Nika Agency

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director of an IT firm that designs and manufactures human-machine interface solutions. Currently, we’re working with Force Touch technology. Because we’re a startup, I have several responsibilities in my core role—business, account, and product management.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nika Digital Agency?

Nika Digital Agency built our original website several years ago. We decided it was time to update the platform because it no longer provided our customers with relevant information about our company or our products.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team upgraded our website with a fresh design and added additional features to increase user engagement. Nika Digital Agency integrated a call to action function that prompts users to view our development kits or continue browsing. With this information, we’re able to gather relevant data about the people interested in our projects.

Nika Digital Agency also added multiple pages to our website with interactive visual elements. There are a series of images for each solution that customers can swipe through, giving a well-rounded view of our products and the value of using them. They also implemented the swiping feature on our homepage.

What is the team composition?

The program manager handled my day-to-day needs and managed two teams of designers—one offshore one in-house. I also interacted with a representative from their internal design team.

How did you come to work with Nika Digital Agency?

Because they built the original site, we considered them for our redesign initiative. We asked them for a quote, and they offered a very competitive bid. Nika Digital Agency’s website also contributed to our decision. They used a swiping feature to illustrate and advertise their services, which caught our attention. We could upload an image of an old-looking product then swipe across the image to see it reimagined with modern technology. We thought this very clever and had them implement swiping functions in our website, as well.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $10,000 on the redesign.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on this project from May 2018–August 2018. Soon after, we started a digital marketing campaign.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Nika Digital Agency delivered fantastic work at a very competitive price. We’re completely satisfied with their services, and we’ve experienced a high return on our investment. Our web traffic has increased slightly, but the quality of the visitors is the most significant improvement. Notable, globally recognized companies are visiting our website, interacting with our interface, and showing interest in our products. Our business grew after launching the new site, and we’re looking forward to the results of our digital marketing efforts.

How did Nika Digital Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall, the team was professional, diligent, and collaborative. We’re a very picky group, so we requested multiple edits. Nika Digital Agency willingly submitted iteration over iteration until we were happy. The project went over schedule by about 30%, but considering the amount of work we asked of them, we’re happy with the turnaround rate. We take part of the responsibility for the missed deadline.

In terms of communication, we used email and had weekly in-person meetings. My team would visit their office for brainstorming sessions and discuss our progress and any next steps. Those interactions were primarily with the program manager and the in-house designer. We shared information via Google Docs so both sides could make changes and comments in real time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could be more attentive regarding grammar and punctuation. We’d find inconsistencies in the work they’d already submitted. It would’ve been nice if I didn’t have to worry about these small details, and I could trust Nika Digital Agency to catch the errors on their own.

Any advice for potential customers?

Clients should provide written descriptions and clear examples of what they want as early as possible. Also, I recommend using Google Docs to collaborate with the Nika Digital Agency team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a marketing analyst at a gift card company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nika Digital Agency?

Our main website hadn't been updated in over 10 years, so we were looking for a vendor that could help us modernize the design and improve its overall functionality. Since the website isn't the company's main driver of revenue, it had been put off for a long time, but we were looking to update it in order to improve our reputation online as a reliable, reputable brand.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Nika incorporated a WordPress site onto our ColdFusion e-commerce site, allowing our team to make edits to the site without having to go through a third party. They helped source a graphic designer, so we could incorporate unique illustrations, as well as a vendor to assist with the integration of WordPress and ColdFusion. They also added a customer review tool to the site, allowing us to capture reviews and ratings.

What is the team composition?

I mostly worked with Ali (Founder and Creative Director, Nika Digital Agency), who put together initial meetings and helped kick off the project, as well as a developer who was more involved with designing the website.

How did you come to work with Nika Digital Agency?

Our third-party SEO/SEM provider mentioned them to us, so we reached out to them to start discussing a proposal and pricing.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested about $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working on the project with their team in November 2017 and launched the site in July 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Nika did a great job of achieving our main goals with the website, giving it a modern look and feel that screams innovation. They created a responsive, mobile-friendly, clean design without disrupting our e-commerce workflow. They've also helped us streamline many of the pages to make it more navigable overall. Customer experience ratings are around 4.4 out of five stars, which has been hugely beneficial for our marketing department. Thanks to their improvements, our internal team is able to proactively and quickly update site content and artwork as needed.

How did Nika Digital Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team is proactive about finding solutions and being receptive to our needs, but there were times when they could have been more responsive. Meetings were very quick and most of our communication was by phone and email or video conferences as needed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I'm most impressed by their problem solving capabilities; they're able to understand unique systems that they've probably never come across before, and figure out how to manipulate them to find the best solutions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I felt that I was driving the momentum of the project more than they were, so I think they can make some improvements in their approach to project management. They could also be more consistent in communications and reach out a little bit more to ensure everything's on track.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clearly outlining our goals before building the website helped us drive the project to its final destination. I suggest outlining the top four or five priorities to focus on throughout development to help keep the team on track. I'd also suggest going over your preferred methods of communication to avoid any confusion from bouncing around from different methods of communication. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the external relations director for the Northern California Innocence Project (NCIP), a nonprofit associated with Santa Clara University. I oversee much of our marketing, communications, PR, fundraising, and partnership development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nika Digital?

We wanted to redesign our website, branding it as both a standalone and complement organization to the University. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Working alongside a marketing lead from the Unviersity, Nika's team helped develop the branding and new look of the website for the NCIP so that it complemented the University's brand. I provided them with some rough ideas of how I wanted the website to flow and they developed it on WordPress from there.

What is the team composition?

We initially worked with Ali (CEO and Director of Technology, Nika Digital), and then started working with a designer and Lubov (Web Developer, Nika Digital).

How did you come to work with Nika Digital?

The University had worked with them on another project in the past, so they recommended them to us.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in March 2018 and the website just launched (in July).

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The site Nika created is very unique and captures our story well—we're very impressed. We've received a tremendous amount of positive feedback on the quality and look and feel of the new site, including from the network director of the NCIP.

How did Nika Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team was open to feedback and very communicative throughout the process. The back and forth discussions went smoothly, as they presented different design options and suggestions throughout the design and development process. We mostly stayed in touch through email and shared any necessary documents through Dropbox or Google Drive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They took the time to learn our story, read through all of our materials, and listen closely to what we were trying to do. They were incredibly creative in translating our ideas into designs and captured our message very effectively.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open to their creativity and don't be afraid to provide any feedback. If you're unsure where to start, they can provide endless possibilities, but it's ultimately up to the client to communicate a vision from the start if possible.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing and communications coordinator for a clinical research company. We partner with different organizations and sponsors to research medical options for patients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nika Digital Agency?

We’re known in our industry as experts that produce high-quality work. Therefore, we wanted our website to reflect that. At the time, its current iteration wasn’t doing much to demonstrate our core values. We needed a service provider to redesign the site.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Communicating what services we can provide as a clinical research organization (CRO) was our greatest challenge. After discussing our options with Nika Digital Agency, we decided to scratch everything we had and create an entirely new website. They did a great job of giving us multiple design options and internalizing our feedback.

Nika Digital Agency understood our brand and was able to organize the site in a way that’s easy for audiences to understand. This effort included making our press releases readily accessible on the home page. They also accessed our social media marketing efforts and helped make the content more approachable.

Despite the project being complete, they’ve made themselves available to assist us with any minor changes. If there’s anything we need to add or edit, they’re open to supporting us and maintaining the small details. I’ve gone back to them with things I forgot to include in the original project scope and they’ve been gracious enough to help me. They even provided a training tutorial after the website launched, so I could learn how to maintain it myself.

What is the team composition?

Kenneth (Digital Marketing Manager, Nika Digital Agency) was my primary point of contact. We also worked closely with a brand manager and one other resource.

How did you come to work with Nika Digital Agency?

My first experience with Nika Digital Agency occurred when I worked at a nonprofit. They performed excellently, so I suggested we hire them for this project. Our team was excited to work with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

This project took place from March–June 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Nika Digital Agency’s work quickly influenced our company. The website reflects our statistics regarding retention rate, repeat business, and industry experience. Overall, it accurately communicates our identity as a company. As a result, the site experienced significantly more traffic within a week of its launch. User engagement increased and our competitors even contacted us about the change. The new volume of web traffic has generally remained consistent since the engagement concluded.

How did Nika Digital Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

The whole team is extremely helpful and willing to share their expertise. They were flexible and communicated efficiently across a large team. Kenneth often reminded us when we had to turn in something or when content was due. He’s always available to field our questions. Also, their brand manager was amazing at explaining what we could do to better illustrate our brand. It was cool to see how their team played off of each other’s strengths and worked as a cohesive unit.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Creativity and flexibility are their most impressive attributes. I’d definitely work with them again. They customize their communication style and design approach based on what their clients need.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the Head of Marketing for Electric Imp, an IoT connectivity platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nika Digital Agency?

We needed our look and feel to be more professional.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, they took us through branding exercises to determine how we wanted the company to be represented. They created a beautiful logo and style guides that we could follow, and helped us build all the collateral materials that we needed.

They then worked on developing a brand-new website. We’d been driving down a certain road with our specific website—and they’d done great animations and really beautiful work—but it focused on a specific customer segment. Right before we were ready to launch the site, we decided to take it in a different direction. The website used WordPress, JTML, Java, and CSS.

What is the team composition?

Ali (CEO & Director of Technology, Nika Digital Agency) was our primary contact. Ayman (Managing Partner & Creative Director, Nika Digital Agency) was the designer for our website. Ayman came in with a lot of the creative ideas and Ali was overseeing the overall project for the web design. He had a number of developers and designers working on our website, but I didn’t have direct communication with them.

How did you come to work with Nika Digital Agency?

I adopted them when I came on board. Our company did a design analysis to determine who we felt would be the best design house for us. There were six or seven design firms they looked at. They felt Nika Digital Agency really understood our objectives and what we wanted to do.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from August 2017 until June 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We saw a 20% increase in web visits and the time spent on our webpages since the redesign, so we’ve been very happy. We had our QA team walk through everything and make sure that the site was rock solid and—for the most part—it was. We were able to make the small fixes we needed to before we launched.

How did Nika Digital Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very flexible during the website rollout and handled the design-by-committee process very well. They understood what needed to get done, and we kept a rolling calendar that detailed when things needed to be done. We used Google Docs to keep track of any changed we needed and they’d let us know when they were resolved. They were easy and wonderful to work with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The designer we worked with came with a lot of creative ideas and their customer service definitely stood out. A lot of companies will nickel and dime you for changes, but they just included it in their overall work. They were incredibly flexible in working with us to change the site’s direction and making sure that everything was tied off and functioned correctly. After we launched the site, they included a month of service in the overall cost as well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear on your objectives. When we started the web project, we weren’t as clear as we could have been. There was a bit of back and forth initially, but it wasn’t Nika Digital Agency’s fault. It was our fault for not defining what we were looking for and what we wanted out of the website.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm an account/program manager at a contract manufacturer that builds capital equipment.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nikalabs?

We needed to update the look and feel of our site to keep up with our growing company, attract new employees, and keep our investors satisfied.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had an introductory meeting to brainstorm and get to know the company. They were open to our ideas, and worked closely with our department to create a very successful site. They worked primarily on developing the site, with only a few suggestions on the design aspects. There was an original site in place, but we decided to start from scratch. They used a combination of WordPress and custom HTML to create the new site, which includes video backgrounds, improved menu functionality, animations, and cleaner overall UX/UI.

What is the team dynamic?

There were three team members in total, including our project manager.

How did you come to work with Nikalabs?

I found them on Yelp, and decided to work with them after our first meeting. They showed a comprehensive understanding of our goals for the project, and made clear that they could meet our requirements.

How much have you invested with them?

Just under $11,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August of 2017, and they completed the site on the first week of November. We're still waiting on final feedback from our CEO, and they will make final changes based on that. We plan to work with them on future updates to the site as well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're just starting to collect that data, and initial feedback looks great. We were at about 200 site visits per month, and since implementing the changes we made with Nikalabs, that number has started to increase. We will continue to gather metrics on SEO tracking and other site data over the next few months.

How did Nikalabs perform from a project management standpoint?

They're an active team, and managed the project very well. The deadlines around the final project were pushed back, but the delays were largely due to waiting for customer feedback. Throughout the course of the project, they communicated with us primarily via phone and email, and used Google Docs and occasionally Dropbox to share content. They also used Invision to show us initial plans for the site.

At one point during the project our CEO wanted a specific deliverable completed for a company-wide meeting, and Nikalabs initially said it would take 3 weeks. The meeting was happening in a week, and at my request, Nikalabs was able to finish it in time. My experience was that if you set a deadline for them, they could almost always meet it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their willingness to work with us was very helpful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, none that I can think of.

Advice for potential customers?

Give them an idea of what you want to do, give them a lot of feedback, and clearly establish what you want your site to accomplish. They can of fill in the blanks if you give them brand guidelines and a general idea of what you want.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the co-founder and chief technology officer of a managed service provider in the San Jose and San Francisco Bay areas. We provide IT solutions for the healthcare industry, including HIPAA compliance, security, backup and disaster recovery, Cloud solutions, and supporting third-party applications such as EMR and EHR.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nikalabs Digital Agency?

We wanted to achieve better brand recognition by redesigning our website and improving our unique selling proposition and SEO rankings.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We conducted a few rounds of initial meetings to outline the project and compare the design aspects of our competitors. They also provided questionnaire forms to determine our needs. We decided on a simple web layout after a lot of back and forth, as my own research proved that a simple, holistic site was best for converting visitors into leads.

I chose a new logo design and color scheme based on their recommendations and Nikalabs presented a prototype website for approval. They also launched our blog.

I did most of the USP work myself, with Nikalabs providing minor tweaks.

They continue to provide SEO services, including help with keyword rankings, and support. I call them up if I need to create a new page or upload a video to the website or YouTube.

What is the team dynamic?

I was assigned a project manager and worked directly with Ali [Tassavor, CEO, Nikalabs], Amir [Shobeiri, COO, Nikalabs], and Nazanin [Mohammadpour, Senior Developer, Nikalabs].

How did you come to work with Nikalabs Digital Agency?

I went to school with Ali. I need to get a feel for the people that I work with, so I also read online reviews and visited their office, and ultimately decided they would make a good long-term partner.

How much have you invested with them?

Approximately $18,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together at the end of 2014. The website has been through two iterations, with the first completed during the first quarter of 2015. Our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're currently getting a high number of leads because of their SEO improvements. They dramatically improved our ranking among five keywords and we now appear on the first Google search page, often listed as the top result. This has led to an increase in website traffic.

We’ve also received positive feedback from clients. They love the clean site layout and the messaging is direct enough that they can find what they’re looking for within 20 seconds. This keeps visitors engaged with our site, rather than the sites of our competitors.

How did Nikalabs Digital Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

We conducted monthly onsite meetings and weekly conference calls during the height of the project. They relied on Boot Camp and Ali was available through email, Skype, or phone if I needed anything.

They stay on budget, provide detailed documentation, and almost always deliver on time, keeping me informed if they expect any delays. They’re very honest, which I appreciate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re experts in their field and have a keen eye for detail. They also provide excellent customer service, making you feel that they really care about your project and business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was sometimes resistance to the design recommendations I put forth. This is understandable on one level, since they're the experts and any site they design reflects on their reputation. Still, they listened to my feedback and we found common ground in the end.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Give them a call and see if they’re right for you. Forget email; talking to them directly will help make your decision easier.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

C&H Enterprises is a machine shop that also does welding or fabricating. Our primary business is in the semi-conductor industry. I am the director of sales and marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nikalabs?

There were two things. We wanted to show our capabilities and our culture for hiring to the world and prospective employees. Everyone in Silicon Valley or in the Bay Area is trying to hire, and you need some type of edge. When people visited our website, a lot of times they couldn’t tell much about the company itself, except what we do.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did everything for the website. I wanted something that was modern and upbeat, and they did that first time. The message came across clearly. We have one video on our website that shows what we’re capable of doing. The difficulty was that we can’t show a lot of our product as it’s all proprietary information about our customers. That was a unique challenge that they had to address to make sure they didn’t show anything that could give away something.

They’re also helping us with the number of hits we’re getting, not only on our website, but also on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. They’re currently working on a brochure for us, which is quite a tough task. Engineers, buyers, and vendors might see it, and it needs to appeal to each of those groups and tell them what they need to know.

How did you come to work with Nikalabs?

Our CEO hired them but I’m not sure how she found them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $19,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in March 2017 and it’s an ongoing engagement. We’re constantly looking to how we can get a better audience and reach out to the audience that we want to reach too.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve been very happy with their service and we just had a workshop with them at their facility a week and a half ago. We are extremely pleased with the video that they did for our company. Even people in our company who were skeptical were impressed. It’s very modern and they did an incredible job. It brought tears to our owners’ eyes as it’s about the family nature of the business.

Our big thing right now is that we need to hire more people. Our business is growing leaps and bounds so we need to hire and make sure the website is up to date with what positions we’re trying to hire, what programs we have for rewarding people who make recommendations or get people to come to us to work here. Because of their work, the hits on our website and social media have been going up. We are getting more exposure and we’ve noticed that our hiring has been increasing with the help of the website.

How did Nikalabs perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great. Nobody in our business thinks we need to stop or isn’t happy with them. These guys are very professional and know their business.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're very knowledgeable about what’s going on out in the digital world. They are also very good listeners, understanding our needs and offering us solutions to those problems. Our business is difficult to understand, but they have a genuine interest in learning how it works so they can project the best image of it.

I was also impressed with the technology that they brought to the site when they went to do the videotaping. They have good equipment.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They did perfectly on the video. Once they were done videotaping, it didn’t take them long to put it together. It’s not their fault, but the only thing was there was a lag at one point working on some of our social media sites, but that’s because they had an employee with some personal problems who left the company. They had to pick up the pieces and get it going again, but other than that, I can’t say anything negative about them and that can happen in any organization. They came through that situation and recovered really well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The parent company is called Cross MediaWorks, and we have 3 companies that fold into the parent. One is called One2One Media, the second is Cadent, and the third is TCA. Overall, we do media and technology solutions for the TV advertising industry. Each of the companies focuses on a different aspect of that. I’m the director of marketing.

One2One Media focuses specifically on addressable TV and being able to deliver targeted advertising to specific audience segmentations. Cadent has 2 product lines: Cadent Network and Cadent Technology. Cadent Technology is the platform that powers all Cadent Network’s business, but it also supports the One2One addressable business, as well as our TCA business, which is a boutique marketing and creative agency. TCA does end-to-end marketing, but their focus is on video and creative products.

The technology platform enables advanced TVs and involves targeting capabilities, the ability to deliver television to over-the-top platforms and advertising, and swapping out ads based on that. It also provides the workflow management that’s necessary for consolidating all the inventory we have access to and then optimizing based on what’s available to us through our MVPD [multichannel video programming distributor] partners, which are operators like Comcast or Charter. We’re partnering with pretty much every operator in the United States. There are over 200 of them.

Cadent Network is a media sales division. It’s a traditional ad sales group. The inventory that we acquire from our operator partners is used to create a full network-like buy—for example, if you went to ABC and bought an ad from them. It’s very similar to how you would buy an ad, but instead of buying it directly, you’re buying that inventory from the operators, as they own some of the inventory as well. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nikalabs?

We were looking at redesigning our website. When I originally started, we had done a lot of footwork in-house. We have launched a new company since then and have gotten a lot bigger. Obviously, the workload greatly increased. My management style is to contract people who are the best in their fields. So, I’m not necessarily looking for someone who’s kind of good at everything. I’m looking at the people who are the best at very specific things. Nikalabs came on my radar because they had some of the best-designed websites I’ve seen, and that’s what I wanted. I wanted a really amazing website designer.

After we started working on websites together, I did expand their role into some other creatives. For example, we’re doing a pretty heavy sponsorship at the Cannes Film Festival this year. They’re designing our ads for that entire campaign. It’s going to be an interactive experience, and they’re designing the website portion as well. It really is much more of an end-to-end campaign that we’re doing with them at this point.

For most of the brand development and things like that, I do get their consultation, but I generally have specific contractors with whom I’m very comfortable for those specific verticals. Overall, Nikalabs is doing almost all of our creative work at this point for website, print, and ads.

For the website, we’re definitely looking at just impressions, period. We’re always looking at website traffic. However, from our perspective as a B2B company, there are no real concepts of conversions or attribution because we don’t sell anything on the website. We’re really trying to have this crystal-clear picture so that when we go to press, potential acquisition targets, or investors, they have a very clear idea of the value we provide to the market and get really excited about working with us.

Our customers are huge advertisers and agencies. These guys are the CMOs [chief marketing officers] for their companies. So, when they’re looking at strategies for how they want to work with our services and products, they’ve got to come away feeling that we’re a great company and that they understand the advertising market. That look, feel, and freshness have to be there because they’re the ones also defining that market, so we have to keep up with them. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Nikalabs has worked on multiple websites for us. Like I mentioned, we’re 3 companies, but we have secondary sub-pages of our website—almost like microsites within our web pages. They’ve done the Cannes ad and other creative outputs for us. They’ve done some sales support material and helped me with presentation design. It hasn’t been a really long engagement, so they’ve really managed to ramp up. We’ve only been working together for 6 months, and it started with the website. Their capabilities are very robust. We’ve expanded our collaboration to so much more in the last 6 months.

I have an in-house developer, so that’s the other key thing. Nikalabs has to have the communication skills to design next to their developers and work with our in-house developer to create very clear specifications. They’re not doing any of the development. We develop on top of WordPress and do leverage templates and plugins when necessary. Nikalabs has worked within our constraints, but they are developing designs that are not constrained by that. They just work with us to understand how they can turn their designs into what we have currently on our site.

My development mantra is that I don’t like 100% custom development, largely because it typically tends to break. Because we’re not a huge development firm with 5 people doing QA on every aspect of the site, and because we frequently update the site, the last thing I want to do is introduce more risk. So, whenever there are existing themes on WordPress, we utilize our plugins because those are developed by larger engineering houses. Nikalabs has worked within that. They’ve helped us find plugins that make sense and themes that work within our technical limitations.

They started with a blank canvas and were responsible for everything. They come up with wireframes and pages. I work closely with them, but they provide end-to-end design services and all raw materials for my developer. They provide support afterward to ensure that he has what he needs from a development perspective. The only thing they don’t do for us is the copy. I write all the copy since our business is so complicated. I don’t expect them to understand the technology and the nuances of our business to design a great website. We have spent sessions just sitting down and helping them understand the motivation and overall aspects of the business so they can design appropriately.

How did you come to work with Nikalabs?

I was looking for someone local. I wanted somebody I could sit next to, as I’ve found it’s more beneficial to have someone I can go and talk to rather than trying to explain everything on the phone or via email. I’m more of a whiteboard session kind of person. We’ve tried to use designers outside the area, but it hasn’t worked very well. I was looking at the best designers, websites, and portfolios I saw that were built from companies in the area. It was very clear that Nikalabs was in the top 5. A lot of the bigger agencies were just process-heavy. Everything I talked to them about involved a really long turnaround time. I understand our business, and we need results fast. So, I narrowed it down to a couple local designers who were smaller. Nikalabs’ portfolio, professionalism, and overall ability to understand what needed to be done were key.

How much have you invested with Nikalabs?

At this point, we’re almost on a monthly retainer with them, which is under $10,000. They still estimate how much each project costs, but they bill me monthly. That allows me to spread the cost so that when we have big campaigns, we’re not paying huge amounts up front. They’ve worked closely with us to help us manage the financial situation. Altogether, it’s over $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November of 2016, and the relationship is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or impact of the engagement?

I don’t have specific stats on hand. Our CEO is completely in love with our new site, and he wants everything to look like that. It was clearly a Nirvana moment when we realized that, even though we have a very good eye and have done a lot in-house, the ability to use specialists completely raised the bar. It’s just on a different level. We had a very professional site before, which looked great for our industry, but this catapults us to a completely different level. We’re now on-par with the people who we aspire to be. Instead of just competing, we are leading the pack when it comes to our online presence.

How did Nikalabs perform from a project management standpoint?

It’s good. I know they’re onboarding some additional project management staff. It’s kind of spread among the creative directors and the project managers. They use Basecamp, which is very helpful because everything is documented. They do have a lot of online tools. For example, they use Envision for mockups, which allows us to comment on things and turnaround feedback quickly. We’re both in downtown San Jose, so I literally walk to their office probably once a week. We can sit down and have brainstorming sessions on the campaigns we’re doing.

What did you find most impressive about Nikalabs?

I’m not someone who needs nice people or really professional experiences; what I care about is output. I think that their output speaks for itself. They just do amazing design work, and that’s all I care about in the end. The thing that really distinguishes them is the level of their design work. It’s just top-notch. They’re always willing to push the boundaries. They thrive on it. They’re not just trying to get you on-par with the rest of the industry. They want to help you be the lead.

Are there any areas Nikalabs could improve?

We had issues with project management in the beginning, making sure timelines and dates were really clear, but that’s gone now. Right now, I can’t think of anything. The turnaround is fast. Probably daily communication could get a little better. I could see where there may be some things lost in translation or misunderstood because the communication isn’t as detailed as you might need. They work quickly, though, so I’ve never had a major issue with that. There have been a couple of times when I had to clarify what I meant. Again, I love that they work very quickly, and they do constant iterations and quick revisions. They’re consistently checking in to make sure everybody’s on the same page. I like that. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a business consulting firm that does work in internal audit, IT consulting, business process and improvement, etc.

I lead marketing with respect to the website and digital assets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Nikalabs?

We needed to completely rebuild our website to better represent our brand and meet our clients’ needs.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

It’s an enterprise level site that we moved from SharePoint to Drupal. The goal was to design a site so that you could navigate to where you need to be with as few clicks as possible. We went from a lot of PDF pages to HTML pages. Because we have a global presence, we needed the framework to be used across the 28 countries that we have websites in. Since we have multiple areas of business and consulting, those are sites within themselves.

Nikalabs did multiple design iterations, post-design testing, front-end development, and user testing. They worked closely with the internal IT team that was developing the backend of the website. In total, we used 40 or 50 resources from Nikalabs.

How did you come to work with Nikalabs?

Nikalabs was recommended to us and I know the owner previously. They bid along with other companies. The key deciding factors were their business model and how closely they could work with us. They had done other work for us in the past and our company is happy with their performance.

How much have you invested with Nikalabs?

We can’t disclose that information.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started August 2015 and the site was launched October 2016. We continue to work with Nikalabs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We achieved the goal we set out to accomplish, which was to create a responsive site that was easier to navigate. It meets the needs of our international constituents and all the different marketing channels within the organization.

How did Nikalabs perform from a project management standpoint?

Nikalabs did very well. They went above and beyond, partnering with us as if they were sitting in our office. They were in meetings with us on a daily basis and answered our calls any time of the day.

What did you find most impressive about Nikalabs?

Nikalabs did a great job with the design and they clearly understood our company’s needs. They were very flexible in working with our team in regards to the coding. It can be difficult to work with so many people, but they were very understanding.

Are there any areas Nikalabs could improve?

Since they’re a company that’s more agile than ours, they might be able to provide more resources to make a project go faster.