Pixelmatters

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the head of Operations of Protocol Labs

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Protocol Labs is an open source research, development, and deployment laboratory.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Pixelmatters to accomplish?

• Build a network directory to organize and share member and team information in the Protocol Labs community.

SOLUTION

How did you find Pixelmatters?

Referral

Why did you select Pixelmatters over others?

• Pricing fits our budget
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Pixelmatters were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

The project is to build a Protocol Labs network directory to help network members orient themselves within the network. It makes it easy to learn about other teams and members, including their roles, capabilities, and experiences. The directory has several components, including pages for teams with filters and search functionality, member profile pages, and a home page outlining the key resources available in the network.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The Pixelmatters team built a network directory and portal for us, with separate pages for team and member information.The directory initially leveraged an Airtable backend, and the Pixelmatters team later developed and helped migrate to our own backend. They also advised and help implement on any key technical, system, or architecture decisions, and made sure to keep detailed documentation for any work that they did.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The Pixelmatters team and our project manager Marta are strong communicators and project managers. They know how to leverage async communication to align on the project timelines and deliverables, and to keep us updated on their progress, and also use synchronous meetings as needed to review output or discuss critical issues. We always felt like they were good about aligning expectations and making sure that we knew the key challenges and path to overcome.

What was your primary form of communication with Pixelmatters?

• Virtual Meeting

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

The Pixelmatters team are great collaborators and have a strong full-stack development team. We were able to partner with them as our fully outsourced dev shop, with them providing the product, design, and development resources to push forward on the whole project. It made starting a new project and completing it very straightforward.

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

Overall, the team was great. We really enjoyed working with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an executive at a holistic platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Pixelmatters?

We were in the early stage of our business, so we didn’t want to hire internal development resources, but we needed quality web app development through third-party talent.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Pixelmatters provides web app design and development services using React and node.js as their main tools for front- and backend development. In terms of functionalities, the platform allows users to log in, answer questions, and receive a report and schedule for coaching.

What was the team composition? 

From Pixelmatters’ team, we work with two full stack developers, a designer, a product owner, and a QA specialist.

How did you come to work with Pixelmatters?

Someone who had worked with them referred them to me.

How much have you invested in them?

So far, we’ve spent $150,000–$250,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2022, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve noticed a 250% increase in website traffic since we started working with them.

How did Pixelmatters perform from a project management standpoint?

They stay within budget and do a good job meeting deadlines — overall, they’re meeting my expectations with project management. In terms of tools and communication, we use Jira, Basecamp, and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Pixelmatters has strong and creative design talent. Moreover, they have a solid internal culture to have a knowledgeable and experienced team. These attributes stand out Pixelmatters from their competitors.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They should find a balance between speed and quality to ensure solid deliverables. Nonetheless, we’re already working on that together.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be upfront in setting clear expectations and definitions of what you’re looking for to ensure that Pixelmatters’ team has the right tools to help you with your project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a proptech SaaS company, focusing on owners and managers of commercial real estate.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Pixelmatters?

We had a v1 product which had been successful to help us test, validate, and confirm customer needs. However, that product had high technical debt and limitations, and needed to grow up for us to continue serving the market. We hired Pixelmatters to help us go from a v1 to v2 product and improve UI/UX along the way.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We had a referral from another company in our investor's portfolio. We quickly vetted two other vendors and went with Pixelmatters, largely based on the strength of the referral.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We started out defining the scope of the project with a long discovery document and discussion about our goals and intent. After aligment, we focused on nailing the overall look, feel, and design components we would use throughout the project.

The remainder of the project focused on execution on a page-by-page level, with detailed breifings provided by us and check ins regularly with our designer. We concluded with design QA of th eke ypages.

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

We worked directly with one UX/UI designer and a project manager/coordinator.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are very pleased with the final designs. High quality, high design integrity, and a major upgrade!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

At first, we took some time to nail down the asynchronous work, scheduling, and cadence. After a few weeks things became quite smooth and we were able to work very productively together.

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

Excellent communications. The team was very organized and gained our trust easily with a high volume of communication, quick responses, and overall low latency. It really felt like they were a part of our team.

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

The major thing we identified was getting a little clearer up front on what an appropriate level of briefing was, and getting better at estimating work effort, at least between design phases for a particular page.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of product and engineering at Foothold Technology, a human services technology provider. We provide solutions to healthcare agencies that cater to mental health and developmental disability members in the population.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pixelmatters?

We needed a product design partner to help us with our HR application redesign.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We leverage Pixelmatters as an extension of our technology team, and they help us with UI/UX design for our web-based apps. Our product delivery involves a tight loop between product management, product designers, and engineering, and they’re part of that loop. 

First, they requested a brief from us, which we worked on and provided them with documentation. The team led a discovery process with us to understand our organization, needs, goals, and vision of the product. From there, they helped set up a deeper-dive discovery process to understand the needs and goals of the initial HR web-based app redesign. 

Early on, we did a small scoped pilot project to evaluate them; it was a month-long process. Then, they redesigned one of our app’s modules. After that, we engaged them for a broader redesign project. If we don’t have documentation for a particular project, they collaborate with us to generate it. They work as an extension of our team redesigning our web-based apps, continually scaling as we go. 

What is the team composition?

We initially started working with a UI designer, a UX designer, and a part-time project manager. The team has since scaled up to two full-time UX resources and a full-time UI designer. Pixelmatters has also provided us with supplementary resources to help with project management and overall support. 

How did you come to work with Pixelmatters?

They were referred to us. We evaluated different companies and selected Pixelmatters.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2021, and our partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our conversion rate has increased dramatically since we’re using the redesign in our sales pipeline. We’re in the early stages of the launch and going through focus groups with our customer base. Based on the feedback so far, we’re seeing increased user satisfaction. Overall, we’re pleased with Pixelmatters’ work. 

How did Pixelmatters perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is good; we haven’t had any major issues. Their process has been structured from their end in terms of clear expectations. Although we don’t set hard deadlines, the team does very well achieving key milestones. We use Jira for project management, and they use Basecamp for design planning and scheduling. As for communication, we use phone calls, email, Google Meet, Zoom, and Slack, and we have biweekly calls. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Pixelmatters is really good at design — they’re an expert. Their UX designers did a fair bit of user research based on our challenges and goals, and they linked their recommendations to the results. They’ve documented the project well, and they’re good at discussing why they recommend some designs over others. We appreciate that they give us options that our engineering team can look at. Moreover, they’re super communicative if there are any issues. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could work on the collaboration side of the project. They heavily lean towards documentation in Basecamp over collaborative sessions like calls. This approach is partly because of the limitations of time zone differences and being caring employers. However, we used to have a designer in-house, and sometimes we miss jumping into brainstorming and whiteboard sessions. Although they’re open to these sessions sometimes, they prefer written communication.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to have an open mind. Trust that Pixelmatters is an expert at what they do. Don’t go into this partnership thinking you’ll simply tell them what to do, and they’ll do it. They’re highly opinionated experts in the field. Still, they’re humble and friendly, and they’ll recommend many things that you should probably listen to.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a software company that supports human services organizations across the United States. Our focus is on homelessness management, behavioral health and developmental disabilities, substance abuse treatment, and more.

I am the Group Product Manager and manage a small team of individuals that coordinate projects and forecast our company's needs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Pixelmatters?

Foothold partnered with Pixelmatters to assist with re-designing and re-imagining the UI and UX of both our new core platform and our billing software.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I was not a part of the selection process as I was not with the company when this project kicked off.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Our main platform was created 20+ years ago and desperately needs to be redesigned from the ground up from both a UI and a UX perspective. We reached out to Pixelmatters to assist with how we wanted the application to both look and feel in the short term and the long term, while also keeping our billing platform separate from the core needs of the application.

Our project started with the UI Refresh, which is an uplifted front-end with no UX changes, followed up targeting specific modules in the application and uplifting them one by one from both a UI and UX perspective. On parallel tracks, we are also re-imagining the UI and UX of our billing platform, keeping in mind that the two applications do not need to be identical, but at least related.

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

We have worked with two designers (one UI and one UX) as well as a project manager to keep everything moving. We are looking to bring on additional UX resources in the next month.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

While our projects are all still underway in some form or another, the UI Refresh is about to go live to all clients - we are just wrapping up our beta program and plan to launch June 28th.

The surveying, focus groups, and customer discussions that we've had regarding our old design and our new design have been very positive - our clients are excited for the application to feel bright, fresh, and new again. The cNPS score from our clients for our existing design is around a -20 and the cNPS for the refreshed design is 30, which is a significant gain.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow between our teams continues to be very effective. Our weekly sync up call is typically very efficient and our slack channel keeps everyone in the loop if things are happening that need more urgent discussion. Scheduling calls has been painless.

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

I joined the project while everything was in motion and moving very quickly. The Pixelmatters team was great with getting me up to speed and making me feel like I had been there the entire time. Also, their level of expertise as it relates to accessibility has really helped bolster our reputation with our clients - they can see that we are taking these things seriously and that means a lot to them.

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

Nothing that I can think of - everyone is great and the work they have done is also great. I just wish we could afford more time!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the digital marketing lead of Airkit, and we’re a digital CX automation company. I handle the website, SEO, and other digital marketing channels.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pixelmatters?

Pixelmatters helps modernize our website technology stack.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially had some design work done by another team and we passed that on to Pixelmatters to finish the full development of the project. We mainly collaborate through Basecamp and they build the code in their own repository through GitHub.

Moreover, they mainly focus on the imagery and animation of the content, and they take the liberty of how they want to display it with our direction.

We recently started tackling website migration.

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager, two developers, and one designer.

How did you come to work with Pixelmatters?

We already had experience working with them in the past and we signed them again because we just had so much success collaborating with them.

How much have you invested with them?

I believe we’ve spent about $100,000. USD.

What is the status of this engagement?

This project started in May 2021 and our partnership is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Ever since we migrated the website, we’ve gained three times the engagement rate on our pages per session. Additionally, our global uptime is at 100%.

The website has also been well received. We’ve built such a modern platform, that the tools we use to measure the performance is lagging behind.

How did Pixelmatters perform from a project management standpoint?

We developed a roadmap that we didn’t set in stone, so we come together at least weekly to recalibrate and understand where development is getting bottlenecked. We’ve hit the deadlines on everything we needed so we just need to adapt and be flexible on certain pages.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We like the quality of their work and the fact that they always have a solution for everything. Their engineers are young, but they’re also so ahead of their time that they can diagnose problems quickly — which is really valuable to have on a team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not necessarily because they’re doing a really great job. We’re not perfect, we’ve made some mistakes, but there’s nothing that isn’t normal in that aspect.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Before engaging with them, you need to know what you want to build. They’re great collaborators but if you leave it up to them, what they’ll provide you may not be the same vision you want for your company. They’re better when you set them in a direction rather than just letting them fully go on their own.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I helped start Terraformation and initially lead the Marketing, Product, and Design teams.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Pixelmatters?

We gave Pixelmatters a massive, ambitious task: create a website that announces Terraformation's launch as THE solution to global climate change. We wanted the design and interactions of the site to be as ambitious and audacious as the company's mission.

SOLUTION

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

I had previously worked with Pixelmatters and knew that they would be able to balance audacity of design together with implementability.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We shared an initial design briefing which Pixelmatters refined into a design document that guided the rest of the project. Through discussion, we identified project scope which was set to a number of webpages and the interactions on and between each page. The team shared a number of Visual Design palettes with us and we discussed risks and benefits of each in order to select one.

We then began a series of weekly Design sprints with each week concluding with demonstrations of prototype site designs. Early sprints focused on wireframes and mockups. Sprints proceeded into layout and font choices. And ultimately we spent a lot of time on later sprints working on finalizing animations, interaction timings, and imagery.

This project involved technically sophisticated work that involved animating vector drawings in Javascript. The Pixelmatters team worked directly with our Engineering team to create a test and deployment process for animation packs. After initial shipment of the website, we continued working with Pixelmatters on a number of additional webpages to fill out the website.

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

Head of Design, Designer, Animation Artist, and Project Manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We shipped a stunning homepage to announce Terraformation's global launch that quickly drew praise and over 40K visits through social sharing. People on LinkedIn shared our website simply because it was cool and fun to scroll through.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Despite being 11 timezones away, collaboration and workflow was expertly managed. The Pixelmatters team took direct feedback well and were a pleasure to work with.

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

Breadth of technical design skillsets and integration into productionized deployment workflows.

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

Hard to press on any areas of specific improvement. We were pretty happy with the outcome!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of product development at a career site for the financial services sector.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pixelmatters?

We needed their team to redesign our existing website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our company has been planning to upgrade our outdated website since we wanted to monetize the candidates’ segment of our platform. Pixelmatters' ongoing work centers on redesigning each section of the website according to our preferred theme and their design recommendations. 

We’ve given them a high-level project brief, and they regularly send their work over for our team and our internal stakeholders’ feedback and approval. Their team has taken over our UX/UI design pipeline and has so far completed refurbishing three major sections of our website.

What is the team composition?

I primarily work with two resources from Pixelmatters, including one of their partners and a designer.

How did you come to work with Pixelmatters?

Our sister company had already partnered with Pixelmatters in the past, so we didn’t hesitate to reach out to them when we needed similar services. We initially contacted other agencies, but it was their team that impressed us with a fair price point and an evident understanding of our project goals.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent €50,000–€60,000 (approximately $59,000–$71,000 USD) so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We kicked off our engagement with Pixelmatters in January 2021, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t launched our newly designed website yet, but I can confidently say that Pixelmatters continues to delight us with deliverables that meet our design needs. Our internal stakeholders have had nothing negative to say about our website’s new look, and they haven’t submitted any change requests either. Through this improved business platform that Pixelmatters has helped us build, we’re looking forward to optimizing our operations by offering seamless registrations and job applications.

How did Pixelmatters perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Slack as our main communication channel. Pixelmatters is always on top of their project management game – they deliver what they promise and are always on track with our project timelines; I don’t think they’ve missed a deadline yet. Additionally, they organize their tasks well and keep detailed meeting notes.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re most impressed with Pixelmatters’ ability to deliver creative solutions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything that needs improvement. We’re truly pleased with Pixelmatters’ performance.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Always give them honest feedback. After all, Pixematters is a responsible and professional team that takes feedback seriously and strives to meet their client’s needs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a digital project manager for a telecommunications company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pixelmatters?

We needed a new design for a specific website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Pixelmatters handled a full design of the website as well as frontend development for part of the website. They worked with our IT team on integration with a new CMS platform.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager, designer, and developer. We had some interaction with the CEO and design director as well.

How did you come to work with Pixelmatters?

I had seen their work and known of them for years. I liked their work and reached out to them for this project.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested €100,000 (approximately $120,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from August 2020–February 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They helped us accomplish our goals on building the website and integration, all within our deadline. We’re satisfied with them.

How did Pixelmatters perform from a project management standpoint?

We used Basecamp primarily and had access to Jira.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a young team that likes to get things done. We were all on the same page and had a good vibe working together.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The project was a little more expensive than we expected.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re easygoing and will do their best to help you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO and co-founder of our organization. We’re an online, accredited graduate university that’s unique in that we’re not lecture-driven. All the learning is interactive within the platform. Courses are taken by students making decisions and interacting with the software on a mobile device or desktop. We offer an MBA and an executive MBA degree. Both degrees take 13 months, and we’re able to offer them at radically affordable prices due to our model. We’ve been around since 2013.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pixelmatters?

We’ve been working with them since 2015 as partners for marketing and website design implementation work.  

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started out on a design and development project for our marketing website and continued to use their services for a number of smaller projects. For instance, they operate on the icons representing our courses and tasks of that nature. They also handle small design projects, updates to the site, and implementation work on the platform itself. Their deliverables range from the design and development of the marketing website and graphic assets. The platform was hand-coded in JavaScript and hosted on AWS. We’re transitioning to a Gatsby JAMStack approach currently. They’re helping 

In 2020, we signed them onto a retainer agreement with us. We have four developers functioning as a permanent part of our team in our arrangement. They’re working on our blog, marketing work, and more. When we have new work for them, we often provide a Word Document with parameters or a PowerPoint wireframe that envisions the information hierarchy. We typically have a hypothesis and wireframe for them to work with when we begin a project. 

What is the team composition?

They’ve always assigned us a project manager for each of our projects to make sure our teams are aligned on progress and updates. We also currently have two developers on retainer and an additional two on their way to us. There’s always been a dedicated project manager, a delivery manager, and a designer. We’re also able to grab time with their head of engineering to weigh in on issues.   

How did you come to work with Pixelmatters?

We found them through Folio, a curated designer service. Because we were impressed with their portfolio work, we reached out to them for interviews. Ultimately, we selected them to be our partner for our first revamp of our marketing website. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since May 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve been happy with how well the website performs. Their results are excellent, so we continue to work with them. In our estimation, our engagement has been very successful. 

How did Pixelmatters perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve always had a very strong project management and communication focus. We see that as a differentiator. They’re a great team, it’s easy to get access to their various resources for projects.   

They’ve done well with hitting deadlines because they’re very forthright in communicating anything that may throw off the schedule. Especially as they’ve grown and matured as a company over the past few years, deadlines have never been a problem. 

Of all vendors I’ve worked with, I’ve been most impressed with their project management. They use modern tools with knowledge of trends in the web design community. We communicate using Basecamp and Slack. As they’ve integrated into our team, we’ve also added them onto our GitHub and other systems. Our communication is becoming a bit more centralized as we make this transition.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re working with a team that understands how we think. They’re intentional about their communication, management of the project, expectations, and implications of our requests or changes. They operate in a very open and positive way, which makes it easy to work with them.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

A few years ago, they experienced some growing pains with new developers and designers that weren’t necessarily as talented as their initial team. When we communicated our feelings, they adjusted very quickly and put different people on our projects. At one point, they may have even comped some of their fees. This hasn’t been at all a problem recently, just when they were adjusting to their own growth. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re great for a small to medium-sized business. With any third-party vendor, make sure you enter the relationship knowing what you want. When we didn’t know what we wanted until about four weeks into the project, it threw the development into disarray for a bit. Don’t assume that a vendor will do ideation and thought work for you.