AGENTE

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the chief strategist and chief business development officer at Aggregion. We are a blockchain-based platform with a focus on intellectual property licensing. We enable large copyright holders to license digital content, either as B2B or B2C. It is an end-to-end distribution chain of digital content.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AGENTE?

We hired AGENTE to develop our new website from scratch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our corporate website had gone through three iterations, each with different designers. But none of them met our needs. It’s a very abstract website ideal in that we don’t produce anything you can touch or take a picture of. Our site needed to be minimalistic and pretty at the same time. We also had to consider a quick turnaround time so that we could market to investors and clients.

I presented AGENTE with some general notes for a structure, and I trusted them with the rest. We decided on a WordPress system with one main landing page. After we launched the main page, they added extensions, including an about page, a case study page, a wallet feature

What is the team composition?

I communicate only with a project manager.

How did you come to work with AGENTE?

In our search, we sought a group that understood English and would be able to build a site that appealed to our target audience in the United States. We looked for a reasonable price and a team that shared our ideal of what constitutes a good design. AGENTE seemed to specialize in simple designs, which attracted us to them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in April 2018, and our main landing page was launched in May. We have remained in communication with them as we build out our other pages.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This new website truly represents us far better than its predecessors. We're taken much more seriously and receive far better responses from our potential clients.

How did AGENTE perform from a project management standpoint?

They are very responsive and professional. Every aspect of their work, including the hourly rate, is detailed and explained to us. I changed the scope of the project several times, and they took it all in stride.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They had a strong grasp of what our goal was for the end user. That was vital to the success of this project, and our previous vendors didn’t have that same understanding.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t pinpoint anything major enough to say it warrants improvement.

Any advice for potential customers?

As with any project, it’s important to clearly articulate your objectives. That was especially true in our project because there is no reference for what we’re trying to do. There is no standard. The more precise you can be with your own goals, the more AGENTE will be able to help.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of marketing and partnerships at Atterley, a platform for international boutiques and brands.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AGENTE?

We needed a partner to redesign our Magento website for desktop and mobile.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided AGENTE with a brief, and they launched our new e-commerce platform. They put together a proposal and created the deadlines and design for the site. They liaised directly with our in-house dev team to improve the UI/UX and launch the new editorial platform. We recently went live with our desktop design, and the mobile version will go live within the next few weeks.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with the project manager and two designers.

How did you come to work with AGENTE?

One of the members of our board worked with an agency that recommended them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on this project from June–July 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re incredibly pleased with the results and even signed AGENTE up for another project. The site is fantastic, and everyone in-house loves it.

How did AGENTE perform from a project management standpoint?

We had a tight deadline, but they respected that and were aware of our concerns. The project manager was agile and communicative; if anything changed during the process, she made sure everyone was on the same page. We spoke almost daily, and she always gave clear and concise answers. The whole team was available and receptive to feedback.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were efficient and carefully considered our brief to create the best design possible. They paid attention to even the small details to make something that was cohesive with our overall brand.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

We’d highly recommend them as a design agency.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a financial startup platform that helps small and medium-sized banks extend their business online. Our team consists of financial professionals and software engineers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AGENTE?

We wanted to provide the best UI within a limited budgete didn’t have UX/UI resources in-house.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

AGENTE helped us develop designs and mock-ups for our web and mobile platform. Initially, they converted our wireframes from Sketch to HTML and CSS, including multiple responsive designs. They also did a brand book and color scheme.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two designers, a project manager, and two frontend engineers who did CSS and HTML.

How did you come to work with AGENTE?

I was looking for somebody who did work for banks, so a friend referred me to AGENTE. They’ve done a lot of work for some of the fastest-growing banks in Russia.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent more than $10,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

The whole process took about three months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our end customers love the design. In this industry, well-planned designs are not that common. When AGENTE provided mock-ups and designs, I felt that everything was done properly. The colors they chose for the branding was also appealing.

How did AGENTE perform from a project management standpoint?

They were pretty flexible about adjusting their schedule and helping us achieve our goals. For example, they expedited some work when I needed to show certain new features to my customers.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We got an awesome design on a moderate budget.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve by getting more familiar with American culture.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a founder of S3ntigraph, a small blockchain startup. This specific project is owned by Tobius Group.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AGENTE?

I needed an outsourced agency to develop our website and build a prototype for our mobile app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

AGENTE handled the entire design and development process for our new app and website. The mobile app is consumer-facing. It provides details, links, and other resources related to our products and shows how they can be used. It’s essentially an alternate user interface for our website.

Developers programmed the site using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and jQuery and wrote a related white paper. The team helped define our branding strategy as well. We collaboratively designed our logo. They consulted us on the color scheme and site placement to attract more users. I provided all the necessary content and instructions. AGENTE brainstormed and implemented everything else.

What is the team composition?

AGENTE assigned 4–5 resources for our project. I was the sole contact from my company’s side. They provided a mix of project and product managers.

How did you come to work with AGENTE?

I considered using a few other teams found through online research.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost around $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with AGENTE between January–March 2018. Incorporating our feedback throughout the project extended the initial timeline.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

AGENTE built a fully functional site that met my expectations. I would rate them nine out of ten. Eighty percent of users have given us positive feedback, compared to 10% negative and 10% neutral. That negative feedback resulted from users’ lack of familiarity with our complex technology, specifically a component that AGENTE called “step slide scrolling”.

At a specific page section, vertical scrolling freezes. The scroll becomes horizontal until all the slides have been finished. Following that presentation, you can continue scrolling down again. Users thought this was a bug and kept refreshing the page. It’s a new feature most people aren’t familiar with. Otherwise, everything has been satisfying.

How did AGENTE perform from a project management standpoint?

We always communicated in real time through Telegram. AGENTE’S turnaround time is in the 10-minute range. S3ntigraph is very much an international and demographically-diverse service. Since we work with people from all over the world, we were comfortable using this tool.

The timezone difference between Russia and our location in New York caused minor hurdles. Any lags we experienced were because of this geographic discrepancy. Otherwise, everything worked well in terms of management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

AGENTE’s balance of quality services and competitive pricing made them the best fit for our project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Having representation in multiple time zones could improve their services. If they plan to expand internationally, they’ll need resources in all the relevant time zones. We spent a lot of time waiting for feedback due to this limitation. Had they had the same working hours, we could have finished faster. It took me eight hours to respond to their requests for more information.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company is True North Business Exchange. We’re a financial services platform for small businesses. I’m the CEO and co-founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Agente?

We needed some contract UX/UI work for a mobile app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The project was to translate the business logic of our financial services platform into a mobile app design. They worked with our project manager on that. I was not the product owner, but I ideated the concept and created the business model. Our CTO was the project manager lead on it, and he’s the one who worked principally with Agente. He’s no longer with our company, so I’m working with them now as well.

It was a greenfield project. We provided the concept for the app, and they turned around wireframes, art design, and so on. A little of their development was used when there were some custom controls that were made, but we have our own in-house developers who did most of it. I should also mention they put together our pitch deck. They did UX/UI design work, general design work. There was a little bit of iOS development, but just for the custom controls.

It’s an application for buying and selling US small business financial securities. That is not a product that exists, so we were dealing with the challenge of the user experience and generally the product ontology of it. They have a guy named [Vladimir] Gorz [Creative director, AGENTE], who’s extremely skilled. He’s just a fantastic artist and good at rendering ideation into a visual representation.

How did you come to work with Agente?

It was through a referral from our then-CTO. I considered other firms, but I was happy with the work Gorz had done on the pitch deck before that, so we went with them.

How much have you invested with Agente?

I would say probably $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in October of 2016, and the relationship is ongoing. We’ve scaled it back based on where we are in the project. The bulk of the work has been done. Ultimately, we need to have our own UI/UX team in-house, so that has changed the nature of the relationship. We’ll continue to engage them when we need their services.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re very professional. You give them a project, and they quote you a price and get it done in a timely fashion. There’s a major time difference between San Francisco and Belarus, but other than that, the impact was positive. Gorz did really good work.

We’re in alpha phase right now, so we’re not yet live. We’ve gotten great feedback from the people who are testing it. The investors and other people who are beta testing it for us have said it’s very sleek and smooth, which is exactly what we were looking for.

How did Agente perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed pretty well. We brought them on temporarily into our Slack team. We used Dropbox, InVision, and Zeppelin.

What did you find most impressive about Agente?

The one thing I would highlight is that Gorz is a really solid artist. He’s very creative, and he added a lot of value to the project.

Are there any areas Agente could improve?

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a Norwegian company founded in 2000. We have developed a web-service platform called Cornerstone, which provides online fundraising and membership management for organizations. The company has around 15 employees spread between Norway, Russia, and Ukraine. I am the chief marketing officer of the company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AGENTE?

A part of the challenge had to do with our communication through the company website, as well as our graphic profile, which we renewed recently. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve worked on several projects with AGENTE, some for a few hours’ worth of work, and others spanning several months, including subprojects.

AGENTE has created our latest graphic design and corporate identity, including most of the user interface of our platform. The aim was to create an intuitive, inviting, and pleasant app for users. The project started with a review of our logo. We had worked with different designers in the past, so our communication was not consistent. AGENTE created a new logo and a simple profile consisting of fonts, colors, and visual elements that we could use throughout our operations. We ran several campaigns in 2016, so AGENTE had to build a package for our conference stand, along with infographics for the display computer. They also created a new concept for our brochures and website. It was a complete branding package.

In terms of communication, AGENTE has had the regular task of finding the right expression of our business, communicating the right message to clients about who we are and what we deliver.

We were assigned a project manager, and I believe that the team also included a designer and another resource.

How did you come to work with AGENTE?

Our CTO had an existing relationship with AGENTE since before our company was started. We’ve also worked with other designers and don’t use AGENTE exclusively since we produce websites for clients and interact with different designers. We are regularly in the process of evaluating which firm is the best fit for a particular project. When it comes to our own communication and the design of our product, we more-or-less use AGENTE systematically. We may also involve freelancers, but AGENTE holds the artistic line of our branding.

How much have you invested with AGENTE?

Our last project for a new branding profile had a cost of around $10,000. Our spending changes a lot from year to year. Overall, we’ve spent just under $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our latest project with AGENTE in the summer of 2016, and the work spanned over 8 months. The partnership was started way before my time in the company, at least 4 years ago. We have a long-term partnership. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We compete with different web apps, mostly on the Norwegian market. Many of our competitors here don’t really see the value of having a good design for their applications. Often, we get feedback from customers during both the sales and training processes. They feel that our system is easy to understand and intuitive. It gives users a sense of trust, and this has a lot to do with the aesthetic.

We received some comments saying that our previous interface was too dark. When we launched the new version of the GUI [graphical user interface], as well as our new branding and logo, we received a lot of positive feedback. It helps place us within the category of trusted businesses. It may not say anything about how we do our job, but having a professional expression sends the signal that we take our business seriously.

How did AGENTE perform from a project management standpoint?

The last deadline was rather tight and surrounded by some uncertainty. We’ve had to adjust a lot along the way, and I feel that AGENTE has been very good at remaining flexible and accommodating our needs, even during rather difficult periods with holidays and other impediments. AGENTE has done a good job in managing resources. The communication has been good, and I feel that the project is under control. AGENTE is good at having an overview and putting it through. Deadlines have been reached.

What did you find most impressive about AGENTE?

One thing we particularly appreciate about AGENTE is their creativity and the fact that the team is very much in touch with what’s going on in the digital world. When it comes to digital communication, AGENTE is very good at creating designs that feel current and fresh. During the logo design process, which was quite sensitive, AGENTE listened to our feedback and tried different things. For the budget we had, AGENTE delivered a lot of value. When it came to print designs, however, I felt that they had less experience, so AGENTE is definitely stronger in terms of digital and creativity.

I’ve worked with many designers who operated systematically, creating their own frameworks and following them tightly. In this sense, AGENTE is less of a traditional corporate designer, but they are definitely stronger on the artistic side, so this is what we tend to use them for.

Are there any areas AGENTE could improve?

Print design is a questionable area because it’s not our main focus either. Whether it’s an improvement point or simply something that AGENTE isn’t focusing on depends on how we look at it. Nothing comes to mind right now. We’ve generally been happy with the delivery, which is why we’ve worked with AGENTE for several years.

I would appreciate a bit more attention to detail. We’ve tended to prefer other designers for brochures or content-heavy material. This has to do with language since we produce content in Norwegian; even though AGENTE is good with English, there are too many small mistakes during the copy/paste process. It’s not a critical thing, but there could be better quality control internally before delivering to the client. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We have 50 pizza franchise locations here in the United States in different markets. I’m the marketing manager, overseeing national-level marketing activities. We have two different types of marketing: marketing at a national level and store-level marketing. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Agente?

Recently, we launched a major rebranding of the company, so we hired Agente to help us with our website development and online needs. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did the major work in redesigning our existing website, creating new pages and designs, and trying to reflect what we as a company stand for now. They also helped us with email blast development. They didn’t do social media marketing. There’s an online ordering component that’s an e-commerce website. This is POS [point of sale], so Agente wasn’t responsible for creating or improving that. Whatever is digital or online, they pretty much helped us with that.

We developed branding guidelines once we went through the major branding. It was a document where we would oversee and give Agente a description of what to achieve and what we want people to know. They took the information they had and helped us visualize it, based on our branding and our needs, on pages on the website. They didn’t do something major like design a logo. For example, there is an icon on the website that says "Free Delivery." If you click on this, you'll see how they visualize "Free Delivery" based on our branding and needs.

How did you come to work with Agente?

I'm not sure how we first found Agente. I just know we have them. I’ve been with the company for 2 years, so maybe they found them before I started. We did a small project with them to start and then analyzed the results we received. We started giving them bigger and bigger projects, and we still work with them today.

How much have you invested with Agente?

It's probably $10,000–$20,000 per year if you're doing a big project. If not, then it’s up to $10,000. We don't do any work with them on a monthly basis; it’s more on a project basis. They charge us per hour per project. They give us their rate and the estimated number of hours they’re going to spend on it. Then, we start working, and they give us the breakdown of actual hours and send us an invoice based on what we agreed initially. Last year, we spent a lot because we were developing all the website pages and the new emails. They’re pretty decent in terms of price. They're not overpriced.

What is the status of this engagement?

They’ve been working with me for 2 years. At first, we started with something really small: changing a hero image on the website or Facebook page. The work is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

If I'm checking the last 30 days, my website traffic is 220,000 sessions, but it's general website traffic. I check my Google Analytics to see the performance of my landing pages, just to know if people actually are interested, but I cannot say if Agente’s contribution to the overall success is a part of it since I also work with my SEO team to develop and make sure the content performs well. It's a team effort. I personally like what they do. What they have created for us is visually appealing.

How did Agente perform from a project management standpoint?

They are a very good team of professionals. They are very responsive. They're always willing to make any adjustments that we need. They never get offended if we don't like something or ask for another round of revisions. Everything you see on our website is all done by them.

We use email for the majority of our communication. They don't have any project management tools in place to view their progress. We worked with Andrew (a general manager). I usually communicate with him, and he coordinates with his team. However, in rare cases when his team is not clear on what I envision, they connect me directly to the designers. We jump on a conference call via Skype and discuss the details. It goes both ways.

What did you find most impressive about Agente?

I think a good reference would be the full landing pages on our site: open 365, open late, we deliver, and no minimum order. Those are the best examples of what they have done for us so far. Other than that, they are a good company to work with. They respond in a timely manner and follow up with us. They are not money cautious, so they don't push the invoices to you right away. They usually give you a timeframe to pay. I’ve never experienced any issues with them. If I do sense a problem, I call the designers and say, "I think you’re moving in the wrong direction. Here's what I would like to see" and they adjust.

Are there any areas Agente could improve?

No, I don't think so. They do a good job. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a developer for lending software. I am the cofounder and COO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Agente?

We were developing our online lending software for community banks, which was a new type of customer for us. Our team has experience in marketplace lending and worked for different companies in that space, but community banks have now decided to come into this market. It’s a very traditional industry, so we needed to develop software and sell it for them, keeping in mind their traditional values and their less risky approach.

Our software-as-a-service allows community banks to start lending online in a matter of days with no upfront costs. We brought on Agente because we wanted a logo that was fintech-looking to appeal to VCs, but also traditional enough to appeal to our customers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed designs for our logo and corporate brand book. They also designed a pitch deck for us. We worked with 4 people from their team including their CEO, 2 designers, and a customer relations team member.

How did you come to work with Agente?

We researched different providers and their price was competitive. We also saw what Agente did for one of my friend’s companies and we liked it very much.

How much have you invested with Agente?

We have spent less than $10,000 over the course of our relationship.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2016, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They quickly got to the task and came to us with a few iterations before providing a solution that our team just loved. The pitch deck took a bit longer, but the result was outstanding. Both VC's and clients like our logo, and the pitch deck is really helping us in our fundraising efforts right now.

Our customers care about our logo, finding different and interesting things that appeal to them. They find the answers for themselves about what our logo means, and we’re very happy with this result. Traditional people from traditional industries feel that the logo is close to them and from their world.

How did Agente perform from a project management standpoint?

Though they are a bit slow and don’t like to work weekends, communication was good. However, as a startup, we work on the weekend and would hope that the agencies we work with do the same.

What did you find most impressive about Agente?

They’re very open and efficient. They’re creative, but sometimes too creative. They’re nice to work with. It was a great experience.

Are there any areas Agente could improve?

One thing that bothers me with Agente is they try to go too greatly into detail and they might take longer than we expect. We’ve been working with them on UX/UI for a month. We’re also working with another company at the same time and we’re still undecided who we will use for this phase of the project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Discoveree is a job board in Australia. We deliver jobs to job seekers in real time based on their profile, social media, and the web. I'm the founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Agente?

I brought them in for mobile application prototypes. It’s a SaaS platform, web application, and mobile app. The specific work that Agente was doing was for the mobile app.

We required AGENTE to improve the user experience and user interface on our mobile application prototypes.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided an initial prototype. We have UX experts here. Agente mocked up the different scenarios and flowcharts and the wireframes that accommodated them. They also provided the branding, design and Invision prototypes that were required to create a seamless experience for senior stakeholders to review our digital assets.

The whole concept is that we developed a platform and mobile application that allows users to search for jobs without physically having to search for jobs. The features have an algorithm and the algorithm searches the user based on their skill sets instead of their job title and all their digital resume data and presents those results to an employer instantly if they’re able in the network. They’re to show their abilities. It’s an automated system for HR. We used someone else for the development and implementation. I approached Agente before I got investors for the product. There were other business relationships my investors had so it didn’t make sense to use Agente.

How many resources have been assigned to your project?

We had a UX designer, a UI designer, and a project manager. They’re a very good agency in terms of the standard you get abroad.

How did you come to work with Agente?

I came across their website and saw some of their work in creative art, design, and layout. I got to know them and tested them out with a project. From that point on, we developed a lot more work. They’re very good with illustration and video animation.

How much have you invested with Agente?

We spent between $10,000 and $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I approached them in early 2016, and the project took a year. There were a lot of small tasks that they worked on throughout the year. I had presentations for investors and I got professional decks done and things like that. They do a lot of different work. We are not currently working with them because of the relationships my business partners have with other firms.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve done iterations, Agente did some iterations, and the other vendor did some iterations. The app hasn’t been released to the market yet. I’m about to launch the business in a month or two. Based on what we did and what I asked for on the brief, Agente executed it well. Value for money is good too.

How did Agente perform from a project management standpoint?

They were fairly attentive. Skype meetings always happened when I needed them to. Sometimes they weren’t as prompt as they should’ve been when projects needed to be completed. They have a lot of clients and might have some backlog. At the beginning, it was a bit difficult, but as time went on, things were done on time. When I was first starting, I was always in a hurry and probably a bit pushy. Now that it’s been so long, I realize it’s more like a marathon than a race. I’m taking my time to get it right.

What did you find most impressive about Agente?

Their strengths are animation, illustration, digital design, and UX. Anything that requires graphic design and UX design is their strength.

Are there any areas Agente could improve?

They are a little inconsistent on delivery times. Another weakness would be the language barrier and a few other factors that you have when you’re working remotely.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Project Pioneer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire AGENTE, and what were your goals?

For the SRS creation, project scoping, and core development/testing of the app. The goal was. to launch the mobile app of this unique project.

SOLUTION

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

Expertise, availability, integrity, awesome customer service and Cost

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Technologies were quite vast, ranging from Node JS to React/Redux, DB, push notifications and many more

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

About 5 people

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Successful QA. Product is scheduled for launch. All positive feedback from testers.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We used email and Telegram for instant communications.

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

It was quite easy to communicate and communication was swift. Also, the temperaments of the devs were AGENTE officers I dealt with were unmatched.

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

We would have loved to have a dedicated dev assigned to our project to handle support requests as they come. Unfortunately, this dedicated service was very expensive. It would be better to have more devs that could complete the task faster for a lesser price, maybe.