Create Ape

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director of creative services at a fashion brand that sells women’s clothing in the US, Canada, and the UK. We work through a network of stylists that develop personal relationships with clients to help them with their style needs and ultimately sell clothes. We have an e-commerce website, but the majority of our sales come from our stylists. I lead the team in executing content for our marketing and branding efforts across the board. This allows me to work with both our internal team and outside agencies. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Create Ape?

We needed to perform an infrastructure review on all of our digital products. We had eight products, and our team wanted a partner with the right experience to review all of our UX designs, challenges, successes, and future needs. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Create Ape did a deep dive with our key stakeholders into the specifics of the digital products that we wanted to evaluate. They interviewed people within our business, including our stylists, to find the good, the bad, and the ugly in our processes. The team also did user testing and product analytics, adding quantitative data research to the process. Create Ape resources also conducted a survey with our stylists and consumer base. 

Moreover, Create Ape did user tests to determine hotspots or challenges in our UX designs. That way, they could provide recommendations in their final report. Then, they gave us the report; they presented us their findings and recommendations in detail, along with survey results. The team also provided recommendations for the implementation of the project. After that, we decided which findings to tackle first and started working on them. 

What is the team composition?

On average, 4–6 people were in our calls, including Create Ape's owner, project manager, strategists, and designers. 

How did you come to work with Create Ape?

We followed an RFP process with five vendors, including Create Ape. They bubbled to the top early in the process, and then we narrowed the list down to three providers. After that, Create Ape and the other vendors gave a full presentation of their expertise, showing us why they felt they were the best for the project. They walked us through their approach and gave us an estimate of the work’s cost. The teams also gave us a timeline of work and described the steps we’d follow within that timeline.

Around 10 of our internal team members participated in the vendor selection process. We went over each vendor presentation, following a matrix that listed our priorities and helped us decide which vendor would assist us best in achieving our objectives. Ultimately, we chose Create Ape. Most of our team members were highly impressed with their approach and thinking. At the same time, they were cost-effective; they weren’t significantly more expensive or cheaper than other vendors. Their timeline also seemed appropriate, so we ended up awarding them the project. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from January–June 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Create Ape hasn't created anything new for us yet, and we haven’t implemented any changes. However, the process of the UI/UX review they conducted for our digital products went well.

How did Create Ape perform from a project management standpoint?

They were amazing. The Create Ape team handled everything well from start to finish, and the team was clear about their milestones and next steps. They were also honest about their asks for every meeting and their availability to attend them. 

Overall, we knew what we could and couldn’t expect from them. On top of that, the Create Ape team stuck with the schedule they established even though our team didn’t always deliver on time. 

We didn’t use any project management tool for this engagement since it was a one-off project. Our team simply gave them the information they needed, and then they evaluated our products. To communicate, we mainly used emails. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Create Ape took a more personalized approach to understand our business and needs. They didn’t treat us like any other companies in other industries. Our business valued our one-on-one relationships with our consumers, and the Create Ape team took that same approach with us. In other words, they understood who we were as a business and adjusted their approach, ensuring they aligned well with our bigger-picture goals. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there weren’t any. Create Ape met all of our expectations for this project. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have open and honest communication to effectively set up your future working relationship with Create Ape. Try to personally understand their agency and what they bring to the table. This will help you see if they’re the right fit for your project. If you can’t be on the same page, you won’t be able to cut through the muck and get to the heart of your challenges — you won’t have a successful working relationship. Sometimes, that takes six months to figure out, so you must spend a significant amount of time when having conversations with their members.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Honey Hole Collectibles is a sports card, gaming and memorabilia shop located in Escondido CA.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with the vendor?

We needed an impactful brand for our sporting and memorabilia shop as well as a digital presence that reflected the true nature of our brand. We also really wanted to find a vendor that could understand our customer base and what the card industry is today.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Create ape was involved in the strategy, planning, and execution of the brand vision, assets, and ecommerce website.

What is the team composition? 

The company itself is a little larger than I thought, but our core team was about five people.

How did you come to work with the vendor?

Through a referral

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested over $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Ongoing

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Check out our website.

How did the vendor perform from a project management standpoint?

They were amazing! I truly appreciated Guillermo’s attention to detail as the lead project manager as well as the team's overall ability to adapt to changes in pivots during the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive thing about Create Ape is how they truly embrace the idea of partnership with their clients. They understand that when their clients are successful they will be successful as well. We plan on growing with them over the next several years and are so appreciative to have found such a good partner in the digital space.

I also would love to call out Alessandro, the founder, as he was personally involved in our project and every time we hopped on a zoom meeting you could see how much he was invested in the positive outcome of the project as well as being able to marshal the team to accomplish our goals. He even drove out to our shop to have a better understanding of the customers that came in and the quality of our merchandise.

Are there any areas they could improve?

You know, they honestly really nailed it for our company. The only thing that really slowed the process down was my inability to get Create Ape the deliverables they needed to do their job.  I am sure there are things that could be improved but I really have no complaints on my end.  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of festivalPass. We’re a subscription live events marketplace. Our customers pay a monthly subscription fee and receive credits that they can use to attend thousands of live events.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Create Ape?

We needed additional assistance to expand our UI/UX for our web and mobile applications.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve used Create Ape for multiple projects. The process usually entails having a discovery call with a few people from the team, including project managers and designers. We lay out the project, and they listen, talk through it, and come up with ideas along the way. Then, Create Ape goes away for 1–2 days and comes back with a project estimate.

If we agree with the estimate, they get to work. After a bit of research and discovery, they deliver the wireframes first. Then, we get on a call to review them and make adjustments if necessary. Once we approve the wireframes, they move towards high-fidelity designs. Those usually come with the ability to click through them so we can see the user flow.

What is the team composition?

We have 6–7 people on our team in total. Initially, we conversed with Alessandro (Founder & Creative Director). We’ve worked with a few designers and a project manager in charge of the overall strategic perspective.

How did you come to work with Create Ape?

I’m part of an organization of entrepreneurs in multiple cities across the country. One colleague in Atlanta used Create Ape in a previous project, and they recommended reaching out to Alessandro.

When I did, he wanted to understand what we were looking for and was super accommodating. We started with a small project, and once it was done, we continued with other projects.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent from $15,000–$30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them about two years ago, and our relationship is ongoing. We recently approved another project for additional functionality within our mobile app.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their work is more related to user flow and engagement than performance. However, we’ve been happy with Create Ape. They’ve evolved the overall UI in all our products, even our CRM and email designs.

How did Create Ape perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very responsive. When we want changes, we go right into the Sigma file and make comments in there. Within a couple of days, Create Ape comes back with a new version that’s fully completed with our feedback.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re accommodating and willing to understand what we’re trying to achieve. The team usually comes back with great designs and ideas we didn’t even think of. Most of the time, the work only needs minor tweaks. On the other hand, we’ve worked with designers that continuously miss the brand, so we have to give them multiple examples.

However, Create Ape almost always gets very close to what we want the first time around. They use our library of fonts and colors, so we never have to go back and tell them they’re not on brand. They’re very professional.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing substantial in the big picture. However, we’re a bit nitpicky, and we’d like to adjust the time estimates. Working with them, we’ve aligned the expectations of the workflow, but we prefer to know if it’s going to take 70 hours instead of getting an estimate of 50–100 hours.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just go into the conversation and be very specific. They’re open to listening and understanding what outcome you want. Also, having multiple people in the discovery calls has helped tremendously to formulate what we’re looking for.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing director of It’s Just Lunch, a matchmaking service designed for busy professionals, so I oversee all of our marketing initiatives. We’re an international company serving the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Create Ape?

We recently celebrated our 30th anniversary, so we decided that a new website design, branding, and improved UX would serve us well to mark the occasion.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

While our in-house developer was in charge of the development portion, Create Ape helped us with everything else for the project. At the very beginning, they researched our competitors to understand our industry and who we were competing against.

Then, they presented new branding opportunities for us, and we spent a lot of time defining the image we wanted to portray to attract potential clients and modernize our brand. They also worked very closely with our developer discussing how we would get the designs translated into code. Additionally, they helped us with UX copywriting to define the content for the site.

Create Ape basically stayed with us throughout the entire project, from prelaunch to launch and postlaunch, to make sure that everything looked good and worked as we had intended.

What is the team composition?

We worked with five individuals from Create Ape. Virginia (Product Designer) was our main point of contact and the creative person behind the project, and we also worked with Chelina (Project Manager).

Early on in the process, we worked with Andrew (UX Writer) to refresh our communication. Additionally, Ted (Director) was on most of our calls, and Alessandro (Founder & Creative Director) was also very involved.

How did you come to work with Create Ape?

We launched an RFP to find a company that could help us. Create Ape was recommended by another company that we have close ties with through our private equity firm, and they completed the RFP process.

We evaluated four companies, Create Ape being the very last one. Thanks to their experience and the examples and ideas that they showed us for how they would approach the project, they were selected to handle the design.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $37,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working in February 2021, and we launched the site in June 2021. However, they stayed with us until August 2021 as we continued pushing updates and refining the design.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Create Ape looked beyond the design and found opportunities for us to succeed further. One of their recommendations outside of their scope was to pursue a domain rollout. Before our engagement, we had about 157 local city domains, but we now exist under the single domain itsjustlunch.com.

As that was a complex part of the project, they recommended us a partner to guide us through that SEO implementation, and we’re now seeing that it came to fruition. Comparing prelaunch data from May 2021 to postlaunch data from July 2021, we saw an 80% increase in our organic searches impressions, a 63% increase in organic search clicks, a 16% increase in average search positioning, and an overall 16% increase in visit-to-lead conversions.

The new website design and domain consolidation proved that we were providing a better experience for our customers. Our site allowed customers a more streamlined way to get to our lead form, which was the ultimate goal for this project. Additionally, everybody was very comfortable with the new design’s integrity and how it was portrayed in a live environment.

How did Create Ape perform from a project management standpoint?

Create Ape was great. Chelina was very thorough at taking notes, sending out calendar invites and reminders, and following up on pending items. They also clearly understood when I told them that we couldn’t go over our budget, and they made sure to check in with me where we were in terms of hours.

They were also very organized and offered clear communication. We had weekly meetings and used Sigma to review the concepts and designs; that was our main communication channel, and through where Create Ape delivered the visual assets. Aside from that, we used email to communicate and Google Drive to share images and status updates.

Additionally, Create Ape was very patient. Some of the project areas, like the branding, took a little bit longer than expected. However, they were able to meet the deadlines and did a beautiful job keeping things moving forward.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Create Ape was a true partner. They really understood our company’s vision and where we wanted to take our brand. They also championed us throughout the project and looked for new ways to succeed outside of their scope.

Additionally, they looked for potential roadblocks and guided us in areas where they thought a challenge could present itself. Not being a developer myself, they coached me on having those conversations and understanding our end goal. Overall, they were a great partner.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Create Ape was great at planning out the UX of our website design — it was where they shined. However, it would be good if they continued improving on the branding side. We spent a lot of time ensuring that what we communicated to their designer came through the deliverables.

The branding wasn’t bad by any means; we just had to work thoroughly to get the product piece where it needed to be.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re looking to work with Create Ape, be clear about your business goals. They’re more than a UX team; they’re looking for you to be successful and meet your goals. If you’re very clear with them about your goals and you’re open to being creative, they’ll come to the table with great ideas for you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a third-party logistics company that helps e-commerce companies store and ship their goods to the end consumer or their wholesale distribution partner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Create Ape?

We needed help with web design and implementation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The initial call with them was to understand our scope and vision based on our branding experience with another company. From there, they took our branding collateral and came back to pitch us some ideas on overall layout, functionality, and UX/UI. The final deliverable was a Splash Page website that lists the services we provide.

What is the team composition?

We worked with one lead, 2–3 support folks, and their principal.

How did you come to work with Create Ape?

They were referred to a business colleague of mine that used them for her website for a larger e-commerce site. When she found out that I needed web design.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent just south of $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?          

We started working together in August 2019, and we wrapped up in October 2019. They still offer tweaks as needed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The business that was generated via inbound leads increased by 2,000%.

How did Create Ape perform from a project management standpoint?

The team performed very well. The project management team communicates in a timely and concise fashion. We had very few follow-up questions for them, which is rare. I allocated 1–2 hours per week for calls. We communicated via email and Zoom calls to review wireframes and some of the design elements.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their attention to detail and their overall demeanor stand out. They approach projects from a partnership standpoint instead of just treating them like another sale.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve by providing less solutions to issues. If they limited the options, they provided the clients, it would expedite the process in certain situations.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to make sure you have a rough understanding of your vision and what they want their site to look like. Show up with as much of a framework as possible.  

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president & founder of a cloud-based software platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Create Ape?

We wanted to leverage their expertise in the UI/UX arena.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We wanted to develop a user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing self-onboarding channel that linked our website to the actual platform. Create Ape built Figma designs to outline the new channel. Our creative team works with our front-and backend developers in order to build on the designs that Create Ape developed.

They’re also very willing to work with our marketing company. A lot of it needs to be in-tune with our marketing and branding. Create Ape gets on the phone with our marketing company to make sure that whatever we’re building reflects our overall brand statement as well.

What is the team composition?

We work with a project manager, a supervisor, and a UI/UX designer.

How did you come to work with Create Ape?

They were referred to us by our marketing company. They spoke very highly of Create Ape, so we decided to give them a try. We didn’t want two siloed companies working on something that was so important to us.  

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2021, and our work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’m very pleased with Create Ape. I’ve worked with a lot of third-party vendors and consultants. I really like how Create Ape approaches our projects. I  feel like I’m getting 3–4 creative and capable individuals to help me through the process.

The team contributes their input which generates the right output. Create Ape really comes to the table with the best possible solution for the problem. Since we’ve started that project, we’ve expanded our relationship with Create Ape. They take the time internally to discuss our needs to make sure we get the best possible outcome.

We’ve expanded our relationship with Create Ape by at least two times. We’ve chosen to go beyond the original scope of work because they’re so excellent. Working with Create Ape allows us to have immediate access to a best-in-class team, instead of hiring full time employees.

How did Create Ape perform from a project management standpoint?

We have a standing call every week but we end up communicating daily via Slack. We also arrange video calls or conferences whenever we need to.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their understanding of what we’re trying to accomplish stands out. They’re a genuine company that works to understand the pain points and overall goals. When you listen to a client, the work product is so much better. It’s not a cookie cutter formula with Create Ape.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. The team is responsive, timely, and involved. We’ve got great people from their team working with us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to give Create Ape the thought and energy that they need. Be present in the process, and things will go well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of product management at Soleo Communications. We’re primarily a performance marketing company, specifically in the pay per call area. We have a platform that hosts and connects publishers and advertisers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CreateApe?

Our platform was historically used as an internal tool for our account management team, but we saw a need to extend some portion of that interface to our own clients. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

CreateApe handled the whole design and development of a frontend user interface for the publisher side of our pay per call business to manage their relationship with us.

We started with some mock-ups of the design for the UI. They assessed our already existing internal interface, picking out the components that needed to be exposed to a publisher and wrapping it up in a different style. That aspect became the customer portal. 

From there, the team did all the frontend development work in React.js. We worked hand in hand with them, with our team doing most of the backend development. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with about five or six people. Al (Founder) was heavily involved in the design aspect, as was Tim (Lead UX/UI Designer). We also worked with Chelina (Project Manager) and two developers.

How did you come to work with CreateApe?

Our marketing team found them after searching on the internet for UX/UI design firms. They came across CreateApe, along with a few others. There was a vetting process, which CreateApe came out on top of. 

They were mostly impressed with CreateApe’s past work, as well as the fact that they were very easy to work with from a relationship standpoint. The terms of the engagement were very flexible with respect to the upfront investment on our side, which we really loved.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from February–November 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our first milestone was launching the revised product for internal account management use. Tht launch went very well. There was very good adoption, things worked very well out of the gate, and we were very prepared. 

After about a month, we launched the customer-facing portal, which also went great. We got a lot of great feedback from our clients. They love the look and feel of it, as well as how easy it is to use and how much simpler it makes their processes. Clients responded really well to the real-time dashboard that allows them to see their call campaigns, complete with some really cool visualizations. It was a big success on all counts.

How did CreateApe perform from a project management standpoint?

CreateApe performed very well. Our project manager stayed with us throughout the entire project, and as soon as we got into the core design and development phases, she kept in very close contact with me. Chelina attended every meeting and kept track of hours so we had a really good sense of where we were in terms of budget.

We did a lot of work using Slack, which was huge. The real time communication was very helpful.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have the capability to take a very complex set of functionalities and distill it down into a look and feel that anyone could use. It was very well-done digitally and very user friendly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We collectively underestimated the complexity of the project, but that wasn’t very surprising. I don’t know if there was anything CreateApe could’ve done better.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Provide guidance on the look and feel you’re going for and the concepts that are important. Let them do what they do and be the design experts. CreateApe will take the ball and run with it.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-founder of a B2B E-Commerce supplier that has approximately 60 employees and serves clients from all over the US and abroad. I oversee all the operations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire CreateApe?

Our company hired CreateApe to update our design. Our analytics gave solid guidance on the areas we need to improve upon to improve the user experience.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal for the project was to enhance the user-friendliness of the site while preserving our SEO and site load speed. All of this would ultimately lead to improved conversions.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We interviewed a few firms and CreateApe represented to us that they have advanced experience in UI/UX. The main areas that we stressed were in keeping the project on track with deliverables. CreateApe assured us they have a project manager and the discipline to keep the project on track.

We also expressed the fact that keeping the site SEO-friendly is a high priority for us. SEO-friendliness encompasses load speed. CreateApe assured us they understood and that they will create a user friendly design that keeps our SEO work in tact.

Describe the project in detail.

After a few meetings, CreateApe came back to us with a few designs proposals which we provided our feedback on. We held regular status meetings in which we likewise provided our feedback.

We kept meeting and raising certain issues until finally the project was ready to launch. We also held regular meetings from time to time with their freelance front end developer and their offshore project manager.

Once the final milestone payment is made, they would launch the redesign to our staging site and from there we were to deploy to our production site. Instructional videos were also to be provided on certain matters.

What was the team composition?

We have the founder -- Alessandro F. who was involved in every call, Chelina -- a project manager, Leon D., a freelance front end developer and towards the end we had their "CTO" looped in to discuss development issues.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Its too early too tell if any results was attributable to the redesign. But we noticed that :

1. URLS of pages and posts morphed into structures that weren't SEO friendly.

2. We discovered that certain plugins were installed which lacked necessary licenses and we don't have a schedule of those plugins to see which ones we should buy a license for. We're discovering them as we go along.

3. Load speeds are impacted although we were assured that once we launched live, load speeds would be fast. That was obviously a lie.

4. Image containers for future posts also were not properly configured. We contacted CreateApe and were very patient in awaiting a response to no avail.

Once they get your final payment, they hightail it out of there like a con man that has just swindled everyone in town. We were even supposed to get an instructional video on using their backend. That never happened.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was not particularly effective. Normally on a project the project manager liaises with everyone. Here, Al F. participated on every call and Leon Dore, the freelance front end developer participated as well.

I don't recall that kind of structure used in previous projects as the project manager typically is able to handle all aspects while the rest of the team continues its work. We held regular meetings and had numerous follow-ups regarding the same issues over and over again.

Somewhere in the middle of the project, it became apparent that CreateApe really doesn't know how to run a project properly. They don't have a qualified project manager. In fact, their "project manager" has no previous project management experience.

While her background is in IT, she has not worked in that industry after completing her IT education. Her past work primarily includes "Virtual Assistant" and that is precisely what she was. A virtual assistant is NOT a project manager.

If the entire team needs to be on just about every call, its not project management; its distrust that the virtual assistant cannot really handle the project and that is exactly what happened.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was completely impressed with how Al F. was able to relieve me of my money. He has that down to an art! First of all, he comes off as very easy going and gives the impression that he's knowledgeable and experienced with a solid team and can stay on track to deliver.

Shortly after getting the first payment, he gives barely any input at all. He has learned to deflect and try to convince you that he can do no wrong and you were wrong in your communication, instruction, etc.

Are there any areas for improvement?

His design knowledge is behind the curve and at a 4th year level despite boasting 15 years of experience. I say 4th year because someone with 15 years of experience would not waste so much time coming up with a header.

The project management with this company is non-existent. Let's face it: its not a company. Its one person with a "fake it 'til you make it" swagger that gets a VA out of the Philippines and makes her a "project manager", then he gets a freelance front end developer cheap out of the Dominican Republic to handle with the development end.

If there's a problem, he gets his buddy involved and calls him the "CTO" THERE IS NO PROJECT MANAGEMENT WITH THIS COMPANY. This is worth repeating. If you sign up, do not expect any meaningful project management to occur as a one month delay will not faze the 'designer'

While we were patient with constant reminders of loose ends and other deficiencies with their project, their true colors began to show when they failed to adhere to best practices in deploying the design to our staging environment.

First off, they failed to do an audit to see what is necessary to efficiently deploy. The canned response I can expect from the owner is something along the lines of "I'm sorry you feel this way." They never examined transfer limits, resources necessary to deploy and did a transfer via FTP instead of SSH.

Something that was supposed to be deployed to our staging environment in the morning did not fully transfer until late in the evening. Done properly, it likely would have taken 30-45 minutes.

While the owner had no response to address this issue, he offered me his "personal" cell number which is easily ascertainable by doing a routine Google search. This leads me to believe it was disingenuous, just a google voice number similar to the way his Pacific Palisades address is none other than a UPS Store mailbox and it was none other than a tactic to calm us down during this grossly inefficient process.

Next, you would think that we're in the clear once the design is deployed to the staging environment because now all we need to do is deploy live. One problem: we're not a start-up WIX site. We're an established site with over 1000 user records, active blog posts, etc. In order for us to properly deploy, we would need their documentation to see what parts specifically need to be handled.

Upon requesting documentation, Al F. tried to convince us that documenting development changes is not routine -- I don't understand that. If we have a project, there's documentation involved. How does an entire project go totally undocumented?

In a scrum system (which they don't use), a ticket is created for each and every facet of the project and there's a log for everything. We were happy to pore over the documentation to see how to precisely deploy the changes without adversely affecting our clients. The documentation doesn't exist which leads me to conclude that... PROJECT MANAGEMENT IS NON-EXISTENT.

I brought that up with Mr. F. who was sorry I felt this way; quite condescending to convert my honest conclusion based on existing evidence was suddenly written off as an emotional reaction. Very well, that's his tactic.

After raising the issue, Al F. scheduled a last minute meeting with our team and his "CTO" who was never mentioned on his website and its the first I'm hearing that he has a CTO -- Fake it 'til you make it. OK.... On the call they apparently tried to convince us that Google Cloud is a custom server and usually we just overwrite everything. Problem is if you overwrite everything, you risk losing valuable user records. Data loss in general is practically guaranteed.

After toiling away, we internally came up with a solution and hopefully everything went through alright. So, what did we learn from the call? Overwrite everything and Google Cloud is some mysterious custom server that is something we need to handle internally. After we deployed, we also realized that not only was project management non-existent but... QA IS NON-EXISTENT

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing project manager at a healthcare tech business. We create virtual simulations for three major verticals: healthcare, PK-12, and higher education.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CreateApe?

We originally brought them on because we wanted to create a demo page for our users. The original demo experience was to fill out an email, but there was no dedicated page for it.

We wanted to create a brand new page for our website that users could click on to learn more about our organization. The end goal was to make sure that when the user got to our homepage, there would be a “take demo” button.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They did frontend work in HTML, and they also did backend work. They originally gave us low-fidelity mockups after we spoke to them. Once we got approval from the higher-up team, CreateApe provided us with high-fidelity mockups and then we moved to the coding phase.

CreateApe created a video play in the background of the demo page. They also created a personalized one-on-one call to action (CTA). We provided the API and what they needed to incorporate Drift, a marketing communications tool, onto the page, and they put that onto the CTA.

When a user clicks on “schedule a personal one-on-one,” a frame pops up, and the page that we created in Drift shows up in the middle of the screen. The interactive demo goes to another page that CreateApe made. 

Additionally, they created a template for the section on how we work within our verticals, along with a slider of videos and an FAQ section. Now we’re working with them to update our blog. They provided us with high-fidelity mockups, and we’ve provided our feedback.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact is Chelina (Project Manager), but Al (Founder), who I initially spoke with, jumps in when needed.

How did you come to work with CreateApe?

My boss found them before I joined the organization. 

How much have you invested with them?

Up until now, we’ve spent about $52,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in July 2019, and the demo page launched in January 2020. After that launched, we did minor tweaks and changes. We’re now working on a bigger project, which is our blog. Everything is ready to go for that project; we’re just waiting on our new retainer to be signed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

When we share the demo landing page, people are very happy with it. We’ve received feedback that the page is much more dynamic than what we’re used to. We know that people are visiting the page, but we also recognize that we aren’t marketing the website.

We use Google Analytics, and we also use HotJar to see how users are interacting with the page. We can see them interacting with the CTAs and clicking on the videos. We’ve been very happy with the page because it’s a much better demo experience than what we were delivering before.

How did CreateApe perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management has been on point. We had our initial zoom calls with Al, and he gave us a high-level view of what he believed was the best route. He always gives us suggestions based on his experience with UI/UX. 

I communicate with Chelina via email about meetings and smaller updates or tweaks. We also use Asana, which is where we put larger changes with screenshots. She then comments back and tells us what she’s working on. The team usually responds within a couple of hours.

They communicate openly, and I’ve had nothing but a pleasant experience in regards to getting in contact with both Al and Chelina about the status of the project. CreateApe has never made us feel like we’ve been left in the dark.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The most impressive thing about working with them is seeing everything coming to fruition, especially since this was my first large project.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I have no suggestions. We’re very happy with the services that CreateApe has provided so far. We’re very confident in the work they can do. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You should know what you want and what stakeholders are expecting, but don’t feel like you need to have all of the answers, especially in the early rounds. You can provide a vision, and their expertise will guide you along. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing at Mathews Real Estate, a full-service commercial real estate company. We help our clients buy and sell commercial real estate assets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CreateApe?

We hired them for some quick website maintenance and redesign.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team has done website development and design work for us on our existing WordPress website. Now, they’re our full-service vendor for websites. They assist with downtime issues and design changes.

We were having a lot of downtime issues on our website at the beginning of this year, and CreateApe worked on troubleshooting.

What is the team composition?

Alessandro (Founder) is heavily involved, and we’ve also worked with developers and project managers.

How did you come to work with CreateApe?

We found them on Clutch or a website just like it.  

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent over $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in November 2018, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since they fixed the website, we haven’t had any downtime issues. We get feedback from our sales agent and clients on the small changes that CreateApe is making to our website.

How CreateApe perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is great. They are incredibly communicative and are very transparent. The team also lets us know when any issues arise or when something is harder than it seems. We’re aligned when it comes to any issues. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their knowledge and expertise distinguish them. They are willing to provide suggestions and make sure that we get the best service and product. They’re great on the UX side. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I have no suggestions. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be in constant communication. Also, realize that you’re hiring them to do a job, and they are the experts in their field, so take their advice and suggestions.