Salt Studio

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Business Consultant working closely with Knowledge Connections. .I was the lead contact working as the conduit between Knowledge Connections and Salt Studio on the design of a brand new website

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Salt Studio to design a website for us which really demonstrated the essence of who Knowledge Connections are. All of our work currently comes through word of mouth so we needed a professional digital presence to ensure our contacts could show demonstrate this essence, as well as other engagements that we have undertaken/services we can offer to budget holders and decision makers.

Moving forward we want the Website to support us in some more pro-active marketing as we plan to grow over and above the small current team of consultants.

SOLUTION

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

We looked on google and we just really liked both what we saw and how Salt interacted with us. It was good to work with a growing business as well.

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

Laura the Creative Director helped us to start from Scratch she gave us some example websites to look at and asked us to come up with others that we liked so that she could start to see how she could bring us to life. We checked in regularly and used Click Up to amend and build on Salts first ideas.

She spent a lot of time thinking through the look and feel and challenged us on content and layout where required. The delay in the timing was driven by Covid and some clashing priorities at Knowledge Connections. Salt were so patient with us as we tried to overcome these challenges

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

In total we worked with 2-3 people, some were Technical support however all of our interface was with the Creative Director

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The Website is only just at launch stage however we have no doubt that this professional digital presence will have a huge impact on the rate of success at landing engagements with big corporations

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Once we had bedded in the Click Up system the communication was super simple and Salt were always prepared to jump onto a call if we asked them to

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

They were very knowledgeable about the field of web design. They could clearly tell us what works and what doesn't and they were happy to challenge our thinking where required. They built a huge amount of trust with us and were patient with our delays and lack of knowledge

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

We are very happy with the end result and 90% of the slower speed of this project was down to us rather than Salt

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the procurement manager/ business development manager in an architectural products manufacturer and a fit out company in Qatar.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our website was built 2 years ago but it was not user friendly and SEO friendly. Therefore, we hired SALT to update and add more sections to the website while considering SEO requirements.

SOLUTION

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

We searched online and selected 3 companies. After interviewing them, they seemed more professional, dedicated, cost effective, with a great taste in graphic design. This was the reason we hired SALT.

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

We had a kick off meeting in the beginning. They gave us a SEO audit of the website and the necessary steps to be done. Later, we discussed how to update the website. They first updated the home page. After our approval, they continued to the other pages. They constantly come up with suggestions to further improve the website. Now all is complete.

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

A project manager was our main contact. Alongside, there were a graphic designer and a web developer working in the team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They just delivered the project. I am happy with how the website looks and operates.

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

We had a weekly meeting in the beginning. However, the project manager is always available in the slack and responsive 24/7.

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

One impressive point that I faced was their friendliness, and communicating with them was much easier. They have great taste in the design. They are fast in delivering the agreed scope of work.

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

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BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Operations Director of BaseRock IT Solutions, we provide support and and managed IT services to the industrial and corporate clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We did not have a website or online presence. we engaged Salt to help us design the site and consult on best practice.

SOLUTION

How did you select Salt Studio and what were the deciding factors?

Searched online, shortlisted, interviewed and ROI.

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

delivery was in the form of an exploratory discussion to gather the scope of what we do, development was presented in a sandbox environment where each page was presented, discussed and amended as needed. once content and features were complete and approved, the development was migrated to production.

How many people from the Salt Studio team worked with you, and what were their positions?

2 people from salt were involved. Laura Harding, Creative director, Rob Sturgess, and Technical director

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website is up and running, fully searchable and regular posts on our social media are linking to articles and content

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

communication was good, project tool was organised and communicative. deadlines were met as expected

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

Their service was impressive, and they were knowledgeable, friendly, and of good value.

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

Consider other methods of partnership with technical end users who perhaps require more technical ability to manage their website than the average hosting.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a board member at a startup bank.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Salt Studio?

We needed someone to develop our mobile app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided them with our requirements and corporate identity, encompassing how we wanted the application to look (buttons, colors, shapes, etc.). Then, Salt Studio developed our native mobile application for iOS and Android.

The solution is a frontend banking application that allows digital onboarding. It features a know-your-customer (KYC) process and enables users to open an account and make transfers and payments. Users can also get a Mastercard and a debit card for payments.

They provided the logic and did the architecture and coding from scratch. There was a back-and-forth exchange on the user journey within the application.

What is the team composition?

There were 2–3 main contact people, but there were up to seven people in meetings sometimes. I’m not sure how many worked on our project. They engaged as many people as was necessary.

How did you come to work with Salt Studio?

We did an evaluation and solicited several proposals, and eventually found Salt Studio through pay33. There was another offer from a competitor, but we preferred Salt Studio. They were closer to what we were looking for in terms of price and better understood what we wanted

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around €300,000 euros (approximately $357,900 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from June 2020–January 2021. Currently, we’re in a friends and family test phase and doing final bug fixes, so the applications should be finalized in the next week.

It took roughly nine months to develop a fully operational application from scratch. This part of the contract is near fulfillment and we are now discussing the next phase.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We did a questionnaire at the end where we collected feedback from app testers, and the results were very positive — it’s very easy to use. There were some errors, and we’re about to correct them. We’re also implementing a small extension to the original requirements due to the user feedback. Overall, the app was very well received.

How did Salt Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was great. We used Slack, Confluence, and another tool where we put color-coded post-it’s on the whole flow of the processes. We never met physically due to COVID-19 but we did have weekly video calls for 1–2 months. Before and afterward, we had a call every 2–4 weeks whenever there was something to discuss.

The project manager is great. He’s a fantastic resource and should get a lot of honor for the achievements we’ve made. He’s very responsive, dedicated, and committed, as well as skilled at engaging our team.

Not everything could be planned in advance, so when we saw the app, we learned what we really wanted. Having it in front of us allowed us to play through it and see if it was what we imagined. Salt Studio implemented our adaptions accordingly. We only had three iterations because of a misunderstanding, but we sorted it out in the end. Everything worked out very well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Salt Studio was very reactive, as well as understanding of what we wanted. They adapted easily to our requests, too; they were very handy. We had a very open relationship, which let us tackle any topic. If there were misunderstandings, we always sorted them out. We’re very happy with the results so far.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. We had a 1–2 week delay in the final setup because of some definitions, but it wasn’t their fault. We weren’t ready to have a continuous flow at the end of development.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d redo the project exactly the same way again, and I recommend them as great partners for this kind of development. I look forward to continuing my collaboration with them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Owner and creative director of StudioLDR, an interior and branding agency with a specialism in design for hospitality and co-working

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

I ask Salt Studio to help me deliver a portfolio base web site and assist in the generation of copy for this and a business plan.

What were your goals for this project?

a graphically stong and easy to use web site that I can later manage and update.

SOLUTION

How did you select Salt Studio?

I have know the team at Salt Studio for some time as contemporaries and helped design a office for them in the past.

Describe the project in detail.

Salt took a loose brief from me after I assembled a set of images of work for them to catalogue and create a web site for my business. we also worked closely on a business plan, cv and updating my profile for another business venture. This all fed into to web site copy. they then built a site for me to review and comment and launched the web site. the process was informal but professionally handled.

What was the team composition?

I worked with two members of their team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As we worked through to the final design for the site Salt continued to demonstrate commitment to finishing off the site and kept me on track to deliver the project. this was really beneficially and I appreciated their flexibility to work around my day.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our project flow was spot on and response times on all aspects of the project were superb

What did you find most impressive about this company?

their ability to deliver more than asked, re writing copy and additional ideas were thrown in to the mix at all stages. working with them was a dynamic and enjoyable experience

Are there any areas for improvement?

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am head of Business Development and part of my remit was to update out website which was 10 years old and in need of a revamp. Our company specialises in performance testing, automated testing and data migration assurance. As an IT consultancy it was important to us to have a fully functioning, up to date website we could be proud of.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Rebuild and redesign company website.

What were your goals for this project?

Have a fully functioning website that was up to date, attractive, minimal, easy to use, multi device and multi browser friendly, easy to edit, and secure.

SOLUTION

How did you select Salt Studio?

We had heard of Salt Studio and liked their own website and logo. After speaking to several design agencies we felt that Laura and her team had a really good grasp of what we needed, the image we wanted to project, how to make the content work for us and she had a great eye for detail.

Describe the project in detail.

After selecting Salt Studio we had a kick off meeting where we discussed what we felt was wrong with our current (the old) website. Laura listened to our pain points and reviewed the structure and content management system (CMS) we were using. She then present some example website, both from competitors in our field, and other companies outside of IT.

From here it was easier to articulate what we didn't want as we found it difficult to articulate what we did want. Laura then outlined her design for us using a different CMS and provider. We supplied Laura with some basic content and photographs whilst liaising with her to select new icons, images and backgrounds.

After the website was up and running Laura and her team handed over to us leaving us fully enabled with clear documentation of how to access and edit our site. The team have been very helpful months after the project ended whenever we had a query or required assistance.

What was the team composition?

The project was relatively small but we still had a dedicated project manager and a technical consultant, as well as a logo designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As a direct result of Salt Studio's revamp of our website we have seen an increased number of web enquiries leading to sales by 500%

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Laura and her team were always quick to respond, available to meet, and receptive to change in ideas.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their responsiveness and flexibility.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not that I could see.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Sainty, Hird and Partners is a boutique executive search firm focused on Financial Services. I am a senior researcher there.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Salt Studio were hired to redesign the Sainty, Hird website and design our new brand.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to modernise our brand and have a slick, attractive new online proposition.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Several website designers were considered by the partners of the firm and Salt Studio were selected as we were impressed by their bespoke offering and commitment to focus entirely on the project.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we had provided several examples of websites that we were impressed by, Salt immediately began work on the wireframe and provided us of the outline within weeks. Once we had then provided them with all the copy for the site they built the working site and put all the functionality in place. There were multiple revisions from our end that Salt admirably coped with without complaint.

What was the team composition?

We worked with Laura Harding as the project manager, with Rob Sturgess working on the technical side and further designers working behind the scenes.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Internally there has been a fantastic response to the new website and the branding. It has accomplished exactly what the partners were looking for and has accompanied the relaunch of our brand.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Laura was incredibly responsive to any queries we had and working through basecamp was simple and effective.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Salt Studio was very happy to accept any late changes we made and accommodate all of our difficult requests. They also provided multiple options wherever we asked to make sure we understood fully what the possible options at each stage were.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There were some areas where we could have used more guidance initially but once we asked Laura she was more than happy to point us in the right direction each time and steer us towards the best option.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Legal Director at Henderson & Jones. We are a litigation investment company that purchase litigation and arbitration claims.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Salt Studio to redesign our website.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to update our website which was a bit out of date and tired. We wanted a slick and professional platform that provides information about who we are and what we do.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We researched online, including through Clutch, and received a number of proposals from competing vendors. We met with Salt Studio and were really impressed by their proposal.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we selected Salt we sat down with them to explain a bit more about the company, who we are and what we were seeking to achieve. We explained how we used our existing website and what we were seeking to improve.

Salt produced a wireframe to explain how the various pages would link together and we worked together on the content for the various pages.

What was the team composition?

Laura was our key day-to-day contact who led with the design and managed the project. She involved various experts - on website analytics, photography and IT as required along the way.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are delighted with the outcome of the project. The website looks fantastic and helps to move our company on to the next phase of our growth. We have had a number of compliments from our clients and contacts in the industry.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Salt Studio were fantastic to work with. They took time to understand us as a company so they could really identify what we wanted to achieve. They were responsive to our requests and flexible when we wanted to make changes. The project was delivered to an agreed budget and we are really pleased with the results.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The quality of the product that was delivered to a tight budget. Salt Studio understood that we did not have a huge budget for this - but worked within that budged to produce amazing results.

Are there any areas for improvement?

n/a

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am MD of a service driven construction company based in the heart of the West End of London

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We needed to sum up our ethos in a way that our potential client base could understand and differentiate our services from other construction companies, ensuring that our identity was clear.

What were your goals for this project?

To put ourselves in front of our target customer base and set a level of expectation by Improving our profile and sharing our values.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I had spoken to a number of agencies but there were few who even wanted to understand why a construction company wanted to promote itself in this way. Laura got it immediately and her enthusiasm was infectious. We absolutely saw eye to eye from the outset.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

We met a number of times to establish my objectives, agree imagery, organise photo shoots, write copy and agree how our site would operate, ensuring that it was intuitive to use and that critical information was easy to find. I got to sign off at different stages of development and then tweak a couple of details at the end, though to be honest, there was very little that I was not very happy with.

What was the team composition?

I worked exclusively with Laura.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Feedback from our site has been everything that I had hoped for. It has changed the perception of our company and I will be employing Salt Studios again to add some additional features to expand our business.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their workflow was exceptional.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their attention to detail and working knowledge of exactly how technology can provide solutions to very human problems.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Interiority Global is a Market Research Fieldwork Services company; we handle the logistics and recruitment of participants for our client's marketing and research studies around the world. I am the Global Fieldwork Director and owner based in Somerset in the West of England.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Salt Studio were recommended to me by a mutual friend; they were hired to entirely rebrand Interiority's corporate ID and build a much needed responsive website to advertise our services. Along with the web design service Salt Studio we also tasked with handling our Social Media across multiple platforms going forward. Essentially Salt Studio were hired to act as our "Creative Director" in all areas pertaining to our visible presence and ongoing online growth.

What were your goals for this project?

Interiority's corporate ID had been in existence since 2001 and was looking dated, and our website was practically defunct in terms of representing the company and also it's virtually Jurassic SEO, analytics and Social Media elements. We wanted a completely fresh look and feel for the website and the associated offline and online media, and also to grow the company's reputation and reach.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Salt was a word of mouth recommendation from a trusted mutual friend. Initial discussions were had and a brief issued; Salt responded in term with a killer proposal that met our expectations and budget.

Describe the project in detail.

The project was essentially a blank slate; a "start from scratch" if you like. Salt Studio was briefed via detailed phone conversations to which proposals for the various individual aspects of web design, copy-writing, Social Media execution, etc were submitted for approval. A new corporate ID was created with logo, font, colorways, look and feel established to present a coherent and consistent online and offline identity.

Our role was to provide content for shaping and approve images, layout, etc ~ A huge amount of hand-holding was required by Interiority, and Salt guided us expertly and patiently throughout the entire process

What was the team composition?

Our point of contact was Laura Sturgess; the Creative Director at Salt Studio. Salt have in-house as well as outsourced suppliers brought in as and where necessary and combine this into a seamless delivery of goals that were reached on-time and in-budget. It became apparent over the course of the project that Laura operated far in excess of the usual 9-5 working day which really made us feel that we were being taken care of.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The most obvious successful outcome of the project is the website; we are over the moon with how it looks, feels, flows and works! The website was brought in on-time and on-budget and you can't ask for more than that!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

One word; Flawless!

What did you find most impressive about this company?

This may sound like part of a Tinder profile listing the qualities being looked for, but (and in no particular order):

• Honesty
• Timeliness
• Attention to detail
• Supportive
• Flexible
• Patience & Understanding
• Straightforward

The process of working with Salt was enjoyable, enlightening, and smooth.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None. Salt was a perfect fit for us in every way.