10 Pound Gorilla

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the vice president of technology at Vision Source. We’re a national optometry franchise.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 10 Pound Gorilla?

We hired 10 Pound Gorilla to design the UI/UX of our website and web applications.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

10 Pound Gorilla helped redesign certain parts of our website that are open to external users and other parts that are for internal users, subscribers, and members. Working in .NET, CSS, and HTML, they revamped the UI and UX. 

What is the team composition?

We work with four people.

How did you come to work with 10 Pound Gorilla?

DotNetNuke referred 10 Pound Gorilla to us as a potential resource for UI/UX design.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $100,000–$125,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in November 2018 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We tend to look at overall user satisfaction with the site. We don’t track metrics about usability or engagement.

How did 10 Pound Gorilla perform from a project management standpoint?

10 Pound Gorilla has a very organized and methodical approach. Their communication is outstanding. They’ve been a great partner to work with over the past year.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The 10 Pound Gorilla team proactively helps us come up with the right solution. They listen to our needs and input and make recommendations based on past experiences. They’re very good about explaining the processes they’re using and the reason behind their design choices.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’re working towards this, but I’d like it if they delivered their content in a more templated module so that other less experienced developers can reuse it down the road.

Any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you’re clear about your expectations, specific requirements, and the direction you want to take. That way, you get the most value out of working with 10 Pound Gorilla and don’t have to spend a lot of time redesigning an expensive resource.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the manager of application development for a network of optometry practices.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 10 Pound Gorilla?

10 Pound Gorilla helped us redesign our member website and create new pages.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

10 Pound Gorilla helps us with design and development on our DotNetNuke (DNN) website. They’ve rethought our designs, layout, and styles for pages while building new functionalities into others. 

One of the new concepts we’ve added is a subsite that connects our members—doctors of optometry—looking to fill vacancies with students looking to find work in private practices. We’re also working together to build another site that provides training on how to run a medical practice as a business. 10 Pound Gorilla has been involved in every aspect of these areas.

What is the team composition?

We have a chief design person, 1–2 technical people, and a project manager who serves as our primary contact.

How did you come to work with 10 Pound Gorilla?

Our company had engaged with 10 Pound Gorilla before I started my position here. I can’t speak to how our relationship with their team began.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $25,000 per month.

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership began three years ago and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve gotten quite a lot of positive feedback from users on the work we’ve done with 10 Pound Gorilla. Our site’s look and feel, as well as its functionality, are more professional and polished. 10 Pound Gorilla has a lot of expertise in DNN. Not only can they work alongside our in-house development team, but they can also produce solutions that we can use exactly as they delivered it.

How did 10 Pound Gorilla perform from a project management standpoint?

They are outstanding. We communicate through a weekly voice chat meeting, IMs over Slack, and email on occasion.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’d point to two things. First, 10 Pound Gorilla’s design mockups are incredible—they have a great eye for professional-looking design. Second, their extensive knowledge of DNN has been critical for us and our website.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’ve grown throughout this partnership and figured out what works best for us. Any time we’ve run into issues, 10 Pound Gorilla is great about adjusting processes and creating fixes. The problem then eventually disappears.

Any advice for potential customers?

Learn 10 Pound Gorilla’s environment and how to best utilize an external team into that process. We've tried a couple of different methods and found one that works for us, but it took some trial and error.