CM&D

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the communication and public involvement manager for a professional service consulting firm, primarily doing civil engineering.  

What challenge were you trying to address with Chocolate Milk & Donuts?

The client that I was working with is a regional tolling authority. They build toll roads across the region when traditional funding methods can’t build roads quickly enough. They often build shared-use paths like bicyclists or pedestrian paths. They built an interactive trail, and we worked with Chocolate Milk & Donuts to develop an AR mobile app that corresponds to one of the trails that we plan to build next to a road.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Chocolate Milk & Donuts helped us with everything from the concept, including user designs and UX. Then they built out the experience using animations and voiceovers. There’s also a navigation feature that helps users track where they are on the trail.

Now, when users approach a sign on the trail, they can open the app on their phone and scan the sign, triggering AR animation. When that happens, there is an audio track that explains what the user is seeing. For instance, one of our signs is about what the land was like in the area during prehistoric times. The app illustrates a life-size prehistoric sea creature while the voiceover talks more about the creature in both English and Spanish.

The app launched in December 2019, but Chocolate Milk & Donuts still maintains the website and addresses any bugs we have. We’re thinking about expanding the app and plan to work with them again.

What is the team composition?

Our primary contact was the CEO and founder of Chocolate Milk & Donuts. He then had a couple of teammates supporting him, including one who was working on UX, another on design and animation, and a third on script and story development.

How did you come to work with Chocolate Milk & Donuts?

We were looking for a local firm that had done AR in the past. We really liked the work Chocolate Milk & Donuts has done in the past. On top of that, they’ve worked with our sister agency, so we knew they were a good fit.  

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $100,000–$115,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in May 2019 and is ongoing.

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

People love the app, especially kids.  There’s a recent review that says the app was an excellent use of technology; it was interactive, fun, and interesting.

Another person appreciated how the app highlights trail features and wildlife and considers it a classroom on the go.

How did Chocolate Milk & Donuts perform from a project management standpoint?

They did a great job. There were a lot of moving pieces, so we had a hard time keeping up, but Chocolate Milk & Donuts kept us informed throughout the engagement. They were very patient with us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were very attentive. For us, this was a big project, and they made us feel like they were fully invested in the project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We were trying to launch the app very quickly, and so I wish they told us to have a more realistic timeline. Although the project was delayed, it was primarily our fault. I appreciated that they really hustled and worked hard to meet our timeline.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open-minded and listen to them because they’re experts. They were able to tell us what was possible and what wasn’t.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an educational technology company that connects middle and high school aged students from over 150 countries to learn together through collaborative online projects. Students and teachers use our supplemental curricula to support reading, writing, and technology skills, and to help build international competencies in a variety of core subjects. I’m a co-founder and chief learning officer with the company. I work on design and publication of all our materials and work closely with our product development team.

What challenge were you trying to address with Chocolate Milk & Donuts?

We received a grant to create an open source educational resource that takes advantage of highspeed internet. We wanted to create a 360 VR video experience that introduced students to different world communities in a nuanced way.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked with them on two 360 VR field trip experiences. They helped with ideation and concept development, and led research on existing VR and 360 applications within the educational space. They then managed the recording, post-production, and deployment of those VR curricular materials.

The first project was a VR field trip series to Pakistan, and the second was a VR field trip across the United States. The first project acted as a pilot program for future projects, and we used a lot of the foundational thinking to speed the ideation process for the second project.

What is the team composition?

We primarily worked with their CEO. He acted as the project manager and oversaw his team of production assistants and developers during each stage.

How did you come to work with Chocolate Milk & Donuts?

We’re also based in Austin, Texas, so we knew about the work they did for other local companies. We chose them based on their track record in content marketing. I knew they were capable of excellent work and felt comfortable hiring a local company that would work within our budget.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $10,000–$15,000 per project, so our total spend is between $20,000–$30,000 for both.

What is the status of this engagement?

The first project took place in 2016, and I believe the second project ran from January–June 2018.

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

We’re a metrics driven company, so when we designed the first VR field trip project, we set out to track the enrollment and other foundational information. The project outpaced comparable projects, and the 360 VR content was a driving factor. It outperformed 2D counterparts in views per session and student engagement. Students’ written responses were longer and richer in content-specific vocabulary. We’re likely to work with them again on future projects of this nature.

How did Chocolate Milk & Donuts perform from a project management standpoint?

They stayed within our budget and delivered all the assets we wanted within our timeline. I can’t speak highly enough of their ability to execute and meet expectations.

We communicated through Slack and used Trello to manage the project. We also used the Google Drive suite to collaborate on everything from video scripts to shot lists to feedback and edits.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their professionalism and expertise in the subject matter gave us a lot of confidence. They worked well in our controlled environment in Austin, then they excelled on location. Some of the spaces they worked in had political or religious significance, and they found seamless ways to navigate them all.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We were one of the first companies they worked with in the education space. We learned a lot together during the ideation phase, but it would be great if they added more educational specialists to speed up those initial stages.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust them. They know a lot about the VR space and its specific rules and cinematographic practices. They made great suggestions for specific shots or framing, so be sure to take advantage of their expertise. They have solid rationale and justification for everything they do, and they created exceptional, high-quality pieces for us.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the digital strategist at Sherry Matthews Group.

What challenge were you trying to address with Chocolate Milk & Donuts?

One of our clients needed virtual reality (VR) development, so we hired the team for support.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The client wanted a VR experience for a campaign to increase drivers’ awareness of the parameters of where a motorcycle might be. Based on client data, we knew that the most crashes occurred in certain problematic instances like intersections or changing lanes. We went through a process to determine the three most common scenarios and gave it to Chocolate Milk & Donuts. They were tasked with creating an interactive VR experience of driving a car down the road and identifying motorcycles in those scenarios.

Chocolate Milk & Donuts produced a 3D asset with live video. In the transportation space, everything needs to be done exactly right. Aspects like lines on the road will be scrutinized if you try to redraw or rebuild them in an artificial interface like a video game interface. We took the opportunity to take footage of an actual road with lines and signs set up legally and properly, then put a 3D motorcycle into various scenarios. The gaze indicator gives users a vantage point from which to view the motorcycle in each simulated situation.

It was very much a turnkey engagement. Our lead on the project attended meetings to set up the parameters. Afterward, they came back with estimates and proposals for the client to review and decide to move forward on.  Our design team helped create the interface, but for the most part, Chocolate Milk & Donuts produced all of the gaming mechanics, 3D assets, and filming.

What is the team composition? 

We worked directly with the team lead. We didn’t interface with the coders or developers.

How did you come to work with Chocolate Milk & Donuts?

Chocolate Milk & Donuts pitched us at several points. We saw their presentation on best practices in VR and AR several years before we worked with them. As we considered different options, we bid with multiple organizations. The idea of applying a game interface to live footage was presented to us in a case study years before we accomplished it with Chocolate Milk & Donuts.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $10,000–$25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March–May 2018.

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

The client was very happy with how the deliverable turned out and with the level of engagement it generated. We were equally pleased. Chocolate Milk & Donuts completed our project in a timely manner. There were no surprises because we received exactly what we expected. If I were to do this project again, I’d do it the same way with them.

How did Chocolate Milk & Donuts perform from a project management standpoint?

The team is located in the same city where we live, so we held frequent face-to-face meetings. We mostly communicated via email and occasionally had phone calls together that included the client. Project management went very smoothly.

We had a very pleasant experience with Chocolate Milk & Donuts. They anticipated many issues and came up with preemptive solutions before they occurred. It’s nice to have a partner with that ability. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Chocolate Milk & Donuts is very responsive and solution-oriented. It was really nice to work with them. They sent us responses the same day, or even within a few hours.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We knew what we were trying to accomplish and had an established scope. Having those steps prepared worked well for us.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a VP at a marketing firm that specializes in health and safety campaigns.

For what projects/services did your company hire Chocolate Milk & Donuts, and what were your goals?

We wanted drivers to experience complicated, close-call scenarios to learn where and when to watch for pedestrians and bicyclists when behind the wheel. This is a traffic safety challenge that is hard to communicate with other communication channels -- virtual reality is very instructive for this.

How did you select Chocolate Milk & Donuts and what were the deciding factors?

I selected Chocolate Milk & Donuts based on recommendation from colleagues.

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

We collaboratively designed the game concept based on an existing project. We selected real world locations for CMD to do scouting/testing and 360 filming. We worked together on casting and props.

CMD did all the behind the scenes permitting, etc. Coding and delivery was also seamless. They've helped us with small updates post-delivery as well.

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

My main point of contact with Ricky, Founder & CEO.

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

We use the module at outreach events across the region and had participants fill out a survey afterwards - 98% of participants reported being more aware of where to look for pedestrians and bicyclists.

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

During development, we had regular check-in calls and communicated seamlessly by email and text.

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

The communication was clear, the process was straightforward, and the project was successful.

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

All good.