SitePen

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Mojimix Corporation. We focus on cultural-specific emojis and stickers that users can purchase through an application.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SitePen?

We wanted to provide easy access for customers to buy our stickers by building an app for iOS and Android.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We discussed with SitePen the features that we wanted for the app, and they came up with solutions and a plan of action. They then designed and developed an app for iOS and Android using the latest technologies.

What is the team composition?

We worked with their VP. Their programmers and project managers took turns presenting their side of the story and contributing something to the project.

How did you come to work with SitePen?

I’ve known SitePen for a long time because I’ve worked on additional projects with them. I liked that they were organized, creative, and talented. I contacted them to discuss this project, and they came back with a four-month plan of what could be achieved weekly and monthly. That’s why we went with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked from January–April 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We received positive feedback from people using the app. Also, SitePen’s development knowledge was very good. They don’t have any metrics to measure success, but they achieved everything they promised.

How did SitePen perform from a project management standpoint?

SitePen had their management program where we sent documents and reported on any issues. We had weekly meetings that were easy to follow through. Throughout the process, they were on time and great at meeting goals.

What did you find most impressive about them?

SitePen gave us updates and was accountable. They came up with weekly plans and stuck to them perfectly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they could improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

SitePen will get the job done correctly. If you want to save money without going to different people, you should work with them and use their ability to bring ideas to life.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of an early-stage startup composed of three people. We’re a software firm creating a platform that allows companies to collaborate more efficiently while building their own software products. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SitePen?

We needed some help accelerating some design and development work. After building our application, we needed to develop a modern, marketing-driven website with a nice design. We also needed some design improvements for the application itself. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The engagement was a mixture of design for both our application and marketing site for the business. SitePen did a visual refresh for our application, suggesting changes to colors, fonts, layouts, positioning, and behavior of certain UI elements.

We also had a stream of questions that they answered inside a shared Sigma document, showing us the design decisions they made. This gave us a foundational framework for further designs beyond the project. 

SitePen also did the development of the website, and they used technologies that I approved and reviewed with them. We used Dojo, which is a modern typescript framework. It creates what’s known as a statically optimized site, so it’s efficient and easy to maintain. It was the technology that we were mutually familiar with, so it was a good fit for this collaboration. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with Alyssa (Technical Project Manager) as well as a number of engineers. We also worked with their management team. 

How did you come to work with SitePen?

I’ve known them for a long time, and since I’ve worked with them in the past, it was a logical choice to hire them. I knew they were great at creating designs that were reasonable to implement, and their outputs weren’t the same as what everyone else’s applications or websites looked like.

I could trust them to finish the task without having to check in every day to tell them if they were doing something wrong. I knew they’d quickly understand what I needed, so I hired them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $50,000 on this project. It was a relatively small investment, but it was enough to get the work done. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from July–August 2020. That was when the bulk of the engagement happened, and we’ve done some small things afterward.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In general, people love the designs that they see, and we get a lot of positive feedback about the website and the design of the application. We know that SitePen played a big part in that. 

How did SitePen perform from a project management standpoint?

SitePen was pretty flexible in adapting to our needs and being available as needed. Our typical choices for communication tools were our product and Slack. Then, we used our source code repository to track all changes. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

SitePen gave us what we expected and did it very efficiently and with quality. They took our ideas and came back with something better than we’d imagined. They didn’t only do exactly what we requested but also gently suggested better things for the project. 

If we disagreed with them, they understood and accepted that and did what we asked. However, their opinions were appreciated most of the time. They didn’t just blindly give us what we wanted, especially if they knew it wasn’t the best idea. They were pretty adaptable, and they bent where they needed to bend, so the engagement was pretty smooth and harmonious.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. Nothing comes to mind. In general, every project is different and challenging, but this one was relatively easy. As a result, I didn’t really see anything that might give me any concern or alarm. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Knowing what you want to be done will help you accomplish the project faster than if you only have random ideas that you haven’t thought through. SitePen can meet your needs in either of those situations. If you don’t know what you want, they can provide business analysis services. However, if you pretty much know what you need, they can skip the analysis and start working with what you have.

You must know where you’re at and where they can realistically meet your needs. If you think you know everything, then you won’t get the results you want because you won’t take the time to truly figure out what you need from SitePen.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I was a UI Architect for our Manageability Group. Our company makes cloud and on premise storage systems.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire SitePen?

Faced with the responsibility of the core UI framework and tool chain for multiple products required riding the wave of web tech reliably and rapidly. SitePen was our trusted support for advice, troubleshooting or developer support for the toughest issues.

SOLUTION

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

I have collaborated with SitePen at 3 companies for nearly 7 years before.

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

.

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

Around 3, they came for onsite training early on.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We delivered our core framework and supported multiple code lines through angular.js and Angular. 5 different products used it through multiple releases.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their workflow was extremely good. They had an uncanny knack for solving hard problems. Incredible!