Y-Designs, Inc

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the Founder of Sequence. We offer a technology product that’s essentially an automatic video editing software. It enables businesses to create a lot of video content quickly.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Y-Designs, Inc?

We needed a qualified development firm to help plan, design, and build our product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I pitched my idea for an automatic video editing software to Y-Designs, Inc, and they collaborated with me to figure out how it would all work. Their team was involved with the project from its inception to the creation of an MVP. That process included developing our mobile platform for iOS and Android devices. They’ve also performed some branding and logo work for us as well.

Our company works by utilizing video templates made by professional editors. Y-Designs built our software’s backend tool that the video editors use to make those templates. They also designed the frontend tool that individuals use to access the aforementioned templates. So the platform consists of editing tools that videographers are familiar with, as well as an intuitive mobile app that enables end users to perform the tasks of a cinematographer.

The video editing codebase was developed using the MLT framework, and our administrative system is mostly in PHP. Y-Designs implemented a custom interface around the PHP system that allows us to manipulate data within the MLT framework. Most of the mobile development was performed using React Native, but they also utilized Swift on occasion.

What is the team composition?

Ryuhei (CEO & Project Manager, Y-Designs) was our primary point of contact, but we also interfaced with their creative director and a lead developer.

How did you come to work with Y-Designs, Inc?

They have a fantastic reputation in Seattle. They’re the premier web development firm in the area. I’ve also known one of Y-Designs’ team members for many years, so we eventually started talking about my idea. I considered other companies, but Y-Designs felt like the better option.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent roughly $300,000–$400,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

This project took place from March 2017–August 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Y-Designs delivered an MVP that went on to raise millions of dollars of funding. It’s the subject of multiple acquisition conversations that are currently active. They did a wonderful job integrating two different systems onto a single platform. Their work spans the full spectrum of technological prowess.

How did Y-Designs, Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

Ryuhei worked with us to outline timetables, cost, and expectations. He remained professional and responsive throughout the entire engagement. The communication between us was always accurate and consistent, so we’ve never had to miss a significant deadline. Their lead developer is fairly quiet, but he’s also the smartest guy in the room. The creative director oversees the frontend design efforts. Ryuhei made sure that each resource was available to us so we’d know exactly who was working on our project, and what issues they were facing.

Furthermore, Y-Designs accommodated a frequently shifting scope of work. We asked them to keep to a strict deadline, but also to deal with new feature requests from potential investors. Thanks to some creative problem-solving, they prioritized important tasks and adhered to the established timeline.

They have an internal management tool that I’ve used a couple of times. However, most communication was done through weekly demos, phone conversations, in-person meetings, and emails.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I can’t say enough great things about them. Y-Designs transparency enabled us to develop a positive business relationship. They’re experienced in building a lot of different technologies, so they’re an asset to any project. They also possess the foresight to predict potential challenges and adjust expectations accordingly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’d like to see them grow into a larger team. I love their cohesion and creativity, but I wish I could hire them to build things more significant than MVPs.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Y-Designs prefers to work with passionate people. Give them the opportunity to be involved with an exciting project, and they’ll deliver beyond expectations.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing manager for Coughlin Porter Lundeen, a B2B civil and structural engineering firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Y-Designs, Inc?

We wanted to refresh our website, but didn’t have the in-house skill set because our team focuses on marketing and qualification proposals. What’s more, our programming and web design partner was not right for this project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team refreshed our website, providing both design and development services. Y-Designs, Inc created mock-ups and we monitored progress by logging into their project management tool.

Our team has been uploading content and doing testing. Per our leadership’s instructions, Y-Designs, Inc has not done branding or anything related. The majority of their services are completed at this point. They are now hosting the old site until we’re ready to launch the new one.

What is the team composition?

The three-person team includes a principal project manager, a design specialist, and a UX and backend programming resource. A few interns support those individuals.

How did you come to work with Y-Designs, Inc?

We sent an RFP to six firms and three responded, including Y-Designs, Inc. They were the most responsive and transparent about the services offered. Consequently, we knew the collaboration parameters and cost up front.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April 2018 and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We now have a new site both in look and functionality, as well as a user-friendly CMS that helps us target our audience—architects and developers. Furthermore, our leadership loves the website for its visual appeal and adherence to the brand.

How did Y-Designs, Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

Y-Designs, Inc’s small size is an advantage because it encourages direct communication with team members. After working on 5–6 ground-up development projects, I appreciate the team’s communication skills and compliance with deadlines. We communicate via email, web conferences, and face-to-face meetings; our offices are nearby. The range of communication platforms is ideal because it accommodates when teammates are out of town and when in-person discussions are appropriate.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

We enjoy working with the team and our leadership can’t speak highly enough of them. The team has prior experience with other clients in the B2B design-build environment. But since we have a different approach to that work, Y-Designs, Inc asked questions and proposed alternative solutions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. We haven’t experienced major challenges or misinterpretations because the team has strong communication skills.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clients should have a specific vision for the site’s general look and individual components. We provided Y-Designs, Inc examples of what we liked and did not like in other websites. That information starts important conversations early in the process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the president of a company that has galleries worldwide. Our own gallery is based in Seattle. We also manufacture glass. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Y-Designs?

When I moved here, the company had no website or branding. I reached out to Y–Design to build everything we needed to develop our online presence from scratch. We opened a brand-new, amazing showroom, but we also needed a way to show our offerings worldwide. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Y-Designs helped us develop a 360 system so users can view our products online. They built our website on a WordPress platform using HTML5, React.js, and A-Frame. Since they built everything from the ground up, we had little or nothing to do to prepare the deliverables. All we have to do is upload content like photos. 

The team also helped us film videos in our showroom. We featured them on our website's homepage, intro section, and events page. Y-Design is my go-to provider for this line of work. 

We plan to create a new homepage, and I might also use them for a VR project I want to implement into the site. We have a constant dialogue to see what we can do every year to improve our online presence. As a relatively new company, we have a different target every year and invest as much as we can. 

What is the team composition? 

The team includes 3–4 people from Y-Designs. When I first started, I worked with two people who have remained my usual points of contact. Since the team has grown, the other members work in the background. 

How did you come to work with Y-Designs?

I searched online for businesses in Seattle and liked their fresh profile. We had meetings with multiple designers, but I thought Y-Designs was the best. We've worked well together since the beginning, so I've stuck with them since they won the contract.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $50,000–$100,000 in total. 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work began around 2012 and is ongoing. We always keep in touch and already have projects planned for the summer. 
 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've definitely seen measurable results and outcomes from our work together. Through our website, we book tours every week. We're not open to the public yet, so every visit we have is scheduled online. We couldn't offer this service without the platform they created. Before they joined us, we didn't have social media established. 

Y-Designs helped us achieve a better presence on social media. They linked our Instagram account and blog to our site, neither of which we had before. Although we run our accounts in-house, the team implemented all the integrations with our main platform. Everything they built is connected. 

How did Y-Designs perform from a project management standpoint?

It's very easy to work with and talk to Y-Designs. The main forms of communication we use are email and phone calls. We also meet in person. 

I enjoy chatting with them about how to implement or compare ideas. Together, we always find the best, easiest, and most cost-effective way to proceed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Y-Designs is a team of good people. They are innovative, collaborative, and always on point. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, no. In fact, we work so well together that I hope they never change. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Y-Designs has the ability to work with clients either remotely or in person. I prefer meeting on location, but the best option depends on the client. If you're located abroad or travel a lot for work, you can connect with them through FaceTime or online meetings. It's always workable, and I think anyone in the world could partner with Y-Designs without a problem. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of a technology startup based in Seattle that started about a year and a half ago. We have been working on building a marketplace for social media influencers. It connects people with large followings on social media with brands that want to purchase sponsored posts from them. We’re a bunch of ex-Amazon guys so we’re pretty familiar with web work, web design, and all that engineering stuff.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Y-Designs?

We needed resources to supplement the team, particularly for design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our team is a lot of backend engineers, so we built a lot of home-brewed systems and APIs to get the job done. At first, we utilized Y-Designs for design. They have a really good designer in-house who is very quick and produces great work. The other 2 guys on their team are engineers as well. As we moved along, we found that we really liked working with those guys because they were quick and efficient. We had them build some components of our web app as well as 2 mobile apps that utilize our APIs. They built an iOS app and an Android app for us in about 3 months, which was about half of the time we got quoted from almost anybody else. In a sense, they’re using the platform that we developed. They’re using a lot of our APIs. If you’re talking about their technology stack, it’s a combination of PHP, MySQL, and our APIs. Plus, they’re using Node in there, basically a lot of your typical web development stack. They’re pretty diverse in the technologies that they know.

How did you come to work with Y-Designs?

Last year, we were looking for a shop in Seattle that was really well-reviewed. We wanted someone small enough so that we could go in there, talk to them, and meet face-to-face pretty regularly. They also had to have both design and engineering in their wheelhouse. I actually went through about 50 or so shops like Y-Designs in Seattle. They were number 47 on a list of 50 that I had developed. When we met with them, we saw that they had everything that we wanted in our situation. We haven’t looked back since.

How much have you invested with Y-Designs?

When all is said and done, we’ve spent close to $100,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2015. At first, we mainly used them as a design resource. Then around March of 2016, we started using them on the development and engineering side as well. The engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

A lot of the stuff that Y-Designs has worked on, we haven’t actually released yet. We’re actually on the cusp of that. I really wish you had called me in 3 or 4 months so that I would have these metrics. In our beta testing, the design and function of the app, as well as the extension of the web apps, have been really well-received. Those are what we’ve tested with smaller groups, especially compared to where we were. I can’t tell you enough. They beat all of our expectations. Our system has processed about 120 million pay-for-performance transactions and posts with the design we have now from 2015, which is a pretty big number.

A lot of shops like this can build WordPress sites, or they’ll change CMS extensions, or they can build a stand-up shop. But we asked Y-Designs to really get into the backbone of something that was home-brewed by our engineers, and they did a phenomenal job. We were building our API at the same time that they were building on it, and it somehow worked together. They were a really key piece of that. To give you a picture, I think our base rate for some design changes was $120 an hour. That is a lot higher than what we could get elsewhere, especially if we outsourced and went overseas. But the actual productivity and the quality of the work made that cost seem a lot smaller compared to something else. What I expect out of them from a couple hours of work is insanely higher than what I’d expect from paying $50 an hour somewhere else at a bigger shop.

How did Y-Designs perform from a project management standpoint?

It’s actually a combination. Over the past 6 months or so, they have other projects and things going on. But in terms of what we’ve been working on, they’ve almost been an extension of our team. My CTO and my engineers can reach out to any one of their guys at any time. The response rates are incredibly fast. We’ve had some team huddles and brought both teams together probably every other week, maybe once a month. I do have a single point of contact with Ryuhei, who is the head guy over there.

We budgeted a certain amount of time to get certain things done, especially on the app side. Initially, we were really skeptical when they came in with their timelines. We had the project really spec’d out. We knew exactly what functionality we needed and what it needed to look like. We knew exactly what needed to be built. We came together with Ryuhei’s team and they said, “All right, we can get this done in X amount of time.” Coming from every other quote and doing it ourselves, we thought it was going to take way longer than that. We said, “Okay, we’ll see how it goes. If it takes longer, that’s okay.” They ended up actually beating their own timeline, which is really impressive to us.

I’d generally say it’s been incredibly smooth. They’ve been very professional and very responsive. They have a critical eye. If they see something is up with our specs, they’ll look at that and come up with suggestions. Their recommendations helped us save money and make things more efficient. All-around, they’re a set of engineers and designers that come in and really care about the projects that they work on.

What did you find most impressive about Y-Designs?

I was a senior product manager at Amazon before coming over here to start Trenzi, and I had a team of about 30 engineers working on various products. I can really say that Y-Designs can move the ball faster and harder than even a team of 30 engineers at a very large, well-established corporation. That’s  because they know so much about the technology landscape. Y-Designs is always reading and always experimenting. They’ve seen a lot of clients, so they’re definitely a really good crutch for anyone who wants to build something pretty big. We went through a startup accelerator program and got connected to a lot of the other startups in Seattle. Every time I meet a new CEO or anyone that runs into this problem, or anyone that wants to build an app, I always give them Y-Designs’ website to try and help them out. They are definitely one of the hardest things to find if you’re trying to build a tech company.

When you work with other firms, especially the larger ones, it’s a turnaround turn-key shop. You come in, ask for a logo or a website, ask for a piece of tech, and you have to spec it out really hard. You might get 1 or 2 meetings and face time with them and try to start working. Plus, revisions are hard and expensive and all that. None of those problems exist with Y-Designs. They are extremely efficient with the hours that they put towards you and what they bill you for.

There’s trust. I think that’s the biggest thing. We had gotten burned by another outsource company when we were trying to hire some internal resources. It was a one-off project, so we didn’t really want to hire internal resources. We wanted people that would be just as committed to getting the job done and just as enthusiastic about our product. We ended up finding the best of both worlds in Y-Designs. That’s what they delivered. At the end of the day, we’re still contracting with them.

Are there any areas Y-Designs could improve?

To be honest, in my eyes, there’s not any. If I were to go back and do another web design project, build another app, something like that, they’d be the first people I would go to. To me, they set the bar and the example.