Creative Navy

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a startup in the automotive industry. We create a learning platform that uses conversational intelligence to interact with drivers and passengers. Our main office is in London.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative Navy?

Our platform mainly uses audio as a user interface, but we also have a visual feedback component that has to work in the dashboard of a car. We needed Creative Navy to provide a UX concept for the visual interaction so that we can demo our solution to potential partners.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked with Creative Navy to create a concept, and they consulted with and helped us produce a basic prototype for the visual UX for our platform. The visual representation they created is for the interaction between humans and the AI component of the car, so there were some UI/UX components involved.

Basically, it was an abstract representation of a human voice, some kind of a waveform, and then we had all of these interactions, like what the user says and how the system should respond to it, and then how the flow of interaction should be so that the system looks as human as possible. It had to behave like you had an assistant next to you in the car. This was the intended UX Creative Navy designed.

We shared our ideas. They turned them into visual interpretations and workflows. We then worked together to see how we could improve them and achieve a better result over several iterations. It was not a very long project, but it turned out well.

It was pretty challenging to convey a concept that enables a machine to appear human. It was kind of like a Turing test. It’s not easy to make a flow that makes the users think the machine is alive and can communicate with the user in a seamless manner. This was the main challenge.

We didn't get to the testing phase. Mostly this is still confidential work, but we have some internal testing for ours, and we also have extensive validation in the industry. Basically, we discuss this project all the time with our partners and potential customers to see where this should be heading and how it should perform.

How did you come to work with Creative Navy?

I worked with Creative Navy in the past on a different project for a different company. We’re the kind of people where if we have something that works, we won't try to change it. We had a positive previous experience with them, so we continued working with them.

​​​How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $6,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

I think we started sometime in January 2017, and our work together finished by the end of February. It was a short-term project. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This was a sort of experimental project where we just wanted a basic product. We were happy that we got there sooner than anticipated, and we got good feedback from others who were involved and from potential customers we have presented it to. The result is that it was what we wanted. It wasn’t money spent in vain. It was a relief and a great outcome.

How did Creative Navy perform from a project management standpoint?

They understood where we were and the outcomes we wanted. In this industry, it’s quite difficult to find a balance between visionary and realistic ways of working. Creative Navy did what they had to do to get the project finished, and even finished earlier than expected. At first, we were worried that it would be complicated because of the experimental nature of the work, but they were really proficient and the project progressed well. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their attitude. They are right on the spot. They also have a kind of intuition; they know what a customer needs, and they seem to provide it. You don't have to repeat yourself over and over again and explain every detail. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not really. I think everything was excellent and went better than we expected. There’s nothing to improve. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We offer a number of different medical services in clinics across the United Kingdom. Our websites offer services that range from ultrasound pregnancy scans to dentistry and now cosmetic skin solutions. I’m the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative Navy?

We have several different websites. In an overly saturated market, we needed to create a distinctive identity and a minimal user experience on them to capture all the contact details we needed.

The challenge there was capturing leads, providing enough information to raise customers’ interest and trust so that they leave their details. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created the website with functionality that integrates an appointment system, a payment gateway system, collects live online and physical data, and helps us focus in on capturing the right leads. They did everything except for the logo.

We’ve made a lot of small changes, but the smaller changes we have made have made a significant improvement. We just completed another AB test capturing pre-consult inquiries. We’ve got a 60% response rate higher than the last page. Our next objective is to create another design that beats that page.

The calendar works separately. We talk to the patient about their availability and our availability for coming in. It would have been much easier for us just to have an automated system, but for this service, it wouldn’t work. It’s such a personal service. You have to maintain and continue to build trust and the online is only part of that. The second step is actually speaking to a specialist on the telephone to fill in all the other questions that the patient has before they feel comfortable making an appointment and coming to see us.

We’ve opened two new dental clinics which is a new area for us. Here again, we create a relationship online with the patient. Creative Navy worked with us as we’ve built, set up the medical practices, brought on the clinical teams, videos, and photos, etc.

What is the team dynamic?

I’m in regular communication with 3 people.

How did you come to work with Creative Navy?

I think I’m one of their oldest clients now and I’ve worked with them for over 6–7 years. They were working on a side project for us. We had a development team working on something else and I was trying something new outside of the normal development cycle that we had created.

I wanted a new team and we found them because they had won an award. What stood out as part of the design that they created that was so focused and on point. 

How much have you invested with them?

It’s over $100,000, depending on different projects as we have different ongoing maintenance fees.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them at our client five years ago, and we still have a relationship with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In the past year, our business has grown in excess of 100%, and that’s just filed accounts. A lot of the work hasn’t fully materialized yet and will come into play between September and December this year. It’s an ongoing effort. 

Patients look to us and expect a good user experience. That’s something that we saw quite quickly when we included virtual tours with Google, photos, and videos of ourselves. The conversion rates more than doubled after the work.

Creative Navy evolved our site as we’ve developed new businesses. They’ve been very responsive and dynamic enough so that we can start with the landing page, build a microsite, evolve it into a fully functional site that’s got our own images on there for that service, and then we move on to another service.

How did Creative Navy perform from a project management standpoint?

Any new relationship is going to be challenging. We’ve had very robust discussions on why we feel the way we do about certain things and vice versa. I speak to them in the morning first thing so that there is a clear agenda for the day, then we get reports at the end of the day. They have a very open, transparent relationship with us which is why we trust them.

We communicate in person, on Skype, and through email. We also use different tools so we’re aware of what’s being done including Google Docs, Google Suite tools. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re honorable. This is one of the strongest external relationships that we have. It’s so integral to our business. Everything is online now. Our entire shift and focus is online and capturing new patients. They’ve helped educate us and it’s a strong partnership.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They like to get into the detail of something and sometimes we’re in a position where we don’t have a great deal of time. They’re in a position where they feel like they need to deliver its full potential and sometimes I have to hold them back from that. I would say this only came up 10% to 15% of the time; 85% of the time there’s been no issues. 

Sometimes, there have been challenges when it comes to resources and what we need to get completed within a certain timeframe. They want to try to keep the same people on the same project and we have to take the view that we need something in this timeframe.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a marketing solutions provider specializing in search engine optimization, telemarketing, and data entry. We have 35 employees and branches in Hannover, Germany and Bucuresti, Romania. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative Navy?

The project we were working on involved data entry and was for a large German company that sells furniture online. The market leads are not just in Germany, but also in Europe. They gave us 100’s of thousands of products on a hard copy or a PDF and we had to gather all of the relevant information in a special form. I needed it for uploading purposes. This was quite tricky because we used to work on Excel and it was easy to make mistakes. The efficiency rate was bad because each item had to be checked manually and introduced manually into an Excel sheet and form. I needed someone to design an intelligent tool where the agent/user experience would perfectly match the interface of that tool. The agency needed to not only create and design an interface for the data entry, but they also had to comprehend the project, our clients' needs, and what the problems are and how they can solve it.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Creative Navy designed a tool and created the user experience and interface for this project. They helped us understand how to design the digital tool so the process could be improved.

When we first met, my team manager, my project manager, and also the agents were involved in communicating our objective. At the beginning, Creative Navy did a lot of research. All our staff and also the agents were doing the groundwork. Creative Navy created a few modern software applications for us, which they tested and delivered to us as an experiment. Some things worked very well and others needed improvements. 

We had some ideas at the outset that they agreed to, but there were others where they recommended another approach. They explained why and let us test both our approach and theirs. The results spoke for their recommendations.

Throughout the process, they had to be meticulous and creative at the same time. They used a psychological approach, which worked very well. We were able to reduce the working time by more than half, which is fantastic because I only need half of my staff to meet the targets. The error rate was reduced even more. We had a competitor who worked in parallel with us and they are now out of service because we have this tool. It helps us with both efficiency and quality. 

The data collection tool is used internally, but we use it for a client of ours as well. Our client sells furniture online. He’s the largest furniture vendor in the German/European market. He does not produce the furniture but gets it from other companies. They send him all of their catalogs. They could be hard copy or on PDF. We need to extract the relevant data in order to upload them in his system. This is what we needed the tool for. 

How did you come to work with Creative Navy?

I did online research. I could not find anyone in my area that convinced me to work with them. I started to talk with Dennis [Creative Director & Strategic Brand Marketing] from Creative Navy. We had some good chats. He’s also fluent in German, which is a great advantage for us because this kind of project is about data collection. It’s a big benefit if you also understand what it’s about. We talked and I showed him some samples. He came up with an idea. I liked that they had a psychological approach. This was exactly what I was looking for because we needed to make the interface extremely user-friendly. It was very important for lowering the error rates and to make the processing operate more efficiently. 

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested between $20,000 and $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?           

We started working together in October 2016 until May 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality and efficiency have really improved. We were able to reduce the working time by about 50%, which is fantastic, because I only need half of my staff to meet the targets.

Creative Navy made this tool to help our agents understand the logic of the data so they would no longer make mistakes. While we occasionally still make some mistakes, we cut the error rate by more than half, which was the biggest benefit. We have a quality advantage now. There have been months where the clients tell us we have 10-30 mistakes; whereas before, it was over 100. 

We had a competitor who worked in parallel with us and they are now out of service because we have this tool. It has helped us with both efficiency and quality.

How did Creative Navy perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed very well. Their work was very well structured and very focused on achieving the goals that I had set and we had agreed upon. They work meticulously and methodically. Sometimes, I feel as if I’m working with scientists rather than with business people. I especially appreciated that they came up with their own recommendations. Sometimes they were contrary to what I had in mind, but I never had the feeling that they wanted to force my hand. They would make a recommendation and prove it with examples and testing.

We also communicated very easily with each other. I might call them late and I’d receive my answer right back or they answered the phone. They were very dedicated. I always knew where we stood on the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a psychological approach and think outside the box. They had knowledge like scientists. If they were telling me something, I knew it was not something they just figured out or they just thought about it. They based their explanations on data. They always explain what they do and why they’re doing it. They use language that spoke to the level of my understanding. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

When we were going through the process, our staff had to dedicate a lot of time to participate in the research and testing process. In the beginning, I thought this was necessary, but in the short term, my staff still had to deliver our targets. It would have been great if this burden could have been reduced somehow. We needed to prepare more information in advance, so they didn't have to ask so much from our staff. I was a bit unhappy that we did not meet some deadlines and targets. While it was more my responsibility than it was theirs, this is something I would change next time. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a large consortium of telecommunication companies and own several brands across the world, mostly in Europe. I am working for a telecom brand in Central and Eastern Europe as the head of B2B customer value propositions. My main role is to define what a value proposition is for our customers and to work on implementing that so that our sales force has something to sell.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Creative Navy?

We were trying to improve our lead management system, which is a proprietary enterprise software. It had a cumbersome interface to use, and we had trouble with our salespeople using the system in the proper way, i.e. putting in a lead, following through on it, and gaining effectiveness and efficiency in the sales process. The system we had was antiquated with a Windows 98 look and the complexity made it difficult to use. Our end goal was to increase usage.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Creative Navy helped us to design our current interface for the lead management system making it easy to use and more intuitive. First, they interviewed the sales managers, team leaders, and some of the salespeople to understand what the main concerns and problems with the system were, identifying all key pain points. For example, we had an "edit" button for a field in the top-left corner of the initial interface; that "edit" button was on the bottom-right, which was counterintuitive. Also, links are usually blue, but one wasn’t, so it wasn’t clear that it was clickable. They streamlined the system workflow and the funnel for lead management.

What is the team dynamic?

We had several meetings throughout the process. Creative Navy created mockup designs and presented them to us requesting our feedback on color schemes and patterns. Later, they presented the proposed interface to our salespeople and team leaders to get their impressions of the new design. They worked with our technology and innovation department to put together the back-office pages. Our IT department implemented the design into our actual system.

How did you come to work with Creative Navy?

We had a request for proposal process. It was important for us that Creative Navy had done significant work in interface design. We felt that they were competent and that they could guide us in this process. The price also fit, which was important.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost of the work was around $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Creative Navy in January 2017 and finished in May 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Creative Navy delivered everything we needed. We surveyed the sales force three weeks after implementation, monitoring the number of users logging in on a daily basis and time spent on the system. We measured a 30% increase in the number of leads being put in from May through August. Of the total realized sales contracts coming in, 40% of them were in the system and, over the last two months, they increased to 65%, which is very good. The survey showed mostly “satisfied” and “completely satisfied” responses.

Initially, the former system had a step-by-step process that couldn’t be bypassed and users couldn’t see the next step. Inputting information about customers was done in separate screens. Creative Navy put it all together in a nice looking interface, available at a glance as a profile. They made it easy for the salesperson to look at. We had an icon for the address with a building representation. Creative Navy came up with the idea to put suggestive icons next to the field that needed to be filled out, making it easy to lead the user from top-left to bottom-right. Creative Navy made the interface easier on the eyes using pastel tones and rounded edges. It was a night and day change for the people in sales.

Also, there are notifications that go from salespeople to team leaders for applying discounts, which sometimes require going all the way to the country director for approval. Previously, salespeople never knew when they had an approval, and always had to refresh the system and wait for it. The current system is very clear with notifications on top, ordered by priority. Along with the client details, there is info on what needs to be approved (pricing, product, etc.). If there is a new notification, it will pop up in the browser and allow them to follow through more easily.

One effect that we hadn’t anticipated is that it takes a lot less time to train salespeople on the new system. Given that they’re mostly around 24 years old, they are familiar with social media and the system is similar to that so they can understand it easier than their grandfather’s computer.

How did Creative Navy perform from a project management standpoint?

I appreciated that they were reachable and easy to communicate with. We used email, phone, and Skype for our discussions. There was constant dialogue. Whenever we had questions or ideas, we were able to get a hold of Creative Navy, have a quick conversation, and get things resolved. We also had regular project check-ins. I liked that we were partners and that Creative Navy didn’t act like a service provider.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciated the open communication that made us feel like partners. Secondly, Creative Navy acted like a coach to us. We had the feeling of being taken through a complicated thing and they were making it easy for us to understand and tag along. They are experienced and know what they were talking about, and they were able to simplify things so that we were able to understand them. Thirdly, they had creativity and openness to explore new things. They were open to doing things from the ground up, like redesigning an icon on paper. Creative Navy did things in order to best represent us as a company and make us happy with a system we’d be looking at a lot, instead of using a stock icon from some web page.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were no indiscretions from Creative Navy’s side.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Recurring Revenue Coordinator of Hyundai Motor Europe

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

European headquarter of an automotive producer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Creative Navy to accomplish?

• Update existing subscription platform (design)
• Improved customer journey (user experience)
• Enhance functionality of the platform

SOLUTION

How did you find Creative Navy?

Clutch Site

Why did you select Creative Navy over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

• Update the user experience and design of a subscription platform
• Create enhanced subscription features and interaction possibilities 
• Creation of a future-ready design system
• Removing barriers to subscribe from the user journey

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Increased number of subscribers
• High satisfaction of customers and platform owners with the updated design

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

• Everything was delivered in time and based on our needs. 
• Very reliant.
• Additional requests and personalisations were adapted as desired.

What was your primary form of communication with Creative Navy?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

• Their professionalism and project management were outstanding.
• The adaptability to requests

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

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Chief Marketing & Communications Officer of a financial services company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Crypto Finance Solutions

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Creative Navy to accomplish?

• Increase conversion of website

SOLUTION

How did you find Creative Navy?

Online Search

Why did you select Creative Navy over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Went the extra mile

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

• New UX/UI Design Concept
• Website architecture and navigation concept
• Wireframes (display the final navigation)
• Mockups (for core pages)
• Final Prototype (to be delivered in Figma) 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

They met every milestone and delivered on every request. 

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Reliably and on time. With outstanding skill in the work 

What was your primary form of communication with Creative Navy?

Virtual Meeting

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

The speed despite attention to detail. The quality of the outcome and thoroughness of the thinking procees behind despite time pressure. 

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

not really. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Engineering of Neugo

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We build inhouse SaaS and TaaS solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Creative Navy to accomplish?

• Wireframing
• UX/UI Design

SOLUTION

How did you find Creative Navy?

Referral

Why did you select Creative Navy over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Creative Navy were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Creative Navy was tasked with performing market research, setting up wireframes and UI/UX Designs, and liasing with Project Stakeholders on a weekly basis to show progress and obtain user input.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Completed UI/UX Designs covering the entire user journey.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Deliverables were met on time and within budget. They were extremely professional and complimented our internal team.

What was your primary form of communication with Creative Navy?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They led the conversations with the Project Stakeholders perfectly and ensured the deliverables were met on time, even considering some scope creep as is always the case.

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

None, my experience with Creative Navy was nothing but perfect.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the VP of a telecommunications company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

It's a telecommunications company with forays into technology

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Creative Navy to accomplish?

• Develop a new customer journey for a Technology product

SOLUTION

How did you find Creative Navy?

Referral

Why did you select Creative Navy over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Creative Navy were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We wanted to launch a new technology product which brought in significant revenue potential and was very different from our current product portfolio. We therefore had to design a completely new customer journey and user experience. This required us to understand the user/customer needs, their way of consuming the product and of purchasing it. Creative Navy helped us with all of that

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Creative navy delivered a complete set of customer journeys as well as UX/UI elements

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They always delivered on time and were highly attentive to our needs.

What was your primary form of communication with Creative Navy?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their approach is grounded in science and yet they customized it to fit our needs and get results in the desired timeline

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

Nope

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Software Engineer of an it services company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We build web and mobile apps start to end.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Creative Navy to accomplish?

• Create a professional UI/UX design.

SOLUTION

How did you find Creative Navy?

• Online Search
• Referral

Why did you select Creative Navy over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Creative Navy were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

The project involved the complete design of the user interface and user experience for our moving service software. The team delivered detailed user research, wireframes, high-fidelity prototypes, and a full design system. Key deliverables included booking and tracking flows, an intuitive dashboard for both customers and staff, and responsive designs optimized for mobile and desktop. Their work greatly improved usability and visual consistency across the platform.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The project successfully delivered the first complete version of the UI/UX design for our moving service software. This included user research, wireframes, interactive prototypes, and a comprehensive design system. The team created detailed designs for core features such as the booking flow, real-time move tracking, customer and staff dashboards, and responsive layouts for both web and mobile platforms.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They delivered everything on time and were helpful along the way with everything we needed. The communication was transparent and efficient.

What was your primary form of communication with Creative Navy?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their maturity in understanding UX/UI from a psychological point of view was impressive.

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

I haven't noticed anything in our collaboration.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

 I am the Racing Engineer of a Race Engineering Company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

race engineering for Ferrari, Maserati, Corvette

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Creative Navy to accomplish?

• improve usability of our software

SOLUTION

How did you find Creative Navy?

Referral

Why did you select Creative Navy over others?

Close to my geographic location

How many teammates from Creative Navy were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

• Usability improvement for our race engineering software. 
• Review of the layout and the user experience to create a race, calibrate simulations and analyse the data. 
• Design optimisation of the interface with a new layout, new interaction and user interface for engineers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Time it takes to create a simulation, number of clicks and general usability 
• Considerable improvement across all of these metrics, in particular the time required for calibration is 3x less.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

We worked with one project manager who was our touchpoint. She was always well prepared and gave good updates in anticipation of what they needed from us. Creative Navy was flexible and worked well with us.

What was your primary form of communication with Creative Navy?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

They were fast to understand our complex software and made brilliant usability improvements for the technical user

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

no from my perspective