Creative Navy

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the project manager at a company that makes point of sale (POS) software and systems for retail and catering companies. We eventually hope to move into the home rental market and other business opportunities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative Navy?

Our market is aggressively competitive and we needed to completely overhaul our legacy system—which was based on touch screens and clusters—to keep up. The user interface was very important to this project, and we wanted a completely new system that was more compatible with tablets and other devices.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The whole project had a very short timeline. We started with a discovery phase and had weekly sprints. Because we were very busy with work on our side, we couldn’t commit to daily meetings, but ran the software development within a scrum framework and spoke more frequently on the phone.

What is the team composition?

Our project manager and design lead was our point of contact. I proposed everything to him and he coordinated with the rest of his team.

How did you come to work with Creative Navy?

My colleagues did a lot of research to find the right UX partner with experience in the POS field. It was a very specific search, and we created a shortlist of about five companies. We initiated contact with two of them and chose them based on their experience. The entire company mindset needed to change, so it was important to pick a company that could lead us in the right direction.

How much have you invested with them?

Our budget was £45,000 (approximately $59,000 USD), but we expanded the total spend to £50,000 (approximately $66,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

They started working with us in August 2018 and completed the project in September 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Once we had the greenlight, things moved very quickly. We were pleased by how well they did in a short time frame. The whole project was very complex but the results were really satisfying. We wanted to conquer the market with new energy and are currently implementing their work for the next release.

How did Creative Navy perform from a project management standpoint?

Since the timeline was so short, they made sure that there were no major surprises or challenges. We had a regular weekly meeting, but they were flexible and willing to meet over the phone when we needed. I could interact with them whenever I needed to and we spoke two or three times each week.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The research they did of our industry left a really good impression. They knew exactly what to do, which was an essential factor of our success. Their ideas were completely different from ours, but they were willing to work within our framework. The software made sense to them and they knew the best ways to build the interface.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The stars aligned for this project and left no areas to improve. Communication was good and I’m totally satisfied with their work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open to new ideas and suggestions, but be honest if your project timeline needs to be strict. They will act exactly as you tell them to, but can be very independent as needed.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a product owner at Discovery. We’re the global business in charge of popular media outlets like Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and more. I focus on expanding our global footprint through our proprietary app for smartphones.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative Navy?

We created an MVP for our app a long time ago, but we struggled to build a following for a number of reasons—one of which being a poor UX design. Even though we had good content, we didn’t know how to present it to users outside of our classic distribution channels. So, we needed a specialist to design an experience that was accessible for all users across our broad global audience.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, Creative Navy audited our existing app, then led us through a benchmarking process where they compared our operations and performance to others in the industry. We treated this phase as a trial, determining the value we’d receive if we chose to work with them. Based on the results, we moved forward with their team.

Next, we started the discovery phase. Creative Navy conceptualized a variety of elements like user flows, user personas, and UX strategies to create some prototypes. Then we conducted usability tests to assess their submissions.

Finally, we put together a complete visual design for the app’s individual screens and a set of style guides to give our developers.

What is the team composition?

In total, we worked with about six resources from Creative Navy. We mostly interacted with their product manager, a UX specialist, and a visual design expert, but they rotated additional staff as necessary.

How did you come to work with Creative Navy?

A colleague worked with them on a previous project and recommended that we consider them. We selected a group of possible candidates and put them through a trial phase that included auditing and benchmarking. Based on those results, we chose to move forward with Creative Navy.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from May–July 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s a bit too early for actual numbers, but we’re moving along an upward trend. We only just launched the new design and update a few weeks ago, but we’re already receiving good feedback from users on the improved flow. Our ratings are increasing, which is setting us up for future success.

How did Creative Navy perform from a project management standpoint?

We didn’t speak according to a planned schedule, more on a need-by-need basis. Either side would reach out with questions, concerns, or updates, which was about twice a week on average. If we were in a more complex stage of the project, we would communicate more often. They had a very time-oriented and transparent mindset. If there were ever a problem or delay, they’d alert us immediately. Additionally, I appreciated that they actively explained all of their processes and the reasons driving them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really valued their flexibility. They’re a smaller agency relative to others in the creative space, so they’re able to offer better customer service. They also have the typical grit and desire to succeed that defines an evolving company, so they’re constantly trying to improve and go the extra mile for clients.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. We’re very satisfied with their work.

Any advice for potential customers?

I recommend clients work with Creative Navy as soon as possible. Often, businesses avoid improving their UX design until they start getting notably bad reviews, but waiting makes it more difficult. Creative Navy can do it right the first time around.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a project manager at a manufacturing company. We create efficient and safe heating solutions for personal consumers and businesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative Navy?

With the increased prevalence of digital solutions, we wanted to update the user experience of our products. Instead of an interface consisting of buttons, we wanted to develop a touch-screen interface for our appliances.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our project was separated into three specific phases. We started with a research and documentation phase where we met, discussed requirements, and created a broad understanding of the product. In our middle phase, we created design concepts. From those concepts, we built what we called prototype interactions, which simulated the interaction between the customers and our products. We tested them with users and with our team to determine their strengths and weaknesses. Step by step, we trimmed away the unnecessary components until we had a basic UX. Finally, we entered the development phase. They fine-tuned the designs and incorporated our branding.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager, a UX design specialist, and a product researcher. Toward the end of the engagement, we received support from a graphic designer, as well.

How did you come to work with Creative Navy?

Our RFP process resulted in about 10 proposals. We narrowed our choices to a group of finalists, and Creative Navy was the most impressive team.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $120,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement lasted from April–July 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After multiple rounds of controlled testing and market tests, we believe that our digital interface is intuitive for the end user. We accomplished our goals of developing something usable and technologically sound.

How did Creative Navy perform from a project management standpoint?

Our team was quite dedicated. We received regular updates, and all issues were addressed in a timely manner. We held early whiteboarding sessions and twice-weekly calls at the beginning of the engagement. As we progressed, we tapered our communication, but they were always accessible.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Entering the project, we were concerned that we would be unable to strike a balance between technical reliability and visual brilliance. Creative Navy had a good grasp on both elements. They understood the complexity of the engineering as well as the aesthetics involved. They brought a structured and reliable process to the table. We believe they were a very good match for our business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I could be nitpicky, but generally, I was very pleased. I’m quite satisfied. They delivered an impressive project.

Any advice for potential customers?

It’s important to know your objectives before starting the engagement. And once the collaboration begins, it’s important to keep track of how you meet objectives to make sure you don’t stray off the path.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the project lead at Philips, an electronics company. We have a large R&D department for both consumer electronics and the more forward-looking technology we develop for other businesses and government-sponsored research.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative Navy?

Our complex software models the performance of many different components. We needed a developer to recreate it to make it easier for our engineers to use.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Creative Navy was entirely responsible for creating the UI. First, they gathered requirements from our employees and proposed a set of priorities for the UX. After we agreed on the scope, they created the UX concepts, gathered user feedback, and shared another version. Creating all the UI elements took a couple of iterations. Upon our approval, they implemented the design and frontend code and delivered it to our backend technology team.
 
What is the team composition?

Two designers and a project manager from Creative Navy worked on our project.

How did you come to work with Creative Navy?

During our selection process, we assigned candidates a few tasks. We wanted a vendor with experience in creating software for companies, not just consumer apps. After shortlisting four companies, we liked Creative Navy’s portfolio the best.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent €110,000 (approximately $130,000 USD) on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from April–June 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We measured how much faster our employees finish specific tasks in configuring software components with Creative Navy’s new UI. Since they implemented the new design, we’ve already seen at least a 30% increase in productivity.

The amount of training we have to provide new staff members is a fraction of what our old software required. Based on how much more work our engineers can get done in the same timeframe, the new version is much improved.

How did Creative Navy perform from a project management standpoint?

In line with our requirements, Creative Navy worked fairly independently. They adopted our project management tools and integrated within our internal workflow. We didn’t have to do anything. Their accommodation was very helpful to me. 

In the beginning and towards the end of the project, we communicated a few times a week. During the middle stages, we spoke on a weekly basis.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Creative Navy is very knowledgeable and mature. You can tell they have experience working on complex, demanding projects for a long time. Having Creative Navy as a partner has made the process much more manageable.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No; I encourage them to keep up the good work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you go through all the steps of the design process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the director of UI and UX in Europe of an automotive mobility location-based services company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative Navy?

In the community where the company is based in Romania, there is a lack of educated UI and UX designers. Since our company is quickly growing, we had a need to extend the team and quickly add additional designers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They strictly take care of design. For this particular project, it was related to application design as well as related to cartography and map design. It was a standard application UI and UX design and native apps for iOS and Android. Besides that, it was also custom design for custom apps as well as cartography design, which is not something you can get from just anyone. The most important thing for us was to have a highly experienced senior designer who is also able to collaborate with development as well as lead and guide them. The project we hired him for is very technical and not a job for the average designer as you need someone with a lot of experience in a lot of different fields.

What is the team composition?

At the moment, there are 2 people working for us. We have 1 person that is a senior designer who takes care of specific special tasks in cartography, map design, and app design. The other person is a mid-level designer who takes care of app design. They said they could backfill the designer if necessary if someone went on vacation or if the designer left their company, and they could compensate that.

How did you come to work with Creative Navy?

Our general manager knew our contact at Creative Navy, which is how the process was initiated. We had considered hiring someone, but we couldn’t find someone better for that position. We decided to go with Creative Navy because we had someone we could speak to in either German, English, or Romanian. We also knew that they train and educate their designers very well. Based on their profile, we knew that they would able to support what we would be asking for.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent between $50,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our project began in March of 2016, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It is an ongoing project which is still under development, but it will have a big impact when it is functionally released. Everyone has been highly satisfied with the work and the outcome so far. As a designer, when it comes to a technical project like this, this quality of input usually isn’t delivered because you have to have a technical background.

How did Creative Navy perform from a project management standpoint?

We didn’t have a project manager. The only communication we had with the agency was about contract negotiations. Otherwise, the project management was done internally. The designers work with us as a team, and we have our own project managers. We are working with them full-time, and even though they were not working from our office, they have been very responsive without any delays and fully integrated into the team. We have been very satisfied.

What did you find most impressive about them?

In the project we are working on, they are very specialized. This was new terrain for them as well as for us. They quickly adjusted to the conditions we had and educated themselves on the matter. They were able to rapidly solve all the issues, which was outstanding.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any complaints. I am very satisfied with the collaboration. The designers have very good skillsets, and the agency gives them time to educate themselves. The collaboration and the outcome have been really good.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a COO at Kape, a leading software company. We employ utility software applications such as VPN, storage management, and driver utilities. CyberGhost, our flagship product, is ranked number one in Europe. ReImage is one of the top three utility software worldwide. Our applications are mostly native software for Windows and Mac.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative Navy?

We needed to update our apps’ UX and general UI. Some of our clients told us that the graphical user interface looked outdated. We wanted a fresh, engaging look and a very solid app. The market was very clouded, so it was difficult to stand out.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We reached out to Creative Navy to help us with the UX and graphical UI. They mainly worked on the VPN and storage optimization apps. They devised many ideas and solutions, improved the UX, and gave us a better view of the process. Sometimes we lost track of the important things, like the process and UX, but they helped us make the apps very simple. When we wanted to complicate the parts we thought were best, they redirected us to make it easier.

What is the team composition?

We had a project manager, designers, and a few people with PhDs in psychology to help with the user experience.

How did you come to work with Creative Navy?

We talked with about 20 providers, and Creative Navy made it into the top three. We chose them because they demonstrated a good fit.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about £100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from June 2017 until December 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We started with the storage management app, specifically for iOS. It went really well because users thought the app looked old and outdated. After we launched the UX and the graphical UI they designed, our growth rate more than doubled. These results encouraged us to continue working with them on the VPN software.

Those results were similar. We improved our conversion rates and user satisfaction on both apps, as measured by reviews and feedback. Users were very satisfied with the look and feel of both apps. They said it was very easy to use, simple, sleek, and quick. We were very satisfied with the results.

How did Creative Navy perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication went well, and I don’t recall any issues. The project manager was very kind and helpful during the process. He and the design team did a lot of research. We always got a document or a workshop that helped us understand their delivery process and goals. A few members had a PhD in psychology, which was really important to us. They used systemic, rational thinking to come up with great research-based ideas during the UX design process. 

My job didn’t allow me to be in all the meetings all the time. They always knew what they were doing and kept in touch with the development team. They didn’t change strategy, but they changed goals many times.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I liked their communication and deliveries best because they were always very rational and strong. They always had a reason for telling us something or recommending something. It wasn’t based on surface readings. You could always tell they’d read a lot and had the proper expertise. We wanted to work with someone masterfully specialized and experienced because this project was highly specialized.

I enjoyed the process. They impressed us by always doing their research, reading about stuff, and giving us reasons for their decisions.  They were always communicating within the team and coming up with interesting ideas.

We didn’t expect much from the UI graphics they delivered because we were very impressed with the UX. Most rational thinkers aren’t too creative, but we were very surprised by the quality of their graphic user interface. They offered many iterations and prototypes, and gave us many pros and cons for the variations. That helped us a lot with decisions. We always felt like we needed more options and variations for different screens so we could make an informed decision, and they delivered. They also made prototypes to suggest the user journey, which helped in the decision process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the IT manager at Socar Group. We’re one of the biggest an oil and gas providers in Europe.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative Navy?

We needed a POS system for our staff to use. Cashiers in gas stations enter purchases and issue receipts. We needed to create our own system because we couldn’t find one with a good user experience.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, we had the research phase. Creative Navy visited our gas stations and analyzed and researched the users. Then, they created a clickable prototype of the new system.

In the second phase, they worked on the design and user experience of our POS system. It’s the most advanced system on the market right now. We plan to improve it even more.

What is the team composition?

I worked closely with their managing partner, a UI expert, a UX expert, and a lead designer.

How did you come to work with Creative Navy?

A colleague recommended a consultant to me. The consultant connected us with Creative Navy. We were astonished to find out they were native speakers of German. They were able to communicate with our staff very well in both German and English, which worked really well for understanding the tasks and testing the prototype. They were very intelligent and understood our system quickly.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent €60,000 ($73,691 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September 2017–January 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The results were very good. The new POS system reduced our training effort by half. The staff is very happy. It takes four times less effort to complete a task. We’re very happy about these improvements.

How did Creative Navy perform from a project management standpoint?

We worked together closely. We had weekly meetings where we reviewed the progress. Sometimes, my colleagues and I steered the process. Communication was good. It was a great surprise that a U.K. company spoke German. We used Jira and had several statuses for each module. Everything was very easy.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are very intelligent and professional people. They were so meticulous and analytical. We were very happy. When we start our next project, we will ask them to help us. It’s quite difficult to work with us because there are a lot of stakeholders involved in the decision-making process. This could have been overwhelming, but they pitched everything to everyone. They did a good job with the political parts as well as the UX/UI.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We were skeptical of the discovery phase because we were sure we knew everything about the POS system, but they helped us understand a lot more. I recommend that everybody do their user research and the discovery phase before diving into the project. That was the key success of our project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the deputy director of a business based in Switzerland that trains people to become coaches. We have clients in several European countries. We offer different types of coaching services, which means we have a lot of content in very diverse formats. For example, we have training courses, coaching for teams, and planners for events and meetings. We also have a mini-shop for some of our books.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative Navy?

Since we already had a website, we wanted an app to make it easier for our customers to access our content. Our users are mostly non-technical, so the challenge was to create a simple app for mobile with all of that content.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve designed our entire application, from how it looks to how it works. Initially, they created reports about design strategy and presented wireframes. We then tested some prototypes with them, and theirs was really cool and got our attention. Until we saw the prototype, we didn’t have a good understanding of mobile apps and the user flows.

Basically, Creative Navy created the visual part of the mobile app and the strategy behind it, with our development team implementing the final design files. Users can find more about each type of training, download some of the courses, or see the next events and meetings. Because we are based in several countries, the app also needed a map, regional settings, and regional specifics.

How did you come to work with Creative Navy?

We researched a few design companies, picked out 5 agencies, and talked with 3 of them. A couple of them pitched their ideas. Finally, we awarded the contract to Creative Navy because we loved their website and our talk went well.

How much have you invested with them?

We paid $9,318 for their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from August this year until September.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The results are very good. The app will be launched soon, and we’ve had very good feedback from the first people who are using it. Not only is the design well-aligned with our brand, the app was well-built.

Creative Navy has made a few more changes to the prototype they built for us and made it look really nice. It was very easy for us because they worked hard on our project. We took their design, showed it to our community, and got their thoughts. There was a lot of excitement from the start.

How did Creative Navy perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication was very good. We didn’t need much time to explain to them what we wanted. They were very independent, and when they had questions, they were very concise. It was very pleasant to work with them. We communicated by email and then we used Zoom for video conferences. We used InVision where we could add comments directly on the prototypes. There were maybe 10 channels of communication, which was really nice. They also gave us technical reports and helped us with user testing. The reports were very technical.

We had a dedicated project manager and a product developer. We could also send an email to their creative director. The communication was very easy, and everyone on the team was accessible to talk to. We talked to the illustrator who did the icons, who was very nice. We didn’t have to go through the CEO to change the icons.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were very meticulous and focused on solutions that were for the user. They understood what we wanted, and the delivery was very fast. In a few weeks, we had everything we needed. We’re very happy with their work, and everything was pleasant and nice.

Are there any areas they could improve?

My CEO was concerned regarding the price since it was more than we had hoped for, but the result is justified. They did a lot of work. The problem was on our side. We underestimated the budget because the other company that pitched had similar prices.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a development manager at a business services company. We offer a broad range of services, including office space, mail forwarding, reception management, telephone answering, call handling, meeting room and flexible desk rental, company formation and management, and bookkeeping. We have 10–50 employees.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative Navy?

We have many customers that mostly access our services electronically. We needed help building apps to power these services, which was too big of a task for us to handle internally.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Creative Navy helped us step by step with structuring all sorts of information. They started with researching our pain points and trying to better understand what our users wanted, how they used everything, and how they took advantage of our services. They generated marketing insight for us.

They then built the framework for the web app with a redirect methodology. We worked through it section by section. They used the same process and integration for both Android and iOS. The app provided call management, meeting room rental, messaging and payment services. They helped us with the frontend and user experience and interface design.

What is the team dynamic?

I was in communication with two team members most of the time.

How did you come to work with Creative Navy?

We sent out proposals to a few agencies, but we saw that Creative Navy had a lot of expertise and had worked with many clients. They were a great fit for us. After talking to them, we found that we were on the same wavelength—we were both results-oriented and very focused on the work.  We also liked their structured approach and application of psychology to their design work.

How much have you invested with them?

Around £55,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from June 2016 until March 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They helped us come up with some indicators, and we also used a six-point Likert scale. Measuring these indicators before and after revealed positive results, and we used them to double our sales and customer satisfaction scores. The user interface and user experience received a lot of praise, and their research generated helpful marketing insights.

How did Creative Navy perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated well and kept in touch often. At the beginning, we had more conversations with them. Once they got to know our services well and understood our expectations of them, they became more independent. They sent us their completed work and we gave them feedback. We were happy with this process because we didn’t have to be so involved. We communicated mostly over the phone and sometimes via email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What I liked best about them was their expertise in research and psychology and the way they applied this to structuring everything. They helped us make sense of a lot of information that we couldn’t have processed on our own. Everything they built was based on research and knowledge. We appreciated the fact that the results-oriented perspective that motivated us to hire them continued throughout the project. The more independent project management toward the end was also a plus.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m happy with their work and wouldn’t change anything. It was a really good fit.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the managing director of Devtel Software. We are a company in Romania providing industrial applications, automation integration and configuration tools. Our team size varies between 10 and 15 people.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative Navy?

The challenge was UI/UX design for the icon style of a desktop application used for configuring industrial sensor gateways. It’s a tool we develop continuously in-house and provide to various hardware companies. We have UI/UX expertise internally, but it’s not our best set of skills. When dealing with a bigger challenge than normal, we turn to specialists who can provide better ideas, improve the know-how, and complete the challenge quicker.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We needed to fill in a complex application with many menus and icons which would suggest what different items meant. The resolution of the application and its icons was a challenge, and we had to create a design exemplifying what everything meant. There were many abstract notions to fit into 16X16-pixel images.

The collaboration with Creative Navy was mainly around helping us imagine how those icons would look, and actually executing everything. There were hundreds of them (around 300), exported at various resolutions. They designed the whole icon set, exported them, consulted with us on alternative approaches, and improved them again and again, until the end result was satisfactory.

The project itself was a big challenge—creating 300 little images, 60-70% of them representing abstract notions unrelated to the outside world. They weren’t the classic Save and Open, but rather notions specific to the industry. In the end, they were addressed at engineers who are not designers.

How did you come to work with Creative Navy?

We met at a local tech event and went through the regular “Who are you?”. We thought they were pleasant people and exchanged contacts. Creative Navy seemed professional and proficient by the way they talked and looked, so we contacted them when we had the need. It was a natural flow, one of those serendipitous situations.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost of the project was between $8,000 and $9,000. We went a bit over the initial budget, but the thresholds were acceptable, considering that it was a challenging project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Creative Navy in August 2016. The project ended in January 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The end-software was praised, and we can say that we clearly went above average. In a business environment, nobody will really say something about a product when they purchase it. Our way to measure success is by the lack of complaints. We can say this about this end-result. Overall, Creative Navy met our expectations and went a bit over.

How did Creative Navy perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed in an impeccable manner. Creative Navy managed their own work, analyzed and understood the requirements, and brought questions which perhaps we hadn’t even considered about the product or project. They can be thorough at finding grey areas and “ungreying” them, so to say. We didn’t have to micromanage them, which saved a lot of time.

We mainly communicated with just one person. There might have been a second one at times, but there wasn’t really a need. We cleared specs and received the work back. It wasn’t a highly communicative relationship, only if there were problems. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

The fact that they didn’t give us headaches. Every time people do this, we have to insist, over-insist and over-specify. The relationship with Creative Navy was natural. They blended in and felt like an extension of our company. This is rarely found and even impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Being able to offer the perfect answer for any possible thing we could ask, and have everything work 100% on the first shot, would be an improvement, but I think that this is utopic. I wouldn’t be able to name specific things they could work on. For me, Creative Navy was just great. I can’t expect people to be perfect; there are always different ways of looking at things, and, when this happens, communication usually solves issues.