Designli

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

I’m the founder and sole member of Thingeology LLC, which is a website and an app. Thingealogy is in the business of helping families save the stories of their heirlooms and belongings.  Once saved, these stories about belongings are called “Things” and are organized into “Collections,” where “Beneficiaries” are assigned. All of this information is stored within the Thingealogy system, and additional photos and comments can be added, and financial values assigned. A QR code is generated so that users can hear the audio recording for years to come, and a PDF file is created, which can be used in estate planning. I had the idea for this company in 2012 and, although I have sole ownership of the product, I rely on Designli to bring these ideas to life.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Designli?

Without a tech background and, at the time, interest and aptitude to learn coding, there was no way Thingealogy would come to life without outside help. That was the impetus to find a company like Designli that could help.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

By 2014, when I first contacted  Designli, I had consulted with several professionals and companies  to get Thingealogy off the ground. I worked with lawyers to help draft the privacy policy and terms of use, trademark lawyers to help with the US Patent and Trademark Office to apply for the name to be registered, an app designer who created the logo for Thingealogy, and a social media marketer who helped with the Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram pages. Since 2016, I’ve worked almost exclusively with Designli on all projects for Thingealogy, from web design to decisions about different elements of the user experience. They also take care of all the backend work with whatever coding languages they use.

What is the team composition?

The team composition for Thingealogy and Designli is comprised of myself and Designli’s two co-founders, Josh (COO, Designli) and Keith (CEO, Designli). They pass on information to their internal team.

How did you come to work with Designli?

The coders I originally planned to use fell through, and in 2014 I came across a link to America's Coolest College Startups of 2014. Designli was mentioned in the article. I emailed Keith, and he quickly responded, a sign of things to come, as both Keith and Josh are very responsive to emails.

How much have you invested with them?

Over the past five years, Thingealogy has invested between $150,000–$250,000 with Designli. A large part of that has been paid over the past year to recode the app and create several new web-based features.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2014, and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app is very easy to use, and the user flows are smooth and intuitive. The design of the interface is also very elegant. Designli did a lot of work on the backend to simplify each process. 

How did Designli perform from a project management standpoint?

They do an excellent job keeping me informed about what they’re working on, so that I’m aware of their progress and know what to expect.  Before each phase of a project begins, I’m given an estimate of how many hours will be required for each piece of the project.

If I want to add a new feature, they’ll give me general time and money estimates. They’re very transparent and forthcoming when it comes to sharing details about their work. Every Friday, I receive a full written report from them with hours spent on the projects, plus I have access to many reports about their work on a platform called Basecamp.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The first thing that comes to mind is the level of trust that Josh and Keith have established with me. They’re also responsive to my calls and questions. I appreciate how relatable they are in explaining technology and how they’ve helped me put my creative ideas into reality.  It’s been a great working relationship. I haven’t felt the need to seek or use other providers, mainly because of the trust that I’ve built with Designli.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Over the past five years, it’s been fun for me to watch Designli grow into such a professionally run company.  They seem well aware of industry trends and tools; as a customer, I know I've benefited from that awareness and growth.  I can’t speak to all of their internal improvements, but I do know that the platforms that they use to communicate with me have become very sophisticated, and I appreciate that.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Hire them!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

I currently work at a large financial institution and I am starting my own company. I will be publishing market commentary and discussing trends in the market. Those opinions will be published on my website, and that content will also be offered via email.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Designli?

I don’t have a background in coding or website development. The web component is the heart of the new enterprise. That's going to be the main avenue to deliver my content. Without a solid website, there really is no business. I only had a rough outline of what I wanted, so I needed to hire partners that could help me translate my vision into reality.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Designli is leading the entire web development process. Their initial preparation is done sequentially, so we started with phone calls to discuss what I wanted. Then we had a video conference to further discuss how the website would look. They created a storyboard to visualize the layout and helped me outline the next steps. They worked with me to form a budget for all the pieces of the project and to establish a timeline. Finally, they constructed a digital framework around my knowledge of financial commentary. 

The site will eventually be hosted on Amazon. Designli is in the coding process right now. It will have a heavy publishing capability. I'm going to be writing commentary and need to be able to publish as needed throughout the day and not on a set schedule. They’re creating the email capability as well to handle the (ideally) thousands of subscribers with different email preferences. It will handle a variety of subscription options for individuals or large organizations. They’re working on search capability and the presentation of the content as well. 

Designli presented me with a whole digital suite of products beyond just the core website. The plan is to start with the mobile-friendly website and eventually develop an app and podcast capabilities as my budget allows. They’re also going to help me with search engine marketing and email analytics once the service launches. 

How did you come to work with Designli? 

I started the process of looking for IT partners almost a year ago. While I was confident in my ability to publish content, I was hesitant due to my lack of knowledge about web technology. I spoke to a few firms and felt the most comfortable with Designli. They really understood my vision for this website. Several senior people at the company were involved in the process, including phone calls and video conferences. I liked their approach to my situation and so I decided to go with them. 

How much have you invested with them?

I've spent about $40,000.

What is the status of this engagement? 

Work started in May 2019 and the goal is to be done in August 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Work is still ongoing. So far, I’ve been very happy with the quality of all the deliverables. Designli produced a packet presentation that’s quite professional. I can present it to investors if I need to go out and raise money. They also gave me an in-depth outline of what the company needs, various tasks that have to happen, and detailed cost forecasts. I was able to put down a relatively small amount of money at the beginning, and pay as I go along. That’s been really beneficial. 

We're just getting to the stage now where there are actual software deliverables. Over the next few weeks to months, they’ll have drafts online that I can look at. 

How did Designli perform from a project management standpoint? 

Their team performs quite well. There's a lot of transparency and they offer great feedback. I receive weekly updates with specific hour breakdowns on what's happened and what's to come. We communicate on a variety of apps. I’m in contact with Designli every day or every other day. We talk through any updates I've requested or their recommended changes. I can always go back to them if I want to do something different. It's been very much a collaborative process. They're able to make suggestions for items that I wasn't initially considering. They're also quite accommodating to any new desires I bring to them.

What did you find most impressive about them? 

I didn't come in with much familiarity with this process. I found them to be as easy to work with as my internal IT department. Designli makes everything easy for me to use. It’s so helpful to have a guide through all of these steps. They took the time to walk me through how to set up an email account in the name of my company. They also helped me open an Amazon account and sign up for analytical services. 

Are there any areas they could improve? 

Since this is my first web development experience, I don't have too many benchmarks. I haven't been unhappy with anything so far. I’ll probably be better able to answer that at the end of the project. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

Take full advantage of their solution lab process. It was very beneficial for me as someone who's never built a website. The solution labs process will help you talk through the specifics about who's going to use your site and how they're going to use the site. It's a critical step in terms of getting the project off the ground.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a startup called Genchi Inc. We offer a project status and reporting tool.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Designli?

Initially, I brought in Designli to help me finalize the concept for my project and design the application’s user flow. I ended up extending the engagement to include development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with a road-mapping session to flush out my idea. After our discussions, Designli produced a document that outlined the application’s purpose and how it would work. We used that to inform screen designs, user roles, and interaction flows. Then, they fully created the product, including a logo, the webpage, and about different 70 screens.

At this point, I planned on taking their work to a different development team, so Designli assembled the plan in an accessible format. Soon after, I decided to expand my engagement with their team instead. They’re currently working on the build. The Designli team is using a combination for Node.js, JavaScript, and Elasticsearch technologies in the system.

It’s a web-based platform, and I plan to add a mobile component soon. The application visualizes project status in real time through responses from each team member. Users quickly indicate their perspective on how the team is doing, then the system combines each teammates’ answers and provides a color visual that reflects the overall sentiment. If the consensus is positive, the screen will be green. If it’s negative, it’ll be red. The answers are measured on a spectrum, so most of the time the color will be somewhere in between.

It’s a straightforward solution with an engaging and easy user flow. We offer teams a quick way to capture information and share it with external stakeholders and investors. Designli also helped us link the application with Slack to further facilitate instant status sharing. As they continue to develop the solution, they’re helping us strategize for the future. We’re looking into the different ways in which organizations could adopt this tool into their operations.

What is the team composition?

Josh (COO, Designli) is our project manager. Andrei (Development Lead, Designli) heads a team of developers that rotate based on our current needs. We generally have two resources at any given time.

How did you come to work with Designli?

We found them through a Google search. I liked the look and feel of their website, so I reached out. I was also considering several other vendors, but I noticed that Designli offered a package deal for an initial interaction. I agreed to the meeting, and they helped me conceptualize my idea. That positive experience led me to choose them for the official project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2018, and the project is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I have a background in software, so I thought my idea was pretty reliable. After speaking with Designli, I realized there were several things I hadn’t considered. Their new perspective and valuable insight helped me fill in some of the gaps in my original idea. In terms of design, they provided a prototype that I used to explain the application to our stakeholders and investors. I received unanimously positive reactions.

Now in the development process, the team is still on track to complete the project within our budget and by the deadline. Designli’s follow through is great. They’ve basically taken on the role of a technical co-founder of my app. I invested a lot of money in this, so I’m very happy with the results. The final product will have a unique look and feel, much better than my original vision. I’m delighted with the results I’ve seen so far.

How did Designli perform from a project management standpoint?

We routinely track our progress using Basecamp. For additional communication, we use Slack, email, and phone calls as necessary. On a weekly basis, I receive a status report and have a call with their development team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The Designli team is reliable. I’m confident in their ability to deliver what they promise, and that is a fundamental characteristic of any successful partnership.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’ve don’t a great job. There are no obvious shortcomings.

Any advice for potential customers?

Clients should trust Designli’s process. They’re a young company, but they really know what they’re doing. They ask key questions and produce top-notch results.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and CEO of TLT Incorporated. We’re developing a transportation-related software platform for the trucking and logistics industries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Designli?

I saw a problem that we could solve, but I'm not a software developer or a web designer. I needed help developing the software and building the product that I envisioned.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Designli is developing a mobile responsive website. We initially met for several hours to map out what everything would look like. They helped me figure out what slides would need to be created and what the screens would look like. As the process continued, they would do a bit of development and then send it to me for my feedback. They let me know when something I wanted to do was particularly challenging or costly. They make suggestions for ways to reduce the cost and keep the functionality. It was a lot of back and forth and walking through the solution step by step.

We're still in development but it's going to be a searchable database. They’re taking a massive amount of information from the trucking sector and compiling it into one searchable database to solve a particular pain point. Designli is creating the algorithms and the calculations behind all the data. The website will spit the data out in a user-friendly format that members of the industry will pay for.

Designli also designed our logo. I was already incorporated and had my name ready to go, so we discussed what a logo might look like. They sent me different options and I told them which ones I did or didn’t like. I ultimately selected a final logo design.

What is the team composition?

I regularly speak with both partners. I also interact directly with several of their developers.

How did you come to work with Designli?

I found them via a Google search. I was looking for a firm here in Greenville, SC. I found six local firms and asked each one for more information about what they do. Only three firms returned my call. I had a face-to-face interview with all three to see what they could provide and getting to know them personally. I was looking for a personal interaction, and that's why I chose Designli.

How much have you invested with them?

I've sent about $30,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2018 and the engagement is ongoing. We have plans to develop a mobile application next year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're still in development but I’m very satisfied so far. Their work is fantastic. The design of the platform is aesthetically pleasing and simple to use. It provides value to our users.

Their communication is fantastic. Especially as a non-tech person, it's truly helpful for them to break it down so I can understand what they're doing and where my money is being spent. It's been a really collaborative process. They will call, email, or text when they have questions about a particular feature and how it should operate. We speak once or twice a week all throughout the process.

How did Designli perform from a project management standpoint?

Their process is broken up into particular milestones. My project is about five milestones. They send me an estimate to let me know what they're doing in each milestone and what it will cost. Each week they provide updates on where they're at in terms of the schedule. They also send out a weekly communication asking for a score on how they did as an internal report card.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m extremely happy that it feels personal and is more than just ones and zeros. It's a smaller firm, which I like because I can drop by their office and sit down with the partners. If I think up a new feature or modification, I can drop by their office the very next day and talk it through and get their input. They quickly let me know what it would mean to the development from a cost and a timing standpoint. They understand my company and what I'm trying to do.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I'm a startup so any cost savings would be fantastic, however, that's not a complaint. I'm happy with what they're doing, and I'll continue using them now and in the future.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Do your homework. Make sure that whatever company you choose to develop your software platform is experienced in that area. Then get to know the team. As a smaller company, Designli may not be able to push the product as quickly as a larger firm. However, I like working with fellow entrepreneurs. For me, they’re a good fit.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder of a mobile app designed for the fitness industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Designli?

I had an idea for a fitness app and needed a company to build it for me.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I presented Designli with the concept for my app, and they researched to determine if any comparable or competitive app concepts already existed or were in development. I have no background in technology, so I rely on Designli for all wireframes and aspects of the design and development. They have been helpful in branding efforts as well, including designing a logo and helping me decide on a name.

The app is built only for iOS and allows users to request on-demand fitness training services with a professional in their area.

What is the team composition?

I primarily work with their COO and a partner, but they also have a design team.

How did you come to work with Designli?

A copywriter from an ad agency in town referred them to me.

How much have you invested with them?

To this point, I’ve spent around $22,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement began in March 2018 and is ongoing. We’re still in the design phase.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’ve been very impressed with their progress. Creating a brand identity has always been a challenge for me as a business owner, so I am thankful for their involvement in that regard in addition to their technical skills.

How did Designli perform from a project management standpoint?

It’s evident they have worked very hard on their business process, and it’s impressive. They send follow-up emails after every meeting or phone conversation to summarize what we’ve decided and what the next steps are.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They do an incredible job of listening to my ideas and determining how to make them a reality. Considering the knowledge they have, those conversations are streamlined and concise. I have never left a meeting unsure of what we accomplished. They have made me feel so comfortable in this unfamiliar space.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I am completely satisfied with their work.

Any advice for potential customers?

Come to the table with ideas that they can groom into a workable concept, and trust them that they will deliver a quality product.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of Rebecca Heiss, LLC and I'm in the process of developing a self-awareness app that allows users to receive more frequent feedback from employers, without the employer's expense of hiring a consultant.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Designli?

I engaged Designli to put together a prototype of the app I wanted to build and, eventually, develop.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I initially sat down with Designli to go over my vision for the app and they conducted what they call a “solutions lab,” in which they were able to walk me through the design of each screen and go over the associated costs in advance. This roadmap allowed me to see how much I would be spending on each step and what I could expect for a timeline. Then, they designed a logo and the UX of the app, creating a working prototype that I could show potential investors. 

What is the team composition?

I work directly with Keith (CEO, Designli) and Joshua (COO, Designli).

How did you come to work with Designli?

Initially, I hadn't considered any local companies, but I decided to reach out to them after one of my business advisers recommended them. When I reached out to Keith, he agreed to meet with me for coffee the next day and we started working together just a week later.

How much have you invested with them?

I've invested about $20,000 thus far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2018 and I plan to continue working with Designli on the full build of the app shortly.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I've been thoroughly impressed at every stage of their work. They've delivered above and beyond my expectations. They've even gone out of their way to make introductions for me, showing my app to potential investors.

How did Designli perform from a project management standpoint?

They're very responsive whenever I have a question or need to reach them, and flexible when it comes to working around my busy schedule. They're also receptive to my feedback and willing to make changes or rework designs when I have new ideas.

Their communication and timeliness are excellent. I recently spoke at a trade show and asked their team to speed up the delivering of the project, so I could start showing it to potential investors, and they were able to accommodate that.

To stay organized, they share the design phases of the app with me through InVision, and communicate mostly through Basecamp. They also send me a weekly update, so I know what they're working on.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their “solutions lab” service was incredibly helpful and really sets them apart from other vendors. During that process, they walked me through any potential complications, asked questions that I hadn't considered from a design perspective, and laid out the costs associated with each step. It's difficult to find a vendor willing to break down the steps and pricing like that. That process gave me the confidence to progress with the project, knowing that we'd covered all the potential challenges we'd face before we got started or already invested a lot of money.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of surcee.com. We’re a giving and sharing platform that provides a way for individuals to create profiles that have things they like, care about, might want as presents, and charities they support. It will give some really good information about who they are so others can access it and get a perfect gift or share money with their charities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Designli?

I had absolutely no idea what the first step would be. I’m in medical devise sales, I’ve always worked for a company, and this was just an idea I had that I thought could work. I didn’t know if every one of my ideas was doable or scalable, so I needed someone who could go through the web and app development process logically and help me prove the concept along the way.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve been involved since day one, and I’ve never done anything that didn’t involve them. We’re probably two months away from having a web-based application ready, but we have a home page right now that gives information about what we will be and lets people sign up for the mailing list and updates. We also have plans to build an Android and iPhone app, but I need to raise more money for that.

This was a big-time shared vision. I had some potential logos and colors, and they gave me options for everything. If I gave them a logo, they brought me back five that were similar but looked better. If I had five smaller ideas within the big idea, there would be three that would be no problem, one that we could do another way and get what we wanted, and a fifth that, maybe, we had to save for down the road. Everything was collaborative, from colors to actual verbiage that’s on the site and functionality.

They’ve helped me with some of the marketing aspects of it, whether it be a Facebook page or the waiting list, but they’ve always said that marketing isn’t in their scope of work. Their focus is on building the site, and maintaining it once it is built, but they’ll give me advice since they’ve done it before and know how to avoid certain problems.

What is the team composition?

My two contacts are Josh, the technical contact, and Keith, who’s more on the business side. I’ve only talked to them, but there’s a team of four or five people that are building the site at one time or another.

How did you come to work with Designli?

It was a referral from another company. The other people I talked to wanted me to go for a build that I hadn’t even seen blueprints for. They said they could build anything I wanted if I had the right amount of money, but that’s not what I was looking for. I didn’t want to give out a big chunk of money and then find out that my idea wasn’t what I thought it could or should be. Ironically, one of the companies I didn’t work with told me that there was another company in town that used a process similar to what I wanted.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent $120,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since December 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I wouldn’t be where I am with this today if it weren’t for them. We're not up and running yet—probably within the next two months or so—but Designli has been instrumental in building the platform for me.

There’ve been many instances where, even though there were barriers in the way, they were able to make an idea in my head happen. It isn’t exactly how I conceived it, but that wasn’t because of an inability of theirs; I just don’t want to be an e-commerce site or handle money yet.

How did Designli perform from a project management standpoint?

I get a report every Friday saying what they’ve done this week, what they’re looking at for next week, and where they are with my spend. It’s very easy to keep up with that they’re accomplishing because they’re so transparent with everything. I don’t have to call them and ask them what they got done because they’re always sending it to me.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Josh and Keith, the team I work with, are brilliant at what they do. They’re a good team because they each have different roles and do them well together. You’re getting a lot of experience and knowledge from people who have been there before and know how to do it. That’s where Designli is head and shoulders above the rest. With them, one plus one equals three.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of delivery services at NexGen Utility Solutions, a utility service provider.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Designli?

We needed a mobile application for data collection in the field. We had the app built by another company two years ago, but that company folded. We needed to find a company to redesign and build a new version of the app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided them with the workflow of what we wanted in the app. We also gave them the various pages in the application, as well as which fields needed to be mapped to our database. They gave us feedback on areas where they saw potential for improvement. Then they designed and built a native iOS app. Designli did some QA testing on their end. Our team led the final testing for acceptance, using real life scenarios.

As part of their fieldwork, our technicians collect data from different sites using an iPhone. The app collects GPS coordinates and barcodes on installed devices. The most important feature is its ability to work offline. The app collects the data when our technicians are in bad cellular areas, and then transfers the data once they’re back on the network.

What is the team composition?

There’s an overall project manager, as well as a project manager for the programming side. Two or three programmers work on our projects.

How did you come to work with Designli?

Because our team uses Apple iPhones as handheld devices in the field, we knew we wanted to build a native iOS app. We also wanted to find a local company so we had the option to meet in person.

I searched on the Apple site for developers and came across Designli. They’re based in Greenville, South Carolina, and I work out of Charlotte, North Carolina. They’d built a lot of native iOS apps, which we liked. I gave them a call, and we hit it off right from the beginning.

How much have you invested with them?

I don't know the exact number, but I’d estimate we’ve spent in excess of $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2018. They’ve completed two projects. We're currently working on a third, and getting ready to kick off a fourth.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality of their work is excellent. One goal of the app is to reduce the amount of time our technicians spend in the field, but I don’t have exact metrics yet. However, big wins for us are that it collects data in an efficient manner and we don't lose any data when the phone is offline. Our technicians love the app. It’s very clean, and everything works smoothly.

They've done everything that we've asked for. We give them a scope of work and they deliver on it. They work with us if we have fixes or enhancements that need to be made.

How did Designli perform from a project management standpoint?

The team is great. They send a report every Friday that gives us an update on their progress. It shows where they're at for each individual product, the number of hours spent, and the number of hours left on the estimate. They're always available for a call, and are very good about communicating. In particular, they give good feedback on ways to improve the projects.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Ease of doing business is very important to our company. We want that “warm, fuzzy feeling” with our partners. We got that feeling with Designli right from the beginning. We felt that we can trust their work and talk to them. We just hit it off in every way.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the e-commerce manager of GoodTwice, a company based in South Carolina. We select high-end brand items from clothing donations and sell them online at fixed prices.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Designli?

We wanted to build a responsive, intuitive e-commerce app. In addition, our previous developers had set up our Magento platform improperly, leading to slow speeds and database issues.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Designli was originally contracted to develop our native iOS and Android apps. After they began work, they noticed a lot of other issues with our current database setup and web servers. We let them take over the whole infrastructure.

We gave them a list of apps that provided shopping experiences similar to the one we wanted. Designli methodically broke those down into parts, providing time and cost estimates for each one. This made it easy for us to select and reject components based on our budget. These included front-page sliders for our latest products divided into subcategories. We also discussed the placement of our checkout button. It needed to pop up after an item had been added to remind people that they needed to complete their purchase.

One of the challenging items was our store credit, which we provide as an alternative to refunds. Designli built a page where customers can see their store credit balance and the products associated with it.

We needed to make our app and web page more dynamic. Specifically, we wanted to upgrade from a static banner to a dynamic one that we could update ourselves. They built a tool that enabled us to upload banners, rotate them at set intervals, and create different animated transitions. We can immediately change our banners to match any upcoming sales.

They manage our Amazon Web Services (AWS) servers, domains, and database for our production and testing environments. They also manage our mobile platform and anything related to the Magento backend.

They’ve also designed our frontend and made proactive improvements. Designli constantly looks for areas that can be improved.

They have offered digital marketing and branding services, but we had an existing agency for those. Their team has worked with our marketing provider.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with Keith [CEO, Designli] and Joshua [COO, Designli], along with their main developer, who was our contact for any technical issues.

How did you come to work with Designli?

We searched the Greenville, South Carolina area for mobile app developers, and Designli was one of the top online results. We contacted three companies and viewed their presentations. Designli was our preferred choice.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost of their work has been $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We first met with Designli in July 2017, and they took over the project several months later. We have an ongoing maintenance and improvements agreement with a set number of hours each month. We’re planning to build another large feature within a year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After only a few weeks of work on our database and web servers, Designli sped up our site tremendously. Page load times went down from 20 seconds to less than two, which was essential for retaining customers.

Our sales have also gone up since we started working with them. Since we had been plagued with numerous site issues and other factors, we only had $3,000 in sales for the period between June and September. After Designli took over, our sales went up by 300%.

Everyone has told us that the new version of the site is completely different than the old one and that the user experience has improved.

How did Designli perform from a project management standpoint?

They beat the deadlines set for the mobile development. The project was finished early, on budget, and exactly like we wanted it. When we went to them with a request, they executed as per our vision.

The other developer we used didn’t try to write down our discussion points, so many of them were forgotten. We constantly had to remind them of things that fell out of the scope. Designli follows up with a detailed email after every meeting or random call, detailing everything we discussed and everything they committed to. Each objective is listed as a bullet point, from the very complex to the most trivial items. This shows that they care about every detail and never forget our requirements. We track most of our tasks in Basecamp. It may be because our previous developer was so bad, but Designli has exceeded all our expectations.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve been impressed with their thoroughness and efficiency. Designli follows up each one of our conversations with an email outlining all the tackled topics.

Our marketing provider has also praised their team. It was previously tedious for them to change anything on the design end, so Designli setup an efficient pipeline for those tasks.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Any company looking for a developer should involve all the right people from the outset. Involving only a single department means seeing only their side of things, which can result in doing things on the cheap.

In turn, that can lead to paying more than you would have if all the right people had been involved from the start. It’s important to identify every single department that should be a part of the process and make an informed decision about your provider.

It’s easy to only look at the cost, but plenty of ambitious and inexperienced developers will get in over their heads. We will end up paying for them to have a learning experience, rather than paying them to develop a product.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am a teammate of an automotive company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Digitalization gas stations

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Digitalization user experience when filling up gas

SOLUTION

How did you find Designli?

• Referral

Why did you select Designli over others?

• Referred to me

How many teammates from Designli were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

To create the design and prototype of digitalizing user experience while filling up gas

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Progress was measured through weekly status reports and calls. Success was the final product which met our expectations.

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

Project management was exceptional, collaborative and met all deadlines.

What was your primary form of communication with Designli?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their capabilities and exceptional collaboration

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

I think they were great. My only advice would be to keep up the great work