SPARKUP DESIGN

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Reself. We’re developing a health and fitness app that uses technologies to implement psychological principles.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SPARKUP DESIGN?

Our previous UI/UX team also served as our developers. They did a horrific job, miserably failing both technically and functionally. I needed someone else to help with UI/UX for my iOS app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Amichai [Founder, SPARKUP DESIGN] designed the UI/UX for the app and the graphics for our website. We took some of the concepts and principles we had developed and converted them into a mobile media framework. He’s psychologically minded. He did a good job of translating my concepts into a technical environment.

What is the team composition?

Our team was led by Amichai, who is an independent contractor. He managed his own team of graphic artists and UI/UX people, along with our Ukrainian team. I only interacted directly with him and his brother. Amichai was our daily contact, and his brother had more of a strategic, big picture role.

How did you come to work with SPARKUP DESIGN?

I was initially working with Amichai’s brother. Several months into the project, he suggested that Amichai serve as the project manager and UI/UX designer, since he had significant experience in both areas. I met him and liked him.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from April 2016 until November 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our app is in the App Store, and shows very few bugs.

How did SPARKUP DESIGN perform from a project management standpoint?

Amichai worked very closely with our Ukrainian team to set up milestones and timelines. We didn’t meet any of our deadlines, but that wasn’t all his fault. There were other factors. I’m not working full-time on this, and sometimes I couldn’t do certain things in a timely fashion. He didn’t stall. He tried to do things on time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

In comparison to the other company I used, Amichai was a dream. We had a very pleasant working relationship. Personally, I like him because I can be direct and he doesn’t get defensive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If I could do it again, I would do things in a radically different way. The app had a few mistakes, and we still have a long way to go from a UI/UX perspective. We spent a lot of extra money and time doing things that could have taken less. Even though he has a fair amount of experience, he didn’t suggest things that would save me money and time.

As an individual, I like him. He’s hardworking. He’s devoted. He thinks outside the box. However, we were way over our schedule and budget estimates and everyone still missed something that I wish they hadn’t. I don’t know if this is a fair critique because I don’t have a huge amount of experience developing applications.

I would hire him again even though we had those problems. It wasn’t a lack of responsibility, efficiency, or integrity on his part.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an entrepreneur with a startup in a new retail environment.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SPARKUP DESIGN?

I have a lot of experience with Amichai (UX Consultant & Design Architect, SPARKUP DESIGN) because we’ve worked on other projects before. I started working with him so he could create visuals and make my company's messages more understandable to users and clients.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I have a hard time expressing why my startup is necessary to people in a way they can understand. Amichai is the first person I go to in order to refine my business messages. He takes it very seriously and does a lot of research to understand the person receiving the message. He basically changes the perspective on what I want to explain to my clients.

I’m capable of creating a website myself, but Amichai brings the end user’s perspective into the process. He even tells me my mistakes and delves deeply into the business. He isn’t just a designer for me. When I start a new business, I feel like I have to go to him because he’s the only person I can talk to.

What is the team composition?

I’ve only worked with Amichai, but there are other people who are working on the designs and are involved in the process.

How did you come to work with SPARKUP DESIGN?

I found Amichai five years ago because he was head of product in one of the startups I was involved with. I didn’t work with him directly for that company, but he was my employee. I started working with him in the last couple of years.

He wasn’t fully hands-on with the project. He usually worked on the project piece by piece. However, things changed, so I had to discuss with him how we would do things moving forward. We’ve been working very closely together for the past two months. If I knew how involved he could get into the process, I would’ve started working with him at this capacity much earlier. I only saw him as a designer in the past.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project I’ve been working on for the past two and a half years is evolving. The name and partners have changed three times, but it’s still the same project. At present, Amichai is heavily involved.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Right now, I’m very satisfied because I feel that my project in under control of the person who thinks about the end users (i.e., Amichai). Even though he’s only a supplier and not an employee, I depend on his work as we move through each step. I feel very confident about the project outcomes. He’s given me a lot of demos and examples of how things will look. It’s going in the right direction.

How did SPARKUP DESIGN perform from a project management standpoint?

He’s a very busy guy. We don’t set deadlines like other companies. I’m quite flexible at this point because I want to get the best possible results.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I have a good connection with Amichai. He’s a very smart and professional person. I sometimes find myself talking to him at two in the morning about my project. We get into arguments sometimes because I can be stubborn about things I think are right. However, I think he feels very comfortable with me as well.

We have the kind of relationship which enables us to talk about the business. He can tell me if I’m making a wrong turn. He’s very talented. I’ve seen his other work and done some research about things he’s been involved with in Israel, and I’m very impressed. He just knows his job. Amichai is one of the best professionals in the startup sphere.  

He’s an amazing designer. He takes things to the next level. He creates mockups and designs for websites or applications. He’s an end-to-end solution unlike other designers I’ve worked with in the past who only take my words as they are. Amichai puts in a lot of research.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the head of product at Hippo Insurance, an online home insurance startup focusing on the online distribution of modernized insurance products for homeowners and condo owners in the U.S.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with SPARKUP DESIGN?

We were in the final stages of developing and designing our product before launch. We wanted a more polished look for the landing page, which is an important piece for any online brand, especially for a new one which needs to establish credibility. We also wanted them to support us in some work done on our new CRM [Customer Relationship Management] system: internal tools that need to be used by our workforce for support and sales.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sparkup assisted Hippo with the design of Hippo's landing page - an iterative project that significantly contributed to the current Hippo's landing page look and feel.

Additionally, Sparkup provided design work for Hippo's in-house CRM system that was built from scratch in a very short time.

What is the team dynamic?

Most of the work was done directly with Amichai Oron (CEO, Sparkup Design) who also handled most of the day to day communication

How did you come to work with SPARKUP DESIGN?

We found them through a personal connection. One of our co-founders is familiar with Amichai's partner. He worked with him in the past and that was how we got in touch.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working them in early 2017. The landing page work took a month, while the CRM took a little longer than that.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I was extremely happy with the quality of the landing page. They suggested a much more modern design for the part that captures the address to start the quoting process. They worked us through a process of exploration based on other examples and best practices to optimize the look, feel, and functionality of this critical point on the landing page.

They also introduced a new concept of slightly 3D illustrations and objects that made the landing page much more modernized and slick. We went through multiple iterations. Our current design is slightly different to what we had back then with them, but they set us in the right direction.

They played a big role in enabling us to launch this site on time.  It allowed us to create a very simple and intuitive design for a CRM system that needs to be heavily used by our support and sales team internally.

How did SPARKUP DESIGN perform from a project management standpoint?

There were no issues with deadlines and communication. They were flawless.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were very responsive and responsible in terms of delivering on time. They also had a great ability to combine their creativity and perspective with the industry's best practice, which is something that I don't take for granted. It's important to have your own point of view, but you also need to be well-informed about the current trends and best practice in the industry so that you can leverage for the benefit of your product. They did a fantastic job.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing stands out. I've been really happy with the work they've done.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Aside from technical ability and proficiency to make sure your vision and preferences are aligned with the vendor, it's often a very subjective thing. Each founder and leadership team has its own vision and preferences for the product that they're building. You need to make sure that you find a partner vendor that understands and shares your vision with the product. In some cases, it works and it's great, but if it doesn't work, then that vendor is probably not the right fit.