Adam Fard UX Studio

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the product owner at a software company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Adam Fard UX Studio?

We needed help with UI/UX Design.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team helped design and bring our vision to life. We’re creating a digital experience platform. It’s a chatbot experience combined with a digital portal that users can go into and ask questions.

It’s one place they can go into to raise requests and get information about different knowledge areas in the organization. It’s all about making the employees life more efficient and easier.

What is the team composition?

We worked with 2–3 people from their team, including designers and researchers.

How did you come to work with Adam Fard UX Studio?

We reached out to several consultancies. Adam Fard stuck out because they took a collaborative approach.

They’re very knowledgeable in the area that we’d want explored. I like the end-to-end process that they take to ensure that everything translates well in the real world.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent upwards of £10,000 (approximately $14,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2021, and our work is ongoing.

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

The team was great about taking into account the limitations we had technically. They were very agile in turning designs around. They also took into account my accessibility and the business objectives of what we were trying to achieve.

How did Adam Fard UX Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

They perform very well. The team was agile and they were able to change directions if needed. Overall, they exceeded expectations. The team communicates deadlines and have a project plan in an app that they update. We communicate via Slack and also have 2–3 meetings per week.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very agile, and they can deal with radical changes well. They’re able to pick up and drop things in a very timely manner. The team also has a very good process that they take the designs through. They had useful workshops so they could understand what we were trying to do at a deep level.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind at the moment.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to work with them. Ensure that you’re able to communicate with them on Slack. It makes it so much easier. They’re very easy to work with.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I work as a project manager at Australia’s top-rated business process outsourcing unit. We help businesses manage their back-end processes efficiently.

For what projects/services did your company hire Adam Fard UX Studio?

We were seeking to develop an aesthetically pleasing web application - for which we needed an expert UI/UX design team. Our goals were to make the product look elegant, and intuitive. We wanted the user journey to be seamless - and it needed a thorough understanding of our target audience which were CEOs and owners of small to medium sized businesses.

How did you select this vendor?

While we were shortlisting companies for the service, we spoke to 5-6 different agencies. The response of Adam Fard Studio was very quick and they had worked on similar projects previously. Plus, their engagement model was flexible and reasonable - which made them an ideal choice for us.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

They kicked off the project by understanding our target audience. Their team conducted a comprehensive survey of more than 100 participants who resonated with our ideal visitors. Upon analyzing the results, they moved on to the next step - which was designing the user journey. They created a roadmap and mockups of the new design. Their team developed 4 different concepts - from which one was selected and they polished it further to ensure it reflected our mission and vision.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with the lead product designer, researcher and the UI/UX expert. All of them coordinated the tasks according to the stages of the project. The backend team took care of the testing process and reported the progress to the key members.

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

The design they developed was exceptional and creative. More importantly, it resonated with our core values. Time and again, their team added their valuable inputs and took us through the entire process seamlessly. The web app design is intuitive and visually engaging - which was very important for us.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was efficient. We were in constant touch with the team of Adam Fard Studio. We used Hangout, Figma and email to collaborate. All the progress and reports were presented in the weekly meeting before we began the agenda of the future steps. The team maintained a decorum and all the weekly activities were delivered on time. The lead designer was always approachable if we needed anything.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The team was highly skilled and meticulous. All of the team members were fully involved in the project and came up with creative ideas and concepts that can be implemented to the application. Their resource management was efficient which helped in keeping a track of daily updates. They also managed to teach us some of the ways to analyse the product’s performance. The lead project developer was kind enough to explain certain technical terms in simple language.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No, they were easy to work with and the web app design looks great.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of Mesh, an email security company headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

For what projects/services did your company hire Adam Fard UX Studio?

We were building an email security platform and we wanted some specialists to help design the UI.

How did you select this vendor?

We advertised on Upwork and evaluated several options based on their previous work - Adam Fard Studio stood out.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Their team arranged discovery calls with our team both collectively and individually. We then mapped out each individual page for which we required a design. They created initial concepts and then shared them with some of our potential clients whom they interviewed. Based on clients feedback, they made adjustments to the concepts. Each week they provided a weekly update and worked closely with us to fine tune.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Three

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

Our early users have commented on how intuitive our UI is and how easy it is to navigate.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was really good. They were all very responsive and provided us with detailed, weekly updates.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their knowledge on UI/UX impressed me most. When we presented our own ideas they were able to advise on why they were good/bad and their explanations made sense. They made it easy for us.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No, we were very happy with the outcome and would recommend them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the CTO of a real estate company that provided commission advances to real estate agents.

What challenge were you trying to address with Adam Fard UX Studio?

We needed help with the UI/UX of the product, as well as some of the marketing.

What was the scope of their involvement?

In terms of marketing, Adam (Founder) worked on materials for social media ads and presentations, as well as for the product, which was a mobile and web app. The app allowed agents to enter information about the property as well as their banking information. 

The algorithm would then determine the interest rate for the advance. Adam helped with the second iteration of the product. He also helped us design and set up landing pages, as well as flyers.

He helped us understand how the user would interact with the product because we didn’t know exactly what would be the best way to display certain things. He would walk us through and make sure that we were designing the right thing. He also assisted with the wireframes and user stories.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with Adam.

How did you come to work with Adam Fard UX Studio?

I asked people for recommendations, and someone who had worked with Adam recommended him. I chatted with him, and he seemed great. His rates were affordable for the quality of work he was delivering, which was something we were looking for. The fact that he was in Germany helped to lower the cost.

How much have you invested with them?

Overall, we spent about $20,000 across a 6-month period.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with him from June–December 2020.

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

The quality of the work was really good. We measured the success by asking if we were satisfied with the design and if it made sense and was pleasing to the eye. Additionally, in terms of UX, we wanted to get fewer support calls about how certain things work, and Adam did a great job.

The app was much easier to use and to navigate, and that helped us because the more straightforward the app was to use, the more applications we gathered. 

How did Adam Fard UX Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall communication was really good. We invited him to our Slack channel, and that helped with the asynchronous communication due to the timezone difference. We also set up weekly meetings to walk through the progress. Most of the time, Adam was right on time with the target.

There were only maybe one or two times where he was late within that entire 6-month period. In the beginning, we had smaller projects to test it out, and Adam was great at communicating smaller estimates as we went along. Each time we had a new project, he told us how many hours it would be. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Adam Fard UX Studio gave us the hands-on feeling of a small shop and the quality and professionalism of a big shop. Adam knew what he was doing and how to structure the project well while keeping that personal touch.

He was very knowledgeable but also relatable and friendly. That was one of the most outstanding things. Secondly, the work was really good, and so were the turnaround times. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Adam could work on the dominance of his communication. He sometimes hung back in the background, which didn’t make sense because his opinion was the one that probably mattered the most since he’s the expert. Additionally, it would’ve been great to have a project management tool to showcase the project status.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Qolo is the payments hub for the new economy. We enable modern fintechs to make payments around the world.

For what projects/services did your company hire Adam Fard UX Studio?

We needed top UI talent to design our B2B web portal.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a combination of strong design and usability.

How did you select this vendor?

We looked at a number of vendors, and selected based on design capabilities from similar projects.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Services provided included:

• Wire frames
• Adjustments to flows
• Graphic design
• Layouts
• HTML delivery

What was the team composition?

We had three people engaged from our end - product leadership, technical product, and developer. Adam provided the design/graphics/layout role.

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

We are just now rolling the product into production, but demos of it have all been very positive.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We did most of the project management, but all milestones were met from the vendor side.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The design and flows provided are all very appealing and professional. A B2B portal is many times the only window a client has into your company. We are happy to have this project representing our company.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We were happy with everything.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO and co founder of a company that offers consulting, custom software solutions and SAAS solutions around the topic of pricing

For what projects/services did your company hire Adam Fard UX Studio?

As we had a very challenging UX problem and deep UX expertise inhouse we were looking for an external partner.

What were your goals for this project?

Design a couple of key UX flows and designs for our current Saas solution

How did you select this vendor?

We were looking for a Berlin based UX studios and talked to five in total. Even though Adam was actually not based in Berlin he was the only one that did understand our problem correctly and made an offer that reflected what we were looking for. Most other vendors included pieces we explicitly wanted to exclude, like product strategy.

Describe the project in detail.

We started with an initial ~4 hour workshop to elaborate on the project and to clarified questions as we shared documentation up front. After the meeting we had an idea were we wanted to go and started a weekly meeting schedule were we reviewed progress.

What was the team composition?

Myself the CTO, our Head of Product and Adam

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

The final design are really great and to our expecations. However we are still integrating the designs at this point.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Extremely efficient and to the point.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Understanding our needs and integrating our feedback in his design.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the co-founder of a community development app. Our product is currently in beta phase.

For what projects/services did your company hire Adam Fard UX Studio?

Research and design

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to rebuild our MVP. We had many user complaints, because of the bad usability and because the appearance of the app was not appealing enough. Users didn't understand the navigation or how to find specific features.

How did you select this vendor?

Referral

Describe the project in detail.

Adam Fard Studio conducted interviews with our board but also with a series of early users and customers. The team did a UX evaluation of our app and gathered inputs from our competitors.

What was the team composition?

2 people worked on our project

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

We tested the designs multiple times with our existing and potential users. All the issues we planned to tackle were resolved. Users answered with positive feedback.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

After the initial workshop, we had a weekly call and follow-up with the team. We followed and collaborated on the designs using Figma.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They understood our vision. They acquired a vast amount of business knowledge about our industry and product. And finally managed to translate that into a great and smooth user experience.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not that I'm aware of. It was a pleasure to work with the Studio.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the co-founder and CTO of a Fintech / Blockchain platform. We are creating and customizing blockchain payment processing services. We also have partnerships with other vendors and using our portal to sell their solutions.

For what projects/services did your company hire Adam Fard UX Studio?

We had an MVP but wanted to rethink the product and redesign it from scratch. During the investor presentation and beta testing, we noticed many issues with the usability of that MVP. We didn't have any UX or product design expertise and needed a partner to help us with that challenge.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to improve the usability and make the product unique. Our customers are tech-savvy but we wanted to stand out from competitors by providing a user-first experience.

How did you select this vendor?

I read a series of articles from their website and followed their activity on LinkedIn. After a couple of exchange and first introductory call with the team, we decided to work with them. Their approach is different from other agencies we approached.

Describe the project in detail.

We presented our product, early research we did, along with the first feedback and milestones we were planning to hit. Adam Fard Studio conducted a first design sprint with our team. They then tested an early prototype and iterate with another workshop and testing. Unfortunately, we couldn't implement that solution entirely because of some new technical difficulties we were not aware of. The team was reactive and after some quick iterations, they showed us a new solution, which was positively validated during the tests with users. They then work on the visual elements, assets, and specs for our devs.

What was the team composition?

Lead UX Designer, UX Designer and Researcher

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

Positive feedback from our beta users and investors. Many important features are now understood.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was very easy to communicate with them. We used email, Slack, Hangouts, and Figma. We were always updated with the progress and had scheduled a weekly call.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their expertise. They understand our business, value proposition, and USP. They were incredibly creative and not afraid to try new or uncommon solutions out. The remote communication was also really efficient.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I don't think so. We were very happy with the process and our collaboration.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Founder

For what projects/services did your company hire Adam Fard UX Studio?

Designing an AI-based SaaS MVP from scratch.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Based on their extensive experience designing saas apps, a great reputation, and professional communication.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

What we had initially were researched-backed product ideas. A natural step in developing a certain idea is creating an MVP. We needed the MVP mostly to test our solutions with actual users and also have something to pitch to investors. The testing aspect was especially vital since intuitiveness is planned to be at the core of our competitive advantage. The latter aspiration led to considering getting help from UX experts to embody our vision in product design.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked directly with a senior product designer.

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

We successfully managed to create the final MVP, and on time, to my surprise! We also got a prototype and a well-documented handoff file for our developers.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very good

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

We loved their 4-week MVP design sprint! Worked like a charm, even though we were somewhat skeptical initially.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No

Please describe your company and your position there.

Co-Founder (Stealth Startup)

For what projects/services did your company hire Adam Fard UX Studio?

We're launching a new financial product and needed to design our v1.

How did you select this vendor?

We selected to work with Adam Fard Studio because of their extensive experience with financial products.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

The planning and scoping were perfect. We knew in advance all the upcoming activities.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with a product designer and a researcher.

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

Thanks to the team, our initial idea of the platform is tested with potential users. We also got positive feedback from our investors and future clients.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had a weekly catch-up call with the team. We were surprised by how the team met all the milestones and deadlines.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

We had experience working with UX agencies and freelancers. But we never worked with a product designer and a researcher. They focused not only on the interface but on the product and our business objectives. They even helped us to define the right KPIs.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Nothing