

How did Neuron perform from a project management standpoint?

Soudy and Chris were both effective communicators. They gave us fair estimates for budgeting and scheduling and exceeded both projections only slightly. Our internal team posted everything to Jira and we used that to track the project with Neuron.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were impressed that there were no major errors in the budget or timeline.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I think Neuron underestimated the cost of the project, but they wanted to honor the budget they promised. I’d recommend that clients be careful about the budget for that reason: it can break at some point. Clients should plan thoroughly and keep some reserve funding.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the co-founder and CTO of Oomnitza, which is an IT asset management platform. We assist companies with managing devices that help their business run: laptops, desktops, servers, and some non-traditional connected devices.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Neuron?

We had our product in the market for a few years and we were looking to take our user interface and UX to the next level. We also wanted to do a complete overhaul of our website and position ourselves a little bit stronger in our industry. We needed a vendor to help us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a number of meetings where we discussed our brand guidelines and the message we were trying to convey to our audience. After making sure they fully understand our needs, Neuron helped us redesign our website and our web application. Our website had only three pages, so they added more sections and structure. They also made the website mobile responsive.

We knew we needed to address some UI/UX issues with our web application, but Neuron took that to the next level and proposed a new wireframe that would make things more modern and responsive. They also provided valuable recommendations on how we could improve our website and our application. After that, our in-house team implemented those changes.

What is the team composition?

We mostly worked with a project manager and a designer.

How did you come to work with Neuron?

Our CEO found them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $25,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them between October–December 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our new website is live and we saw a substantial increase in traffic. The general feedback has been very positive and the engagement on the mobile front is on the rise.

How did Neuron perform from a project management standpoint?

They met all of our expectations and even sent us a 400-page document that contained everything we had discussed and the changes they had proposed. We mostly used email to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We had a very positive experience. We'd be happy to work with them again.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure they have the resources and the time to go through the whole process with you. They understood our brand and our messaging very well, which made the process very effective.