Design In DC

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a senior marketing associate at a fintech organization.

What challenge were you trying to address with Design In DC?

We hired them to help revamp our new website. Our team designed the website but we were lacking in a few areas of expertise. We reached out to Design In DC to help us with the areas that we weren’t familiar with such as responsive design, lead capture integration, redirects, migration, and optimization.

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, we had a few calls with them to go over what our team was looking for to give them a better understanding of the desired outcomes. Our team had outlined the different areas that we needed help with, and we had two calls with the team to make sure we were on the same page.

Design In DC then helped with the development of our website. After all of the work was done, our team reviewed their work and provided them with feedback. They would then address any of our changes.

The last step was making sure that everything was set up and ready for the launch of our website.

What is the team composition?

We had one main point of contact. Due to the urgency of the project, he had 3–5 additional teammates helping out with the development. 

How did you come to work with Design In DC?

We looked at a few companies. We found Design In DC on Google, and one thing that attracted us to them was their website. It was very advanced compared to a few others that we looked at. It had a lot of design elements that we were looking for, so we knew they had the ability to deliver on what we were expecting.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them in Q4 2019, and the project took a month to complete.

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

Overall, they were a fantastic group of hardworking and intelligent people. Due to our timeline, they sometimes had to work extra. They bent over backward to make sure that we got it done.

The team wasn’t looking to just solve the immediate problems we had at hand; Design In DC was interested in helping us find a longterm solution that worked for us. Overall, their flexibility and quality of work were great.

There were a few times where we weren’t quite sure how to solve some things because we’re not developers, but Design In DC were the subject matter experts for any of our issues. They were very good at problem-solving and making sure that we were heading in the right direction.

How did Design In DC perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very timely and accommodating. It was an urgent project, and Design In DC put maximum effort into getting the project done in a timely manner. We communicated quite a lot. We started out using email, and then we began communicating over the phone.

Due to the short timeline of the project, we were in conversation at least once a day, if not a couple of times a day. Their turnaround time was fast. They were very responsive to our questions. Our point of contact made sure to fit us in his schedule and accommodate all of our needs. 

He was very well organized and knew the status of the project. We had a Google doc set up where he put all of our feedback. It also gave us visibility into what each developer was working on. Overall, his project management was spot on. He made sure that we were able to provide them with feedback in a timely manner.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One thing that stood out about them was they weren’t afraid of our tight timeline. They took it and ran with it, which was something we were looking for in a partner. Additionally, their quality of work and overall communication were impressive. Design In DC was very reliable. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind. Overall, it was a short timeframe and they developed everything that we needed.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would recommend being as responsive as you can. Time was of the essence for our project and getting back to them in a timely manner with any clarification they needed was important for our timeline.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of IT Concepts, a dynamic information technology (IT) engineering and business consulting firm with over 100 consultants focused on delivering innovative solutions to the Federal Government. We provide a broad range of services in strategy and planning, IT services, systems engineering, custom computer programming, DevOps Engineering, big Data Analytics, cloud computing, and program management services. We have provided these services to several federal and state agencies, including the SSA, Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), US Treasury, Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and DC Government.

For what projects/services did your company hire Design In DC?

Design In DC assisted our company in the redesign of our website and re-branding of our logo.

What were your goals for this project?

Our site was initially built internally and needed a face lift. Our goal was to make sure we had a site that was able to speak to our customers, future employees, and competitors.

How did you select this vendor?

We interviewed several vendors that have done similar projects...we selected Design In DC based on their portfolio of work done in the past. CEO and COO made the final decision.

Describe the project in detail.

Design In DC managed, provided technical resources, templates, and delivered a a new website based on specification that we provided. Rob and team provided the appropriate guidance for images and the ultimate design for the site.

What was the team composition?

The team was made up of a project coordinator on our side along with contributors from HR, Technology, and Program Mangers. The vendor provided overall management and led the project to completion with the desired time-frame.

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

The team was able to exceed our expectations and provide a design that outlined our services, highlighted our workforce and company, and provide a mechanism for lead generation.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The project manager assigned to our team was great on communicating deadlines and deliverables that were expected from our team. We used google docs to manage the content and all project documentation.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The vendor was very flexible and the services they provided from reviewing content to providing a photographer for pictures were all impeccable. Their greatest strength was that they took the time to understand our business and the goals of the project.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CEO of Stack Influence. We help Amazon brands build out their businesses through Amazon through scalable micro-influencer marketing.

What challenge were you trying to address with Design in DC?

We needed help with the development of our product. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

We manage thousands of people and onboard them into our campaigns.  There is quite a bit that happens on the management side when you are dealing with hundreds of people across the US. They built out the solution for us to manage that type of scale.

They built an early version of our product (in terms of an Escrow product) where we would invite influencers. They built a dashboard for us where our influencers could see the amount of money they would have and also learn more about the product. 

They started by creating the backend. The frontend is everything that the influencers see (e.g. email workflows, trigger emails, and reminders). They also built an admin portal so we could manage all of this. 

What is the team composition?

There were four to five people, but I dealt mostly with Rob who was the contract architect.

How did you come to work with Design in DC?

I have a friend who lives in DC who referred me to them. I compared them with a few different other agencies and decided to pick them.

How much have you invested in them?

We spent $28,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from January 2019 to June 2019.

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

They did a great job. Their communication and ability to stay on time were the main focuses for me.

It’s important that things are deployed according to the timelines. (I have dealt with quite a few software developers and agencies in the past, and they always want to overpromise and underdeliver).

How did Design in DC perform from a project management standpoint?

It was great. I conveyed all the information to Rob, and he would refer that back to his team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication was key. They also gave us some insight into our product that we didn’t know which was great. We pitched what we wanted to do instead of just asking them to build something that we needed. They gave us quite a bit of feedback and information on what we should and shouldn’t do. It really helped us out in the long-term.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Overall, it was pretty well done, and I wouldn’t say I have any bad feedback. I would definitely use them again.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Rob is my guy and I would definitely refer someone to speak with him in particular. We have been able to build a really good relationship over the six months. I would definitely reach out to him and the company.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of marketing for Franchise Cannabis, a global cannabis company. With licensed cultivation in Denmark, Uruguay, and Colombia, and distribution of medicinal cannabis to patients in Germany, we target the European market.

What challenge were you trying to address with Design In DC?

We needed to establish a web presence. Our goal was to provide more information for interested investors and engage shareholders.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Design In DC developed a WordPress site, including a landing page video, where users can gather information. I spoke with our project lead a few times before the project started to figure out exactly what we needed to address, who our audience was, and scope out a few ideas of what we wanted on the site. We scoured different websites, including our competitors, and selected features we wanted to incorporate into our website proposal.

With an idea of the direction we wanted to go in and our wire frames, they broke off to begin working on our design. They maintained communication and asked our team for the content we wanted on the site when they needed it.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three people, including our project lead and the person who created the landing page video.

How did you come to work with Design In DC?

Originally, they were sent to us through a referral. We worked on smaller projects before tackling this one.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from February to April 2019.

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

It was well worth the investment. It’s easy for people to refer to our website, and we’re constantly receiving messages regarding investment opportunities. We’ve been able to keep up with the audience and maintain our communication with shareholders. After a roadshow, and we usually see a spike in traffic from the area we visited on our website. Design In DC developed a creative solution that highlights our global presence.

How did Design In DC perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done a professional job and have really exceeded my expectations. We communicated via phone and email, and they were always flexible. I need to travel a lot, and as a result, have missed calls or needed to contact them outside normal work hours. They were always very responsive and got back to me.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Most of the companies I talked to only offered three months of support after the project to clear up any bugs or make adjustments. Design In DC stands out because they’re always able to help. Since the project ended, I’ve been able to call them and ask for advice. They’ve even helped format things for the platform.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Because I was supplying my own content, I wish they had given me clearer guidelines. At first, I wasn’t sure exactly what best practices were or what was the appropriate amount of content.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Definitely give them a call. It’s important to develop a relationship with them. They offer a lot of good ideas, but will also incorporate your ideas and make it flow.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director at Prism Inc, which is an IT professional services company based in Reston, Virginia. We work as IT consultants on government contacts and with a few commercial clients. I play a variety of roles, including leading the website redesign project, training, recruiting new hires, and account management.

What challenge were you trying to address with Design in DC?

We had a very outdated website—our last upgrade was in 2012. Technology has changed since then, and users expect sites to be more mobile-responsive. We realized that we needed to update our site to be more modern. 

Our team also wanted to do a brand redesign. So, we changed our logo and overall image to affect how our customers and job seekers viewed us.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They took over the project from another web partner after we found that the relationship wasn’t a good fit. In setting up the project, they were flexible, scheduling themselves according to our availability. They prepared for meetings, did research, and showed us different options of the site. Their team provided us with three revisions, the first containing the site’s bare-bones and color schemes. We selected colors and other aspects of the site. When we weren’t sure what to choose, they would provide expertise to guide our decision. 

They also provided us with copywriting for the site, completely revamping the content we had previously. We edited their work slightly to fit our business, but it was otherwise more modern and attractive.  

We wanted our CRM, Bullhorn, to allow candidates to see our job postings and apply directly through our database. Our previous website did not have a functioning capability like that. Rob (Lead Designer, Design In DC) worked with the Bullhorn API to get that functional component working seamlessly. 

What is the team composition?

We interfaced primarily with Rob, but he would engage their team members for specific tasks. They had graphic designers, possibly another developer, and a copywriter. Rob was our sole point of contact. 

How did you come to work with Design in DC?

I received a referral from a friend in the creative space. We spoke with them about our frustrations with our previous web development agency. I had never heard of them or met them before. We brought them in and solicited proposals from 3–4 other web companies. Design In DC followed up with a proposal that addressed all areas of the project development. They also provided us with a live prototype to view online. It was amazingly close to what we’d envisioned. Our team thought they delivered the best proposal, so we hired them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $8,000–12,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from December 2017–July 2018.

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

We have a steady flow of incoming applicants, which was never the case before. The applications are directly tied to our database, which makes life easy for our recruiters. Our web traffic has also dramatically increased by around 1000%. We recieve over 1,000 visitors each month, which we never had before either. We get compliments on our site all the time.

Rob also successfully implemented new, important features like chat capabilities. He gave us recommendations and was able to easily deliver on that. 

How did Design in DC perform from a project management standpoint?

They were excellent and well-organized, documenting everything. Timelines were set in advance, and the cost was initially agreed upon. There weren’t any surprises. They even did some extra work without adding additional costs.

We met with them on a weekly basis. They were able to dedicate more time but remained flexible to meet our schedule. If we had questions between meetings, we could shoot Rob a text and he would respond immediately. He could also set up a time for us to talk later that day. We were happy with the response time.  

The whole project plan was outlined and documented in Google Docs. We were able to collaborate on that interface and make notes during our call meetings. Our teams were always on the same page, which was very helpful.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their technical ability was particularly impressive. Rob, because he’s embedded in the web industry, was able to introduce us to cascading sheets, color adjustments, and moving video. Once he created something for us, he was flexible with our feedback.

He was never too proud to take something down that we didn’t feel was the right fit for us. He’s young with fresh ideas, but also business savvy and willing to adapt to our input. That attitude was impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’re really happy with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I enjoyed having Google Docs because our company already works with Gmail. It was easy to share files and content that way. We could edit together, line by line in real-time.