Darwin

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Sr. Manager, Web Marketing of AlertMedia

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We help companies protect their people during emergencies with fast, reliable communication and threat intelligence.

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Darwin to accomplish?

• Ongoing website maintenance
• Data and conversion tracking

How did you find Darwin?

Referral

Why did you select Darwin over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

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

We work with Darwin on a monthly retainer to help with ongoing website maintenance and updates, to support cross-tool integrations and tracking in platforms like Marketo, VWO, Optinmonster, and Navattic, and to set up and support data tracking in tools like GA4.

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

• Project deadlines met
• High quality of work

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

The team has great project management skills- I work directly with two PMs who are extremely responsive. The team turns around high-quality work quickly and ahead of schedule. Response times are often under an hour. We meet weekly to review priorities and budget. They're willing to work within whatever project management tools you prefer.

What was your primary form of communication with Darwin?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email
• Messaging App

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

Working with Darwin has made my life as a site manager so much easier. They have a solution for any complex problem we present them with, their work is high-quality and rarely has bugs when I QA, they turn projects around quickly, they anticipate issues that may result from requests we make, and they’re proactive in identifying problems with our site.

One unique aspect that makes working with Darwin so seamless is that they have a great understanding of our ecosystem of marketing tools and how to work within all of them. I love that they go directly to the support team for our 3rd party tools when possible instead of needing me to act as a middleman. They truly act as an extension of our team. The team is friendly and fun to work with and the project managers are extremely responsive and organized. I can’t recommend Darwin enough.

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

I have no notes on improvement at this time. They've been great.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder and CEO of an online virtual dating company that brings daters a new and exciting way to discover each other through the curation of virtual events/experiences made possible by the partnerships we create and cultivate with third party vendors.

For what projects/services did your company hire Darwin, and what were your goals?

We engaged Darwin to develop a unique marketing website that would provide potential users (both daters and vendors) an experience that would enticed both to sign up for our services.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We interviewed multiple website developers and shortlisted the potential candidates to a few. Darwin proved that they were the partners we needed to produce the product we were looking for. They showed a mutual interest and desire to collaborate to produce an award winning website. Throughout our diligence process they showed an understanding of our vision and were able to communicate back suggestions that enhanced the experience for the visitor.

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

The scope of the work involved design and development phases that began with a discovery phase in which we discussed the brand, the vision, the user personas, and the overall experience. Darwin iterated on design proposals based on our feedback and held multiple live sessions to discuss changes. Once designs were finalized, development ensued and once complete we were able to participate in user acceptance testing. Throughout the testing we were able to propose changes and alternatives to which the Darwin team was more than accommodating, even suggesting other solutions given certain technical limitations.

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

We primarily worked with the COO who managed the project and the rest of the Darwin team to bring our vision to fruition.

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

It's said that all is well that ends well, and while that remains true, Darwin provided a pleasant and collaborative experience throughout making the process that much easier and enjoyable.

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

Throughout the process we had a number of live feedback sessions with the COO who communicated our feedback to the design and development teams.

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

From the very beginning, Darwin impressed us with their ability to translate our thoughts and vision into reality. Their shared vision made subsequent designs that much easier to iterate off of.

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

We went with our intuition in selecting Darwin for the project and they delivered...we would and will seek them out for future work.

Please describe your company and your position there.

MES, Inc. is a full-service provider of global manufacturing and supply chain management services. The scope of our business is, literally, worldwide. We help our customers find the right overseas manufacturing sources for their products, working with highly qualified, ISO-certified suppliers from India, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Mexico. I handle our marketing strategies, planning, and execution.

For what projects/services did your company hire Darwin?

We hired Darwin to redesign one of our regional offices in Europe, which hasn't been updated in over 8 years. It needed a creative enhancement, improve UI/UX, content, SEO, etc.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We interviewed several web design companies, but Darwin proved to meet our wants and needs. A very talented, and personable team that gave us an outstanding product.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Darwin first sat us down to go through the discovery phase. they learned about business, competition, needs, expectations, etc. After the discovery phase, they came back with storyboards to ensure alignment. After aligning on the layout, they went to work and provided a very good finished product!!

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

We worked with several teams, including design, developers, sales, and marketing.

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

Darwin was extremely detailed with their work, which made it easy for us to follow along and keep track of changes. They were quick with their changes, timely with their responses, provided great insights on how to continue to enhance our overall look and feel.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our project manager was extremely timely with his responses and very easy to work with. He made the entire process smooth and seamless.

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

I liked their experience with design, and backend web development. They took several of our ideas and came up with a fantastic solution that was extremely well received. We didn't micromanage the process, their team was all over the details and execution.

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

The quality of their work was outstanding, and we were extremely impressed with their outputs. I would recommend them to anyone looking for a total site redesign.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I manage Business Development efforts and assist marketing in their objectives.

For what projects/services did your company hire Darwin, and what were your goals?

Our website was extremely basic and was built when we were first founded only 4 years ago. Storie and Severson has grown tremendously and we needed an updated website that was customized to how we wanted to be portrayed, differentiating ourselves from others while presenting the information our clients and potential clients think is important.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

They have been very helpful throughout the entire project, giving guidance and being open to our input the entire way. There was a lot of back and forth since general contractors online story telling is unique.

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

We had many many meetings due to all of the redesign. The website was being built from the ground up and needed a ton of attention to content development which we needed to provide on our side.

Being the first website I've worked on, there was definitely a learning curve on key deliverables and what were the next steps in the website development.

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

We had a Senior Accounts Director and COO for the initial kick off meetings and ultimately communicating with only the COO.

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

No measurable outcomes yet, however I am very excited about how our website looks and the unique features the Darwin team were able to implement. Our website will stand out from the pack.

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

The Darwin team ran the show, setting meetings and deliverables with me. It was very nice to have direct and continuous interaction with an executive who was attentive.

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

Darwin was able to take on a project they were not familiar with and deliver a website that looks great. HUGE upgrade from our previous website.

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

I think there was some miscommunication or expectations in some parts of the website development. The modules were not created based on what I requested which led to confusion on my end.

Please describe your company and your position there.

We're an employee benefits technology and consulting company on a mission to provide everyone with access to better benefits. Our company's apps, marketplace, and services are designed to help employees discover, buy and use the benefits they need in order to live a healthier life. As a freelance graphic designer working for the company, I bring the brand to life across teams and mediums, designing their marketing & sales materials.

For what projects/services did your company hire Darwin, and what were your goals?

The company was at a point in time of having new strategic messaging and benefits solutions, and was looking to redesign & develop a new website for their refreshed brand. Given the size of the company at the time, the goal was to bring the website onto an easy-to-use platform, while still having custom features on the site. Darwin was hired for front & back end development for the site, as well as charged with providing the Bennie team with an easy-to-use back end experience for updates going forward.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

I had worked with Darwin previously, and have always been pleased with the partnership, work ethic and outcomes from the team. For initial contact with Darwin, we had found them online and vetted the team against goals for a web development project. The team came back with options aligned to the goal of the project, and a well-laid out plan for each.

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

For the initial website development, we sat down with Darwin to outline the goal & scope of the site by hopping on a general kickoff call. Our goal was to develop the new website on Squarespace given the ease of use, however we also wanted custom functionality/features outside of the standard templates. After outlining the overall objectives and scope, Darwin was able to provide an estimate to our team with a timeline & plan for development completion.

Once agreed upon, we provided the team with designs and direction, and Darwin's team was able to take those and build the entire site on Squarespace for us in Dev Mode, with the custom functionality we were looking for. We are able to update the website easily from our end, but also have the benefit of custom features. We continue to use Darwin on an ongoing basis for development needs! The team is amazing with helping build out any custom features/functionality/integrations within the site- we are constantly linking Hubspot forms, and updating widgets that link to other platforms used by Bennie (ie Workable).

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

We communicate primarily with the Account Director, however we also have emailed and been on calls with the COO and lead engineers on the team- also very accessible!

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

Darwin helped us elevate our overall brand presence! They were able to bring our company's mission and strategic offerings to life for us, and we've had clients and prospects alike tell us how easy it is to understand what we do based on visiting our site.

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

Darwin has a well-thought out system for project management and communication. With our Account Director as the main point of contact, we have direct access to the Darwin team. Our Account Director is always incredibly responsive, and ensures we get updates about the project weekly / as needed. With his knowledge, he's able to translate any of our requests to his team, and communicates effectively between the two. Specifically for the website development we've used, Darwin provides us with a UAT tracker that makes it really easy to provide & log any feedback, as well as check the status of updates.

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

So very responsive! We can always count on Darwin to guide us in the right direction if/when we ever have a complicated set of requirements for web development. Given we use them on an ongoing basis, the team is always incredibly responsive and works within any parameter we throw at them. We're grateful to have a partner who feels like an extension of our team.

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

On a rare occasion I found that on the first build of a new webpage, a design element didn't match the sizing from the art files 1:1. Once logged in the UAT doc it was fixed ASAP by the team!

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the communications manager for Initiative 20x20, a Latin American initiative that works on land restoration based at research organization World Resources Institute.

For what projects/services did your company hire Darwin, and what were your goals?

Darwin designed our website, initiative20x20.org, and provides continued maintenance and changes to keep up with our dynamic partnership. Our goal was to provide a multilingual landing page where our stakeholders could come to learn more about land restoration research and progress in Latin America.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We were looking for an organization that had experience working with NGOs, was efficient, and could accommodate rather unorthodox requests and features.

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

Darwin created the website, using Drupal for the CMS. They worked closely with our team to make sure that the website design reflected the needs of our audience. After it launched, Darwin and our team work closely on changes to the website, most recently adding a Spanish version of the website in advance of our important annual meeting.

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

Several people, from a customer support manager to SEO consultants and back end developers. All were excellent.

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

Since launch, our website has become the go-to resources on land restoration in Latin America. Our 120 partners and 18 member countries consistently point to the website as a key tool for knowledge sharing and communications about progress for the Initiative.

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

Our project manager is personable, effective, efficient, and flexible. Working with him is consistently one of the best experiences of working on this initiative. They are extremely timely and communicate regularly. They are proactive and constantly look for feedback from our team.

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

They are flexible and willing to work closely on technical topics. They give great suggestions, and they understand the special challenges that working at an NGO presents.

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

No, working with Darwin is likely my most satisfying partner relationship.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a designer at Namely, an HR SaaS company.

For what projects/services did your company hire Darwin, and what were your goals?

We hired Darwin to develop and maintain our marketing website, namely.com, as we didn't have internal resources for this work. Over the years, Darwin has been willing and happy to assist us with various tasks related to web development, SEO, and overall optimization of our website.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

I wasn't at Namely when we selected Darwin, but my understanding was that we were looking for an external development service that would handle the building of our website on the front and back end. Darwin seemed like the best option for us because they came with everything, an account manager, a team of front end developers, a team of back end developers, and an overall expertise in optimal web development.

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

Darwin was involved in projects from the very beginning. We were able to lean on them to tell us if there were design limitations and met with them weekly to discuss tasks and goals. We used 2 different CMSs, Hubspot and Contentful, and Darwin was able to build out pages on both and frequently troubleshooted any issues that arose.

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

I worked closely with an account manager who I met with on a weekly basis and occasionally, the CTO joined our calls if there were more technical constraints to be discussed.

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

The design updates that Darwin helped us to build and execute on for our website resulted in a 20% increase in traffic. Darwin also built several new landing page templates for us that allowed to more easily build and customize new landing pages for our various product verticals.

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

We had weekly meetings with our account manager and used a Trello board to stay organized with ongoing tasks and projects. Darwin always met any deadlines we had, even if it was a tight turnaround. They did a great job of being accommodating and did their best to always support our team.

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

I was most impressed by Darwin's commitment to meeting our needs. Our account manager was always available to discuss any urgent requests and frequently brought bugs and site issues to our attention. I don't think we ever had a request or project that Darwin said no to or pushed back on in any way. They did everything in their power to meet our deadlines and offered alternatives when they believed there was a a better way to handle a given task.

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

There were times where we found minor bugs on the site, but Darwin was quick to address them. We never faced any large issues that were caused by engineering issues on the Darwin side.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a sales planning manager at an auto retailer. I oversee all of the sales production and planning activities.

What challenge were you trying to address with Darwin?

The opportunity involved data management and business analytics. We needed a vendor that could support the business in a role that combined IT and business analytics. We wanted a partner that could dive into business analytics and turn around solutions to problems on a technical level.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have two teammates from Darwin who work with us on-site on a full-time basis. They sit with us as part of the team, supporting us with all the technical issues. Their team’s with us day-to-day, so we don’t have to describe our ideas technically. We just describe the direction using normal business terms. They fill in the rest for what needs to happen on a technical level.

We tell Darwin when there’s an issue, and then their team handles it. When we have ideas for how to forecast or improve results from our IT databases, we turn to them. We also ask them to implement enhancements such as additional data fields.

What is the team composition?

We work with two people from their team and communicate with the company’s president.

How did you come to work with Darwin?

I was introduced to Darwin through my predecessor. He left the company, and I took on his role. During the transition, he introduced me to Darwin. I picked up the relationship from there.

How much have you invested with them?

Since we started working together, we’ve spent probably $1.5 million on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

I started working with Darwin around July 2016, and we’re still working together.

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

They help us solve data challenges. Before engaging them, projects took years to complete. We now turn to Darwin, and they finish complex projects in a matter of months. If we need a quick deliverable or have an idea, they’re able to solve a lot of the pain points. Darwin’s our go-to team.

We rely on them. On the business side, we had highly technical people on the team that held the keys to certain processes, making them irreplaceable. When people moved to other opportunities, they left big holes in the business. Darwin has stepped into those roles, either remaking the processes or figuring out how to manage them.

How did Darwin perform from a project management standpoint?

We have weekly calls with their team. For day-to-day communication, we use either Skype or Microsoft Teams. Otherwise, we use email. The president of Darwin contributes and generates a lot of ideas for improvements.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I used to work with a different provider, and it was an absolutely horrible experience. Their team was robotic, and I had to ask for extremely specific deliverables. Most of the time, they sent deliverables that didn’t work. Their team only saw the project from a technical perspective. Darwin’s different. They understand the ultimate results for the business and checks them on their worn. By the time I receive a deliverable from them, it’s absolutely accurate.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Darwin does great work for us. To take them to the next level, their team could be more proactive. For example, they could introduce us to innovative tools and technologies. I gave their president that feedback too.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re looking for a vendor to solve your technical or analytical needs, Darwin’s the best vendor for it. They put in the effort to understand the business and then figure out the technical pieces.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the communications lead for a program within the World Resources Institute's Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, a global nonprofit.

For what projects/services did your company hire Darwin, and what were your goals?

We worked with Darwin to redesign our branded website and to develop a digital data mapping tool.

How did you select Darwin and what were the deciding factors?

We had previously worked with Darwin to develop the initial website, so they were best suited to assist in further development and design.

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

We had several meetings to discuss the website redesign and development of the mapping tool. Darwin was able to help us think through web development concerns and spot where issues might arise.

Darwin provided thorough wireframes to visualize the final products. After we settled on designs and functionality, the team began building on our development platform. Darwin hosted weekly check-ins to ensure we were updated on development progress and aware of any issues that needed input.

Darwin was very responsive during development, during the QA process with our larger digital communications team, and after relaunch. We continue to work with Darwin for website maintenance and further development requests.

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

We worked primarily with Sergey Kisly (CEO/founder) and Jeff Spinella (VP, production).

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

After relaunching the site, we experienced nearly 70,000 hits from December 2019 to December 2020. In press hits and anecdotally, the mapping tool Darwin developed for us was extremely well received. We have also received much praise regarding the redesign of the website.

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

Darwin is very communicative and provides thorough documentation of time spent and tasks / deliverables accomplished. The team is also very proactive and sticks to timelines.

Early on, we asked if the team would be comfortable using Asana to communicate; they were more than happy to do so. We continue to meet biweekly on our current contract for check-ins, and Jeff is very responsive when new requests come up and to keep us apprised of developments.

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

Darwin's communication and project management styles are thorough and transparent. They stick to timelines and are proactive in spotting, communicating, and addressing issues. The team is also very pleasant to work with!

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

As with any site, there were some bugs when we first launched, but Darwin was quick to respond to those we spotted and also to notice those we missed.

Please describe your company and your position there.

At the time, I worked in the company’s operations; I oversaw the web development and design teams, as well as any contractors hired to do major development and design projects on our web properties.

For what projects/services did your company hire Darwin, and what were your goals?

Previous to hiring Darwin, we had worked with another web development and design studio who’d advised the use of (what turned out to be) a little-known publishing platform.

This decision became an issue after we launched our new site, because as time went on, we realized that not many web developers (both back- and front-end) were familiar with this platform, so long-term our in-house staff were having issues doing work on our sites after launch.

We hired Darwin to accomplish the Herculean task of redesigning our current properties onto WordPress, and then to also migrate a huge amount of existing content into the new sites.

Darwin was also extremely helpful in implementing security measures, moving us to AWS, and maintaining a wonderful vendor relationship that included helping to solve “emergency” website issues that were beyond the scope of a mid-level web dev and required web engineers.

How did you select Darwin and what were the deciding factors?

I had known of Darwin’s work for at least 5 years previous to the project mentioned here, and had worked with them as a vendor via previous employers.

Even so, we did send them an RFP, and they responded with so much professionalism and thought into not only our media properties, but also who we were and how to assist long-term business operational needs, that it was no question that Darwin was the partner we wanted.

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

We had a kick-off meeting to make sure we were all on the same page regarding the project; we set goals, deliverable dates, etc. Darwin introduced their project lead and POC for our team, and they presented shared documents so that we, as their customer, could see where Darwin’s team was on task lists per media property and more of the nitty-gritty details on their team’s work.

We had weekly check-ins with the Darwin team, though of course some deliverables needed our team’s input and we’d speak more on a daily basis during some weeks of development and design. We would give feedback pretty much live, i.e. as their work progressed, as this project’s timeline was very short for this type, and scope, of work.

As the development and design of our sites was completed, Darwin would hand the “keys to the kingdom” to our in-house developers and make sure they were comfortable with what had been created.

As for the technologies used on this project — Darwin custom-built a tool to migrate our sites from the little-known platform to WordPress, after custom-building WordPress to match the design of our current sites.

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

A project manager was our main point-of-contact during our projects with Darwin, and at least 3 full-stack developers and web engineers (with design knowledge), were working behind-the-scenes.

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

Our stress levels surrounding our media sites went significantly down since our project hand-off with Darwin.

Our site traffic was actually measurable, clickthroughs were up, we loved the infinite scroll functionality they developed for us, and the sites were incredibly quick to load on every device and browser (even though they were media rich/heavy).

The platform’s backend was developed to be user-friendly for journalists and their editors to upload content. We couldn’t have been happier.

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

We had at least once-weekly meetings with Darwin’s project manager, who would then communicate to the rest of their team. For daily communication, we’d use Slack and Google Sheets, as well as GitHub for assets that needed floating between our teams.

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

Darwin’s team is friendly and approachable, and do well working/communicating with people who may not be as knowledgeable in the web development field as they are. Darwin clearly thinks “big picture,” making sure that their solutions line up with your business’ needs.

Plus, their final products are easy-to-use and the Darwin team makes sure that their customers not only understand how to use them, but are actually *comfortable* — a rare quality.

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

Nothing very specific that I can think of regarding improvement — there were occasionally some minor human errors, but as soon as Darwin or one of our team members noticed them, any errors would be remedied quickly.