Design Center, Inc.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the communications manager at a specialty chemicals company in the construction industry. I’m responsible for the Canadian region.

What challenge were you trying to address with Design Center, Inc.?

We needed help creating external apps to promote our products and services.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The team designed and developed our app from scratch. It was available on iOS, Android, and Windows. The app has different calculators which allows our customers to determine how much product they should utilize based on the results they’re after. It also offers information on our product.

What is the team composition?

I work with 2–3 people from the team.

How did you come to work with Design Center, Inc.?

They were already in place when I started.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent well over $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2016, and our work is ongoing with enhancements.

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

We have a lot of customers that really utilize the app. They’re very thorough and efficient with high attention to customer service.

How did Design Center, Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent. We typically communicate via phone or email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their flexibility and responsiveness really stand out.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they performed very well. Their work is very top-notch.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure your plans are in place and ensure you have a really clear and concise scope of work. If you’re not sure of something, be sure to ask questions. Be open to suggestions. They’re working with different organizations, and they have insights from other projects they can bring to the table.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing director of APPLIED Products. We have two divisions for industrial adhesives and thermal products. I work for both divisions but my primary duties are for the adhesives side.

What challenge were you trying to address with Design Center, Inc.?

Our website was roughly 13 years old, and we couldn’t upgrade it anymore. We decided to completely trash it and create a new website for the adhesives side. Our biggest objective was to understand what our market was looking for. We wanted to focus our new website on the younger generation.

Ultimately, we realized the best way to do this was to provide lots of tools and information that allowed them to conduct research upfront before they have to talk to someone. Or, they could chat with somebody if they needed to right away.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built our new website on WordPress. It has a chat feature and interactive map. No matter where a user is in the country, they can click anywhere on the map and see who their local territory manager, customer experience specialist, and technical specialists are.

Some of the key features we built into it was a pallet stabilization, trends page, and educational videos. Users can schedule an efficiency check directly online. There are multiple ways to reach out to people — phone, email, and a chat feature. Our inside sales team is always ready to chat with a user.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager, UX specialist, designer, and developer. When we needed extra people, they’d pull individuals in. On occasion, I’d correspond with one of their executive leaders.

How did you come to work with Design Center, Inc.?

We have great relationships with the top three global manufacturers in the adhesives industry. The marketing firms for these companies gave us a number of different names that they use as well as some tips and tricks on who to talk to and what to say. We looked at some of the companies they referred as well as searched for top web design and UX firms in the Twin Cities.

Our team did a lot of phone interviews and brought in three companies. At the end of it all, Design Center hit everything right on the head so we decided to move forward with them. I knew from the beginning that we’d be very happy with Design Center.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested about $95,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project was from February–September 2020.

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

Once the site went live, we shared it and received great feedback that the website was amazing. We shared it with those global manufacturers, and they gave a lot of praise. They were very surprised and happy with what we had.

When we compared our SEO metrics from October–November 2019 with October–November 2020, there were significant improvements across the board. Our number of new users went up by 12.5% and our sessions went up by 30%. The average session duration was two minutes and 54 seconds, it went up by 110%. In 2019, the number of sources where people found us was six.

In 2020, and in just those two months, it was 82 so we had 1,266% growth. As I mentioned, our focus was on the younger generation coming in. When I looked at the age variance between 2019 and 2020, the 18–24-year-old group doubled.

How did Design Center, Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They did very well with project management. We set up a roadmap at the beginning of the engagement. If they were short on one, they’d pick it up and meet the next one. Some of our website features were very technical so we ran into some delays on that. We wanted to launch in August but got pushed back by two weeks because we decided to do a voice of customers. The delay was more on our side. Other than that, Design Center hit it right on the head all the way through.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was most impressed with their drive and desire to understand what their customers want. Then, as they go through the engagement, they reevaluate and reconfirm to see if the solution is looking as it should. They also provided suggestions on details that’d make it look better.

Their team was very attentive and always checked in. Design Center felt like they were working in our company like they were our employees; it felt like a big family.

Are there any areas they could improve?

A couple of times they mentioned that certain features would be too difficult or take a little more time. Our team pushed back and insisted that we at least try it. Instead of just dropping it, we wanted to see how long it’d take and if it was too long then we’d be willing to drop it. It wasn’t a negative thing on their end. They were being very conscious of our time and money. Our team pushed back because it was something we really wanted.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior marketing of a vehicle care company. We manufacture and produce different car wash soaps for the commercial car washing industry.

What challenge were you trying to address with Design Center, Inc.?

We have a direct team of about 80 associates and distributors, and we had sales productivity issues. We struggled to give them access to consistent sales materials available, allow them to share materials with customers, and communicate.

Part of the challenge was that we had a glorified content library, which is a website that served as a dumping ground for everything. It wasn’t clean and there were no analytics tied to that. As we were rebranding last year, we knew that we had to clean up a lot of the messaging and a lot of the assets that we had. We just had to get everybody consistently using the same materials and to tell the same story. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

I showed them the current structure, the folders, and the content that we would need to capture. I also showed them the different types of assets that we need to have access whether it was a video, static PDFs, or PowerPoint presentations.

We then had a kick-off call with eight of our direct field staff to identify the pain points and what we need to access when on the field that is not necessarily readily available today. Then, they put together a real-time wireframe of all the different possibilities; we were able to easily determine what was in the scope and what were the things that we may encounter down the road.

Instead of just revamping the website, we thought more broadly and I’ve been working with Design Center, Inc. for the last 10 years on different projects and different ideas to help us through this. The app has a solution that they proposed to me a while back. They suggested we have an app that would make it easy for the representatives to navigate the back room of a car wash with their mobile devices, share information, and have things available online and offline. 

We started down that path and a three-month project with different key milestones. We set up an internal and external team with Design Center, Inc. to capture the voice of sales — what works, what are the different features, and benefits that would be useful.

The mobile platform is built for iOS and Android, we also have it available for Windows 10 apps that are compatible with Surface Pro, laptops, and different devices. 

What is the team composition?

For this specific project, we worked with Colleen (Project Manager) and a developer whom we had daily stand-ups with. A member from Design Center, Inc.’s team was instrumental in helping us get things set up with Apple and the iTunes store. He also helped troubleshoot the installations on Windows 10. We worked with a designer and there were also other people behind the scenes.

How did you come to work with Design Center, Inc.?

I’ve had a relationship with Design Center, Inc. for the last 10 years on different projects. We met with them when we were in the middle of getting approval on a Salesforce.com implementation. 

We brainstormed with Design Center, Inc. and asked them if there was something we could do to streamline the sales process if we didn’t get SalesForce. They showed us examples of what they did for other clients that caught our attention. We brought in our general manager to see it then and knew that what we needed.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost $37,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The work ran from June—November 2020, when we launched.

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

Design Center, Inc. helped us put our marketing and sales resources into an intuitive app that can be easily updated, managed through mobile or laptops, and just make everything a lot easier for our associates and distributors to be productive.

They were incredible from an ideation standpoint of understanding the pain points of our field and how they can help us define the metrics for productivity — how we can do things faster and how many prospects they can visit over the course of a day or week.

Until we’re able to get everybody on and have a few months under our belt to track the usages and what’s working, I don’t have any metrics that I can provide. The feedback that I’ve gotten has been anecdotal. Our representatives said that it was game-changing and it had impacted their ability to communicate with customers. I know the project was a big win. 

I solicited feedback from our people; I asked them how it’s working for them and how the app was functioning. They said that they were able to open the assets and immediately email those to their customers.

We have a diverse range of technical expertise in the field when it comes to this type of tool. Up and down our chain, they embraced the tool and said that it made it easier to know what was available. There were some representatives that liked the app and there were others who were passive with the app. 

How did Design Center, Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

Design Center, Inc. laid out the timeline and sprint reviews that kept us on task and accountable. They worked flawlessly. Personally, I thought we were going too fast and we needed to slow down, but there wasn’t a reason to do so. 

There were representatives that weren’t as tech-savvy as others and Design Center, Inc. was there almost immediately to support the field and help them get the app. They made my life a lot easier.

They had everything planned so well; all the milestones were set. They got all the feedback and made adjustments. The project would only slow down when it came to tasks on my plate, but other than that, they managed everything flawlessly.

We had Zoom sprint reviews every couple of weeks to check each milestone for the next two weeks. It was a fluid process of everybody having an absolute consensus on how the tool was being developed and built.

We had a daily 15-minute Zoom call to regroup and discuss what each team member would do and what are the things that we expect to accomplish by the end of the day. We also communicated back and forth through email to make sure that we were supporting each other with what was needed. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Design Center, Inc. was experience-focused. The agency that we used to work with fell flat because they were too focused on the end result rather than the UX and what could help accomplish our goals. 

In my experience with Design Center, Inc., they took a look at the users and what we were trying to accomplish. They collected all the feedback that was needed to validate it. They put together all the user stories. They had 30–40 different scenarios that we reviewed and validated.

They didn’t just say that we needed an asset library on steroids; instead, they thought about how our team will use those, what we were trying to communicate, what the hurdles were, and other things that were all established upfront to drive how the tool was developed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I love giving constructive feedback but I can’t think of an area for them to improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Go into the project with an open mind and understand the broader picture of what you're trying to accomplish. By asking questions to Design Center, Inc., you can probe and deliver something that’s more impactful.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of a real estate photography company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Design Center, Inc?

We needed someone to develop a new website and design a booking system for a scheduling feature.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Design Center put together a roadmap process from conceptualization to the delivery of the finished product. While they have not started on the projects, this roadmap tells us exactly what our needs were and what we needed to do to achieve them. They told us the different systems they need to create, the order in which to build them, the timetable for each step, and the phases of the project. 

When they start developing the projects, they’re going to build everything from scratch. That includes the website, booking system, payment processing, and scheduling among others.

What is the team composition?

Jason (Vice President) is the main person we talked to. I believe we had about 7–8 people meeting with us at one point. We’re still in the planning stage, so we meet together to talk about our issues and the things we need to get done.

How did you come to work with Design Center, Inc?

We found them on the internet when we were looking for web developers in our area. We interviewed them along with four other companies before ultimately deciding to go with them.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent about $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership with them started in August 2020.

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

We haven’t actually had anything built as of yet. However, we showed the documents they provided us to other companies to come up with a quote on it. They told us that Design Center has done an outstanding job in preparing it and putting all the information together — which we found impressive. 

They’re agile and are constantly working with us throughout the process. They show us what they’ve done and make sure everything works as they’re developing it. They’ve also been really communicative with us. They keep us in the loop about what’s going on and what the next steps are going to be.

How did Design Center, Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent in terms of managing the project. We have regular meetings every couple of weeks for updates. We communicate mostly through phone calls and virtual meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What’s impressive about them is I feel like they really understand what we’re looking for. They understand the challenges and take the time to listen to us. 

They’re also very knowledgeable. All the experts we talked to tried to come up with cheaper solutions that weren’t what we were looking for. Design Center did just that and gave us a better alternative.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think so. They’re doing a great job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise them to fully explain all the issues and challenges they're facing because Design Center is very good at picking stuff out. They have a lot of experience working with people who have similar needs, so they were able to understand ours and come up with working solutions.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an analyst at a building materials supplier. We sell to luxury home builders, commercial, and remodelers.

What challenge were you trying to address with Design Center, Inc.?

We wanted to be the first in our market to offer a customer-ordering app. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

The app lets any customer go in, access any active job site, and see a full list of our products with pictures, item descriptions, complete prices, and related items. They can search by keywords, which include item numbers, size, and descriptions, or they can search by category. The app also lets users favorite specific products.

We gave Design Center a flowchart of the screens we wanted our customers to see. We also told them what functionality we wanted. Design Center came back with the actual design to show us what the customer will see. From there, they developed the app. It’s for Android and iOS devices for the time being; we hope to make it work on tablets and desktops in the future.

What is the team composition?

We work with six people, including a project manager. I even have the phone number of the person who wrote the code, which is great to have.

How did you come to work with Design Center, Inc.?

I wasn’t part of that process, so I can’t answer.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $120,000 on the initial app.

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership started in February 2018. The app has launched, but we still have a list of enhancements we’re looking to do. We finished one at the end of December 2019 and another at the end of April 2020. Our work is ongoing.

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

Design Center always met our expectations as far as the quality of work and design goes. They’ve come up with some great ideas. Sometimes, it’s difficult to get to the point of seeing their designs, but I’ve never been dissatisfied with anything they’ve done once it got to me. Our customers like the app, and the people who use it use it quite often.

How did Design Center, Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

For the first three-quarters of the job, we were on schedule. Toward the end of the project, however, progress slowed, and our communications broke down. This happened with the last two upgrades: progress dragged on and on, and we didn’t always get the information we needed from Design Center. That being said, whenever I asked very specific questions, I always got answers and was pleased with the results. In the end, though, it was hard to get all the information I needed from them to see the results.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a pleasant group of people to work with. Design Center is creative and provides a positive atmosphere. The team always tries to do what we ask, and more than once, they’ve exceeded my expectations.

Are there any areas they could improve?

On the tail end of jobs, they should try to get things wrapped up. There also may have been some personnel shifts along the way, so I was never quite sure who I should be contacting. We discussed some of these issues, and Design Center agreed they had fallen short. 

Any advice for potential customers?

If you no longer feel like you’re moving along, you have to be the one to get the project back on track. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a home textile manufacturer specializing in basic bedding and furniture covers. I’m the SVP of product development, merchandising, and marketing.

What challenge were you trying to address with Design Center, Inc.?

We needed help with app development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The app is for every consumer we reach, either through a brick and mortar retailer or e-commerce. They’re building our new app from scratch. The goal is to have activation through phone, an Amazon device, or Google Play device. They’re taking it into the cloud, which we hadn’t done previously.

They’ve made it more intuitive and consumer-friendly, as opposed to just the prior app. We gave them guidance, but they had 50% control throughout the project since app development isn’t one of our core competencies. It’s available on iOS and Android.

What is the team composition?

We work with 8-10 people, depending on what phase of the project we’re in. Colleen (Project Manager) is our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Design Center, Inc.?

We found them through our engineer that’s helping us develop the technology. They were one of the teams we reached out to, and we were very comfortable and pleased with everything.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $100,000 – $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in December 2019, and our engagement is ongoing.

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

They’ve been phenomenal, from beginning to end. They managed the process and are very mindful of our budget and what we’re doing. They’re very open to comments and feedback and have proven themselves to be very responsive. They’re very on top of things, organized, and process-driven.

There’s just a night and day difference between them and our last company, in terms of the thought process, the development, and the detail. Whenever we talk about how a consumer would use the product, they’re able to translate that into functionality.

How did Design Center, Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

Colleen has performed above our expectations. She’s managed the schedule, everyone’s time, and the deliverables. If there was an instance where we were behind, they moved forward to ensure we were maximizing the time so that we could keep things on schedule.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve been honest and transparent. They’re not condescending in any way when they know we don’t have the experience. It’s been a very healthy partnership. Their process and organization have been impeccable.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’ve exceeded our expectations.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to ask for Colleen as your project manager. Corporately, their team’s process and clarity helped move the project forward without a flaw.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and president of an employee benefits firm. We offer ancillary lines and voluntary products on small businesses with fewer than 2,000 employees.

What challenge were you trying to address with Design Center, Inc.?

Our website was way, way past due to be updated. It didn’t represent our company’s innovative spirit.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Design Center updated our website. We started with a meet-and-greet on site. Design Center launched a discovery process to get to know our company, our future, our strategy. We’d had an established project plan. They came with different demos of the website to get some direction and sign-off from us. That way, we had an idea of what the website would look like before. They now provide branding updates, refreshes, and small projects.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with an account manager and four other people over the years.

How did you come to work with Design Center, Inc.?

We started our search by looking at local groups because we wanted face-to-face meetings. We reached out to a couple of places, met with individuals, and went through the due diligence process with our corporate resources to navigate their tight requirements. We settled with Design Center and were excited to see that they were approved as a vendor for us.

How much have you invested with them?

The original project cost $15,000. We’ve spent about $25,000–$30,000 since.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in Q3 2016 and is ongoing.

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

The development of the website was the beginning; now, we’re setting up metrics like hits and other KPIs on Google Analytics. Over time though, we’ve gotten lots of positive feedback about website refresh and how user-friendly and easy to understand it is. 

How did Design Center, Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

Nothing jumps out to me as a problem. They’re pretty proactive in setting up meetings annually to check in. During a project, they’re very good about communication and setting a timeline out for us to expect a milestone, phone call, or visit. There have been no delays that I remember.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I haven’t had a lot of experience working with others. However, I really like Design Center’s collaborative style. They’re willing to get in the weeds with us, which is really refreshing. When I think of Design Center, I think ‘creative thinkers’; they bring helpful ideas.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, things are going well. I don’t have a close enough perspective to give that type of feedback.

Any advice for potential customers?

Follow their recommendations for timelines and approach – they’re experts, and it works well.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the secretary-treasurer of ExcheQ LLC, which is a person to person payment application for mobile devices designed by and for community banks.

What challenge were you trying to address with Design Center, Inc?

Design Center, Inc as responsible for developing the app based on our specifications.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The product is available on iOS and Android and consists of a two-part setup. They designed the frontend and UX, and the backend is managed by AWS cloud services.

What is the team composition?

There are about a dozen people.

How did you come to work with Design Center, Inc?

They were brought to our attention by one of our bank customers who had Design Center, Inc develop something for them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve put in about $500,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in 2012 and, although, it came to fruition in 2018, and the project is ongoing.

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

The feedback has been universally positive, with an amazing appreciation for how simple, yet effective it is. We’ve received a lot of praise for the UX. The platform has been exhibited for US Congress, the Federal Reserve, and any number of individual banking organizations at the state level. Everybody we show it to has given positive feedback.

How did Design Center, Inc perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication is great. They’re very responsive and very nimble.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their focus on UX throughout the development process is what sets them apart. They brought in UX specialists early on in the process to inform development every step of the way. So, once we got to the release stage, we were already ahead of the game when it came to UX and usability.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They were always on top of things, but when our team fell behind, they could have held us accountable.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm a product marketing analyst. I act as the project lead for the tool Design Center, Inc. helps us develop.

What challenge were you trying to address with Design Center, Inc.?

We had an existing cooling tool that had a lot of issues. We worked with previous vendors, but we wanted a better design and UX. We also hoped to add new functionality to make it even more useful to users.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They're in charge of all the design and improvements, and they work to make everything easier to use. We use AWS, and I know we'll use Google Analytics once the tool goes live.

What is the team composition?

We work with a team of six or seven, and we have close interactions with about four of those individuals.

How did you come to work with Design Center, Inc.?

A member of our marketing and communications team heard about them. We interviewed a few groups, but we were most interested in finding a team that was local. We liked that Design Center, Inc. was a growing company, and they had a vision for huge improvements. They seemed able to handle what we wanted them to work with, and we appreciated that we could meet with them face-to-face as needed.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent in the range of $50,000-$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around May 2019. The current project is set to launch near the beginning of 2020, so the total time spent will be close to a year.

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

The product hasn't launched yet, so the results are still in the future. This is a very collaborative effort, and they always come back with proposals and design ideas that will work well for our customers. We needed a lot of help with that, and they brought their know-how to the UX. They understood our business, and they took the time to help us meet our goals. They're very thorough.

How did Design Center, Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

They managed the project on their end, and they sent us updated timelines when one deadline changed. They budgeted in a lot of extra time at the end, so changes to the timeline don't affect our bottom line. They have backlog meetings to go over the details of each sprint, and they invite us to those meetings to answer their questions or give input. They have a clear grasp of our business, and I really appreciate their process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They deliver design improvements quickly, and they're always willing to help us with any of our questions. They provide some support outside of the scope of the project, and we really appreciate all they do for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We're very pleased with their performance and their speed. At this point, I don't have any points they should improve.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a company called the BASF, and we are one of the world’s largest chemical companies. I work in the animal nutrition unit, so we produce vitamins and other additives that go into animal feed for poultry, pigs, cows, and things like that. I’m in the marketing department.

What challenge were you trying to address with Design Center, Inc.?

We’re looking to increase our interaction with our customers and end-users. Those people, for the most part, are farmers, and we wanted to offer them direct access to us and our expertise.

At the moment, there’s no way of doing that, so we wanted to develop an app where the farmers can download information about the products or contact us to ask questions.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed a website and web-based application, as well as a mobile app for iOS and Android that we can send out to our customers. They provided everything along the way, including design, all of the development work, and worked together with us to determine our main goals and requirements for the final product.

What is the team composition?

Across the two apps, I believe we’ve worked with about six people from their team. We coordinate with their business development manager directly, but they have developers and designers working with us as well.

How did you come to work with Design Center, Inc.?

BASF is a global company, and I’m in the German center. In the past, I’ve done work with other parts of the company, and a friend of mine in the American center recommended Design Center, Inc. to me.

How much have you invested with them?

By the end of the project, we’ll have spent about $200,000 between the two apps.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2015 and are continuing to do so.

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

We have been very impressed with the quality of their work at every stage of the process. They have satisfied all of our requests and have been very helpful in planning as well as implementing the app designs.

How did Design Center, Inc. perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate regularly via Skype or WhatsApp calls, and they do a good job of keeping us up to date on all of the progress we’ve made between communications.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I think their strength is in the combination of their artistic design side and their experience in UX/UI and usability. As a B2B company, we have very little experience in the space of B2C interactions, and the experience they brought to the table around designing for that has been extremely helpful.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think so. We’re very happy.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

To be honest, my interactions with them have been very straightforward and simple, so I don’t think there’s a lot that anyone working with them needs to keep in mind in order to make the project successful.