Web Design Sun

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the managing partner of a software company that has SAAS products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Web Design Sun®?

Web Design Sun runs our customer facing website, our automated sales funnel tools, integrations and marketing design.

What were your goals for this project?

Working with a team who consistently performs good work and Web Design Sun accomplishes that task.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Good reviews on Upwork.

Describe the project in detail.

The project is to manage many items, including, but not limited to:

1. Our website - call to actions, automation, design, landing pages
2. Marketing Materials - flyers, banners, postcards etc

What was the team composition?

I have 2 contacts at Web Design Sun who have been great with communication and collaboration. I have not communicated with other members of their team. Web Design Sun has worked with a few members of my team and they have communicated effectively with high quality performance on all tasks.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The value is my time. The metric is my time. Web Design Sun has saved me enormous amounts of time because they are consistently good at what they do. They are always there to help, always there to advise, fix, rework. They work well with my team to get the best final product completed.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Great! They have a great team and are the most efficient team that I have worked within this space.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their communication is superb. Irina is excellent. Highly recommended.

Are there any areas for improvement?

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BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a boutique digital marketing and development agency in the UK, and I am the CEO. We work with a variety of brands to enhance their online presence and make their websites/apps as robust and seamless as possible.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Web Design Sun®?

We had a legacy course board website, which needed redesigning and developing from scratch. The deadline was short, and the course board had well over 100 custom features we had to emulate.

What were your goals for this project?

To relaunch the course board and enhance its current performance using Laravel as a framework, all before the deadline.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We've worked with WDS before, and were incredibly impressed at their work ethic and technical genius.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

WDS developed the entire solution from the ground up, redeveloping the course board on Laravel with an admin portal, SSO integration and a newly designed front end which worked even better than the original. We had several difficult features to implement which hadn't been attempted before, such as a very customised integration with Stripe, but they did it efficiently and with their signature professionalism.

What was the team composition?

We had the client, where there were 5 points of call, RB, where there was me managing the project, and WDS, where there was a designer, 2 developers and a project manager. All of these people were absolutely invaluable in getting this project completed on time and on budget.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The course board relaunched and is still the market leader, with an improved user experience. This has allowed my company access into a new market, and the client is ecstatic because they have a more flexible contract, improved efficiency and a newer, more robust solution. It exceeds our initial goals and makes the relationship between WDS and RB even stronger.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project management was incredible, using tools like Slack and Trello to ensure everything was completed on time. There was no language or time barrier, even though the team were off shore, and the project manager specifically is probably the best in the field I have ever worked with. She is professional, efficient, diligent and creative, and an absolute asset to WDS.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

It's their attention to detail and willingness to learn everything about a project before working on completing it in a clean and efficient manner. It's so refreshing to see a company where every single person is an A player and an absolute expert in what they do.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not particularly, I had a great experience, and the team were affordable, proactive, communicative and friendly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company publishes financial information and data on stock markets across the world. I am the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Web Design Sun®?

We needed a new website with a modern and minimalist design to display data visualization outputs including interactive maps, graphs and tables. We also needed a custom solution for updating the outputs each day from a set of CSV files.

What were your goals for this project?

My initial goals for the project are to:

• Investigate interest in the information and data I publish
• Achieve a sufficient level of traffic to be eligible for website monetization.

Later I would like to expand the website to provide other services and products including articles, news and/or custom data outputs related to the financial markets.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I evaluated three companies. I selected based on two criteria: price and technical competence (understanding of the requirements and approach.) I asked each vendor to quote a price and provide a brief overview of their approach to deliver the project.

I evaluated each vendor against the two criteria from their responses – putting more weighting on the second criteria. Web Design Sun scored highest on the second criteria and the price was relatively competitive.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

I required the following services:

• Design of logos and custom website style
• Development of custom solution for uploading data and displaying data visualization outputs
• Advice on website monetization

We broke the project into subtasks. They did work on each subtasks using a test server and allowed me to provide comments before finalizing the subtask.

What was the team composition?

• Project manager
• Senior developer
• Graphic designer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

It is too early to accurately assess the impact in terms of interest. However, so far, the bounce rate of the website is in a good range and visitors are increasing.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Web Design Sun broke down the project into subtasks which represented the major components of the project in google spreadsheets. They costed each item to determine the full cost of the project.

We also worked together to develop a timeline for the delivery of each subtask and the corresponding milestone payment. This project management approach was effective. I appreciated their transparency about costs and how easy it was to track progress.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Web Design Sun had the following attributes which I found impressive:

• High quality services in web development and graphic design
• Responsiveness to feedback on design and functionality
• Project manager has good communication skills.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The price was good considering the high quality of the services. However, the price is not the lowest among all providers. There could be some consideration for reducing the price.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Skup builds web applications and tools for entrepreneurs at all levels that are engaging the e-commerce world. We strive to better the lives of those that want to do better for themselves through educational training and applications built with passion, to give merchants a step up in an already competitive environment. I am the CTO and I oversee development of all software.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Web Design Sun®?

Skup acquired a product research application and we wanted to make a number of updates and enhancements that would require the attention of several people including engineers, designers, and a project manager. With an already occupied team, it only made sense to lean on Web Design Sun for help.

What were your goals for this project?

The project entailed multiple large feature additions to the product, as well as design implementation.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Web Design Sun was a recommendation from a friend.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Implementation of several almost-standalone plugins that complemented the original products' existing features. Web Design Sun did the coding design and implementation based on high-level product requirements and implemented all designs supplied by our in-house designer.

What was the team composition?

We funneled all interactions mainly through our Product Manager at WDS, Igor. Igor managed multiple developers to accomplish the requirements presented to him.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

This project has shown a very large ROI from the initial acquisition and has raised our MRR significantly.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We provided project requirements and guidelines via project management tools like Jira and Notion, while maintaining constant communication via Slack.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their desire to do things effectively the first time stands out.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No noticeable areas to improve upon.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We create and sell WordPress plugins, some of them quite popular.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Web Design Sun®?

We hire them to support and add new features to one of our existing plugins. Until now, we've only worked on relatively small tasks, a sort of accommodation process.

What were your goals for this project?

I wanted to find a reliable partner that can deal with everyday challenges.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I've interviewed various freelancers on UpWork.

Describe the project in detail.

It's a WordPress plugin with all sort of complex features, free and paid version, multiple add-ons.

What was the team composition?

We work with a project manager and a developer. At some points there has been a second developer involved.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We fixed various problems and added new features. I think it's alright.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It's always complicated to work on an existing product, and this particular one is relatively old, complex , and has a lot of users. So a lot of moving parts that can go wrong. There were some moments when things were slow, but we managed to find a positive outcome. Once they are fully on a problem, they can definitely deliver a good result.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Responsiveness. And I do appreciate their wiliness to work on an existing project.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There were issues when another developer intervened. I wasn't told about the changed, but it was immediately obvious, since things that were previously discussed had to be explained once again.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Creative Director of Polymorph Studio based in Paris. My studio is doing installations, projections, interactive work for museums, exhibitions, events, shows worldwide.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Web Design Sun®?

Web design, development of custom wordpress theme, fine-tuning of custom creative portofolio web-site

What were your goals for this project?

Create an engaging experience in order to better showcase our case.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We did a small contract on Upwork and it went really well. So, we kept on going.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

General advise about best practice in web-design, referencing and compatibilities with SEO, special javascript development, development of custom wordpress theme, debugging and fine-tuning current studio web-site, using wordpress REST API to connect all the custom design parts.

What was the team composition?

Normally there were 3 persons: first contact manager, then project manager and of course developper. They arranged to have the same developper working on this project because of his deep knowledge.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We were showcasing our work for multiple Summits and Festivals and it was important to get it working asap.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Management of all our contracts was/is amazing. They are really going to extra lengths to help, advise, deliver, and explain. All that almost around the clock because I travel very extensively and never waited more than just couple of hours wether I'm in Paris, Montreal ou Berlin.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Project management, quality of work and really good advise. They don't try to sell any more services than really needed and only if it makes sense.

Are there any areas for improvement?

They really should think about sleeping more and creating work hours so the clients like me would not monopolize their time :)

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the managing director of a digital consultancy.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Web Design Sun?

I hired Web Design Sun to help with the content migration of an existing website—a job that included over 2,000 pages. The job was for a media company client of ours that had various sophisticated features on their site and needed someone capable and competent to translate everything over to a brand new website.

What were your goals for this project?

We hoped to migrate all of the website content to a new platform while improving existing features and minimizing downtime.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Web Design Sun responded to our RFP and impressed us greatly with the technical capabilities of their development team.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Web Design Sun recreated the website on WordPress, using no plug-ins or widgets for speed purposes. They then manually recreated the entire skeleton of the site, allowing my team to migrate content over piece by piece, including custom scripts, images, and videos. We hoped to improve the loading time of each page and give our client newfound control of their website. Web Design Sun also helped migrate more than 5,000 users to the new site, maintaining their preferences in the process to ensure a seamless transfer.

What was the team composition?

We worked with a project manager, two developers, and a designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We executed a successful migration. Because of the positive feedback from this engagement, we’ve been able to secure similar partnerships with other companies, leading to revenue growth so far of over 55%.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We communicated efficiently using Trello, Slack, and Skype. They answered our questions promptly and kept discussions on track.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their technical expertise and confidence in executing complex ideas are pretty amazing. But they are also always willing to listen to feedback.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, the process went smoothly, and they were thoroughly professional.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Qweex: On-Demand Car Care. We’re a radically more convenient and earth-friendly way of getting your car washed. Our fully equipped and insured Qweex professionals come to you whenever and wherever, as long as it’s within the service area.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Web Design Sun?

We needed iOS development and support services.

What were your goals for this project?

We specifically wanted a new set of features developed, as well as ongoing support for our iOS app.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were selected based on a previous experience we had with them, where they executed the project much to our stakeholders’ satisfaction.

Describe the project in detail.

Our iOS app is a tool that connects drivers with nearby automobile techs and washers for a seamless car wash and/or basic servicing experience.

What was the team composition?

We initially spoke with their CEO, and then got to work with an account manager and an expert iOS developer. We feel really fortunate working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The work is ongoing. We’ve made several successful releases to the App Store and continue working together on perfecting the tech and UX.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow is seamless, though I think that their developers should have more control in the project. The involvement of the account manager is minimal after a few weeks and perhaps should be eliminated completely as stakeholders and developers build a stronger relationship.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their response to inquiries or questions is lightning fast, which is how it should be! Their developer is always online and will chime in with ideas to solve any issues we have.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We’d love to see more suggestions on tech stack updates, performance improvements, open source libraries, etc. Any recommendations, suggestions, or intermittent code audits would be helpful and would foster a stronger, mutually-beneficial relationship.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-owner of a web development company. We use our marketing and advertising expertise to create niche websites. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Web Design Sun?

We needed a new WordPress plug-in developed from scratch. This was a core product for our website that would add and address a range of functionalities.  

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted the plug-in to be customizable, easy to use, and compatible with two other existing plug-ins. We also wanted it integrated with other programs, such as WP Membership and Pretty Links for WordPress.  

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Our project was posted on Upwork, where it was open to bids from various agencies and experts. We received many quotes, but Web Design Sun had the best. The company had an extensive project resume with excellent reviews and seemed very professional. I was also pleased with their response, which indicated that they had a plan for accomplishing this task. They were the clear choice.  

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

We began with a task list and project description. All of the information and ideas we provided them allowed them to quickly develop an initial mock-up for review and adjustments. We approved some early tasks, but then continued to adjust lists and milestones on an ongoing basis and as needed for the remainder of the project. They were also very responsive to requests for add-ons and fixes, delivering the updated version the next day, if not the same day. 

What was the team composition?

Although there were three total involved with the project, we only communicated with one or two people, depending on the task. This made communication fast and efficient. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The plug-in, which was finished on schedule, drastically reduced our manual labor requirements. The custom design was unique among similar products and delivered functions specifically for our use. Our website could not have launched without this. 

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Our project manager served as our primary contact, which was extremely helpful in facilitating streamlined communication via Skype or Upwork Chat. He delegated tasks to the WordPress expert, who created the plug-in and completed all updates and changes. 

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were most impressed by their ability to immediately understand tasks without extensive detail; this helped us avoid misunderstandings and expedite progress. We appreciated their ability to send screenshots or video for our feedback, and their skill set in general met all of our needs. 

Are there any areas where they can improve?

I personally did not find anything that needs improvement. If there were any areas, they were so minor I did not notice. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Ingenious SEM. I provide SEO and PPC services for my clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Web Design Sun?

A lot of web developers seem knowledgeable, but aren’t able to finish the project. I had that problem with a few developers that I hired.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were working for my previous company. When they finished that project, they worked on the projects for my various clients that I was doing SEO for. They are still working on a big project for me. It uses WordPress, but it’s highly customized. They’re doing a very good job.

They know web development, especially WordPress, very well. One of the projects that we’re discussing is a completely custom platform that competes with WordPress and offers all its functionalities. They’re not limited to WordPress or HTML, but also work well with PHP and databases.

What is the team composition?

I first worked with Igor [CEO/Founder, Web Design Sun]. He was very knowledgeable and capable of doing every task that we needed. Now I have my own manager and 1-2 developers.

How did you come to work with Web Design Sun?

I found them on Upwork over five years ago when I was working as marketing director for another company. When looking for a company, my primary concern was price. I was impressed with their work, and they were quite cheap.

Their prices have since increased. Once I started working with them, I saw that their value was above what they charged before. That was primarily why I stayed with them. They work fast, provide accurate quotes, and complete the project by or before the deadline.

How much have you invested with them?

$20,000—$30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in the summer of 2012 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They achieved anything I challenged them with according to the quote and timeline estimates. Everything was very high-quality, and everybody is happy. My client had hired someone that he thought would do a good job for the project they’re currently working on. Six months and $15,000 later, all he had was couple of designs and an unfinished website. I offered him my service with Web Design Sun, and they finished in three months what the other guy couldn’t finish in six.

How did Web Design Sun perform from a project management standpoint?

They were always very knowledgeable when we discussed projects. They’d explain what was possible, what was not, and how we could design a workaround. I was very impressed. They haven’t messed up on a single project. They used Sococo, a virtual environment where they could reach out to me using different tools.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I like them for their development abilities. For this big project, they needed to come up with unconventional solutions while working in a WordPress environment. My client needs certain custom reports with no extensions or no custom functionalities. They code it really well from scratch. If the first solution doesn’t suit the need, then they develop a second and third. They always come up with exactly what we need.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could hire better designers. Their development deliverables are very high-quality, but they could be more creative with design. They’re solid designs, but they’re conservative.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you can explain exactly what you need, they can achieve it.