Daito Design

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the VP of digital experience for a nonprofit financial institution.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Daito Design?

We needed to rethink the way we engaged with prospects and members, specifically in terms of acquiring products through our digital channel.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started the engagement by establishing and documenting the statement of work. After that, Daito Design went into the branch to conduct a contextual analysis. They did a great job of gathering information and identifying how the app we were using or providing to our branch associates needed to change. 

The feedback that we got from the branch was also great — we set up a mechanism where we could interview members, and the Daito Design team did a great job of representing our brand to the members of the organization.

The platform’s user flow had many different branches and a lot of different business logic behind it. Daito Design was tasked with optimizing the ability of an end user to apply for a product through our website. We ended up with a massive number of screen flows that the Daito Design team created and pulled together. 

Additionally, we had the challenge of taking the flow, which was fragmented and on multiple screens, and building it out into as few steps as possible. Daito Design took some of our original concepts, refined them, and tested them with actual members and users, helping us create the overall experience.

Aside from that, Daito Design also streamlined the way users selected products by designing and testing multiple variations of how people select multiple products and go through the various steps in order to acquire those products.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a lead designer, a senior UX researcher, a project manager, and a part-time overall strategist from Daito Design.

How did you come to work with Daito Design?

We found Daito Design through a referral from a previous employer that had worked with them in the past. We submitted a request for proposal to three firms, and Daito Design won the requisition through the strength of their proposal. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $750,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from April  2021–October 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our sales are up 50%. With financial services, we need to get people at the top of the funnel in order to sell products, and nothing that I did in my work was driving top-of-funnel awareness or engagement. Thanks to Daito Design, we saw a 15% increase in our application completions.

How did Daito Design perform from a project management standpoint?

Daito Design performed well in terms of project management. They hit all the deadlines, and we managed to stay within the budget. We had regular stand-up and leadership meetings throughout the engagement.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Daito Design understood the space well, and they had really good, talented people that had a great rapport with us and were able to engage in a way that reduced rework and ambiguity sometimes associated with creative endeavors.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we have no complaints.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that you get the statement of work right up front and set proper expectations about what it is that you're trying to accomplish.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief commercial officer for a software company that specializes in data visualization in oil and gas. 

We build BI platforms and BI tools mainly in JavaScript. They’re designed for the web. The tools are used in various applications in oil and gas so all the companies can provide a BI tool. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Daito Design?

We were launching a new product and platform back in 2016. We wanted to redesign our website and the customer experience. We also needed help with UX design activities like redesigning the user experience of our software.  

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Daito Design helped us revamp our digital experience. They conducted interviews with the current user base, and did an evaluation of the application and the customer experience through the website. 

They came up with design recommendations, mockups, visuals, and new designs and optimized user flows. From there, they supported implementation of the coding technology itself. They helped in validating the usability of what was implemented. 

What is the team composition?

There were about five people involved. One was the VP of operations. There were a couple of designers, and one user researcher. There was also a VP of user research.

How did you come to work with Daito Design?

I knew their experience from previous jobs I had to work on. I did a tender and got about five responses and one was from them.

How much have you invested with them?

The first phase was about $300,000. The other work was about $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2017. The work is ongoing. It’s done in several phases. They’re involved with our customers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality is extremely good. Some KPIs were traffic to the website and user experience or user adoption feedback.

How did Daito Design perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate through project governance and regular project status meetings. We would review the activities and the different tracks we had because we have multiple activities within the project we needed to do. 

From there, we were able to follow up. Either we’d be on time or maybe some activities would take a little bit more time. We use Uber Conference and Google Hangouts. We use a whiteboard tool. We also use a lot of Slack channels to communicate on a daily basis.

What did you find most impressive about them?

My favorite part is their scientific approach to the user research and design. Daito Design is able to measure the experience before design and measure it after to be able to quantify the change in terms of efficiency or experience. The data driven design was very important to me. It’s something I enjoyed because we could make a decision based on data and not feelings. 

I also really liked the experience they have in the domain of how you build an application in oil and gas and business intelligence. It’s very unique software to design in terms of UI /UX. It’s really heavy industry type of dashboard where you need to be able to present something pretty complex in a simple, usable way. 

They have expertise and understanding in web application design and how it should translate into a mobile experience. That expertise around the UX was critical for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We encountered some delays but nothing out of the ordinary. It’s a normal issue I’d have with any company I worked with. There could be a little more communication to continue to improve it. It was a pretty successful project.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you want very scientific, data-driven design, work with Daito Design. If you have an application that deals with the enterprise user, industry oil field worker, utilities, etc., where you need a certain expertise to design the system, I highly recommend them. 

I advise you to really follow the methodology because I’ve seen a lot of people skip the user research go straight to the design without having an informed decision. They end up having issues with things not working and hindering the adoption. Follow their methodology because they have a good way to remove that risk. I’ve done many projects with them to know that it works

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former VP of client services at a custom design and development agency. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Daito Design?

We were looking for an agency that could support us with user research and UX design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Daito Design worked with us across two projects that were similar in scope, both around UX design. 

In general, their strategy involved looking at past website analytics to identify how users interacted with the site. The team would then craft a comprehensive research plan and conduct interviews with stakeholders to generate insights. Finally, they would create the design before validating it with users again. 

The larger engagement was on behalf of an insurance client who wanted to better understand and diversify their customers. They served businesses of all sizes as well as employees for worker compensation insurance. Daito Design conducted the user research to better understand all of the customer groups and come up with a new architecture framework to design their public-facing website.

The second project focused on user research in the mortgage area. It was the same process — the client was looking to understand their customers’ needs and pain points to develop an improved UI design for their mobile-based platform.

What is the team composition? 

I worked with two main contacts for both projects.

How did you come to work with Daito Design?

It was through a personal referral. Austin is a relatively close-knit network, so I had some connections to them from my previous work.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost was in the $100,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

The two projects took place between October 2018–November 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

One of the keys to their success was their ability to engage our clients and get them to buy into their new ideas. The insurance company was an older company that was set in their ways but still wanted to go through a digital transformation. Daito Design was able to educate, collaborate, and convince this legacy team to go through a massive change. 

With the complete re-architecture of the site, we saw resounding feedback from all parties. The new UX was much easier to use because there was more clarity around how to navigate the site. It was a way of building customer satisfaction and trust. If a user trusts the company, then they’re more likely to become a customer. All of that positive feedback spoke to the positive impact of Daito Design’s work.

How did Daito Design perform from a project management standpoint?

The team had strong project management. They always delivered on our expectations, set and kept up with an impressive schedule, and conducted a lot of user research. I was impressed by their ability to track all of those details.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve been doing this work for a long time, and Daito Design was one of the best teams I’d ever worked with. The care and rigor that they put into crafting user personas really stood out to me. Not only did they make sure that the assets were based on data analytics, but they also tied the personas to specific functionalities.

It was an incredibly useful quantitative and qualitative approach that gave us critical insights. Those personas in particular helped guide our client through the digital transformation. The team printed them on huge sheets to put on the wall, and the client used them on a daily basis.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything. They have a dozen years of experience.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Daito Design is in high demand. If you want to engage them, give them as much time in advance to plan ahead. The more brain space they can dedicate to the project, the better the results will be.