Dreamten

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I run digital experience at a direct-to-consumer air filter company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dreamten?

They function as our external UI/UX resource, helping us with our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us revamp our existing site, now offering ad hoc support as needed. Recently, we’ve been working with them to design new functionality that we’ll eventually take into our code. For every wireframe and design they build our for us, they also create a prototype version that helps us visualize an end product.  

What is the team composition?

I work with three people directly, including their design lead, UX lead, and principal.

How did you come to work with Dreamten?

They were brought before I started my time here. Our former CTO knew them personally and vetted them for quality. They’ve never needed to move in a different direction.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $125,000 on their services to date.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve worked with them since 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t been tracking many metrics, but we’ve done plenty of user testing on the products to make sure that people find them user-friendly and navigable.  

How did Dreamten perform from a project management standpoint?

We typically communicate at length over email, but we also use a Slack channel for quick questions. Because their office is a convenient two blocks away from us, we meet in person bi-weekly. For feedback, we’re able to make comments directly in shared Envision files.  

They often work faster than we need them to. Their team is also great at checking in with us to ensure that everything is being carried out well. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They always have a reason for each aspect of their site layouts. Their team understands how users behave.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

Since I took over the account, they’ve been great. They’re easy to get ahold of, and the quality has always been great.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clearly define your goals. They can help you scope out deliverables if you have a good idea of what you’re trying to accomplish. For instance, providing them personas or audience demographics would really help them in their work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a health tech company that helps companies plan and design their clinical trials using artificial intelligence. I’m the director of product here.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dreamten?

We wanted to improve the UI/UX of our product.  

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Dreamten executed user flows and technical flows before creating wireframes and ultimately delivering a high-fidelity prototype. After constructing the UI of our product, they conducted user testing to gather feedback.

In addition to that, they consulted with us regarding the product’s functionalities. They provided an outsider’s perspective on how our service offering could be enhanced.

While we didn’t hire them for branding, they advised us on how to update our brand. They gave us some inspiration on how we’d establish our company style. They even rolled out a style guide for us to adhere to in the future.

What is the team composition?

I worked with one full-time teammate, and one part-time member.

How did you come to work with Dreamten?

I found them through Clutch, where I saw that they had good reviews. I reached out to them and felt comfortable with their abilities so I decided to move forward with them.

How much have you invested with them?

I think we’ve spent $45,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December and the work is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve received great feedback from users, who have praised it for looking way sleeker than other products in the space. We’ve heard great things about the product’s usability; since many competing products are extremely complex and require huge manuals, it’s great that people have found it easy to navigate. The engagement exceeded our expectations.

How did perform from a project management standpoint?

They were fantastic. While it might sound cliché, they really did feel like an extension of our own team. We called them “our” designers because they were always available and constantly communicative. From the very beginning, they showed a willingness to adapt to our processes.

I handled the formal side of project management, but we communicate daily on Slack and have 3–4 calls every week.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their technical expertise definitely exceeded our expectations. When we first hired them, we couldn’t find any robust portfolio of theirs, so we were taking a leap of faith. Their eye for UI/UX design has turned out to be phenomenal.

Their strongest suit, though, is integrating themselves into the company culture. They’re excellent communicators who will deliver upon all tasks before it’s due. They’ll bring up any issues they come across. They feel like they’re a part of your company—as opposed to an outsourced provider that may or may not deliver.

Are there any areas they could improve?

While it’s not their fault, we live on different coasts of the US, so the three-hour time difference is sometimes challenging. Performance-wise, there’s nothing I can think of.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take some time to familiarize them with your product, your people, and your processes. Once they gain a good understanding of your company, they’re able to run with it. Spend a couple of days—maybe even fly them out—so that you can have them be a part of your culture.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing partner at Rondaxe Pharma, a consultancy for pharmaceutical manufacturing. We assist small biotech companies and multi-national pharmaceutical clients, from early development through commercial manufacturing. We provide software tools to assist clients with data management, cost of goods, productivity analysis, and other features.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dreamten?

My company needed help designing our new software module, which we call the tech transfer tool. Our existing interface was crowded with various search and site functions, which caused a drill down problem. We had a good development team, but we didn’t have in-house designers. We hired Dreamten to design a more modern and streamlined user experience.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Dreamten is designing the UI and UX of our new module. They proposed a way to move excess pop-ups and functions to the side of the screen, so that our interface isn’t so crowded.

My team does user testing. Once we’re satisfied with the design concepts, we’ll likely have Dreamten modernize our other modules.

What is the team composition?

We work with Philip (Founder and Creative Director, Dreamten). I believe two other people from his team have contributed to the project.

How did you come to work with Dreamten?

While searching for design agencies online and speaking to contacts in the software industry, my company’s head of development came across Dreamten. He liked their business model, which didn’t require that we commit to a long-term project; instead, we could work in increments to see if we liked working with them or not. We hired them based on their design expertise and quality of work.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $25,000–$30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work together began in April 2019, and it is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

My team is very happy with Dreamten’s work and the progress they’ve made. We are definitely going in the right direction. I think this module will gain traction outside of our user base.

How did Dreamten perform from a project management standpoint?

They communicate and manage their time well. We use InVision.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Dreamten proposes great ideas that we wouldn’t have thought of. They understood our crowded interface problem and resolved it. Our module wouldn’t function without Dreamten’s work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They initially pushed us to use their marketing and advertising services, but when we told them we weren’t interested, they understood.

Any advice for potential customers?

You need to identify what problems you want Dreamten to fix.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the CEO of a SaaS startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dreamten?

We engaged Dreamten to help us redesign some of our products to make them more user-friendly.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Dreamten redesigned our web app, including all of its pages and its functionality. They used technologies that included Ruby on Rails and probably React Native, simplifying and reorganizing the user experience. They also set up improved analytics so we could more easily see KPIs, and designed marketing ads as needed.

What is the team composition? 

Philp (Creative Director, Dreamten) was our main point of contact, but there were other designers and developers working on our account as well. 

How did you come to work with Dreamten?

They were recommended by some friends of mine who had worked with them in the past, and I was very impressed by Phil and his team after meeting them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September 2018–February 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our customers were blown away by the new designs Dreamten helped us rollout. The new user experience improved the speed of the onboarding process and reduced the amount of training and customer support we needed to provide. More importantly, our customers are getting more value out of our web apps thanks to their efforts. 

How did Dreamten perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great throughout the whole project. We're not the easiest client to work with, but they were very flexible, patient, and understanding; they hit our deadlines despite any changes we made to the scope. We held regular conference calls and built the prototype on Marvel, so we could provide instant feedback on their designs.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They looked for areas they could deliver more value to our customers. Their ability to design beautiful interfaces and understand the business goals behind them allowed for a more strategic approach to the overall design.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't think so. We plan to work with them again when we're ready to incorporate new features. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be honest and open with their team about the company's goals and then trust the process they present.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of products at a B2B software company. We develop software for companies that want more feedback from their end users.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dreamten?

We needed help with product design for a user feedback application.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Dreamten has provided two designers that support two different in-house feature teams with high-fidelity design. Our feature teams are comprised of four to five engineers, a product manager, and a designer. Dreamten’s designers fulfill that role for two of our teams and communicate directly with those teams. The designers work primarily remotely. Sometimes we have them come onsite to brainstorm and develop wireframes for more complicated projects.

We don’t have a specific process for the work. For smaller features, they’ll often go straight into development of the high-fidelity designs. For larger projects, we’ll work on the specifications together. They’ll start with low to medium fidelity wireframes to make sure the information architecture or calls to action are effective. Once we feel confident, they’ll do the high-fidelity designs to hand off to the engineers. They post all their assets in a central repository.

What is the team composition?

We work directly with two designers.

How did you come to work with Dreamten?

We searched on Dribbble, a site that showcases designers, to find who the most-followed designers were in our area. I reached out to them having reviewed their work on the site. We discussed and determined that the scope we needed was the equivalent of two full-time designers.  

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2019, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Dreamten’s designers’ work is on par with the talent I’ve encountered in the Bay Area, which attracts some of the best designers in the world. They have strong opinions but are also open to feedback. They understand what the product teams need to validate features and do a good job of balancing form and function. They’re thoughtful in their approach to design, and their high-fidelity work looks excellent.

How did Dreamten perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate via Slack, and sometimes they come onsite. They’re responsive; we’ve never had a problem getting a hold of them. They stick to timelines and communicate their expected deadlines. They do what they say they’ll do. They can prioritize effectively and efficiently manage the work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We're building an experience that doesn't have an exact analogy in the marketplace. One of their biggest strengths is their ability to quickly understand what it is we're trying to validate and turn around designs that can help us confirm our hypothesis. They’re proactive and feel integrated into our team. They’re solving the problems with us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing that jumps out.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have them onsite at the outset so that you can really walk through your entire product in detail. We did an abridged version of that upfront followed by a couple more sessions afterward. It led to a few miscommunications that we could have mitigated if we’d brought them in for longer at the kick-off.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Freedom United. Our website is the world’s largest online anti-trafficking and anti-slavery community.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dreamten?

Although we’re a market leader, we spent several years focused on our work while neglecting our online presence. We needed a vendor to help us tell our organization’s story. Additionally, we wanted to deepen our community’s interaction with one another. With hundreds of thousands of people doing advocacy individually, there was an opportunity for more collective-based action.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with a discovery project to identify our UX, outline the scope, and define the approach. We considered the taxonomy of the website, home page, and primary internal pages. Each of these smaller projects fed into the larger plan, which included both redesigns and new concepts from scratch.

Since design work began, we’ve used a collaborative approach for filesharing and concept reviews. After launching the homepage, we’re shifting focus to strategy. The team sits in on phone calls that aren’t relevant to the scope, but help them better understand our organization and stakeholders. They leverage this information for ongoing strategy and UI designs.

What is the team composition?

We work with the founder and project manager. The founder is our primary contact and leads strategy.

How did you come to work with Dreamten?

We found them through a local referral. We wanted to engage Dreamten after speaking with the CEO because he was incredibly passionate about our work. That was a big deal for us as a nonprofit. Before formally hiring them, we gave them a small logo design project. We hired them for the redesign because their design was incredibly thoughtful and professional.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $25,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Work started in January 2018 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After 20 years in e-commerce and web development, it was hard to find an agency that cared about the business mission in addition to ROI. But Dreamten is unparalleled. They do a great job balancing both concerns in their overall strategy. Three weeks after the homepage launch, year-over-year bounce rates and exit rates decreased by 13% and 16%, respectively.

How did Dreamten perform from a project management standpoint?

We switched from an hourly rate to a retainer because they’re very efficient. Since they feel like team members more than a vendor, I didn’t want to count minutes when they were happy to deepen their involvement with us. The new model has proved helpful for our ongoing objectives. They use InVision to share documentation. We communicate primarily via Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have three qualities that distinguish them. Dreamten has uncommon insight, world-class design work, and the ability to adapt design elements. Furthermore, they’re critical listeners that identify what’s most important. As a result, Dreamten is always right in their design recommendations; that aptitude has helped build our trusting relationship.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I've pushed the CEO to expand what they do beyond just UX and design. Due to their experience, they have a great grasp on marketing and user engagement. It’s great to stick with core competencies, but they certainly have the wherewithal to go beyond their current offerings. That would be a great expansion of their business. Otherwise, they’ve been stellar and I can’t recommend them highly enough.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Most clients hedge relationships with new vendors, but it’s worth investing time upfront to teach Dreamten about the business. Don’t be afraid to engage them at a deep level because they can handle the complexities. We trust them as our sole creative vendor.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the co-founders and partners of a consultancy that builds online education programs for large organizations. We help them to train their staff that is spread out all over the nation and all over the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dreamten?

We have an online marketplace that we built in the summer of 2016 and used once for an industry that is seasonal. We found that we needed to upgrade the system and wanted to do a complete review of our user interface, optimize it, and then add some additional features for some of our core constituents.

The people who work here are spread across a wide variety of different projects, and while we have enough knowledge of various components to produce the things we need, we really wanted to find somebody that had a deeper experience in UI/UX [user interface/user experience] than we have.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Dreamten first looked at our existing site application; they gave it an audit and pointed out some areas where we could be getting better results. Then, we worked together to identify some of the things that were most important to us in terms of our business objectives and to prioritize the tasks that we could potentially do to the site to improve it.

They wireframed the new components and, in some cases, they designed them as well. In other cases, they actually did some of the frontend coding for us. It’s also worth noting that throughout the entire process, they‘ve contributed to our thinking from a business standpoint and going over what things we might do to the site that could help us achieve our business goals rather than just focusing on the design problems that we were trying to solve.

What is the team dynamic?

We only interact with two team members, but there are at least four people that have worked on our projects.

How did you come to work with Dreamten?

I went to Dribble and looked for UI professionals that had a good, solid portfolio and experience. I found Philip [Founder, Dreamten] and contacted him and a few others. It turned out that Dreamten was across the street from us in the same American underground startup community. We met face to face and talked a little bit. There were a lot of things that I liked about them, including their process.

Clearly, Dreamten recognizes that there’s a link between the business goal and graphic design and coding. Philip, in particular, is really able to understand what we’re doing from a business standpoint and puts it into context. He has an encyclopedic level of knowledge of a huge variety of web apps and can draw on that as a reference. That’s a tremendous added value that he and his team bring to the process and it allows us to evaluate all of our options.

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested $60,000–$70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2017 and the work is ongoing. They continue to work on three discreet projects with us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Philip and his team led one part of a bigger multi-phase project for a very important client of ours. They were able to really take control and lead a vital part of that project from beginning to end. It wouldn’t really be possible or accurate to say that their work exclusively has led to subsequent work, but if they had failed or hadn’t done a good job, that probably would have impacted our ability to continue our work with this client.

Their work with us, for this client, has contributed to the strengthening of our relationship and new work with that client.

How did Dreamten perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re pretty good, but I wouldn’t say it’s their strongest suit. They use Envision a lot and then we mainly use email, text, and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their main strength is their formal, organized process to help translate business goals into user interface concepts. Secondly, they can add their intellectual contribution to the product itself based on their own experience both as business people and as UI designers. Third, they have a vast knowledge of a huge array of existing systems and sites that they’ve studied and learned, which they can call upon to help solve the myriad of little UI problems that you encounter on these types of projects. Those to me are their overall strengths.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not that I can think of. They’re very professional and our experience has been great. There have been times when we’ve had many meetings and we’ve kind of discussed all our priorities and on occasion, they’ll forget what some of the priorities are. So, when we come back into work we’ll find that somehow we didn’t capture or institutionalize some of the things that we said in these meetings.

It’s not a big issue and it may be due to the fact that we have a number of different projects that we’re working on together, so it’s easy to get things mixed up. If there’s anything to improve, it’s at making sure that they continue to do as good a job as possible and listen and write down the things that are really important to us so that they get reflected back into our work product. Overall, it’s a minor thing and doesn’t happen all the time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the project manager for a Trio modernization initiative. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dreamten?

We’re taking an existing version of a software product and converting it into a new web-based application with Dreamten’s assistance.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Dreamten is designing the UI for our new product based on our initial feedback. They publish iterations of the UI to Insight, and they may be using in-house resources for the development, but I’m not sure. They have a great collaborative approach that starts with a couple of initial designs and requests for feedback from everyone. They’re really good at communicating throughout the process and reaching out to involve us in different iterations. They are really in tune with what we were looking for.

I liked their approach in helping us find a starting point. They spent time asking about our preferences and likes and dislikes. Then, they came up with a design that fit our product really well based on that information gathering.

I deal primarily with Philip [Founder and Creative Director, Dreamten]. I don’t know how many other resources are assigned to the project. They initially quoted a longer-term project, but we were behind our schedule and needed something more rapid. Philip was able to work within our timeframe and understood that we didn’t need a big project. We needed to take a certain scope and get started. They helped us restructure the project based on our needs.

How did you come to work with Dreamten?

We interviewed a few UI/UX firms. Dreamten understood the scope of what we were asking for much better than other companies. We felt that they could meet our goals.

How much have you invested with Dreamten?

They’ll be billing us for time and materials. We’ve spent between $16,000 and $25,000. We’re still working with them, so I’m not sure what the final cost will be.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them within the last 8 weeks. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or impact of the engagement?

They’ve completed the design for our UI, and we’re extremely happy with it. They continue to consult with us whenever we have questions about different aspects of the design.

How did Dreamten perform from a project management standpoint?

This isn’t a long project. They came up with the UI over 4 weeks. We had calls twice a week during that time. Now, we have a call once a week.

What did you find most impressive about Dreamten?

Philip, our primary contact, is easy to talk to and bounce ideas off. We feel like he’s part of the project team, which helps when we’re brainstorming and working through challenges. He’s very accessible. We have a great working relationship.

Are there any areas Dreamten could improve?

No. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a managed services provider. We have responsibility for providing data center, managed services, and hosted services as well as recovery services for companies that range from Fortune 500 to Fortune 100 companies.

My role is working with the engineering team on operational support systems. We have responsibility for some the tools or systems that we use - our internal users manage our customer infrastructure, our core infrastructure and it’s a forward-facing environment that gives customer visibility into their infrastructure that we host or manage. That includes some systems that have been custom written in-house as well as commercial off the shelf products that we leverage internally and have customized at some level to be able to meet our unique business needs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dreamten?

Because we have and support some internal systems that were built in-house, we were looking to refresh those environments. One was a customer facing environment, and the other was one that is used by all of our internal customers - so employees of our company. We were looking for a partner that we could use to help bring a fresh look to our environment. While these are web based applications, they can’t be treated like another website. They also needed to have the right kind of element that would give people the comfort or familiarity so they can easily leverage them. When I say that I mean a lot of our users are customers and are familiar with social environments. Some things are unique to social environments that people are accustomed to using. We start to adapt those in some of our business applications so that the ease of use is there. They know how to use certain things - they know what they mean when they see them, and those were the kinds of attributes that we’re looking to bring into this internal application as well as the customer facing application. That was one of the key things. We were also very resource constrained. We wanted to get a partner that would be an additional set of hands to evolve our two web applications that were key to our ability for supporting our customers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We ended up using them for quite a bit. Initially, we brought Dreamten in to provide some design. Dreamten was largely responsible for revamping a look and design for a specific portion of the application. We ended up using them as well for our mobile applications. They did a lot of the design, look and feel, and all of the assets related to that. We did the backend, so they handed off all the front-end design elements to us. We used them for several different applications or portions of the system to redesign. As we bring in new features and functionalities, they were a resource to provide the design artifacts. They were responsible for the new look and feel of the systems that we’re using. We’re currently using them, and in this capacity, they are now working on a revamp of our tool because of some internal reorganization. We’re also bringing in and merging some other systems together. So, they’re responsible for the unified approach that we’re delivering as well. They’ve been very integral in the overall design concept and the artifact delivery as far as it relates to that. We went through storyboards, and now they’re getting to the point where they are delivering CSS [Cascading Style Sheets] and Javascript that are needed to allow the look and feel to be as they designed it. Then we do all the backend implementation.

The number of resources working on the project varies. We’ve probably had four at any one time working with us, but it depends on the body of work and time, and that has changed over the years. While we started out with something small and contained in one specific area of the system, we’ve been working on multiple things at once and two different applications. As the needs have increased, the number of people working on the team has increased as well.

How did you come to work with Dreamten?

I think it’s been three years. I think we found them on one of the design contract sites and looked at their work. I can’t remember what site it was, but we used a couple of them, and we reviewed samples of their work online, and then you reach out to them to bid the work or discuss potential projects. It was one of those online services that we ended up using to find them. We were able to look at samples of their work, look at a profile for them, and then contact them to make a determination for using them for our project.

How much have you invested with Dreamten?

That’s not something I can share with you.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in early 2014. It’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We’ve not had any problems with delivery any time that we’ve published for the work that they established and we agreed to. It’s always been delivered on time, and it has been exactly what we expected. Requirements change frequently, and things are adjusted in the flow of a normal project. I think they’ve always handled those things appropriately, communicated when more time was needed, and adjusted the timeframes as necessary. 

Evidence of the quality of their work was when we made some organizational changes, and they ended up moving with us to a new team. While it was an opportunity for us to bring in other resources, this other group wanted to continue to use the same group because they felt like the quality of the work was good, and they liked the direction that they were taking our product and tools. A lot of times when new people come in they bring in their folks or bring in someone they feel they might work better with. The company as a whole moved along despite the organizational shift and has been very instrumental in moving that additional program along. I do know that we’ve received a lot of direct feedback about the new design and some of the new things that we’ve been introducing in the application. We’ve also gotten a great deal of feedback with the new mobile application that was designed by them.

How did Dreamten perform from a project management standpoint?

It’s been fine. Because of the way that our project was structured, we had an internal project manager, and they were the hands and feet. They had to manage their specific resources on their end and make sure that the right people were allocated. We used them less in project management and more strictly around the design and delivery.

What did you find most impressive about Dreamten?

I think one of the best parts about working with them is they have a pulse on what is happening in the industry and new models, new direction, new design elements that might be trending. Dreamten can determine whether we follow the trends in certain directions or if it’s something that wouldn’t be beneficial to use and to leverage. I think their insight as to when things are appropriate and how to style things has been great. We did get great feedback from them as well from a usability standpoint. Sometimes we built stuff that looks great, but it’s less user-friendly or less intuitive. They’ve been really good in drawing that out in our interactions and making sure that that was key in the designs and the concepts they provided.

Are there any areas Dreamten could improve?

I don’t think so. We’ve had a great relationship with Dreamten. I think designers are opinionated and I guess they have to be in some ways. It’s never come across in a very forceful way or in a way that they were not open to suggestions or changes. I don’t know if that’s an area for improvement. I know we’ve had a couple of encounters internally with some of our teams where they’ve had similar dogmatic or very opinionated folks to work with. But I don’t know that they didn’t do that well. Perhaps that’s one area we could say could be better. They’ve done a great job. It’s been a stellar work relationship. They’ve been very responsive, and they delivered. That’s ultimately what we want.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of CrowdOx. We do survey fulfillment mostly for crowdfunding projects on sites like Indiegogo or Kickstarter. We help them to collect information from backers and raise additional funding.   

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Dreamten?

With this type of a product, there’s a lot of built-in complexity when setting up and launching a survey. For example, there’s a number of pledge levels that the backers have potentially chosen on Kickstarter. There’s a set of add-ons that they need to associate with each of these or all of these. Plus, there's a lot of questions that they might be asked during the process. What we really wanted to do is boil that process down to something very simple. Our software should allow a user to go online and do everything without having to work with a dedicated account management team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Dreamten was responsible for the web application design of this product. When we first contacted them, it was all about building out the initial screens and onboarding of creation screens in order to get the survey launched. For this project, Dreamten provided the actual raw design files in Sketch format and then our developers did the actual integration. We haven’t really worked with them deeply into them doing the actual coding of the product itself, but everything we’ve contracted them for has been good. We continue to work with them for iterating on these designs. When we launch new features, they make sure that we are creating a consistent feel throughout the site. We aim to get that simplified view for everything.

How did you come to work with Dreamten?

I had worked with them in a previous company. They did all the designs for Sprucemail,  a product for building out Facebook advertising campaigns and connecting them to your email process. We worked with them a lot during that time, so I just immediately went back to them when we were launching this new project.

How much have you invested with Dreamten?

We’ve probably spent around $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working on this project about 2 1/2 years ago. We contacted them right at the beginning. The software has been launched, but we continue to work with them on new features and existing refinements.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I don’t have any specific metrics, any measurable experiments or things we’ve done of that nature. I do know we get a lot of comments from our customers who have used other competing products. They say that hands down, it’s much easier to use our product. Our software is much clearer. Customers were afraid of the complexity they’ve seen in the past from other products.

How did Dreamten perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great! Together, we work on our high-level roadmap items. From a workflow perspective, they’re quick to send reviews and initial mock- up designs. We do some interactive back and forth through our Slack chatroom. They manage things from their end in terms of their timeline. Our involvement is really just sending the tasks over and Dreamten completes tasks within an acceptable timeframe. It’s been good.

What did you find most impressive about Dreamten?

They’ve been great at boiling down complex problems into a simple solution. That’s been wonderful. They’ve also taken a critical look at their own designs. When they think it’s not going in the direction that they want, they’re not afraid to scrap something: “Let’s start with a clean slate and let’s get this right.” They’ve been really good about that.

Are there any areas Dreamten could improve?

Not anything I can think of off the top of my head. I can’t see any downsides.