Stellar Elements

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO and CMO at Major Decision, a startup in the higher education space. It’s a platform that allows high school students and their families direct access to college students at universities they’re interested in attending. It aims to make students smarter about the college admissions process.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ADK Group?

We’d developed a prototype of the platform and was going through the branding process. We engaged ADK Group to help us turn that prototype into a functional platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We showed them the prototype and discussed the technical approach we wanted to take for the development of the platform. After clarifying some requirements and deliverables, they gave us a rough budget and then launched into development.

It’s a responsive, browser-based Drupal web app with a search function, a communication function, profiles, and a star-rating system. High school students can connect with university students and converse over texting, video call, or even an in-person meeting.

After the engagement, the high-school students would rate them, and the university students would get paid. Stripe is used to process payments on the backend, which also stores student information.

What is the team composition?

The team size fluctuated around six people. There were frontend and backend developers, QA testers, project managers, UX experts, and even marketing teammates.

How did you come to work with ADK Group?

They were referred to us by the agency that’s doing our branding work. The two companies had worked together on other projects. After the first meeting, I was impressed with their experience and their competitive pricing.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $100,000–$250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement lasted between July 2019 and our soft launch was in November of that year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We got great feedback about how intuitive the app is. Our user acceptance testing yielded very positive results about how user-friendly the platform is. We’ve heard really great things.

How did ADK Group perform from a project management standpoint?

We had two project managers over the course of the project, and they were extremely structured. They used JIRA, and we had standups and check-ins.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were organized, disciplined, but also appropriately flexible. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We might’ve done user acceptance testing a little too early. We could’ve used another week or two of internal testing. We’ve already discussed it, though, and they were great at taking our feedback.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the Interim Director of Health and Research the Greater Boston Food Bank. We’re the largest food bank in the New England region, serving 190 cities and towns in the nine eastern counties of the state.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ADK Group?

We needed web developers to work on one of our sites, ClicknCook.org. It’s a healthy recipe website, and it was built so that clients and people utilizing food pantries and other programs could put in up to three ingredients and have recipes provided to them that contained those ingredients.

The previous web developers we worked with really didn’t understand what the website was intended for. It was clunky and didn’t work the way it was supposed to. We also wanted to give our in-house team easy access to the backend so we could make updates ourselves in the future.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a website in place at the start of the collaboration, and we detailed to them what the site and its functionalities were. They worked on the development of both the front- and backend. 

They helped us identify a nutrition analysis API. Historically, we had been running the recipes through separate software to get the nutrition information, and manually plugging it into the website. They wrote code that allows the nutrition analysis automatically.

They also wrote the code an internal ranking called Supporting Wellness at Pantries (SWAP). ADK built the code for SWAP so that, once a nutrition analysis is done, it will automatically generate the ranking on the site.

They also developed a way for us to mass upload recipes from a spreadsheet and helped us refine how it looked on the frontend. The new site also included a "recently viewed recipes" sections where users can go back and see what they've viewed. 

They migrated our blog content to the new site and reformatted it. 

What is the team composition?

We had two primary points of contact who delegated work to other people on their team. 

How did you come to work with ADK Group?

We put an RFP out, and they came to us with a proposal. They took the time to do the research ahead of that meeting and used that time as an opportunity to have a conversation and really find out what we wanted. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $25,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with ADK Group between June 2019–January 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

ADK Group improved our website and made it easier to manage internally. We don’t have any statistics because we haven’t rolled out the site yet. So far, we’ve gotten a lot of good responses from internal colleagues and people at other food banks, specifically about the functionality and the ease of it. The number one response we’ve gotten is that the site is beautiful and it’s easy to find information on it. 

We’ve also received a couple of responses from potential vendors of the food bank. We’ve been trying to get recipes from vendors and partners, but we hadn’t had a way of doing it automatically. Now that we can do that, the vendors we’re in communication with have had really positive responses to what it looks like.  

How did ADK Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They used Wrike, and their project manager did a great job of taking every single component and putting it into tickets. The system was easy to understand and it allowed us to keep all our communication in one place. 

We communicated through email and also had a half-hour call once a week with the project manager and the other person, whom I believe was a developer. There was a lot of open communication every week.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were responsive and genuinely interested in finding out what our problems were and how to fix them. They were also quick to reply if we had a question and explained their process to us in layperson’s terms. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Our first project manager left for another company partway through the project. We didn’t know that there were things they could’ve done differently until the new project manager came on board.

I don’t think there’s anything they could’ve done differently, aside from making sure there was a project manager like her assigned to us from the beginning because she was fantastic.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

For any partnership like this, it’s important to make sure that everything’s clear and written out, and that everyone is on the same page from the very beginning, in accordance with the scope of the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Chief Operating Officer at Beyond Insurance and have been with the company for about 11 years. We provide coaching and training services to independent insurance agencies as well as insurance carriers throughout the United States.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ADK Group?

Our business had been innovative in so many ways but when it came to technology, we needed something unique to reflect our offerings. All the websites we had created were done inhouse and were difficult to navigate. Our members were looking for one, cohesive site to find tools and resources.

What were your goals for this project?

We had multiple websites for our members that needed to be combined and housed under one roof. We also have a number of proprietary tools and surveys that required programming solutions to be scaled. Our overarching goal was to include site usage and engagement with our offerings to lead to renewals and new business. The results have been great so far as we just brought in 5 new clients in the last month and a half!

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We interviewed several companies for this project as it was the biggest reinvestment we have ever made in our small company. Things felt right with ADK after they spent the time to really get to know our business, talk to our clients, and even interviewed potential clients of ours. They got to know each of our team members and we felt a true connection with theirs.

Describe the project in detail.

The first step with ADK was doing a deep dive into our business, evaluate our current websites, and then create a wishlist and goals for the project. Our project manager, Monica, was extremely organized and hosted weekly strategy sessions to review designs and get feedback throughout the entire scope of the project. The ADK Group even came to our member conference to get feedback from our clients onsite and then officially launch the site for them.

What was the team composition?

ADK Group had 2 or 3 main contacts for us that were consistent throughout the whole engagement. I understand there were a lot of backend developers working on the nuts and bolts but it was refreshing to work with the same core team over the year-long project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within the first few months of launching, we brought on 5 new clients and signed renewals with several other existing members. The site usage heavily increased and we are getting more attendance on our webinars and events as they are easy to find on the new site. We have also received a number of requests to learn more about our business through the new contact form on the site.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our project manager was fantastic and hosted weekly meetings. Monica always sent follow up notes, reminders, and gave us a reasonable amount of time to get feedback and make changes. We utilized Google Hangouts for all our meetings during the design phase. Once the site was in development, we managed our requests and feedback through Jira. Now that the site is live, we work through Wrike for requests and tickets. Everything has been really organized!

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was so impressed with how well they got to know us and our clients. We felt throughout the entire process (and even now!) that they truly care about our success and want to remain a valued partner. The whole process never felt transactional -- it felt like a relationship. I would recommend ADK to anyone that was looking to make a meaningful investment in their web presence.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We're a small company, so every dollar counts. I believe they were as flexible as they could be with pricing but it really was a large investment for us. I'm confident it's one that will pay off, however, costs did add up quickly as we developed a number of customized solutions.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO and founder of Thropic, which is a fundraising company based out of Boston. We work with a variety of nonprofits in the New England area to help them with digital and event marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Fresh Tilled Soil?

Our company is looking to develop a crowdfunding mobile app that serves as a rewards system. We hired Fresh Tilled Soil to help design the entire mobile app and help flesh out the user flow.

What were your goals for this project?

• Construct an information architecture and sitemap to support the user journey.
• Construct low-fidelity (black and white) wireframes that represent the required UI elements and general screen layouts.
• Assemble prototypes through InVision to demonstrate flows through key screens
• Define a visual design system and apply these constructs to key UI elements and general screen layouts.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I was referred to this vendor through a mutual connection at a networking event. FTS has worked with multiple credible brands and they have a strong track record. It was an easy decision!

Describe the project in detail.

Once we established an informational architecture, we set forth on fleshing out a variety of features. Namely, Fresh Tilled Soil helped establish the most realistic user flow for fundraising campaigns. They also helped figure out the most efficient rewards system. All in all, FTS went above and beyond our expectations.

What was the team composition?

The team started at three people on the vendor side but transitioned over to two once one member had a child. There was one (1) project manager and one UX designer. They were consummate professionals throughout the process.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

While we have not yet started the development process, we have received rave reviews about the look of this design. FTS made the transition to a development team very seamless as all of the elements are easily transferrable code wise.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Workflow could not have been easier. The project manager always stayed on top of the weekly tasks and follow up notes from our meetings. They understood all of our suggestions and comments throughout the process.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their attention to detail blew me away. They were incredibly responsive and communicative throughout the process. They brought everything I envisioned to life.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No everything was excellent.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of operations at an enterprise SaaS organization. We sell an AI platform that helps other organizations inform their human capital and talent decisions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fresh Tilled Soil?

We hired Fresh Tilled Soil to look at ways to drive more focus on the AI and NLP components of our recommendation engine, rather than the analytics and dashboard capabilities. We were hoping that, through better UX design, we would be able to encourage the adoption of some of the more advanced features of our platform.

Our product is very complex. It’s a pretty sophisticated matrix of different modules that we’re trying to manage. The recommendation engine, for example, is intercepting thousands of decisions a day. Given this level of complexity, we felt that the UX could be more streamlined and intuitive for our end users.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

This project was focused entirely on UX. The team from Fresh Tilled Soil helped us understand what better site navigation would look like, as well as which pieces of information should live on each page. They spent time talking with everyone on our team — and some external users — to figure out what exactly was working and why some users were running into challenge areas.

What is the team composition?

We had a team of three designers who were focused on our project.

How did you come to work with Fresh Tilled Soil?

We found out about Fresh Tilled Soil through a referral from one of our Techstar peers. We didn’t do a formal RFP process, but we did compare bids from four or five similar shops.

Because we’re a young, high-growth organization, we were looking for a partner that would be willing to start small with us and become our go-to UX partner as we scale. This led us to focus on smaller teams that were going to have more flexibility.

We were looking at firms that concentrated on UX because we already have in-house graphic design resources. Fresh Tilled Soil won the work because of their depth and their exclusive focus on UX.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested about $15,000 for this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from March–April 2019. We anticipate doing more work with Fresh Tilled Soil, and have an ongoing, ad hoc relationship with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don’t have any metrics to share because their work isn’t available to customers yet, but we’ve already seen some beneficial outcomes. We’ve started using their screens during presentations to investors, and they’ve directly helped our sales process in terms of pushing enterprise deals along. Having this improved UX has made a huge difference in our efforts to secure additional capital.

We’re in the process of rethinking the backend architecture to match the new UX. The design should be live in about a month.

How did Fresh Tilled Soil perform from a project management standpoint?

As a former management consultant, I’m well versed regarding project management styles, and Fresh Tilled Soil excelled in this area. They never once missed a call or email and had everything scheduled. We always knew exactly what the team was working on. The team exceeded our expectations in terms of what they were able to get done in the timeframe.

Part of why they performed so strongly was that they were extremely flexible in their communication. We used a combination of Slack, email, calls, and Skype, and they tailored their outreach to our preferences.

To augment some of this more rapid communication, they also used a formal project management tool. We had access to their project plan, and our team was able to comment on and interact with it. This multi-faceted communication approach made the project run very smoothly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The seniority of Fresh Tilled Soil’s team makes them stand out, especially in terms of their flexibility. Having experienced designers allowed them to be more dynamic and match our demanding timelines.

For example, two members of our leadership team are constantly traveling, and Fresh Tilled Soil was able to adjust quickly and stay in communication. A more junior group of designers may not have been able to do that as effectively. Fresh Tilled Soil shines with organizations that need that extra level of sophistication in their UX team.

I also really valued their holistic approach. They did an excellent job of gathering and considering multiple opinions. We had our own hypotheses going into the project, and they leveraged their expertise to elevate the conversation past our initial thoughts. What we ended up doing, based on their recommendation, was much more of a drastic, foundational change than we were anticipating, which I appreciated.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any improvements to suggest, and I don’t say that lightly. Fresh Tilled Soil is one of the few vendors I’ve been willing to jump and the phone and give a five-star referral for, and it’s because they are very good at what they do.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Because their team is very experienced and effective, you should make sure to have a precise idea of what you want them to focus on. That’s how you’re going to get the most out of them. Even a small amount of prep work can go a long way in terms of saving time on the discovery phase. They will be most useful once they get to the core challenges of the project and start solving the thornier issues.

My other piece of advice for potential customers is to make sure that you’re ready for their level of expertise. This is a powerful group of UX designers who will deliver. If you’re looking to keep your budget small, there are other options for that.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief product officer at Fair Shot, a technology company that was launched by consulting firm Northwind Strategies. Our app helps build grassroots campaigns by empowering supporters and volunteers with the tools they need to organize their communities and communicate their work. We strive to make organizing easier and more effective to scale up.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ADK Group?

Our team at Fair Shot consists of campaign consultants and veteran organizers, not developers. We hired ADK Group to build our app.  

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, ADK Group led a four-week discovery phase. We went over our ideas and the user stories behind the app that we thought would be most effective for campaigns. Following that, ADK Group came back to us with some rough mockups and wireframes, and we began an intense four-week design process. We took all of our ideas from discovery and turned them into a comprehensive wireframe, ultimately creating a plan for building the app.

Then, we entered the build phase, which lasted 6–8 months. ADK Group developed and programmed the app for iOS and Android. In June 2019, we began a two-month beta process.

ADK Group continues to provide support. They will do updates as needed.

What is the team composition?

We had a project manager who served as the liaison between our team and ADK Group’s team.

During discovery, we worked with a UI and a UX designer. For the design phase, we engaged three team members, and then during the app build, we worked with around four backend and three frontend developers.

How did you come to work with ADK Group?

When I joined Northwind Strategies in June 2018 and began exploring the idea of building an app, I looked at several small–medium-sized web and app agencies in the Northeast. We did a comprehensive survey of about thirty firms and explained to them what we were interested in building, since our project fits in a niche. We wanted to find a firm that would be big enough to handle this project—the app has a lot of moving parts and is complicated from a technological perspective—but small enough that we could work with the firm’s best people.

We narrowed our selection down to three firms, which we brought into our office for an extended discussion. Ultimately, we had the best conversation with ADK Group, and they presented the most compelling proposal.

How much have you invested with them?

My company has spent around $700,000. We will continue to spend more on updates and new features.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work together began in June 2018, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re in the process of onboarding ten Massachusetts-based campaigns to test out the app, so we don’t have any solid metrics yet. However, interest in the app is very high. Campaigns know how hard it is to implement the type of strategy that Fair Shot supports, so they see the opportunity that this app presents. ADK Group has been with us every step of the way.

How did ADK Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done quite well in this regard. Our project has been incredibly demanding because of tight timelines. In other areas of business, you might be able to push back goals, but with campaigns, deadlines are immovable; election day doesn’t change. We had one client in particular that wanted to roll the app out relatively early.

We told ADK Group that if we didn’t meet our benchmarks, we wouldn’t be able to continue investing in the project; we needed to launch in time for election day. ADK was very flexible about working with us to meet our deadlines. Despite very high pressure, they made the process work remarkably well. During the discovery and design phases, we had intensive in-person, 2–3-hour meetings multiple times each week. Once we began development, we had weekly check-ins and elongated end-of-sprint meetings every two weeks. Over the two-month beta period, we had daily calls with ADK Group. They used TestFlight to test the beta version of the app.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m impressed by their ability to translate our ideas into a design. ADK Group’s design and development teams were able to turn our diverse team’s various ideas, and the unique tactics and strategies that go into a political campaign, into a cool product that works well.

Also, ADK Group’s technological capabilities set them apart. Our app looks and functions better than those of our competitors.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

Quite frankly, no. I know that the way we approached ADK Group, the pressure we put them under, and the deadlines we set weren’t standard business practices. They performed to their utmost; I can’t think of anything that I would’ve wanted beyond what they gave.

Any advice for potential customers?

Know what you want. ADK Group has built technology for several different industries, and they’re incredible translators. This was the first political campaign technology they’ve done, and the key to our success was knowing exactly what we wanted from day one. We didn’t necessarily know what the technology would look like, but we had an idea, and they were able to translate that.

Additionally, it’s important to assign somebody from your team to work with ADK Group full-time to help manage the project. ADK Group performs best when they can be in constant contact with someone, so that their developers can quickly adapt to changing environments.  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Firefly Health. We’re in the process of building a digital platform that delivers healthcare virtually, so users will no longer have to go in for visits with doctors. We replace primary care, urgent care, and specialty care.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ADK Group?

We were trying to scope out the MVP for our technology platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They partnered with us to fully plan for the initial build of our technology product for iOS and Android. Then, working with our team, their engineers constructed the platform and did several of the early iterations needed to get it launched. The final product has privacy protection, an appointment scheduling system, integrated video chat, and an in-app chat function that’s tied to electronic health records. 

What is the team composition?

In total we worked with 6–8 members of their team, which included a CTO, product manager, and 3–5 engineers.

How did you come to work with ADK Group?

I’ve known Dan (President, ADK Group) many years before we decided to work with them. Once we started to look for tech partners, ADK Group seemed very thoughtful, effective, and easy to get along with. When we vetted their engineering capacity, it was a cut above the other firms we were considering. Additionally, to solidify a true partnership, they did some of the work for equity in our company, setting us up for an incubator relationship.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested roughly $500,000 at this point. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in February 2018, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s tricky to define their impact because of how closely their work is integrated with our services, but our average feedback rankings have been very high. It’s safe to say that the platform they built has something to do with that. 

How did ADK Group perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication has been strong, and expectations are always set appropriately. They delivered on time and on budget without any surprises along the way. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a great understanding of our business, and that’s made them good partners. We value their flexibility and commitment to building a long-term relationship rather than one that’s purely transactional. Their team has plenty of healthcare experience, which is great for privacy and data protection in particular. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re not cheap, but they deliver very high-quality work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

In the beginning, having an open dialogue about your expectations is important. Communicate openly throughout the process. They’re trustworthy, and you’ll be happy with your results. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of operations at Span Tech, a conveyor manufacturer. I’ve been with the company for almost 30 years.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ADK Group?

Our software, which generates quote estimates for our conveyor systems, was a robust Microsoft Excel program that we developed ourselves over a 28­–29-year period. We’d reached the limits of our program’s capabilities, so we approached ADK Group to create new software.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

ADK Group is developing web-based software. They’re duplicating our three-part program and making enhancements. Our software entails many manual steps, such as outputting files, generating quotes that we send to customers, and exporting build materials to our ERP system, and ADK Group is automating all of those.

Initially, ADK Group analyzed our existing software to determine what they needed to do. In the first phase of the project, they duplicated two parts of the software. In the second phase, which we’re finishing up now, they’re duplicating the third part of the software, which is by far the most complicated module to program. Finally, they will validate the new software and make enhancements.

What is the team composition?

We work with a core group of four programmers, along with Julie (Senior Project Manager, ADK Group). ADK Group adds people to the project as needed.

How did you come to work with ADK Group?

Our website programmers, who have since merged with ADK Group, recommended them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ll likely spend between $300,000–$400,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work together began in June 2018. We began phase two of the project in December 2018, and that will be concluding soon; then, they’ll start making software enhancements.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When my colleague and I visited ADK Group last week, we didn’t think they’d be as far along in the development as they were. The UI they’ve built is amazing, and they’ve made what we call the “conveyer builder” very visual for users, so they can put together sections of the conveyer on the screen in front of them. Customers will be able to access the software to generate their own quote estimates, and we think they’ll be amazed by the visualization of the software.

How did ADK Group perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve been outstanding in this regard. We have biweekly sprints on Google Hangouts Meet. My colleague and I have been to ADK Group’s office in Boston twice, and we think these trips are well worth the effort and expense so that we can troubleshoot and discuss the project one-on-one. ADK Group also visited our office in Kentucky once.

Our account manager Julie organizes everything. Google meetings are always on time, and when we are onsite, Julie has an agenda to ensure everything gets done. They run a strict business and stick to what they tell you they’re going to do, which is somewhat hard to come by these days.  

We came back from our trip to Boston last week with a punch list of action items that we’re going through. Since we’re nearing the end of phase two, we’re having more frequent Google meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s amazing that ADK Group is able to duplicate and enhance the software that took us nearly three decades to develop in just over a year. Their vast knowledge base allows them to complete many tasks in a short amount of time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’re 100% satisfied with them, in every aspect. We wouldn’t regret sending people to them.

Any advice for potential customers?

You can trust them to manage the project well; Julie is a great account manager and keeps everything in order. We’ve been very satisfied with the way she handles things. We also trust them with the amount of money we’re spending.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive VP of a computer software firm, handling a Java web app built for model-driven analytics. The app builds multi-dimensional forecasts using a full set of financial statements.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fresh Tilled Soil?

Our software was developed in-house over the course of many years. We wanted a fresh set of eyes to assist with making improvements to our UI/UX.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve been working on the app for about 20 years, so it has several in-depth functionalities. When Fresh Tilled Soil came onto the project, they were challenged with familiarizing themselves with the complex, fully-developed piece of software.

Once they were up to speed, they studied the current interface and interviewed customers to find out which parts of the software needed the most improvement. In their feedback from consumers, Fresh Tilled Soil found that users didn’t want the site to be entirely redone, so the team recommended incremental design updates instead. Though that feedback was unexpected, they redesigned the site from there.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Geordie (Director of UX Strategy, Fresh Tilled Soil), Dan (New Business Strategist, Fresh Tilled Soil), a project coordinator, and another UI/UX designer.

How did you come to work with Fresh Tilled Soil?

I did a web search, looking at customer reviews and talking to some of the folks who have worked with Fresh Tilled Soil. During that process, we got a good feeling about their abilities, so we hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $100,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from March–June 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We can’t track metrics yet, because we are in the process of implementing Fresh Tilled Soil’s recommendations. But, we are internally satisfied with their work. This was a much more difficult project than anyone expected it to be, and they were able to pull it off.

How did Fresh Tilled Soil perform from a project management standpoint?

They kept us on track and managed the project well. We primarily used Slack and Basecamp to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were always open and straightforward, owning up to any issues they ran into. We got off to a bit of a slow start, and they came to us to discuss it before we went to them­­, which was very impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would have been great if they picked up on the scope of the work more quickly, but I’m not sure there’s anything they could’ve done about that due to the complexity of the app.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open and honest with them, so they understand exactly what is needed.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a solutions architect for the Hancock Natural Resource Group. We raise capital from our clients to put into alternative investments—such as timber and farmland. We then operate those assets on our clients’ behalf to generate a return.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with ADK Group?

We sell recreational licenses on the properties we manage, but our current process is entirely paper-based and resource intensive. The task we put forward to ADK Group was to digitize and automate the process through a website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started it with a lot of requirements. We did a lot of Q&A on processes, and we prototyped how all of these manual processes would translate into a digital environment. After a lot of wireframe design and UI changes, ADK Group put together a functional specification document. It outlined everything that they were going to build for us and that would be delivered within the scope of work. 

ADK Group developed the solution in Drupal while we got together other necessary pieces. We put third-party credit card processing providers in place for ADK Group to integrate with their services. For the user acceptance testing, the team came on site and recorded training sessions for all end users. After that, we led two weeks of testing, during which we identified bugs for ADK Group to fix. They then helped get ready to go live—importing historical data, generating records for our system, and helping us create marketing email campaigns to inform existing customers of the new solution.

Since the launch, ADK Group now provides live support. We continue to develop the platform with their team. They take our requests for new features and enhancements and deploy them into production.

What is the team composition?

We work with primarily two people, but three subject matter experts have participated from time to time if we had a challenge in their domain. For example, ADK Group brought people in to help with email marketing, Google Analytics, and our site’s geospatial component that helps us render maps. 

How did you come to work with ADK Group?

We interviewed many solution providers, including a few significant IT consulting companies with a significant presence in our region or nationally. But we ended up talking to a design firm that we had used for another public-facing site. The firm offered to take on the project, but they needed a subcontractor to handle the technical requirements. They brought on ADK Group, and since then, our collaboration has primarily been with ADK Group.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $300,000–$400,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2018, and the project’s first phase concluded in March 2019. We’re now working on the second phase, and that process is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We booked about 80% of our expected orders through the site within the first months of going live. We've drastically cut down on the amount of staff needed to operate or to facilitate the license purchasing and renewal process. We've processed well more than $1 million through this platform. 

How did ADK Group perform from a project management standpoint?

ADK Group has done exceptionally well in managing our account. I’ve been extremely satisfied with how diligent they are. Every deliverable that the team was responsible for arrived on time according to the original project timeline that they proposed. We did have setbacks on the project, but those were entirely our own doing. Nonetheless, ADK Group has been flexible enough to help us work around that and still go live within the required timeframe. 

During the project, we spoke at least twice a week. Leading up to the launch, we talked every day. Now, we only have a biweekly check-in.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Often when I work with technology providers, I have to spend a tremendous amount of time vetting everything that they do. I tend to find they're usually not very thorough and don't QA things that they provide us. But with ADK Group, that is quite the opposite. They work very closely alongside us, and their attention to detail was exceptional. And they built something for us that met all of our expectations. It’s rare to make something new and hit the mark that closely, but ADK Group managed it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Any advice for potential customers?

Just make sure that you're as invested in the project as ADK Group will be. You should also appropriately scope your project to ensure its success.