Roundtable Studio

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work as the Family Director for a small Christian charity who run events.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Last year Roundtable had built us an online template for downloading and organising booking data for our family events. Having used it with real data over the summer, it was time for some tweaks and improvements so we got back in touch. We were keen to iron out a few glitches, remove features which weren't necessary and improve the overall user experience. There were also changes to the input data which needed to be accounted for.

SOLUTION

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

We had used them before to build the sheet, and they had been attentive, responsive and efficient.

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

I outlined the key changes that were required, sent over the new type of data download and we then trialled the new version for bugs etc.

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

I think just one, who is the Director.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The bugs were fixed swiftly and the new version is working well for our newest set of data.

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

Louis used Loom as a tool to describe what changes he'd made and where to look for anything unusual. This is really clear and practical in communicating technical things to someone who doesn't operate in the world of tech. He also made a point of working from the original list of issues to ensure nothing was forgotten.

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

Customer service and communication is brilliant - efficient, friendly and focused. We were working to a deadline so we could open our bookings, and Louis was happy and able to meet that deadline by working speedily.

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

Not really.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Chief Generosity Officer of a Donor Advised Fund in the UK, helping around 60,000 customers to give around £100m through digital products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Roundtable Studio?

Our donation platform and online accounts were built for transactional reliability and functionality but lacked any attention to the User experience in their design. As part of a major digital transformation programme we not only wanted to deliver improved experiences for our customers, but to also identify a partner who could help us begin the journey to establishing our own, internal product design team.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Through a network of trusted advisors we shortlisted a number of providers and then selected Louis and his team after a couple of rounds of interviews and meetings with our internal delivery team to check for chemistry and values alignment.

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

The team adopted dual roles of Product Manager and UX design, providing the bridge between our Customer Services and tech teams, and our external software developers. They helped us establish new disciplines and rhythms to our release cycle, created new design systems and supporting infrastructure to make design more efficient, conducted user and competitor research, wireframing and prototyping, user testing with customers, and spec writing for our developers.

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

My team worked directly with their Product Manager, UI/UX designers and Project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our giving platform and supporting customer accounts were all successfully relaunched in April 2021 with vastly improved UI/UX. The team now have a clear design system in place and we have successfully made the transition to a small internal product team who are building on top of the disciplines and structures that the team at Round Table helped to establish.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Round Table slotted in like an extension of our own team, communicating with us on a daily basis and being very happy to give and receive feedback on how workflows could be improved and made more efficient.

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

Their design skills are top drawer but coupled with huge amounts of patience, and a willingness to be hugely flexible as requirements shifted or limitations with our tech stack at the time were identified. And, frankly, they were all just a delight to work with.

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

We began our relationship while the agency was in its early stages, so they continued to adapt and grow according to our needs at the time, including appointing a project manager to ensure that deadlines and deliverables were achieved.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Bible for Life, a website for bible teaching and disciple-making.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Roundtable Studio?

For the past eight years, we’ve had to upgrade the website from time to time.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially hired Roundtable Studio to upgrade a website that was already operating. Their task was to improve it, but they rebuilt it from scratch. We already had 2–3 websites, but the team put a new one in place, adopting a lot of the old information and formats for it. However, they made substantial adaptations to set it up on the new infrastructure.

At the beginning of the project, we gave them plenty of information to get started. Since we wanted to improve the website’s navigation, there were several built-in features we wanted.

They didn’t do any design work, but they advised us on the topic. Additionally, we conducted an extensive user survey and planned what we wanted on the new site. Roundtable Studio came along and built the entire platform. Currently, we continue to use them for further development projects.

What is the team composition?

We work with 6–7 team members.

How did you come to work with Roundtable Studio?

Our website managers introduced them to us. They’d done several projects with Roundtable Studio.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2019. They did the first part of the work by October 2021, but we kept collaborating and meeting to fine-tune things and address initial problems that needed changing. We’re already planning on using them again in the future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve gotten quite a lot of good feedback on the new website’s navigation. Roundtable Studio has delivered what we wanted, and we’re very pleased with how it has turned out.

How did Roundtable Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Zoom for communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve done a great job. Roundtable Studio has produced a good product. Moreover, we’re happy with its usability and accessibility. We can edit the material easily.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’re perfectly satisfied with the quality of their work at the moment.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We’re happy to recommend Roundtable Studio. They’re a very friendly team; you should just take them at face value. Overall, be clear about what you want with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director and founder of a co-working spaces company. We offer flexible office and shared office services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Roundtable Studio?

We needed help with brand architecture and design, as well as with web development and technology resource setup restructuring.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, Roundtable helped us develop a plan for growing our brand from a single co-working space to a multi-site company, extrapolating our existing guidelines to a multi-site branding strategy. For this, they first assessed what we had in place. Then, they conducted interviews with our main stakeholders, key employees, and some of our selected customers to get their feedback.

As a result of this exercise, we defined a strategy that we called “Core and Flex.” This strategy allowed us to preserve key elements of our branding across our different sites but have some flexibility around other elements to make each unique location have its own character and personality. Once we defined the strategy, Roundtable helped us develop new brand collateral, including logos, fonts, and colors.

After that, they developed two different websites for our company’s initial two locations. One of the sites was actually a redesign of our existing website, and the other one was built completely from scratch. On the backend, Roundtable set up a CRM system to manage the customer flow coming through those websites so that we could track them and direct them to the right areas.

What is the team composition?

We worked with six different people from Roundtable, including Louis (Director), Lisa (Project Manager), Armelinda and Inez (Designers), and Inkar-begim (Lead Developer).

How did you come to work with Roundtable Studio?

They were a recommendation from a mutual connection. When we met them, they demonstrated a better understanding of what we were asking for than other service providers, so we felt that they would execute the project better.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around £10,000 (approximately $12,000).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March 2021–January 2022 on the bulk of the project. However, Roundtable continues to provide us with ongoing support.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our main requirement for our new websites was a design and functionality that reflected our tone of voice without conveying a concrete message. Roundtable successfully achieved this by creating moments of whimsy and lightheartedness with fun elements in the websites. These elements keep a light tone that matches our brand ethos.

Additionally, our new CRM has helped us collect data from users, allowing us to contact potential clients who have gone through our lead-generation process. Moreover, we now have brand strategy guidebooks that define our brand architecture, which will allow us to continue building our brand over time.

How did Roundtable Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

Roundtable was always timely, and if they had delays or issues, they communicated those in a clear and understandable way. Whenever we presented them with additional requests, their team always accepted them, understood them, and added them to the plan — they were very responsive to our needs. We collaborated both in person and virtually.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Roundtable was very good at listening to our needs and requirements so that they could deliver accordingly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they could have done better.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Leverage the early-stage briefing interview to clearly articulate your needs so that they can understand them and create a plan to address those challenges.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a Sustainability Consultant at a small consultancy based in London.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Roundtable Studio?

One of our clients was in need of a new bespoke website with very specific user needs. The knowledge to develop an appropriate RfP was beyond our team’s expertise and we sought outside technical experts to both develop the rfp and support us with the vendor selection process.

SOLUTION

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

We had a pre-existing relationship with Roundtable on previous projects and through discussion about our needs decided they were the right company to help us.

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

The team engaged our key stakeholders in discovery calls to fully identify and understand our needs from a user, cybersecurity, and design perspective. They then drafted the rfp and designed the selection and scoring criteria for interested vendors. This was clear to us as non-technical experts and very helpful to guide our decision-making.

Once the rfp was agreed they launched it in appropriate places to source vendors, co-presented with us on a Q&A session for interested vendors, reviewed and scored all proposals received, shortlisted vendors and engaged with us in two rounds of interviews. They also provided scoring reports and feedback to us on interviewed vendors which helped us make a final decision.

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

The Director was our main point of contact and we had further support from a project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to select the best vendor for our client project with confidence.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication was excellent. Always on time, responsive and clear.

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

They had a great grasp of our ways of working and what our client needed.

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

Nothing I can think of.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Trustee of Go Make A Difference

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Go MAD is a charity that helps local people in rural communities in the Mara region of Africa help themselves. We provide them with ways of working their way out of poverty.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Roundtable Studio to accomplish?

• Set up a new website and migrate existing content
• Make our website more modern and interactive with updated photos

SOLUTION

How did you find Roundtable Studio?

Referral

Why did you select Roundtable Studio over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Roundtable Studio were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

 - Squarespace account created (by GoMAD team)
- Domain mapped to staging.gomakeadifference.co.uk with holding page
- Template installed and themed
- Test page delivered to stakeholders for feedback
- Test page iterations made
- All pages built with holding content
- Menus and navigation delivered to stakeholders for feedback
- Menus and navigation iterations made
- All pages of existing site (https://www.gomakeadifference.co.uk/) are indexed
- Mapping made of what content is to be migrated and what content is to be left
- Content migration sent to stakeholders for feedback
- Content migration iterations made
- An agreed list of edits that are within scope is made with stakeholder input
- Any edits outside of scope are priced and prioritised
- Handover of Squarespace website logins
- Introduction to Squarespace training material
- Email thread to answer support questions on how website functions work
- Loom screen recording videos

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

 Set up of staging website
Template set up
Skeleton of website built
Content migration made
Final bugs and polishing
Handover and training
Follow up

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

Yes, I personally was not involved in every stage, but i believe any delays were down to us not providing information needed

What was your primary form of communication with Roundtable Studio?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Roundtable Studio offered great customer service.

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

In my personal experience, communication was patchy. Response times, particularly to emails could have been better. We were also not invoiced until we chased several months after project completion.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of Co:cubed, a London-based innovation consultancy.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Roundtable Studio?

As part of a startup accelerator we were running on behalf of a global automotive company, we needed Roundtable to design and polish the pitch decks our startups were presenting...in preparation for their final presentation to the board and a large external audience.

SOLUTION

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

Roundtable were a logical partner, given our history of working with them, their flexible approach and their willingness to really partner with startups to design their decks.

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

After a short and simple briefing call, Roundtable were ready to go. They saw the startup share a draft 'pitch', they observed the slides they had drafted, then made recommendations to the startups as to how they thought they could improve the design of each deck. The startup provided feedback on their ideas and then they were off! Roundtable then worked autonomously to redesign each slide, bringing out the startups pitch through a nicely polished PPT deck.

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

We worked with two people, their CEO and one designer on this project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The design improvements made were fantastic and well received by the startups who now use these slides on a daily basis.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Great! Very smooth, simple and efficient.

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

Roundtable understood the brief. They worked in partnership with the startups to deliver a great outcome.

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

No

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am an executive of a charity that provides grief support for 18 - 35-year-olds.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Roundtable Studio?

Our website needed refreshing and Roundtable Studio helped us by installing Elementor, a Wordpress plugin, and redesigning the homepage, blogs page and donate page.

SOLUTION

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

They were known to a Trustee of the charity and had excellent reviews. They were also excellent value for money.

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

After an initial scope meeting, Roundtable sent through suggestions for redesigning the website pages. With a few tweaks, these were really good suggestions so we asked them to implement Elementor as a plugin and design the pages. They also trained me with how to edit myself so I could make future changes.

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

We worked with multiple members of the team, including a project manager and a developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website continues to be complimented and I am sure that it is now easier to navigate as our bounce rate has dropped.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The team are always very quick to respond to queries or requests, including urgent things. They also very helpfully used Loom to screen record fixes and edits, so that I was able to learn by seeing myself how to do things.

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

We had a really positive experience working with Roundtable Studio. They were approachable, helpful and really listened to what I as the client had to say.

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

I had some concerns after the project finished with the accessibility of some of their design decisions, so one thing I did change was using a block colour background instead of an image. However everything else was great.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Associate Pastor at Garden Church in Southern California. We are a Christian Church and at the time I was overseeing our online platforms.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Roundtable Studio?

We wanted to create a shared Rule of Life to bind our community together through the COVID season and beyond. The hope was that each person could write down how they are committing to growing in their faith, get a downloadable image, use it as a reminder and share it with others so that they can encourage those in their lives.

SOLUTION

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

We know that Roundtable did a similar project for a church that we are connected with, and loved the product that they made.

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

We met with Roundtable to get an initial understanding of the scope of work and what we would need in order to get this project off the ground. From there, we were given homework to create the content for the form. That took our team several weeks, and we were able to send it over to RT to see how they would use it. Once the beta was completed, we shared it with our team and returned with feedback, once we were done with that first round. When we had the final product done, we shared it with our church community and it was a success!

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

We worked with a total of 3 members at the time. I am sure there were members we didn't connect with over zoom, but those who we were in contact with were so helpful.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have had continual feedback from congregants that they appreciate this resource, and regularly use it.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The communication and workflow went by smoothly. Despite us being in the US and UK, I felt like we had a steady flow and progression of tasks and timeline goals.

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

I was blown away by their intentionality. They knew exactly what they were doing and went above and beyond the scope with they creativity. It felt like we were equals and they listened to everything we had to say. RoundTable also knew how to take our ideas and refocus them to create the best product.

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

It was a perfect experience.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Conference Producer at a leading independent B2B conference production company. I am responsible for the development and execution of multiple highly regarded conferences each year, across various industries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Roundtable Studio?

Our website template was out of date, and we received feedback that it could be putting off potential customers. We needed to update it so it was fit for 2022, so we contacted Roundtable to help us with a template redesign.

SOLUTION

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

They were incredibly personable, flexible and prompt in responding to our needs and budget. It was a no-brainer to work with Roundtable. They are highly competent, and deliver projects on time. They were always courteous, professional and warm during calls, and always exceeded expectations in what they delivered.

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

First we had calls to discuss our needs and constraints. When it sounded like they could be a good fit for this project, we moved into development. Roundtable would send through updates on their progress as they worked on the templates and we had regular calls so they could show us as they went, to ensure it was meeting requirements. Once we were happy with the final product, they also recorded helpful tutorials for us to enable us to roll out the changes seamlessly across the company.

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

We met with 3 people from roundtable, the director, project manager and a designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our websites are now much clearer and simpler to use. Customer journeys are smoother and we have more delegates booking on than ever!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They were in regular contact with us about the progress of the project. We were up against a tight deadline on our side, and they took this into account and pulled it together, always delivering on time.

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

They were so personable, trustworthy, professional, and flexible! They listened to what we needed, and helped us understand what they could do for us within our budget constraints. I trusted them the entire way through.

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

No! It was exactly what we needed, when we needed it. Nothing to improved on this project.