Relevant Bits

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founder of a startup mobile app business

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Relevant Bits?

We hired Relevant Bits to build wireframes and mockups of our mobile application. The work involved user interface and user experience design.

What were your goals for this project?

We knew our functional requirements and had many ideas about our application but needed an artist to put together actual mockups and comps so that developers could hit the ground running. We needed to be able to walk through the app, screen by screen to understand every use case and capture it so that we could save money and time once we got to actual development.

SOLUTION

How did you select Relevant Bits?

I have worked with Relevant Bits before and knew their process and the quality of their work. I had already experienced first hand how quickly they can learn even a complex business and transfer it into intelligent design for end user experience on either web or mobile devices.

Describe the project in detail.

We spent 2 months meeting every week or every other week to describe the functionality of our application. We provided examples of some current pieces that are in use and described our wishes, needs, ideas. After each meeting, there were some emails with questions and the next meeting would involve their demonstration of the designs and explanation of the use cases.

What was the team composition?

There were two UX/UI artist/designers. I think there were people "behind the scenes" but we did not interact with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

At the end of 3 months, we had collected over 120 screen samples, most of which were connected via click-through experience on a website. We then took these mockups to various vendors to seek their estimates and proposals for our project. Every single development company was thrilled to see the work that had been done. In their eyes, we had already done "the hard work" and they could now simply write code and test. More importantly, we were able to collect clear estimates from the development teams on the work to be done.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was exceptionally effortless. We talked, they created, we discussed, they modified the plans, and then we went on to the next use case.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Truly, we were all blown away by the quality of the look and feel of the mockups and designs. Relevant Bits quickly internalized our complex business and rendered screens far beyond our wildest imagination. Once we moved on to securing funding and partnership, it was a no-brainer because anyone could see how valuable and meaningful our app is going to be.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I can't think of anything I would change or do differently.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a software company that makes products for architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media, education, and entertainment. 

I am a Product Manager on our Help/ Learn/ Community team, managing Community products designed to support customers connect to the resources or expertise they need.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Relevant Bits?

One of our core events is an annual conference where attendees learn from industry experts on how to maximize the use of our software. The platform supports the year-round program that offers those session content online. This year, we needed to structure the platform to support a digital conference experience. 

The first digital conference resulted in over 100k global registered attendees with 24-hour programming for a week. The platform served as a key destination for the learning and community experience.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

We initially engaged Relevant Bits for our initial platform launch in 2018. They functioned as the technical lead to identify and define the best solutions for personalization. As our engagement grew and evolved, they were critical in continuing to evolve the platform to support the various program needs including call for proposals, improved community functions, and enhanced administration of the content.

What is the team composition? 

The team was very hands-on and would adjust resources as needed. Our core team consisted of a technical lead, a developer who also managed our deployments, a project manager, a designer, and additional resources as needed.

How did you come to work with Relevant Bits?

I used to work with three of the main partners back when we were all at another company. When I learned that Bálint and Mark (Chief Experience Officer) were starting their own company, I thought of them. 

I’d always liked the direction that Bálint had when it came to technical strategy. Besides his experience in UX, Mark had a way of working with clients that was unlike any other vendors I’d interacted with. He had a very personal touch that was valuable for the team.

How much have you invested with them?

This specific project cost between $100,00–$250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’d been working with Relevant Bits since 2018. For the scope of this project, the timeline was January–November 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Collaborating with Relevant Bits was like working with a real partner. They worked hard to understand what our needs were and how to identify feasible solutions within the given timeframe and budget. That type of perspective is really useful, especially when working with multiple vendors. 

They were a key part in making sure that we were able to deliver the platform’s core features and support the conference event. They responded to load tests, stress tests, and audits to confirm that we could actually handle the traffic from the conference. 

How did Relevant Bits perform from a project management standpoint?

They had regular meetings with us twice a week to provide status updates, and their team ran their own scrums and daily stand-ups. Most communication was via calls and Slack. If we requested additional documentation or notices for things we needed our teams to be aware of, they were really responsive in delivering those.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It was nice to be able to work with a small team where everyone was involved. We might not have worked with each person day to day, but they’d clearly communicated with each other so that the whole team was aware of what we were working on and how we prioritized our tasks.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The way they tracked our progress for our timelines and dependencies could’ve been improved. One of the biggest challenges of working with such a small team was that people wore multiple hats. That meant that there wasn’t anyone in particular who had the bigger view of the project so that they could indicate if we were on track or behind. I ended up having to do a lot of it just to make sure that we could communicate the project back to the rest of our stakeholders if there were things at risk.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Bring them in as early as you can. As soon as you start to have an idea of what you want to accomplish, work with them to figure out how they can support you in their goals. They are innovative and creative problem solvers who are committed to helping you deliver your vision.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing for an appliance manufacturer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Relevant Bits?

They help us redevelop our corporate appliance website for our flagship brand.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided dedicated support to work on our website.

What is the team composition?

We had three people usually working on the project, but we had up to 8—9 working on the project.

How did you come to work with Relevant Bits?

We initially found them because our marketing agency e work with proposed that we hire Relevant Bits for our redevelopment project.

How much have you invested with them?

The project went to $70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from February to June 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We did launch fairly close to our initial set date, although the budget was a different matter.

How did Relevant Bits perform from a project management standpoint?

They used email and Slack to communicate. If I would grade them out of 10, I'd give them a 7.5 on communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their responsiveness was appreciated. If I had questions on a sprint, they were very responsive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wish we had more exposure to their Jira.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Maintain constant communication with the project manager.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

The name of our organization and we provide B2B e-commerce ERP system functionality for the backend of businesses and manufactures that are on SAP. I’m the VP of engineering and I’m responsible for product development and infrastructure on our platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Relevant Bits?

When we originally started our platform, it had been in production for about 11 years. It was very archaic from a user experience and presentation perspective.

Now that we have a much greater marketing focus and e-commerce strategy, we really needed to give our application an uplifted UI overhaul. That’s why we started working with Relevant Bits to revamp the usability of the entire application from the ground up.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We can categorize it into three different areas that we were hoping they can help us with. Number one is UX. We spent a lot of time reviewing the way customers were using our platform today, how they’re performing functions, their activities, and where their frustrations were. We were rethinking how we could take more of a B2C user experience and transition it over to the B2B space.

The second area of focus is general aesthetics. We wanted to figure out how to get a more professional color scheme, how to improve the look of our widgets and buttons, and those kinds of things. 

And finally, we’re focusing on internalization. There wouldn’t be a whole lot of value to us if we brought someone in for a one-time exercise. It’s about transitioning a paradigm shift within our company to really understand more about UX, the technologies we needed to implement, and the design decisions we needed to make.

In this way, the work that they do permeates throughout the development organization, if not the entire company. We hope that the work we do moving forward reflects a better understanding of usability because we’re not a company full of UX experts. We solve e-commerce problems and they can help us start thinking about the experience and not just solving the user’s problems from a feature standpoint.

For this project, we revamped some of the tech stacks. For our frontend, we used ReactJS, and for the backend, it’s Ruby on Rails.

What is the team composition?

We worked with project managers, designers, and had technical experts advising us on the choice of tools and how to implement them. The bulk of the heavy lifting has been around the UI/UX designers.

How did you come to work with Relevant Bits?

We searched locally but our CEO came across one of their team members and connected with them on LinkedIn. The proposal they provided was really in-depth and thorough. As an agile organization, their entire proposal was agile-oriented. They’ve done a lot of research on our company ahead of time and their core values and methodology were aligned with ours.

How much have you invested with them?

It’s roughly between $150,000–$160,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April 2019 and we’re still working with them to this day.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It has been extremely thorough. The work that they’ve done has always resulted in a better outcome than what we asked them to do. Whenever we find a problem, the solution they come up with not only solves what we wanted but also the problems we didn’t realize we had.

It has been such a wonderful experience because part of the challenge that we’ve always had, especially on the technology side, is that we have to invest a lot of energy to really understand the problem. Relevant Bits has just been so proactive in solving all the problems we weren’t even thinking about focusing on or prioritizing.

How did Relevant Bits perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been fantastic. If there’s anything that hasn’t gotten done on time, it’s because of our ability to keep up with how much they’re getting done.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What we find most impressive is their ability to take an abstract concept like usability and UX and fold it into the everyday life that just becomes part of the psyche. They have changed our way of thinking so much, it’s been so easy to grasp and understand how small decisions can affect that now.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s not really anything to improve. I don’t want it to be a cliche, but I have no criticism.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust them. We spent a lot of time second-guessing the advice they were giving us. We finally realized we were wasting our time and when we started trusting and incorporating their recommendations, things would go so much smoother and quicker.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the online program manager for Autodesk University. We support conferences by publishing learning content for those events online.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Relevant Bits?

We needed help with backend development when migrating our platform to Drupal.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us with strategy-level planning for the data migration project. Relevant Bits helped us with ideation for building certain aspects of our website. We’ve continued to work with them for additional development needs. 

They also worked to make a community library on our website. It allows users to interact with one another and interact with content and instructors. 

What is the team composition?

It’s scaled up and down depending on our needs. We have three primary contacts: Balint (CTO), Ed (CEO), and Mark (CXO), in addition to Nic (Agile Project Management Consultant).

How did you come to work with Relevant Bits?

I received a recommendation from one of my coworkers who had worked with Relevant Bits at her previous job. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around June or July 2018, and our work is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I really value their ability to be a team player. They don’t feel like another vendor, they feel like real partners. They take a sense of ownership over their work and bring unique ideas to the table. We’ve completed several projects successfully, and I look forward to what we have on the horizon as well. 

How did Relevant Bits perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve performed very well. The team is really responsive. Our budget fluctuates each quarter, but they’re great at rolling with any changes we need to make. This was especially helpful in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their collaborative attitude is most impressive. I hired them because of their development expertise, but I got even more than that. I’m not a technical person, but I never feel left out of the process. They’re great at explaining what they’re doing in layperson’s terms. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think so. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust them because they have some really good ideas, and they’re really open-minded. They’re good at listening and they don’t make assumptions. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of a new e-commerce consultancy.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Relevant Bits?

Bluehorn Digital is a new development consultancy that needed website design and branding concepts to drive new customer growth.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to have marketing materials available for the website, slide decks, and promotional materials.

SOLUTION

How did you select Relevant Bits?

I have known the work done by individuals at Relevant Bits and wanted their talent to my goals to life. I knew they would understand my style and deliver a modern appeal.

Describe the project in detail.

The project started with a session to develop a mood board and gain a sense of design styles and colors. We then followed with weekly meetings to continue building off of the mood board and wireframes.

What was the team composition?

We worked hand-in-hand with a user experience designer and visual designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within two months, Bluehorn Digital had a brand and personality that exceeded my expectations. I have marketing material that was used the same day for a pitch deck to close a new sale.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was extremely smooth, they were available over email when needed on top of our weekly meetings.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I am beyond impressed with how they were able to discover my personality and mood and turn it into a company brand.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I couldn't think of anything that could have improved the process.