Cadabra Studio

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO & co-founder of MyNetDiary. We provide an online weight loss service. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Cadabra Studio?

We needed some graphic design work done for our website and mobile applications.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We present concepts to Cadabra Studio, and they help implement those into motion design and animation. They’ve provided stand-alone art that they then implemented into our website and mobile apps, which are for iOS and Android.

What is the team composition?

There are typically 3–4 people working with us: two designers, a project manager, and someone from management.

How did you come to work with Cadabra Studio?

We found them through Upwork initially. We work directly with them now.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $10,000–$30,000

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together around February 2016, and it’s ongoing. They do work for us every month or two.

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

We’re very satisfied with Cadabra Studio’s process and the work they’ve provided. We’ve worked with several of their designers. The internal feedback is positive.

How did Cadabra Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

They communicate clearly regarding when they can begin and finish projects. Since they’re offshore, they have different holidays, and they always notify us ahead of time when they’ll be unavailable. We communicate mainly via Skype.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Cadabra Studio is a very professional partner. We trust them, are comfortable working with them, and work with them frequently. Whenever we call them up with work, even on short notice, they’re available to get it done. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think there’s much room for improvement.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have clear concepts and starting points. Communicate, and be available to work with them throughout the project.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of MASSIVE, an A.I. company that transforms e-commerce data and consumer reviews into actionable business insights.

For what projects/services did your company hire Cadabra Studio?

We had to create a new corporate website together with an ownable illustrative style. We also had to develop data backends to improve our analysts' effectiveness.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to develop something elegant and easy to use. We wanted someone that could integrate various skills.

How did you select this vendor?

I looked for website portfolios on Dribble and Behance, and I selected a final roster of five.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Development of a Corporate website with a blog feature on Drupal, development of a Brand illustration style and a theme, development of very complex data management UI for professionals

What was the team composition?

A project leader, one UI specialist, one Angular specialist, one QA specialist, one Art Director.

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

We just launched so it's too early to judge, but we are very happy with the result.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Conversation with PM was ongoing continuously on Slack and Skype, and the person was very present and helpful.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They care about their job — they're passionate, and they try to do their best. And they have very good standards of UI and design elegance.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Some specialists might have basic knowledge of english language and this sometimes hinders communication and creates misunderstanding.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am in the process of setting up a technology startup. I am the founder. Since the product is not in the market yet, I am unable to disclose the nature of the product.

For what projects/services did your company hire Cadabra Studio?

I hired Cadabra Studio to drastically improve and build upon the UI design that I had.

What were your goals for this project?

The objectives were to create a design that is/has:

• Mature yet refreshingly new
• Minimalistic
• Colors that are pleasing to the eye and used carefully
• UI flow that takes the user to the core objective in as few steps as possible
• A new take on a traditional layout that still feels familiar to users

How did you select this vendor?

I evaluated 20+ vendors on design aesthetic and price. Among all the portfolios that I went through, Cadabra Studio's had the design aesthetic that I was looking for. Since Cadabra's pricing was competitive, I selected them.

Describe the project in detail.

Scope: landing page, tutorial screens, onboarding flow, user profile, account settings, core functionality design

My role: Providing overall direction and detailed guidelines, critiquing the design

Vendor: Strategy, illustrations, UI design, UX flow optimization

What was the team composition?

1 project manager + 1 designer. The composition did not change.

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

Outcome: An excellent design that I am happy with. The product is yet to be tested in the market - feedback is awaited.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

From a project management standpoint, Cadabra's communication, process, and execution were truly outstanding. We used Skype for communication and Invision for feedback/comments. The team's responsiveness and ability to execute based on feedback was exceptional.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

1. Strong technical capability - They're able to create outstanding designs that follow the brief while bringing something new to the table.
2. Responsiveness and Communication - They are very collaborative and act on feedback immediately
3. Planning - Planning is key to any project. Cadabra's process is very structured. The managers plan ahead and avoid gaps in the process.
4. Quality - Quality of work is outstanding in all respects

Are there any areas for improvement?

No obvious areas of improvement in terms of process and quality of work. However, their billing department can certainly work towards making it easy and quick for US customers to make the payment.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of a startup called Woglue, a marketplace for digital advertising. We install smart screens with webcams in small businesses like offices, bars, and restaurants. We can recognize if people look at the screen, for how long, and their age and gender. The advertiser pays for each view from their target audience.

What challenge were you trying to address with Cadabra Studio?

I had the idea for the product and I knew how to develop the technology, but didn’t have any experience in UI/UX design. Once I knew how I wanted it to look, I started to look for designers who could do the UI/UX, prototypes, and branding for me.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were only responsible for the design and branding, while also providing animation videos. I developed the website myself with my co-founder, but I used them to do some project management. After I developed everything, I could that the estimations they gave us were precise. They mostly worked on the UI/UX and branding. They use a lot of professional tools like InVision and Zeplin.

They worked on the desktop version of my platform. I’m planning to also build a mobile application and will 100% work with them.

What is the team composition?

I worked with four guys. There was a project manager for the designers, a UI/UX designer, a designer who worked on my logo, and a designer who worked on my promo animation videos. I was constantly in contact with Anastasia (Co-Founder, Cadabra Studio).

How did you come to work with Cadabra Studio?

I’m originally from Russia and wanted a Russian-speaking company. I found different studios on Dribbble, where designers provide their portfolios. I chose Cadabra because they showed interest and answered me quickly. After speaking with them, it seemed as if we could work together.

How much have you invested with them?

$10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2017 until September 2017.

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

Every time they send me results, I’m amazed. It’s a very high quality and professional website. It was very important for me to have something that was tailor-made and outstanding, which I received. I was able to immediately see how the UX would work. If I wanted something done differently, they made changes immediately. After we reviewed all the UX deliverables, they then did the UI very quickly. I’m very happy with the quality.

How did Cadabra Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

I was amazed that everything went really fast. They always provided me with a few examples and different styles to choose from, and we had biweekly Skype video calls with the project manager and Anastasia. They explained how it was going and proposed different approaches. If I had additional questions, I called them. Every week or every two weeks, they sent me a report from Jira, which showed how long the work took, what was done, and an estimation of the next tasks. When the main designer went on vacation, they provided me with another designer. It was very convenient for me because I had deadlines and didn’t want to wait.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re responsive and are available 24/7. I can even contact them in the late hours and they answer me. They cover all my needs­—if I need animation, the find someone who can do it. If I need, a logo, they immediately provide a professional who specializes in logos.

They deliver the results and don't miss deadlines. We finished earlier than they planned. It’s possible to not only develop a professional relationship with them, but also a personal relationship. From time to time, they ask how I’m doing, and when I asked them to do a one-pager for my company, they did it for free because they said it’s very easy and quick. I feel like they’re my friends now.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

When they first started, I didn’t use their services for development. I’m 100% sure that they are a one-stop shop and would do amazing work for a company who wants both development and design work. My advice is to consider them. They’re professionals who do an amazing job. They amazed me from the first email.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the director of operations at a marketing and advertising group. I'm in charge of developing systems that help improve business processes.

For what projects/services did your company hire Cadabra Studio?

We needed to redesign our CRM data entry system. We wanted a modern, usable system with better UX in mind.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to update the old system.

How did you select this vendor?

They were highly recommended on Upwork.

Describe the project in detail.

Cadabra Studio incorporated elements of our old data entry process into the new system. In doing so, they improved overall UX/UI, making the system much easier to use.

What was the team composition?

I worked with two UX/UI designers.

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

Their designs have been great.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

At first, the language barrier was a concern, but as the project has progressed, the team has taken their time to ensure they understand our needs and goals.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We appreciate their dedication to the design process. They focus on being effective yet simple. They rise to the challenge whenever new ideas surface.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Although it's not a deal breaker, it would be helpful if there weren't a time difference in our respective business hours. However, the quality of work justifies the inconvenience. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I own a development company that builds applications and websites for small businesses. We also do UX, strategy, and marketing.

What challenge were you trying to address with Cadabra Studio?

Currently, our business has more work than we have developers. To solve this problem, we try to create strategic relationships with multiple companies that are strictly application development firms. We use Cadabra Studio as a white-label partner when we have any overflow.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Cadabra Studio primarily does web and mobile app development for us, but they also have a creative team for UX/UI design. Most of their current project is confidential during development. They’re working on a web app for a religious group. The deliverable is the first piece in a four-application family of products. The team is also building iOS and Android apps as part of the first piece.

What is the team composition?

The team includes a UX developer, a Ruby on Rails developer, an iOS developer, and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Cadabra Studio?

We hired another vendor to complete a development project, but the partnership didn’t work out. We then asked Cadabra to make a bid, which turned great. They also had good UX designs.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them around November 2017 and the relationship is ongoing.

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

The quality of the apps is fantastic, but we also measure performance by the ease of communication and their ability to grasp a concept. Cadabra Studio excels at both criteria, especially given the language barrier. The team understands the motivation and context of new products, not just the technical specifications. To that end, they take ownership of deliverables. Their thought process and strategy are collaborative, which makes them a good match for our business.

How did Cadabra Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

I’ve used 30 partners on 50 projects and they are easily the best team I’ve ever worked with.

Among the eight vendors we’re currently engaging between Ukraine and Belarus, Cadabra Studio stands out for their sense of ownership. For the current project, the team has taken time to understand the app and its purpose, which helps them appreciate the specifications’ religious context. We use Skype and Slack to communicate. They use internal project management tools that I access occasionally.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Project management has been fantastic as we work toward the finished product. Impressively, they are bilingual and code in multiple languages. With the project manager’s leadership, the team double checks everything and asks great questions to ensure they understand the requirements. We’ve had a good experience with Cadabra Studio and only minimal miscommunications.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Most team members don’t speak English well, but they’re working on it. As an American, I appreciate that effort because we couldn’t do the project in Ukrainian. They're doing a great job.

Any advice for potential customers?

Trust the team because they have good instincts. Most domestic agencies approach international vendors with suspicion, which ultimately hinders the partnership’s effectiveness. The language barrier likely plays into that attitude. Cadabra Studio has some of the most forthright and honest people I’ve met. They’re reliable team players.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a media technology company focused on machine learning and AI. Though our primary market is media and entertainment, we also provide services to law enforcement, telco, auto, and other industries.

What challenge were you trying to address with Cadabra Studio?

We approached them to support UX/UI for a live-streaming platform for remote sensors like drones or underwater robots. It’s a web and mobile app for both iOS and Android.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I interfaced with them on the product side and went through a collaborative product development lifecycle. We had a discovery period to define user personas and then set up a workflow to suit the use cases. I created the wires and we adjusted them through an iterative process.

The platform reviews multiple feeds from different sensors and relays each broadcast back to a central hub. Multiple users can interact with one another via audio or text chat options. It also plots locations of human users and unmanned sensors on a map. It’s a fairly complicated, feature-rich solution.

What is the team composition?

We had a project manager as a point person and a team of designers. They handled creative elements and my team answered their questions and gave them feedback.

How did you come to work with Cadabra Studio?

We were looking for a team to work with and a team member in Kiev found them. Our development team is based in Ukraine, which is one reason it made sense to hire Cadabra. Communication with the development team would be easy. We had an initial discussion and a team interview with them. Everyone felt comfortable and we decided to move forward.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $30,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together between summer 2016 and summer 2017. The whole engagement lasted 8–12 months. We would like to use them again for future projects.

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

We built an MVP, so I was expecting the process to be iterative. We got to a good place and were getting positive market feedback that validated the work we had done and decisions we made. Overall, I was happy with the quality of their work and the impact it had on our customers.

How did Cadabra Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re good communicators. I don’t speak Russian, but their English is good and we achieved our goals successfully. They put a lot of nuance into the product and we never experienced any difficulty with a remote relationship. We had a lot of iteration and the whole process worked well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were well-organized and they cared about the work. They weren’t afraid of creative conflict and were ready to make suggestions if they had a better option. We debated some features and they proved they were willing to dedicate extra energy to improvements.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re only as good as we allow them to be. It requires a lot of focus on our side to make sure the requirements are clear and everyone understands them. Still, this was a successful project. I’ve worked with a lot of design teams and this was one of the best experiences I’ve had. I would definitely use them again.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’ve never worked with a remote team, there is some work to be done upfront. Make sure your requirements are clear and understood. A little bit of clear communication goes a long way.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the lead developer of Work Compass, a company that services performance management for medium to large companies.

What challenge were you trying to address with Cadabra Studio?

We hired them primarily for web app design capabilities which we do not have in-house. We also previously used them for some web development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Cadabra refined usability of our previously developed web app and updated its UX/UI.

Currently, they are helping the development of a new administrative feature for our application which allows managers to provide feedback to staff members. They are providing us the visual design, including the interface and chat bubbles. Their team advises us on functionality and how users will interact with certain buttons. They are molding the chat’s personality and developing an avatar to go along with it.

What is the team composition?

We work primarily with a project manager, but also provide a person in-house whose job is 50% support and 50% product design. They will assign another designer depending on the amount of work. When they helped us with development work, we worked with 2–3 of their designers.

How did you come to work with Cadabra Studio?

We work in a shared space with a couple of other tech companies and one of them recommended Cadabra.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started during the summer of 2016 and the engagement is ongoing.

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

Our executives are blown away by the quality of their designs and smooth UX/UI.

We do not have any measure metrics on the administrative feature’s usability as it has not yet been released.

How did Cadabra Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

We do most of the project management itself, but they will provide a detailed Google Docs and conduct a Skype conversation to kick off a project.

Communicating in person would be nice, but they communicate well enough over Skype, Skype Chat, and email.They are still very responsive and make sure we have everything we need. If we have any last-minute changes or need something by the end of the week, they work very hard to get it done for us on time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality of their work exceeds our expectations every time.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They are overall very good and responsive even with our three-hour time zone difference. Perhaps they could still try to smooth out our conversations through Skype and email.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Try to start a project as early as possible with them, so you can set time for changes you might want to make.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am Co-founder and CTO of RealAtom, a Fintech startup We are a marketplace for commercial real estate loans. We connect commercial real estate borrowers with lenders and give them tools to go through the process in the most efficient way.

For what projects/services did your company hire Cadabra Studio?

We hired Cadabra to help us define our UX, as well as to design the platform, presentations and landing pages.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals are to increase our conversions and provide an easy to use interface, to retain existing customers.

How did you select this vendor?

I had a great experience with Cadabra on a previous project.

Describe the project in detail.

We had a series of discovery meetings and did an audit of existing assets. We discussed our goals and the scope. The Cadabra team then created several mood boards to help us narrow down the visual direction. Once that was completed, we started discussing our ideal user experience. Cadabara created sketches which we tested with a few customers, and were then turned into designs and prototypes.

What was the team composition?

We had a project manager and we worked with a designer.

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

We launched an MVP which helped us enter the market, raise seed-round funds, and gain an initial customer base. We are now working on the second version of the product.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We’ve worked smoothly and effectively together.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their talent and agility stood out to us.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We wish there were more designers like Cadabra so we could move faster.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the IT manager at an insurance company. We offer property and casualty insurance and specialize in farm and ranch properties.

What challenge were you trying to address with Cadabra Studio?

We needed to upgrade our online portal where clients manage their policies. Although we had a small in-house development team, web design was not our strength. We hired Cadabra Studios to execute the UI/UX designs.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The UI/UX design needed to increase the range of functionalities for end-users. We knew that a better online experience would improve customer satisfaction and retention. At this point, we’ve completed the design process and will start development in May. We expect to launch later this year.

What is the team composition?

The Cadabra team includes a project manager, designer, and an illustrator.

How did you come to work with Cadabra Studio?

We found them via UpWork and have worked with them on that platform. They had an impressive portfolio.

What is the status of this engagement?

Work started in December 2017 and is ongoing.

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

The designs are impressive and meet the scope’s requirements. We rely on their design expertise to follow new principles and best practices, which they reliably implement.

How did Cadabra Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

The Cadabra project manager keeps us very informed of the project status. We communicate daily via email, Skye, and Teamwork, a cloud-based project management tool. They’re based in Ukraine and speak very good English. We haven’t had any communication issues.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re willing to help in any way to ensure our project is successful. The team is also cutting edge; they help us keep current with web design trends.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In addition to being international, they’re also in an urban setting, which creates some disconnect with our rural America based company. We explain some concepts more thoroughly because it’s unfair to assume they’ll understand our idiosyncrasies.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have clear parameters and goals before engaging a design firm. We weren’t totally prepared and inadvertently wasted some of Cadabra’s time. Specific instructions will help them get it right the first time.