Brave UX

0What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The Brave UX team hit the ground running with us. They quickly came up to speed on our core training programs and learned the core functions that were going to be required in this app.

It was extremely beneficial that they are experts in UX and bring all of the best practices and the best modern thinking to the table. They built a design and created a direction for the app that was much better and quicker than we ever could have done internally. The overall direction they set was incredibly valuable.

They designed a UX that works well for our users. We’re getting tremendously positive feedback on the app. Users are able to use the app without training. It’s intuitive enough that they start using it the way they’re supposed to. It’s working very well for us. We’re getting especially good feedback about the aesthetics of the design and, most importantly, the ease of use and functionality of the app.

How did Brave UX perform from a project management standpoint?

We worked closely together throughout the project. We worked on an agile cadence with weekly sprints. We agreed on the work effort and the priorities for the week. Then, we reviewed cycles at the end of the week. We provided timely feedback, and they accepted that feedback and adjusted from there.

The teams talked almost daily. They work at an extremely rapid pace, which is awesome. We were able to match that pace. As we were sprinting, they gave us their design, and we logged feedback to them within 24 hours. They were incredibly responsive about following up on the feedback. The next week, they filtered through the updates, took our feedback, and updated the design work. It was a great partnership.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re on top of the latest UX trends. They live and breathe best practices of UX design. It was well worth the investment in terms of both the quality and the speed of the work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We could have all collectively done a better job of integrating the UX work with the app development work that was happening in parallel.

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

We’ve also been engaging with them on a bunch of customer-facing elements outside of the dashboard to optimize our user experience. Their CEO has been working with our team on other things that are proving valuable in terms of different options and designs that drive engagement and advertising revenue. We’ve seen some improvements around a bunch of those recommendations. They’re definitely delivering value there.

How did Brave UX perform from a project management standpoint?

They were exceptional. Their professionalism and industry knowledge blew us away. Their project management was great and everything was on time. There weren’t any discussions that took place around scope creeps or things like that. They really did a great job and we felt good about all of it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are a small firm with 8–10 people, which means they really care about each of the projects they undertake. They don’t take on too much work so they’re able to give clients the attention and focus a project requires. We saw this as a strength.

We went through a 140-slide deck with a significant amount of detail around the actual product. We gave them access to the platform and they logged in and broke out all the different problems we had. They positioned everything well and were able to relate to our business early on.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re unbelievable. We had a very good experience with Brave and I absolutely cannot fault them in terms of any project elements.

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

We’ve secured a few deals based on some high-level presentations and pitches with significant clients. We’ve been able to share visuals and designs and even created a six-minute, long-form video in collaboration with Brave UX, which helps us both. It markets what they did for us as a case study and also shows the degree to which we’re engaging UX in this next-gen platform.

That video and some of the visuals they’ve already provided have made a difference in helping us tell our story about where we’re headed. It’s hard to quantify things from a financial standpoint since we haven’t fully released anything yet.

How did Brave UX perform from a project management standpoint?

They almost work too quickly. They want to get ahead, which is probably a good thing because it prevents project paralysis. I sometimes want to mull over decisions for a while and think about them from various standpoints, but Brave UX doesn’t want to do that. They believe that priorities are always necessary and that it’s important to know what direction one is heading in.

They meet deadlines, and they’re very good at communicating. If there are changes or suggestions, or things that might impact budget or timelines, then Lee gave us notice. We never felt left out, and never had any unpleasant surprises.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We got extraordinarily lucky. In the beginning, we wanted someone who was going to feel like an extension of our team, and Brave definitely did that. The degree to which they were able to integrate with our team to understand our culture, goals, and what we were trying to do with this project was pretty impressive.

Even within a month or two of engaging with them, it felt like they were Stretch employees. The way they adopted and started to work with us made them feel like a true partner. Other boutique agencies can have the benefit of being small and having more personalized relationships with their customers, but I’ve never received the level of service like I have with Brave UX. Their commitment to becoming a part of our team was by far the most profound thing about them.

They’re all excellent. We didn’t work with a single person who wasn’t exceptionally talented, which was evident in the work they delivered.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They are fast-paced, but that’s probably normal for this industry. Other than that, there are no negatives. We had full access to the team, and they answered our questions immediately. They were willing to pivot and flex when needed, and also willing to stand up for themselves. Knowing what I know now, I would still decide to work with them again. There’s nothing about the decision that I regret.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be ready to make decisions and be organized. Clients must be ready to move at their speed and be willing to get uncomfortable. They’re going to push clients to explore ideas, thoughts, and methods that are a bit out of the comfort zone, but in a good way. Be ready to commit to their prices and timelines. They’re not going to wait for clients to think over every small decision because they want to move forward.

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

I don't have all of the web analytics in front of me, but I can tell you about the more anecdotal and qualitative data. Before we started working with Brave, we were a relatively unknown product. The foundation that sponsored the project and the project itself are newcomers, relatively speaking, to the national field of public health and policy in a big, public-facing way. While the foundation has been around for almost 10 years, they haven't had a big national launch like this one, so there was a lot riding on this debut. When we came out with the site, which we previewed with a number of high-level influencers in the field — from other foundations to national nonprofits with significant standing in the field — everyone was blown away by it. We got nothing but accolades about how beautiful the site was, how smartly designed it was, the navigability of the information, how well-packaged everything was. That was an incredibly important opportunity for us to establish our reputation and standing. It was incredibly powerful how well it did, and it was important for the higher profile folks to see us playing in their league with a public-facing site.

How did Brave UX perform from a project management standpoint?

I’ve worked with a lot of contractors in my time, and I’m also an independent consultant, so I know what good client service looks like, and Brave is over-the-top great. They are organized and polite but firm about pushing the client to meet deadlines, because they know that they’ve promised a product to you, and so they want to be able to deliver. We were not the easiest team to deal with on that front. I had a lot of cooks in the kitchen, and a lot of them did not necessarily understand the urgency around deadlines. Brave was just phenomenal about keeping us to those deadlines and meeting our deadlines even when we approached them with a short turnaround. I will be honest, I don't think I've ever had project management like the one that Brave provided.

What did you find most impressive about Brave UX?

I would say that Brave’s sophistication and understanding about how to marry beautiful design with an understanding of how people approach web content. … It was an educational experience for me, and it was powerful to see the effects of that in the end product. Brave’s team, the ones who built our information architecture, were so smart in first educating us about how good information is organized and then in creating a product that matched that. At the end of the day, we saw it work, which was incredibly impressive to me. Brave are not public health policy experts — they wouldn't claim to be — for them to have so quickly penetrated and understood what it was that we were trying to do and then deliver to us such an impressive product, that was over-the-top awesome. I could not have been more satisfied with how they provided that service to us. 

Are there any areas Brave UX could improve?

I can't think of any ways Brave could improve. We were, from start to finish, wholly satisfied with their work. I think one of the other great endorsements for the work they did is that the foundation already has referred another project of theirs to reach out to work with them on web design. I had other outside entities who I was working with who said, “Wow. This is beautiful. Who did it? Can I get their name?” In terms of other people’s perceptions and my own,  I can't think of anything that I would have wanted to have happened that didn't happen.