Arounda

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of Paperplanes. We’re an automated direct mail marketing channel. At the moment, we’re a startup with only three people.

What challenge were you trying to address with Arounda?

We needed to create a visual proof of concept of our platform so we could look for investment opportunities. We desperately needed UX/UI assistance to build the assets we had in mind so we could have something to show to investors and have as a basis for our development team.

We didn’t have that kind of skill set in our teams, so we needed outside assistance. We brought in Arounda to help us with that vision.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We didn’t require extensive research; we knew what we wanted and how to get there. Arounda took the project, as well as some sketches and wireframes. They asked back and forth about how we wanted the platform to look like, and they pretty much ran with it. When we had to make big decisions or choose a path, they got in touch with me and let me know.

What is the team composition?

We had one project manager and two designers. The project manager looked after all the back-and-forth communication between the designers and me. I didn’t see the designers or the people doing the task based on my feedback.

How did you come to work with Arounda?

We found them on Upwork. I interviewed about 3–4 people. We’re a small company, so we had to do some due diligence on it.

Arounda were quite prepared; they seemed to have the best presentation. They were very compatible with us, and we were happy with the output.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent just under $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from April—May 2021. Since we’re not going to hire someone to fill that position soon, we’ll keep in touch with them. Arounda has gotten to be a key part of what we do.

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

My business partner isn’t from a tech background, and he had never seen something like this. I had to fight to get this work done and convince him it was worth the money. Halfway through the project, I gave him some screenshots of what Arounda was producing, and then he was completely on board. He understood why we needed to make it, and it was thanks to the quality of their work.

Also, what I really liked about them was that they managed to squeeze in an extra set of features that were outside of the scope we had in mind. Those two things made me very happy.

How did Arounda perform from a project management standpoint?

Arounda had a project manager on their side, and they let me know when they needed input. I’m usually very busy, so I was worried they’d constantly ask me to ratify decisions, but it wasn’t like that. When there was a key point, they came to me with the options and made it very easy to choose. It didn’t take up any of my time.

I spoke to the sales person on the phone, but as soon as we came into the project team, we started to use Slack. They used Sigma, and I was able to leave comments by using that software.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Aside from the output, the best thing about them was their ability to work without being micromanaged. I can’t afford to be constantly sorting things out and asking questions, and they took a lot of that heavy lifting off me. On the instances where I did have to make a choice, they made it very simple.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Maybe they could have a more flexible payment method. We paid by the hour, but if it’s the first time, it’s always nice to pay on completion rather than having to take a leap of faith.

With a development agency, the first few weeks there isn't a lot of output coming through. It’d be nice if they had a better payment structure, where maybe we could pay X percent before the first output, and from then on we'd do weekly payments. That’d be a better option, or that would’ve given me a little peace of mind at the start. However, now I trust Arounda, so it’s not a problem.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Do as much legwork as you can before you hand it over to them, so you can save money. We did a lot of work upfront; we weren’t paying them to do things that we should know how to do ourselves. We paid for the execution, and we got exactly what we required. In that sense, costs might scale up quickly if you just come to them without any guidance and they have to be more involved.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm CEO of Enix Ltd, one of the leading independent providers of Web , email and Cloud Hosting services in the UK.

For what projects/services did your company hire Arounda?

Enix Ltd are developing a completely new client experience to greatly improve our product offering, and the ease of use for our customers. We hired Arounda to design the UI and UX for the client facing dashboard. The spec was a modern, clean, responsive design, of which Arounda would conduct research and provide various options of which we could select our preferences and fine tune it for the best end result.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to create a new client-facing dashboard from the ground up to allow a customer to manage all of the services on their account quickly and easily, the primary goals were:

1. A clean, minimal, modern responsive design
2. A UX that made managing complicated products appear simple
3. A UI that fitted with our existing brands
4. A modular UI that we could quickly and easily create new modules

How did you select Arounda?

We shortlisted around 5 designers from Dribbble who's portfolios contained the design style we preferred. After some initial discussions it was clear Arounda was the best choice for our requirements based on their portfolio and their understanding of our needs.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we had selected Arounda, they provided several mood boards so we could choose our preferred styles. After fine tuning this we had a style guide ready to go that we could base the rest of the design from. Due to the complex nature of our products, we had specific ideas in house of page layout and application flow, so we provided very rough wireframes to Arounda to create the UI from. This worked very well with them as they took our wireframes and improved on them further, giving us a high quality result which was often near perfect on the first round.

What was the team composition?

I worked with several members of the team, mainly a project manager and the lead designer. Being able to communicate directly with the lead designer made things extremely efficient and effortless. We integrated tightly with Arounda, once we got into the flow, we would provide wireframes, Arounda would design the UI and UX, and pass it back to our in-house developers for coding.

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

We are still in the process of completing integration into our existing systems, we anticipate the project will go live in Q2 2021. However, it is already clear from our internal testing the outcome is going to be superb - the UX compared to our current platform is in a different world.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Arounda's designers sat in the middle of our workflow, between wireframing and coding. Working with Arounda was like having our own in-house designers - we integrated well and communication was effortless.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Working with Arounda was like an extension of our company, having an in-house design team to tap into at any moment, and not only can they walk the walk, they can talk the talk too - the end result is equally as impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I don't have any suggestions for improvement, I was extremely happy with the overall process and end result.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a tech company, headquartered in France, specialized in business algorithms in various domains. Our compagny has about 5 employees and we serve corporate clients worldwide.

For what projects/services did your company hire Arounda?

We hired Arounda to work on the project design of a web-application which aims to centralize all of our innovations dedicated to our customers.

What were your goals for this project?

We want to optimize our customer experience and gain reusability.

How did you select Arounda?

We have selected Arounda on the Upwork platform based on their ratings and their prompt and efficient response to our needs.

Describe the project in detail.

We started the project through a research mode. We drew some screens and gave some general ideas, they provided good feedback and advices. We have meetings and discussions through Slack and Figma Comments, we choose and they execute. Their work is really effective when you ask clearly what you want.

What was the team composition?

First contact was with their business manager, then with the project manager who selected the operational resources. Communication is good and effective.

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

Not at the moment. Project is ongoing...

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective. They do accurately what we ask and give good feedback. Communications are made on a daily basis through Figma Comments, Slack and Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We like their productivity and ability to render what we ask.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Every customers and needs are differents. Their work is awesome, communcation can always be improved though!

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder of Teachinguide.com and have been building an e-learning and e-teaching startup. Its main purpose is to help online instructors to focus on the right topics to teach, sell their courses, improve course quality, reach students more effectively, and improve on bringing together online teachers and students.

The startup is focusing initially on Udemy, the largest eLearning space. The Udemy online instructor is my target audience, and there are about 60,000 instructors on Udemy. The Teachinguide is a platform to help them excel on Udemy and selling their courses.

What challenge were you trying to address with Arounda?

The main challenge I'm addressing with Arounda is the website, web application design, and user experience.

What was the scope of their involvement?

After some trials, I figured out that the product wasn’t bad, but it takes a lot of demos, help, and interviews with prospective clients to sync the product up with user needs and understanding. Realizing that I had a UX problem and needed to make the whole product easier, I searched for a company that offers both design and UX services.

The solution is a web app that supports mobile devices and tablets, which was very important to me because I wanted an application that works on mobile.

We worked on milestones early on. Initially, it was a review engagement where I challenged them to review the current application, UX design, and my research on the target audience. I did some heavy research about my target group in terms of personas and descriptions needed for UX, so I wanted them to check on the initial package.

I realized my main issues with UX were also problems of design. What I implemented wasn’t consistent, and it had various shortcomings. The second package was about rebuilding the full design system and applying that to the main screens for my developers.

It was centered around harmonizing and optimizing the design of the existing application. They built the whole system and all the controls. I can send things over to them, and they will implement pages in Figma so that my implementation team can apply them to the app.

We're now in the third phase: optimizing parts of the overall user experience and focusing on the full registration and onboarding flow experience. For that, they created user story cards in Figma for different personas and suggested various new onboarding and registration flows.

What is the team composition?

There were five or six people on the project. One person was responsible for the commercial part. They also assigned people to project management, customer interaction, and customer success. From there, they have an expert in UX design and other people that implement the design.

How did you come to work with Arounda?

I found them on Upwork. I used Upwork before to find talent and freelancers. The most appealing thing to me about them was their ability to address a combination of my requirements. They're an agency that can provide me with a full team with the skills I need. 

They have the expertise and references both in terms of design and UX. In our early conversations, they also offered implementation solutions. I haven't used it so far, but it was nice to know they also have implementation capacity in Vue.js. The price, experience, and professionalism looked attractive to me, so it was a good match.  They weren't too expensive but offered everything I needed in their portfolio.

How much have you invested in them?

By now, I have spent about $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started in October 2020, and it's an ongoing partnership. We have made great progress.  

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

I'm happy with their work and feel that I've found the right partner. The overall communication is great. I have a responsive point of contact that gets back to me on time and takes my problems seriously. I'm confident they're working on tasks and giving me timely feedback on everything I request.

The screens, deliverables, and designs are good. They've provided design work that's ready for my development team to implement. I've collected early adopter feedback on the design, and it has been good. I'm pretty confident that we have the right team and will make some big improvements on the app here.

How did Arounda perform from a project management standpoint?

They keep to schedules and the cost is predictable, which is very important when considering whether new ideas will make the budget slip. With Arounda, I know I can count on what we have agreed on.

If I have new requirements and extend the scope, we talk about it so everyone knows what to expect in terms of the budget. They deliver on time, and it's great that I can count on that. I have a specific point of contact that is responsible for communication and project management. I'm also in touch with the designer.

They understand my requirements and target audience to provide better designs. From a project management perspective, I don’t feel like I am sharing their time with other clients. They can handle the workload and schedule, which we're quite demanding about. I'm quite happy with the project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their reliability and consistency truly stand out.

Are there any areas they could improve?

That's a hard question because I'm quite happy right now. You always can improve, but I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s not specific to Arounda, but you need to be prepared with a general understanding of the scope of work. It is best to have clear ideas in writing for early structured discussion. The better I'm prepared, the better the job they do.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the project manager of a software startup that delivers digital advertising campaigns.

What challenge were you trying to address with Arounda?

We needed a partner for UX/UI design.

What was the scope of their involvement?

At the beginning of the project, we provided a very structured briefing and a predefined logic. Then they designed the UX/UI in Figma where we could collaborate and provide feedback. Since then, they’ve been able to implement our requirements.

What is the team composition?

We talk to one designer and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Arounda?

We found them on dribbble. We were looking for an agency that was easy to work with and offered a reasonable hourly rate. They checked all of our boxes.

How much have you invested with them?

They originally gave us a quote between $11,000–$30,000, but we’ve added several additional features. So far, we’ve spent about $17,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in October 2020 and we’re still working with them.

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

They’ve completed about 90% of the project scope. Their design is on-point and reflects our vision. We’re very happy that we found a productive partnership with them.

How did Arounda perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall, Arounda is very easy to work with. They implement our requirements and feedback quickly to deliver on-time and on-budget.

They communicate very well, too. We’re always in contact with them over Slack and they’re very responsive. Every Monday, they outline the scope for the next two weeks and plan each milestone. Occasionally, we have video calls using Google Meets.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They implemented our vision perfectly. I’ve been impressed by how well they’ve implemented our feedback. In the past, we’ve worked with other design agencies that didn’t understand what wanted and delivered some strange things. With Arounda, our partnership has gone smoothly and they’ve delivered what they promised us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have anything for them to work on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I will always advise new clients to have a clear vision of what they want, communicate frequently, address requests immediately, and give precise briefings.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of an online travel agency. It’s a full trip builder. Users can search for hotels, change locations, plan experiences, and schedule transportation.

What challenge were you trying to address with Arounda?

They redesigned the UI on our website.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They redesigned everything on our site. We provided the UX and they streamlined UI on all the pages. We sent them sketch files and then they designed it on Figma and provided us with new files. They broke the project up by working on each section of the platform, starting with mobile, and then moving to the desktop version.

We established milestones and estimated how much time each section would take. Then once a section was done, we moved on to the next.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two designers and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Arounda?

We found them on Dribbble. We were looking for an international team because we wanted a partner with a reasonable hourly rate. Then we did an RFP and had several providers work on 2–3 pages so we could get a good sense of their work.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $35,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from June – October 2020.

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

The project was really successful. The design looks really nice and the entire site is cohesive. They achieved what we were looking for. The platform has gone live, and we’ve received a lot of really positive feedback. Not only do we like it internally, but it makes sense externally.

Every once in a while, their deliverables didn’t align with what we wanted, but they responded well when we requested changes. They were very thoughtful about implementing our feedback.

How did Arounda perform from a project management standpoint?

They met deadlines and communicated daily over Slack. It was a good collaboration. The project ended up being more expensive than we budgeted because we kept asking for additional features. So, I appreciated their flexibility.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were creative and imaginative, they produced beautiful designs, and the platform was easy to navigate. On top of that, they were reasonably priced. Overall, they were a great value.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They did a great job. I don’t have any particular requests for improvement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have clarity on what you want and where you want them to be innovative. You should also communicate with them frequently because they were very responsive to feedback.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a telehealth company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Arounda?

We had launched our app without illustrations and wanted to add some.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We asked Arounda to use a different style for illustrations, and they created a general feeling for the UX. They had a small space to work in, as the app is simple, and we didn’t want too many illustrations. 

They worked on one style of general illustration, and then specific illustrations to generate desired feelings in users, including security, strength, and parenthood. They used Figma.

What is the team composition?

We interacted with two people, but there was a team working behind the scenes, as well.

How did you come to work with Arounda?

We searched online. We liked some of Arounda’s work and decided to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent less than $4,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from April–June 2020.

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

The app is not fully live for another 1–2 weeks. We have implemented about 20% of their work, including the landing screen, so far. It’s hard to create a feeling, but they did a great job. We’re very happy with what they’ve provided for us, and it was a great success.

How did Arounda perform from a project management standpoint?

The team did well and was responsive. It was simple and straightforward. They took our feedback and applied it in the following iterations.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Arounda did a good job of creating what we wanted and creating a feeling without being given a lot of specific information beforehand. The work they produced fits our brand well, so we would love to work with them again in the future.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes the order was a bit messy, so perhaps they could organize all the illustrations in Figma better.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be specific about what you do and don’t want without providing too much information. They’re good at what they do.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a product manager and designer for an event discovery app.

What challenge were you trying to address with Arounda?

For one project, we wanted to design our blog website. During the other project, we wanted to design a new mobile version of our platform.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Arounda basically provided product design services. Their team created a mood board for the design inspiration using Miro. They critiqued the existing design, helping to improve the UI.

From there, their team created wireframes and designed the product in Figma. There were two iterations. They made the blog website responsive to both desktop and mobile platforms.

The second project followed a similar process. Instead of creating the blog's UI, they designed the interface of the event discovery platform. Their team designed the mobile homepage of the website, including event listings and search functions.

What is the team composition?

We spoke with a product manager and a designer.

How did you come to work with Arounda?

We posted the job on a freelancing platform. We received many applicants, but Arounda’s portfolio was phenomenal.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the engagement in April 2020, and they finished the second project at the beginning of June 2020.

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

Arounda produced modern, high-quality designs. They're both awesome.

It’s hard to find great designers, and Arounda’s on the cutting-edge of industry design standards. Their style’s up to date. We’re going to work with them again.

How did Arounda perform from a project management standpoint?

It’s common to worry about giving feedback to designers but Arounda took our feedback well. They were always on time for meetings, which hasn’t always been the case with previous service providers.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Arounda completed quality work quickly, which is a differentiator. Design projects usually involve many revisions, so it takes a long time. But with Arounda, we only went through 1­–2 versions for the designs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make your requirements clear. Follow the general principles of design management. Ask questions and talk with them to make sure the project’s organized.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of an early-stage startup.

What challenge were you trying to address with Arounda?

Initially, we needed a partner for UX/UI design work.

What was the scope of their involvement?

During the first project, Arounda designed the UX/UI of our tool using Sigma. In the next project, their team provided input on marketing strategy and UI design. They researched similar tools, best practices, and how to optimize our visibility in the market. 

What is the team composition?

The team includes a project manager and two main designers. Occasionally, another designer works with us too.

How did you come to work with Arounda?

We found them on Instagram. We liked their portfolio and reached out to them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent roughly $70,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in September 2019, and our engagement’s ongoing.

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

I’m satisfied with Arounda's performance. They use the latest technologies to create quality designs. Their team works well with the developers.

How did Arounda perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate via Slack. They’re responsive, so projects run smoothly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They use the latest technologies, which are exactly what our product needs. The value of their work is good — an improvement from that of past vendors

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t areas for improvement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Listen to their marketing suggestions; they're valuable. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a startup with an on-demand delivery platform. I'm the CEO.

What challenge were you trying to address with Arounda?

We hired them to help with design and general business strategies.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We discussed our strategy, they gave us some guidance, and we started on first drafts of our UI/UX designs. They built the entire framework of our app, and they've done brand guidelines, vision, and brand books. The whole app was designed in Sketch.

After the app was finished, they created marketing materials, icons, and stationery design. They created newsletters, flyers, business cards, and other small print materials.

What is the team composition?

We're in contact with one or two individuals, but there were also two or three designers and one or two people who worked on our brand guidelines.

How did you come to work with Arounda?

We found them on Upwork. We looked at their portfolio, and we liked their style. We reached out to them, and they were very easy to communicate with. They were willing to take the lead, which we liked.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent €150,000-€200,000 (approximately $167,000-$223,000 USD) over the course of our engagement.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working in January 2018, and they finished the big project in September 2019.

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

We receive good reviews from our userbase, and the design is modern, fluid, and self-explanatory. They realized our vision, and we love the results. They have high standards, and they always delivered excellent work. They help us stand out from our competition.

How did Arounda perform from a project management standpoint?

We really liked their project management, and they sent us regular updates with explanations of the decisions they made. They offered a lot of transparency, and they met most of our deadlines. They used InVision to share prototypes, and we worked a lot via Google Drive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They often took the lead, and their designs are very on-trend. They always tried to make us the best in our field.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Because they expanded so rapidly, we didn't always know who to contact. After a few days, we expressed our concerns and they assigned a fixed account manager. They could still work to manage their scaling a little better.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They have high-quality standards, so be prepared for them to take their time. If you are looking for a fast solution, look elsewhere. They take their work very seriously, and they dedicate time to their projects.