Series Eight

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a co-founder of AYO - a healthtech company focused on circadian health, helping people sleep better, increase energy levels and improve wellness.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Series Eight?

We worked with Series Eight on rebranding our visual style as well as developing a brand new website (web design, UX/UI)

SOLUTION

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

We spoke with numerous potential partners and decided to work with Series Eight because of their style, work experience and professional approach.

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

First, we had several calls to get everyone on the same page and what we wanted to receive in the end as deliverables. Then Series Eight delivered to us the new Branding, which we finalized after certain iterations.

We also received the revised copy from the copywriter although we didn't find the style of the first copywriter in line with what we were envisioning. Series Eight reacted fast and got another copywriter to work on our project, who was better suited for our style.

Then we had very interactive weeks with Series Eight's lead designer who brilliantly managed to understand our needs and concepts and delivered an exceptional result. After several weeks of iterations, we had our website launched in the end of 2021. We then finalized in the upcoming weeks what was left from the project.

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

We worked mostly with Series Eight's lead designer who is fantastic. We also worked with two project managers and two copywriters and had some conversations with the CEO as well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In the end, we received brand new logos and a whole new visual experience as well as a complete UI of our website.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The communication was very interactive from the get-go. Everyone on the vendor's side was very responsive throughout the whole project, including the CEO. The whole communication and understanding was quite positive.

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

We found the lead designer of the company very talented, the CEO was very responsive and genuinely interested in the project and the whole project was managed quite well by Series Eight.

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

None that I can think of at the moment.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Brand Director of Queensmith. We specialise in bespoke diamond jewellery.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Series Eight to redesign and redevelop our website, migrating it from Squarespace to Craft. We required a bespoke ring builder that allows customers to choose their ring design, self-select a centre diamond to go with it and then checkout with their items. We required a more robust, fast and bespoke setup to set the foundations for growth from both an SEO and Ecommerce perspective.

SOLUTION

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

We had used them in the past on a small job to refresh a site style guide. They were referred to us by a trusted partner and the experience was above and beyond previous web agencies that we had used in the past and so we were confident about using them again for this project.

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

We had a kick-off meeting to discuss our goals and requirements. Discussed suitable platforms for the site and decided on Craft based on the bespoke nature of what was required and our requirement to link up various APIs. We then moved into the design phase where I worked with their designer Bruno to create a block-builder whereby we designed modular sections of the site (templates) that could be used in multiple ways in different sections.

We were keen to be able to create custom landing pages in the future using this approach. We used a combination of tools to help guide and approve the design. Figma and Invision were key parts during the design. Once the design was signed off, we moved into development. All the while we communicated via slack, receiving regular updates and letting us know when to add content.

There was plenty of opportunity for feedback and adjustments. Once the development was ready, we spent a while internally adding our content and then we focused on a launch plan, including full SEO audit, making sure redirects were in place and the sites core web vitals were looking strong.

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

We had a project manager, a few full-stack developers and a designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had our first eCommerce orders come through within the first week of launch, traffic remained stable and our site speed increased massively, to under 1s for even our most content-heavy landing pages. Our SEO agency described it as the smoothest migration they had worked on!

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

We used Slack on the most part and Zoom for more in-depth discussions. I'd describe their approach as efficient and to the point. always reachable and good communicators.

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

They had the challenge of building a very bespoke site, that incorporated/connected external APIs, databases and a CRM and they managed to create the perfect setup that aligns with our business needs and does so with a super slick, customer-friendly design that elevates our brand and sets the foundation for growth. On top of that, the process was enjoyable.

Having direct access to the developers and designers on Slack meant we could get to the bottom of any issues or explore solutions efficiently and together. I've worked with agencies in the past where project managers act as a block between you and the people actually working on your site, which can be incredibly frustrating, but not with Series Eight.

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

There were some minor bugs on the site but nothing I wouldn't expect really. They were super quick and hands-on to sort anything out.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

BC Profiles is a family run business established in 1992. Well are stockists and suppliers of a wide range of Building, Roofing and Landscaping materials that we sell to both business and general public customers. As being part of the family my job title is the Sales and Business Development manager and I take care of the general day to day running of the business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Series Eight to take care of the full Shopify Plus development and design as well as a full migration from our existing platform. Our goals were to give our brand a fresh new look and create a new design that would also be fast, sleek and a lot more user friendly than our previous one. We wanted a website that would be built from the ground up and fully custom to us. Not something that would be built from an existing theme. Whilst creating a fresh design we also wanted it to make sure it functioned in the best way possible for the user and at the same time increase conversion rates and sales.

SOLUTION

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

We did our research through a number of Shopify Plus agencies and made a shortlist. However after having multiple calls with Mario at Series Eight out and discussing our requirements we were confident that Series Eight could offer us a package that would suit our needs. Having looked through their previous projects and the range of skills they provided we knew that they would be right agency to choose.

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

Once everything regarding the project had been agreed Mario set up a kick off call between myself and him and a few more of the Series Eight team. After the the call Series Eight got straight to work and set up a Trello board that we would both use to know exactly what steps would be involved and also a place for us to list any ideas or requirements regarding the project.

For the first step of the project Series Eight created a mood board based on our initial design requirements. This gave us a few ideas to look through and once we provided feedback the design team got to work and created 3 different design mockups which would be the main base to our website. The designer got straight to work and began on creating each individual page for the site. All pages that got created in the design phase were presented in Figma which was a really good piece of software for viewing all designs.

We kept in close contact with the designer and always provided quick feedback to any questions he may have had. This resulted in us working closely together to keep things moving. Once we were happy with all the design work then the development side of it began. We could see most of the development taking place live as this was being done on our new Shopify store. This worked in similar way to the design phase and we would make any comments on the Trello board.

After all design and development had been completed Series Eight made sure all existing data was transferred over from our old platform and into the new Shopify store. A date was then agreed as to when we would go live with the launch. Mario made a pre-launch checklist to make sure all important steps were carried through to prevent any unwanted issues that can occur.

  I was surprised as to how smooth it went and there were no serious glitches that we came across. There were just a few slight modifications that we wanted and this was done straight away without any issues.

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

Mario was the main point of contact for any major questions that we may have had. We had a project manager, one designer and two developers that worked on the site. This was perfect for the size of our project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After the short period since launching the site we can already see an increase in conversions. We have only received positive feedback from anyone who has commend on the site and everything just runs so much quicker.

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

We had a few calls with the team throughout the project and most communication was done through Trello which made everything so much easier for everyone.

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

You could tell that every member of the Series Eight had so much experience in their role and were so professional which gave us so much confidence in them. Not at any point did they turn round and say that something couldn't be done or achieved. Whatever we asked, it was done without any fuss.

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

In my honest opinion I don't that there was anything that could have been improved. Series Eight were such a dream to work with and without question the best company I have worked with. I would have no hesitation in recommending them to anyone!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Maria Zoe Designs, an interior design company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Series Eight?

I wanted them to redo my website to reflect the evolution of my brand.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

When I started with Series Eight, I laid out what I wanted in terms of the look and feel of the site. I wanted my homepage to feature a slideshow of photos to represent my best work, which they executed. They even came up with additional design ideas to elevate the site.

What is the team composition?

I worked with a designer and a developer. I communicated mostly with the designer, explaining what I wanted, and she would relay that to the developer.

How did you come to work with Series Eight?

I found them through a friend of a friend. I loved their young, fresh, and funky style. They’re very versatile. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $10,000–$15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together in October 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Series Eight saw my work, embraced it, and embodied it into the website. They listened to everything I asked for. The team implemented a lot of details that have added a lot of value. They’ve created a really clean, more user-friendly interface, which is a great improvement from the previous site.

How did Series Eight perform from a project management standpoint?

They were excellent. Series Eight offered clear, transparent communication throughout. If I gave them feedback, they would make the change within 24 hours.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Because they’re a young group, they understand the millennial way of thinking, which is my clientele. They built a site that wasn’t too modern but was super clean, so it would be easy for anyone to grasp. Series Eight demonstrated a great understanding of my audience and who my customers are.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. They’re just a great team all around.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Do some preliminary background research and have some examples ready of what you like. The more visuals you can show them, the easier it will be for them to just run with it. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a company called Mont Gele Gear. We specialize in premium ski gear (apparel). We’re sustainable to the greatest extent possible, transparent in our supply chain, pricing and carbon footprint, and 100% carbon neutral. We also have a charitable give back initiative.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Series Eight?

We needed support with designing and fully developing a website. We needed a really strong but simple e-commerce website to sell our wares.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The contract was in three phases. The first phase was design. We already had branding assets and a color palette, produced by a separate branding agency. 

We needed Series Eight to use these items, and to try to work out how they could best employ our color palette and those assets to build a beautiful looking site.

The second phase was to actually put that into action and develop it. The site is all coded in Craft CMS (Pixel & Tonic). Series Eight proposed Craft because it gave their team as much scope as possible to dream up and create a bespoke site.

The third phase was more of a brief completion/test phase, and was effectively the last couple of weeks up until the beginning of last week, during which they helped us to finish off some loose ends, and then take care of all remaining bugs. They then assisted us with testing and deploying the final site.

What is the team composition?

The design phase was led by Francesca (Design Director), who's got amazing vision and imagination. A bit of drawing (icons, etc.) was done by Matthew (Identity and Illustration). He's got a very unique style which is highly satisfying on the eye, and which works so well with what we were trying to achieve.

The project was then moved on to John (Frontend Developer), who's a veritable wizard!

And lastly, Mario (Creative Director & Owner) was in charge overall - he provided all domain/server/SEO related assistance towards the end of the project, and excellent (reassuring!) guidance from beginning to end.

How did you come to work with Series Eight?

I spent about a month researching online to work out what designer/developer would be best for us. We went out to about 20 companies with a brief that outlined what we were looking for. There were 10 that came back in the 'could be good' category, but the price split was from about £15,000 through to £120,000. There was clearly a huge potential difference in how much the project might cost, depending on who we went with. 

Series Eight offered the project to us for a very reasonable price. To us, that felt like a great deal at the time and remains very much so in hindsight, because they've built us a really, really nice site, and they've been, and continue to be, super responsive.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent around £19,000 (approximately $25,000 USD) in the end. 

Since then, we've paid them around £600 (approximately $800 USD) for this past month, which was for work beyond the scope of the original project.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in late January 2020. While the main contract element is now complete (as of last week), we look forward to having Series Eight by our side in the long term, and we already have various small new projects which we're working on with them, to augment the site.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Being a qualified lawyer, I have really high standards when it comes to attention to detail. Series Eight is exceptional when it comes to this. I don’t think I've ever had to tell them anything twice. They get the point every single time - it's a joy to work with a company like that and a real pleasure dealing with people who are on the same wavelength as you.

How did Series Eight perform from a project management standpoint?

They've been very good. It’s pretty clear that COVID-19 has had some impact in the past year when running projects like this for almost everyone. Despite that, Series Eight met their deadlines pretty well, and especially considering how much we threw at them.

We communicate with them via Slack and Trello (and occasionally email). Mario, Francesca and John always understand what I'm asking for. They're all excellent, and exactly what you want from a project manager, designer and developer.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Series Eight is a team of extremely friendly, talented individuals, all of whom I trust implicitly. They’re very personable, approachable, and easy to talk to. They've also absolutely met the challenge of dealing with me as a largely non-technical person.

Series Eight have held our hand all the way and they've been easy and a pleasure to work with. I've thrown so many things at them and there was never a sigh or a groan. Nothing is ever too complicated - these are 'yes' people. They always find a way to sort out even the most complicated issues, and that's awesome. You can’t put a price on that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Really not a great deal. I think they took on quite a lot of projects during the COVID-19 lockdown (good on them!), so were ever so slightly stretched for manpower. However, we too inevitably found ourselves taking slightly longer with certain things because of COVID-19 anyway, so it really wasn't a problem that the project ended up taking just a little longer overall.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would say that the most important thing is being very attentive and being available. They're super responsive. If you message them, you'll get a reply from someone pretty quickly; possibly within half an hour, maybe even 10 minutes. It's extremely impressive, but you need to be able to make the most of it, otherwise you'll waste the very high level of responsiveness that they offer.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a company called Charlotte Jade. We produce wallpapers, cushions, and other products. They’re all hand-drawn designs inspired by nature. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Series Eight?

I needed a new website developed. The one I had before didn’t represent my brand very well.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I had an idea of what I wanted for my site visually, which I shared with Series Eight. From there, I told them I just wanted the site to represent my brand a little better, and I wanted the e-commerce capabilities to be improved. 

The team came up with the design, and I tweaked a few things along the way. They used InVision to create mockups for different pages. They also did my branding as well as my website, which they merged together. 

What is the team composition?

I communicated with all of the team members on different parts of the project. I ran most of my ideas through Mario (Series Eight). Everyone was really helpful; the whole team was amazing.

How did you come to work with Series Eight?

I was on one of the websites they designed, and I loved it, which is how I found them. I reached out to Mario and we had a chat about what I wanted to do. He was really professional and understood what I wanted, and I immediately knew Series Eight was going to do the best job for me.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from April–October 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The new website represents my brand very well — far better than what it did before. I’ve received incredible feedback, and everyone who visits the site loves it. It stands out from my competitors. The site also functions a lot better than the old one. It’s very easy to use. 

How did Series Eight perform from a project management standpoint?

They were amazing. The team was on time for everything, and everyone was really well organized. We communicated over Slack, which was great because it meant nothing ever got lost or missed. I could reach out to speak to anyone at any time. They were really helpful all the way through. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Series Eight has a great methodology. Everyone had a specific role, and it was also clear who played what role. From the beginning, everything was set out on a plan, and they laid out exactly how everything would look before they started building. 

It was great working with Series Eight — I had an incredible experience. The whole team was very professional.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing off the top of my head.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just tell them exactly what you’re looking for. Nothing I mentioned was ever a problem. They were really keen to fulfill my brief.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a computer software company, Kirontech. We provide software for medical insurance companies and medical payers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Series Eight?

We needed a partner to help us design and deliver a new website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Series Eight redesigned and rebuilt our company website from scratch. Their team predominately worked to redesign and organize content for the website. They uniformly created and implemented content using Craft CMS and PHP CMS Their team designed the website in line with our branding. They still provide hosting services for us. Later, we may engage them to improve or add pages website pages.

What is the team composition?

We work with four people including a project manager. Mario (Founder) is our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Series Eight?

I researched online and reached out to three highly regarded companies. Mario quickly responded. We engaged with him and liked his approach.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $25,000–$35,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our partnership in July 2020. Although they delivered the website in September, our relationship’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Series Eight delivered on time, and I’m satisfied with how everything looks and works. It’s pleasant dealing with their team too.

How did Series Eight perform from a project management standpoint?

They manage the project well. We share different items through Zeplin and Trello as well as talk to each other through Slack. Mario’s always accessible, and their team’s responsive and sticks to deadlines. It’s a pleasant engagement.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Series Eight is professional and knowledgeable. Their team’s able to deliver good quality work on time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, their team did a good job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re trying to build a website or accomplish a similar project, know what you want. The more you know what you want, the easier the project will be. We came into this project prepared.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of marketing for Outlier.org. We develop and administer online college courses across the US. These are accredited courses for college students.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Series Eight?

We hired them to launch our marketing website that prospective students use to explore our courses and then enroll in them. We had a fairly rudimentary website on Squarespace and wanted to elevate the quality of our online platform. Our primary goals were to improve the conversion rate and average order value.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Series Eight developed a new home page, new product pages, and secondary pages such as an about us page. As we partner with universities, they also developed a partners page.

Their team developed an entirely new check-out flow too. It’s a step by step process and a custom application that students go through. This was all built as a custom theme on top of Shopify Plus.

What is the team composition?

We primarily worked with three people from Series Eight. Mario (Owner and Creative Director) was involved from start to finish. We worked with Warren (UX/UI Designer) who was a fantastic product designer. We worked with Colin (Front-End Developer) who’s their head of engineering.

How did you come to work with Series Eight?

We found them listed on Shopify’s site as an approved partner. We then thoroughly checked their references and looked at Clutch, which was an important step in our selection process.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $30,000 on the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in June 2020, and they delivered a full website that checked all of the boxes within two months. We launched the website in August. As we move into A/B testing, we plan to engage them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re still in the process of evaluating the new site’s performance. We capture a ton more leads and our conversions look comparable. The real benefit is that we now have the ability to run A/B experiments. We’ll start the process of continuous A/B testing to optimize the platform. That wasn’t possible on our previous site.

How did Series Eight perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team was responsive and made everything easy. We used a shared Trello board to manage the project. Anytime that they sent design mockups, they linked to InDesign and included a Loom video.

Their team was open to feedback. We’re in the US, and they’re based in the UK. I would give them my feedback and file bugs during QA. I’d wake up the next morning and everything was fixed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have an amazing design team that’s open to feedback and inspiration. When thinking about the UI/UX designs, we really collaborated on how to hit our goals, which was great. I also hadn’t worked with a development shop that was able to stay on track with the timeline and budget as well as Series Eight. That was amazing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, no. We’ll continue to work with them because we’re so impressed with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Treat them as an extension of your team because that’s how they operate. We were open with them about our business and that seemed to work well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO at Kokoon Technology.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Series Eight?

We hired them to design and build a new Shopify website to sell headphones.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Series Eight built an e-commerce website on Shopify. The site needed to deal with multiple currencies and customers from all over the world, which required a bit of setup from Series Eight in order to get that functioning correctly. Their team did front- and backend development. They did a very slick UX integration and added various bits of rich content. We use various Shopify plugins and integrations with other tech.

What is the team composition?

I dealt with three people, but I’m sure more teammates were working on the project. 

How did you come to work with Series Eight?

Another company that we knew recommended them. 

How much have you invested with them?

I believe we spent about £10,000 (approximately $12,600 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in August 2019, and the project finished at the start of that November.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The site needed to work. I know that sounds simple, but we directed a lot of traffic from an old site – that was converting and generating revenue – to the new one. Ultimately, it came down to whether the site would work, would people be able to convert successfully or if they’d have problems, would the tech stack be connected properly, and would users get the right emails when they were supposed to. The site worked straightaway. There were a few bugs to sweep up, but there were almost no issues, which was great. The global aspect of the website was also key.

How did Series Eight perform from a project management standpoint?

They were really solid. They used Trello, and it was very, very effective. Series Eight was very easy to work with. The team was collaborative and responsive, and they handled various issues that came up with creative problem-solving. They were okay with a bit of scope creep.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s quality. With a project like that, you’re working with fairly loose requirements, and there are a lot of opportunities to cut corners if you want to, but they didn’t. That’s probably why it worked so solidly as soon as they put it live.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not really. I think our project overran a bit, but these projects always do. I’m sure it was as much our fault as it was theirs.

Any advice for potential customers?

Deliver the tightest brief that you possibly can and make sure that all of the requirements you need are captured in that brief. Ultimately, any quote that you get will be based on those requirements, and if you don’t include what you need, it will cause problems down the road.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work at the strategic investment arm of a large group that invests in EdTech and gaming companies. I am the global marketing manager there, so I manage all of the marketing, communications, and PR for the group.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Series Eight?

We’re a fairly new division of the group. When we started in 2018, we put up a website fairly quickly, but as we’ve grown over the past couple of years, we realized that we needed much more functionality. We wanted the site to have better user design, since it was a single-scroll site. We also opened up an office in China, so we wanted a site in Chinese.

There were quite a few web changes we needed. We were looking for an agency that would be a bit easier to coordinate with than the one who’d gotten our initial site up and running, since I’m based in London.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Series Eight made all of the changes we wanted for a much more user-friendly, easy-to-update WordPress site. We wanted to stick with our existing elements and designs, but they adapted them in a fun way. They primarily did frontend development. The team also gave feedback on how the site could be more user-friendly, which we adopted into the site.

What is the team composition?

I worked with three different people: Mario (Owner & Creative Director), Huw (Frontend Developer), and Francesca (Design Director). I initially spoke to Mario about the scope of the project and what we were looking for. Once we decided to go with them, I worked with Francesca to layout the design work. Then, I was passed on to Huw, who actually made the site happen. Huw was my main contact, but for anything bigger, I reached out to Mario.

How did you come to work with Series Eight?

I initially learned about them by Googling UK web development agencies, and they popped up a couple of times. I interviewed a few different studios that had pretty good feedback online. We ended up going with Series Eight because, besides being UK-based, their price was competitive, and they clearly laid out how we would work together. They used platforms like Trello for project management and Slack for communication, so it seemed like a really transparent, thought-out process. They were super responsive and willing to talk about how we could integrate anything we asked for; they seemed to be on our side.

The final step to actually getting them approved to work with us was having our internal IT team do a test run-through so that we could know Series Eight would be able to execute the IT strategy and web development to our parent company’s standards. They passed with flying colors; the IT team was really happy with them.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost $8,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first reached out to them in January 2020, but we didn’t get the green light to move ahead with them until the beginning of February. The new site launched in mid-March; it was a bit delayed on our end. 

They’re still doing web hosting for us, so we’re engaged with them for the foreseeable future. We’re planning to do a second iteration of some more changes on our site that will happen in the next year, and we’ll definitely use them again.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The last site we had was very basic, so it’s hard to say how much of an improvement this site is, since it’s just blown everything out of the water. For example, our last site was single-scroll, so our bounce rate was incredibly high, but our new multi-page site has eliminated that issue. 

Having a Chinese site has been really beneficial for our China-based team, so that they don’t need to rely on the English-only site to talk to prospective startups we might work with. In general, the feedback from the team and externally has been really good. We hear quite frequently from people who have come across our site for the first time how impressive it is. People comment, unprompted, how beautiful it is and how fun it is to scroll through the site, because the elements are so interactive. Even the CEO has said it’s great, so it’s been pretty broadly noticed across our team and the greater company.

How did Series Eight perform from a project management standpoint?

Mario was fantastic to work with; he was super responsive and really saw our vision out of the gate. Anytime we had an interaction with Mario, Huw, or really anyone on their team, they seemed to really adopt what we wanted. They were passionate about delivering something above and beyond what we asked for. They felt like an extension of our team because they really quickly adopted what our brand was about and figured out the best way to portray that, with minimal direction.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The communication was great. They’re also just very flexible; anytime we had to make changes, they’d execute them right away. If we asked for something and then it turned out it wasn’t the best way forward for us, they were completely understanding and happy to make tweaks. We’ve been super happy working with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, no. It’s been such a great process; there’s nothing that I wish they did differently.

Any advice for potential customers?

Just trust them pretty openly. They seem to be a really agile team that works quickly. Some companies, especially big corporations, might have a tendency to want to hold onto the process and have a lot of checks and balances, which we certainly did at first.  Having seen how well the team internalizes the brand they’re working with, I’d saying giving them more free reign is actually better. Letting them get creative with the process seemed to really work in our favor, and I’m sure other companies have found the same.