Obra

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a collaborative innovation consultancy with global reach. We’re experts in managing corporate open innovation, pilot-oriented projects with highly-curated startups, and designing products and services alongside in-company teams. Also, we use our acceleration expertise and network to help ecosystems grow, connecting a huge network of entrepreneurs, mentors, experts, investors, and knowledge institutions to solve things that matter.

At Beta-i, my role is as Project Manager, meaning I am responsible for the coordination of the different teams, assuring the delivery of our projects with impactful results and customer delight.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We wanted to create a virtual platform that could host all the events of a project Beta-i has in the energy sector. We had a vision for this virtual environment but very little time to have it developed. Not only should this environment have technical capabilities, it should also deliver and impactful experience for attendees. We also had the creation of a digital mascot that was presented in 3d animations.

SOLUTION

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

We reached out to different vendors, and picked Obra because of their proven experience with complex projects, but also because they understood our vision and made sure we were aligned at all steps.

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

The premise was to have a virtual environment that could:

• host Zoom session embeded in the platform
• work as a repository of content
• allow the update of information by attendees
• have a visually appealing and impactful 3d environment that would make people feel like they are in the same space, even if virtually
• produce a 3d mascot that would be present in different moments of the year through graphic materials and digital animations All this with one big contraint: it had to be developed on WordPress, for our internal processes. This, of course, was a big limitation but Obra managed to deliver a robust, stable and great final product.

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

• João as Project Manager, liaising with our team at all steps, be it for weekly checkpoints, urgent approvals and overall project ownerships.
• Laerte as Director, leading the client relaionship in key project moments.
• Fernando as Creative Director, making sure our vision was understood and translated into a appealing virtugal environment.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The key metric used was the impact the platform had on users - meaning attendees understood that this years program was being held in that virtual environment and that it was connected to the contents being presented and the overall concept.

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

Obra worked in weekly sprints, in order to deliver this complex project in the short timelien we had - 8 weeks to develop the back end of the platform, the 3d environment that would actually host and support the different sessions and contents, and the 3d mascot and three initial animations. Communication was always clear, timelines were always respected, risks were managed and the overall relationship was great.

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

They were presented with a very big challenge and didnt shy away from it. They presented the risks, managed expectations, and guaranteed the final result was aligned with our vision. Communication was great throughout the process. Cost-wise it was very competitive.

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

Some functionalities could have been better developed, either with more time or with a little bit more understanding of the technology being used. Creating a platform from scratch is no small feat, and they delivered impressively.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of international marketing at Wanna, an online sports betting platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Obra?

SEO marketing was being widely used in the sports betting industry, so we needed to upgrade our website by making it more SEO-friendly.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, Obra created a UI/UX design scope to plan each project phase and estimate timelines. Their team relied on Figma to implement redesign solutions across eight of our web pages, focusing on generating design updates that accommodated our SEO strategies.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a team of five resources, including a project manager, writers, and designers.

How did you come to work with Obra?

We originally onboarded a freelance team to take on this fast-paced project — unfortunately, they had to deal with an emergency and couldn’t proceed with their work, so they recommended Obra’s team to us. We immediately liked their organized and objective approach and were further amazed by their spot-on presentation skills.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The web design project ran from August–October 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We didn’t determine any specific KPIs since we were more concerned about hitting our stringent timelines, but I could confirm that Obra delivered presentable and satisfactory web design work. They helped us meet our SEO-related goals by implementing our UI/UX design requirements on time.

How did Obra perform from a project management standpoint?

Obra was the best team I ever worked with in terms of communication and punctuality — they supported our goals by keeping the project on schedule and working more proactively than we could’ve imagined. We appreciated how they allowed us to speak openly about our requirements and feedback and how quick they were to address any areas of concern.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were most impressed with Obra’s systematic and detailed presentation and communication skills.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could work on refining their listening skills during meetings to identify their clients’ goals with preciseness.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Apart from giving them a well-defined proposal with clear objectives, Obra will help you meet your exact goals if you remain attentive throughout the process and make definite requests and thorough feedback.