Digital Natives

BACKGROUND

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

SOLUTION

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a department manager for a company that manufactures and distributes laboratory consumables. The laboratories use our products for different tests, examinations, and analyses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Natives?

We were developing a website, but our development company didn’t provide design services, so we needed help with the UI/UX design side of the project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Digital Natives designed our website. This project was linked to a rebranding project for our business that we had recently undertaken. We had created a new branding for our company, so we tasked Digital Natives to redesign our website by implementing the new branding. Moreover, we wanted to take this opportunity to improve its functionality.

Initially, we had a briefing meeting to discuss the project. Then, Digital Natives did a UX audit of our existing website and came up with a series of recommendations for the new one. After that, they took our brand guidelines, information, and requirements to start working on the redesign process. Digital Natives redesigned the key pages of our website one by one, according to our requirements, and they also created new sections as needed.

Our site is both a corporate website and a B2B e-commerce store, so companies can buy our products online. The e-commerce side of it was an important feature we wanted Digital Natives to keep in mind because we have more than 1,000 products on our site.

On the corporate side, the site also has information about the company, news, and events, as well as our contact information. It also features our scientific publications and products catalog.  Overall, it’s quite a comprehensive website.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager and a design team from Digital Natives. Our two main points of contact were the project manager and the lead designer. However, I’m not sure how many people were on the design team.

How did you come to work with Digital Natives?

They were recommended to us by the company who was developing our website.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around €20,000 (approximately $21,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We had our briefing meeting in July 2022 and started working on the project around August 2022. The whole redesign process took about two and a half months; Digital Natives finished the design process in November, and we finally launched the website in December 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our website redesign was one of the key elements of our rebranding because it’s the most visible part of our business. Thus, we not only wanted it to have our new brand, but we also wanted it to be beautiful and easy to use to provide a flawless UX. The result fulfilled our expectations, and the new website has been very well-received by users, who have provided very positive feedback.

Thanks to our new site, our traffic has increased, and we haven’t lost any customers. Moreover, it was very important for us to switch websites overnight to avoid impacting customers, for which all the features on our new website had to work well once it went live. Thankfully, we haven’t received any complaints about the purchase processing or any other feature for that matter.

How did Digital Natives perform from a project management standpoint?

Digital Natives met our deadlines and delivered within budget. Our communication was very good, which was important due to our tight deadlines. Throughout the process, we had weekly updates on Wednesdays. However, if I had any requests throughout the week, they incorporated those requests by the next meeting at most to avoid losing time.

As for collaboration tools, we mostly communicated with Digital Natives via email, and we held our meetings over Microsoft Teams. Additionally, they presented the website designs each week on Figma.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Digital Natives was very nice and professional. Our communication was very easy, and they understood our needs and requirements very well. Initially, I told them that we didn’t need a complex redesign; we just needed to focus on our website’s key elements. They understood this very well and highlighted our site’s key points. Moreover, they didn’t lose time providing something we didn’t ask for.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Due to the fast pace of the project, Digital Natives accidentally overlooked some requests from the previous week and had some minor confusion regarding those requests. However, they always corrected their mistakes quickly.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend working with Digital Natives; we had a very good experience. Still, I don’t have any particular advice. I can only recommend them to similar companies with similar needs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and CEO of International Growth Partners. We developed a SaaS product, which is a conversational commerce as a service product.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Natives?

We spoke to Digital Natives about hiring developers that we could fully integrate into our team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Digital Natives provides us with developers with the appropriate skillsets to help with our software development efforts. We started the engagement by laying out the structure that we wanted to build to ensure that it was feasible. After that, Digital Natives supplied us with four developers that matched our requirements. We had a one-day onboarding session with the developers to make sure that they fit our company’s culture. From there, we fully integrated the developers into our tech stack and team.

We build everything in Svelte, a JS framework. On top of that, everything we do is edge computing-based, so we use Cloudflare and Cloud. The product itself is a conversational commerce suit, which is focused on producing automated sales advisors. It collects the user's product database and shop connector, among other things, and it enriches that data in search campaigns as well as social campaigns. That data is then compiled into a learning model that Dialogflow and other systems are capable of deploying and also using.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with four developers from Digital Natives.

How did you come to work with Digital Natives?

We found Digital Natives through a referral from one of our investors.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent approximately €250,000 (Approximately $250,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re currently in the process of rolling the software out with two of our pilot clients. Overall, we’re very happy with the results.

How did Digital Natives perform from a project management standpoint?

Digital Natives has performed well in terms of project management. They lead a simple, straightforward workflow, and they’re highly involved in our sprints.

We use Trello, Notion, and Pivotal Tracker for project management. For communication, we use Zoom, Google Meet, and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

At the beginning of the project, we had a project manager who was experienced in AI. He was able to provide insights and recommendations for the solution. This was a good thing to make sure that the product and tech roadmap that our CTO designed is going in a direction that someone else who is pretty skilled on their end would also consider appropriate.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They had to replace one developer, which was crucial for us at that time. This ended up adding a week or two to the development time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of IT at Good360 Australia. We’re a nonprofit organization.
 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Natives?

We hired them to design an MVP for a mobile app that we were looking to develop.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We first went through a discovery phase to define the scope of the project. After that, Digital Natives proceeded with the work, focusing on the UI/UX design of the mobile app — we had two different user journeys within the app. Also, we provided them with basic wireframes and ideas, and they used those to come up with the initial scoping of the design wireframe. They used Figma to present the designs.
 
What is the team composition?

We initially worked with two people from their side, but after the discovery phase, we only worked with one.

How did you come to work with Digital Natives?

They were recommended to us by our Magento development team. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent under $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on this project together from November 2021–February 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t launched the app yet, but we had a good working relationship with them. They were always very engaged and willing to accommodate our change requests. Also, we were pretty happy with their designs, which received positive feedback from our internal team.

How did Digital Natives perform from a project management standpoint?

They met every deadline and communicated with us through Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed with their ability to implement updates quickly. They were also good at listening to our needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Come up with what you want and try to communicate that clearly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CTO of Swapp (https://joinswapp.com), a car rental and subscription platform operating in Europe and Middle East.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Swapp had an already established business of monthly car rentals and we wanted to extend our offering to cover daily rentals as well. We have asked Digital Natives to build a web frontend based on the designs we provided and connect it to our backend.

SOLUTION

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

We looked around for agencies with track record of building customer-facing digital services that are designed for mobile web first. Digital Natives came across as a competent group of developers who can not only develop a solution but do it with a user-first approach, thriving to create a great UX.

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

We started working together with Digital Natives by providing them our proposed design and access to our infrastructure. We had weekly meetings where we aligned on what they should build next for the frontend and what backend services we are building internally alongside. They were flexible to change plans whenever we requested. When they had questions they reached out on chat in a timely and effective manner. They were also autonomous enough to be able to progress without much help.

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

A project manager and 3 frontend engineers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After connecting the frontend developed by Digital Natives to our backend systems, we were able to launch our Daily car rental service in Dubai integrated with one of our partners, Careem. We saw quick adoption, 100+ rentals just within the first few 2 weeks.

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

Project management was smooth, we had a tracker with delivered items we could check along with the code as they were developing. Communication relied on a weekly briefing and some ad-hoc meetings plus written chat.

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

They were asking the right questions and when encountering a problem they presented alternative solutions. They provided simple and fast solutions, which were much appreciated than complex and slow.

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

Maybe a little more push from them to release as early as possible to a limited set of users so we can get real user feedback.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the digital channel and sales director at a telecom company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Natives?

We decided to rebrand our company. We needed a digital partner to support us with branding and web design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Digital Natives created our digital design system and several visionary designs for our application and website. They were responsible for the translation of the brand assets to digital. Another agency created the brand guidelines. We had a vast portal for each country, and they rebranded all of them. Digital Natives provided the initial design and guidance and supported each country in the localization process. They created Engish masters that we adapted to the local needs when necessary.

We started with a discovery phase with data analysis and customer analysis, where they better understood our customer base, their behavior, and needs. We focused on the home page, sales journey, and application. We wanted them to develop a functional design proposal that also aligned with our new brand values, so they used a value-based design approach. The team only worked on the design part.

Our design requirements were mainly in line with the new brand values. We wanted something simple, easy to use, and playful. Previously, our brand was less exciting; we wanted something vibrant for our customer base. The usability aspect also had to be considered so it could work and increase the conversion rates.

We followed them throughout the process. By the end of our collaboration, they finished a whole digital system, including all the necessary aspects so our internal users could create independent landing pages, campaigns, and more. In addition to this original scope, they also made several assets — such as icons or dark mode for the application — and supported us in creating the landing pages for the launch campaign we had for our new brand. Also, we collaborated on some B2B aspects that we applied later on.

What is the team composition?

They have a dedicated team of 5–8 people. The account manager is our main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Digital Natives?

We searched online and created a pool of potential international vendors. We asked for end-to-end information and then went through a classic RFQ process. In the end, they turned out to be the best suitable for our needs.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent €200,000 (approximately $209,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2021. The project has ended, but we’re still engaged in other activities.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The timely delivery was crucial for us because we worked with a rigorous deadline — we needed to achieve it. Also, everything needed to be user-friendly. We set up a KPI for customer effort score. They measure the easiness of the journey, performing well. On the other hand, our colleagues can easily understand the concept, and we’ve received excellent feedback from internal users.

How did Digital Natives perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re a perfect partner. They meet all the deadlines and are super flexible. We communicate through Teams.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Initially, we were worried about their size and whether they could handle our vast scope. Although they’re a boutique agency, they show amazing quality. Moreover, they’re super motivated to work with us. Their support is outstanding, and they’re professional.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their team fluctuated, which caused some operational challenges at the beginning of the program. Not everyone on their team was prepared for the international operation.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very open-minded. Trust them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a founder of a new technology venture looking at portfolio management software for the asset management and hedge fund communities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Digital Natives to produce the front-end web application for a prototype version of the software that would be used to convince investors to invest.

SOLUTION

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

We looked at a number of custom software developers in eastern Europe. We selected Digital Natives due to the professionalism of their approach during the sales process, and the confidence in them that ensued as a result, a competitive but realistic quote and friendly and knowledge people.

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

Following the kick-off meeting, a wireframe and specification of the API endpoints were provided. We then went through a few iterations of design based on the wireframes but concluded that quickly. Following that it was straight into development with regular releases made available for review. Final testing and final tweaks and we were done.

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

3: senior developer, UX/UI designer and project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project delivered a very demonstrable prototype which is helping us to raise funding for the full project.

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

From the outset a Slack chat channel was set up so all progress in the project was quickly communicated and issues/questions could be raised and discussed. Very efficient.

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

The prototype was delivered on time and within budget, and we built a strong working relationship with the team at Digital Natives, this being a cruicial factor int he success of the project.

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

I think for this size of project Digital Natives took a versatile and intelligent approach which delivered exactly what we were looking for.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of TrustWim AG, a digital data solutions provider.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Natives?

We needed their team to build our mobile and web-based applications.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had in-depth meetings with Digital Natives’ account manager, CEO, and CTO to discuss the implementation plan and plot our timelines. We then collaborated with their team to devise the initial design of our platforms. We provided them with most of the content and company information, and their team has implemented UI/UX solutions to integrate our content and design preferences into the apps.

Digital Natives developed our apps’ front- and backend using Figma, focusing on building core features such as a QR code scanner and display- and exchange functions. They also incorporated digital payment methods and ensured our users’ privacy with secure personal data features.

What is the team composition?

We mainly worked with Digital Natives’ designers, project managers, and developers. Occasionally, we got in touch with their management team to discuss contract rules and payments.

How did you come to work with Digital Natives?

We found their team online while searching for potential agencies to onboard for this project. Our team needed a provider with seamless UX skills offered at a reasonable price point, and Digital Natives met those qualifications.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from April–October 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Digital Natives delivered excellent solutions that met our expectations, design- and functionality-wise. Their team built reliable and high-quality applications that successfully sailed through rigorous rounds of product testings.

How did Digital Natives perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly communicated via Slack and conducted regular virtual meetings. I couldn’t say enough good things about Digital Natives’ project management skills — they deliver timely and cost-efficient solutions and quickly respond to our needs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were most impressed with their capacity to remain committed to delivering quality development work while managing the entire project impeccably.

Are there any areas they could improve?

None. We set high expectations for this project, and Digital Natives met all of those.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be transparent — it’s the only advice you’ll need after hiring their incredible team.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of a company called Sturm und Drang that specializes in marine electronic and propulsion systems.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We wanted to create a self service sales channel that we can market over google ads. Goal was to create a tool for the users that they can play with and if they are interested enough they will contact us to proceed with the sales. So this is basically an automated funnel

SOLUTION

How did you select Digital Natives and what were the deciding factors?

• cost / value ratio
• references
•  past experience
• toolset they use
• marketing driven approach
• professional workforce

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

Agile approach, regular online meetigs Tech stack:

single page application

1. react framework
2. prismic.io cms

CI process Deliverables:

1. depolment guide
2. admin guide
3. source repo
4. passed tests

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

• main contract was a project manager, that left during the process, the new PM adapted nicely
• also worked with the UX designer
• and with the programmer to track down bugs and clarify documentation

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In the first few weeks we immediately received solid sales leads. We are happy with the outcome, it has been online ever since

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

Nostromo.io for task management and communication, Google sheet and an electronic signoff tool for document management We only exceeded the budget because of new requirments. The timelines were kept (apart from small delays due to the said new requirements)

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

Their toolset is up to date, easy to deploy, manage and later add new features to. They were helpful and provided extended support during the golive phase.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Maybe a little better time management

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the former CEO of a computer software and infrastructure development company. We were a startup of five people.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Digital Natives?

Digital Natives provided UI design and development services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Digital Natives worked on two of our products, including our website. Their designer designed our webpages, and they also handled site development. They created the HTML version of the site. 

We had JavaScript programmers on our side, so we implemented the logic into the site, and their task was to deliver the static site. The website was created in Hugo, which is written in the programming language Go. We used Go for all of our products.

What is the team composition?

As far as I remember, there were 3–4 people: a designer, a project manager, and two developers who worked on the site build.

How did you come to work with Digital Natives?

We knew them because one of our colleagues worked there. We’d heard a lot of good things about them, which is why we chose to work with them.

How much have you invested in them?

It was $30,000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them on long-term tasks in August 2019, and it lasted about a year. They did smaller tasks for us before 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Digital Natives was good. I would recommend them to others. After the delivery, we didn’t have too many problems.

How did Digital Natives perform from a project management standpoint?

We had weekly meetings and used Jira for project management. We had some problems with the project manager, but we were able to manage that and, in the end, we were satisfied with them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

My company needed design and development resources, so their ability to provide those was the biggest value. The way they delivered the project and managed it was okay.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I believe they offered one design resource. If they had other designers, we might’ve had more choices. However, this wasn’t a big disadvantage, as we were satisfied with the designer we worked with.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They are pros — I would recommend them.