eLEOPARD Design Studios

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder of a SaaS company designed to help chemicals and food ingredients distributors setup a modernized website, with self-service CMS system.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire eLEOPARD Design Studios, and what were your goals?

We needed a development team to build a MVP to showcase our "vision-solution" to our target customers. We needed the solution to work, and be flexible enough to iterate, over and over again. Lastly, we needed a team who could take a PRD, and UX wireframes, and build out the solution without a detail architectural diagram.

SOLUTION

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

We selected eLeopard based on their ability to take on our project and help us build it from "end to end." From UX design on Figma to code development to setting up infrastructure on AWS, eLeopard made it simple for us to outsource the development of our project, without having to go through multiple vendors for each part of the solution.

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

We needed to build our SaaS prototype fast, and then move to a more stable and scalable solution over time. This resulted in us starting the build on a WordPress/PHP stack with a relational SQL DB. Then we migrated the stack over to a NodeJS + Angular JS + multiple types of DB, 3rd party IAM, mobile, and other complexities over time. As our stack become more complex, eLeopard and team was able to learn and support us accordingly.

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

There are 3 ~ 4 people that we work with at eLeopard. This include a Project Manager, Lead Developer, UX Designer, and occasionally other team members who are brought in for specific projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Overall, we are satisfied with our engagement with eLeopard. They have supported us technically, and helped us "grow" over time. While timing on delivery of projects could be more consistent, we are flexible enough to mutually accommodate.

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

We communicate over Slack and Asana. While our time zones are 13 hours apart, we are able to sync online and in person without any issues.

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

Ability to take projects on from end-to-end. From UX design to web software or mobile applications, they could help build or support them all.

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

Project delivery timing. Sometimes the project delivery time could be off by days or weeks. So, we plan accordingly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a market research professional, and manage a team of researchers for a young apparel company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire eLEOPARD Design Studios, and what were your goals?

We hired eLeopard to create a unique website for us to help with market research initiatives. It wasn't a typical website, but something that fit our market research needs with connecting with customers.

SOLUTION

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

Searched online and found that they provided the best price and were the most professional when we spoke to them. They were willing to work with us and deliver exactly what we needed. Anything we thought was too tricky or impossible to do they found a way and made it work for us.

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

We held a number of meetings to start to go over the specifics that were needed. ELeopard created a project timeline that let us know every step involved in the process. They created exactly what we asked for and allowed us to do a number of revisions that we provided in a list in excel. We are still partnering with them whenever something comes up and they help us with the maintenance of the website.

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

We had two people working with us. I don't recall their exact positions but perhaps one was a project manager and the other was leading the execution of the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project has saved so much time for our team. Previously we used to do so much manual work to research among our customer base. But now, each individual project takes about 5 minutes (compared to the 1-2 hours from before).

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

Even though they're in a different timezone they always worked with our timing. They scheduled meetings during times convenient for us even if it didn't seem convenient for them (e.g. 10 PM their time, but 9 AM our time)

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

Problem solving capabilities and willingness to work to deliver what we needed. Anything we asked for they were always down to look into it and see what can be done. It was really a breath of fresh air compared to other companies who can be penny pinching and unnecessarily pushing back on certain asks.

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

There were only 1-2 times I can recall that I wasn't sure where the project was at, but nothing too major. Overall, I was really happy with the outcome of the project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a senior manager overseeing integrated digital marketing for a large automation software team. Our team supports global product managers, engineers, and sales who are selling automation software. We also target global manufacturers in the semiconductor, pharma, and high-tech market segments.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with eLEOPARD Design Studios?

Our team focuses on digital communications, targeting external customers, including factory and plant operators, data scientists, and IT directors. It’s imperative that we keep our digital content fresh, innovative, and flexible, enabling us to stay in sync with business priorities that change often. 

After a few trials with other developers, we selected eLEOPARD to design, develop, and maintain our digital properties (e.g., website, blog, forms, campaign landing pages, etc.). We focus on eye-catching graphics, valuable and relevant copy, and adding features necessary to keep our customers engaged.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started from scratch because we needed a completely different strategy from anything else that we’d done before. We provided eLEOPARD with our corporate colors and some guidelines, but we collaborated from there on the look and feel of what we wanted; the website was created using WordPress. They also assist with copy and the titles on the website.

The project's scope has grown, and we are now working on email campaigns, SEO, Google Ads, Google Analytics, a robust blog, CTA forms, and special events pages. We have a site in English and Chinese. They assist us with analytics tracking and reporting.   

What is the team composition?

There are 25 people on the eLEOPARD team, but to streamline the process, we work with Shobhit (Director) and Skand (UI Designer & Developer), who is our primary contact.

How did you come to work with eLEOPARD Design Studios?

They were recommended to us by another company. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in May 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re an integral part of our team, and their quality is outstanding. We track metrics very closely, and we’ve seen an increase in traffic every month. We understand the top pages, blogs, blog topics, etc., visited.

How did eLEOPARD Design Studios perform from a project management standpoint?

eLEOPARD always meets deadlines for us. We have a standing meeting every day, and we go over spreadsheets where were manage and track different components. They use Figma for design.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

eLEOPARD is an outstanding partner. They’re strategically and tactically balanced, proactive, and reliable; we couldn’t have accomplished a quarter of our objectives without them. They’re flexible, and they accommodate what works best for our company. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing that we can come up with at this point. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust them and view them as a partner. They can teach you a lot, and if you listen to them, they can add a lot of value to your business.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder+CEO of a healthy snack e-commerce store.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire eLEOPARD Design Studios, and what were your goals?

I hired eLEOPARD to help me create a custom website that would let my customers have a totally unique experience than any other website. They were very helpful in the look and feel of the website, as well as in creating a custom-coded website from the ground up.

SOLUTION

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

I searched for online web developers who were very skilled but that could also fit my financial needs.

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

We had an initial meeting to discuss the overall website and customized coding features that were needed to implement. It was very easy to hop on video chat and discuss everything.

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

A web developer was our main point of contact. From there, he worked with another website designer who was able to get everything I needed to be done.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After our website launched, I repeatedly got positive customer feedback. The website was very easy to use!

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

We met over video chat whenever I needed clarification or to just chat briefly over a specific project. We used email to communicate and zoom to video chat.

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

They are very quick in their work. They only want the best for your business, so they work hard 100% of the time.

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

No, the whole process was very smooth and easy!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company is a real estate settlement agent performing property transfers in Western Australia. I'm the Managing Director.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire eLEOPARD Design Studios?

We were going through a rebrand. As part of that rebrand we wanted to update our website. In addition we wanted to improve the speed of our site and make it more responsive.

What were your goals for this project?

Improve the look of our website Improve the speed of our website Improve the responsiveness of our website

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We selected eLeopard through an extensive interview process on Upwork. In the end it came down to the calm way Shobhit explained his services and the extensive portfolio of clients that he'd worked with previously.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

As we already had a site this project started as a renovation of the existing site but quickly moved into a complete rebuild. We employed the designer who provided us with our new brand style guide but it soon became obvious that they weren't web designers. Shobhit then provided us with a sample of what the home page might look like using one of their existind designers. That convinced us to move the design job to them. Once the design was completed Shobhit built the site and had it bug tested using a third party. eLeopard completed a few final tweaks and then the site was published. Since then we've employed eLeopard to provide ongoing maintenance and security monitoring of the site.

What was the team composition?

We mainly dealt with Shobhit and to a lesser extent his designer Skand.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The work they did had an immediate impact on our website speed and hence performance in search. Between the changes that we made then and the ongoing work we've done since we've been able to achieve around 30% of our business coming from our webstite.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The project was arranged through Upwork utilising a few milestones. This structure was very effective. I was coached to hold back on the add-ons so we could get a MVP published. It was smart advice.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The most impressive thing about eLEOPARD Design Studios was their calm management style. I can be pedantic and inconsitent but it didn't faze Shobhit. According to Google Site Speed the quality of his coding and the structure of our site is excellent.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The only thing I'd like to see is for Shobhit to be a little more proactive in guiding me. He's the expert and I rely heavily on his advice. If he told me I needed to add something to our site to improve its performance I'd do it and that would be an add-on sale for eLeopard and a win for me.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We bake traditional Brabantse Worstenbroodjes for our domestic market. I am one of the founders.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire eLEOPARD Design Studios?

They have developed a woocommerce powered wordpress website from design, integrations and back-en systems.

What were your goals for this project?

Sell our products in an online webshop

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I have worked with eLeopard on several other projects. They were recommended by a former colleague.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

We needed to be able to sell online with some specific requirements for address validation, availability of delivery timeslots and cost per timeslot and geographical area. Additionally, we needed a superior SEO technical setup and performance for the website. Currently, eLeopard is performing small scale maintenance and development.

What was the team composition?

2 people: Project manager, developer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We went from a less professional look of the website to a more professional look.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We shared a trello board with items that needed to be developed and communicated via trello comments and webconference.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are very committed to get things working, even if this is outside of office hours.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Can't think of any at this moment. we are very happy with eLeopard

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of an IT company, headquartered in London. We provide corporate cash management solutions to corporate clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire eLEOPARD Design Studios?

We hired eLEOPARD for front end design for our cash management application. We were looking for experts in the area of the latest UI technology & selected eLEOPARD based on their experience and reference provided.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal was to create a dynamic, modern and user-friendly design that integrates securely & efficiently to the application and provide an excellent experience to the business users.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Initially, three vendors were shortlisted by our team. Based on the vendor response, their previous work and the ability to demonstrate excellence in UI design & development and cost factor, our team selected eLEOPARD for this project.

Describe the project in detail.

After the selection of eLEOPARD, we had an initial engagement to go through the project requirement in detail. We discussed in detail the UI requirements and secure integration to the core application. eLEOPARD provided us with the mock-up designs that helped my team in selecting the design which would provide a modern experience to the business & technical users. Our engagement with eLEOPARD was very collaborative throughout the project.

What was the team composition?

We were provided a project manager who acted as a central point of contact. There were two team members with whom we engaged on a regular basis. Roles and responsibilities were defined at the beginning of the project. Our functional & technical architect closely worked with eLEOPARD team. We acted as one team!!

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We received very positive and encouraging feedback from our potential clients regarding dynamic UI design, features, navigation, and looks

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Ways of working and communication with the eLEOPARD were very productive and effective. Project work delivered by eLEOPARD was of great quality and on time. We never had any significant delays.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Though this is our first engagement with eLEOPARD but the way we have worked together has been incredible. Team members were always ready to make suggestions, providing ideas to help improve the quality of product design. Their knowledge, energy, attitude, openness and willingness to help were very impressive. I would definitely recommend eLEOPARD and will continue to take their services!! Well done eLEOPARD!!

Are there any areas for improvement?

There is always a scope of improvements but I am really happy with the quality of work and timely delivery!!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm working for a cross-border mergers and acquisitions services firm as a marketing manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire eLEOPARD Design Studios?

We needed help with web design, development, and site maintenance.

What were your goals for this project?

To improve our branding and highlight our clients, as well as our team's capabilities.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I've worked with them in the past and found them to be reliable and experts at building modern websites.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They provided a design mockup based on our copy. Once that was approved, they started development and did QA. We launched the site live and they worked with us to further finetune it and fix any bugs.

The next project was to ensure the site’s performance scores were high, both on GTMetrix and PageSpeed Insights.

What was the team composition?

Skand (Creative Director, eLEOPARD Design Studios) was our project manager and main contact for the design. Shobhit (Director, eLEOPARD Design Studios) and other team members worked on web development.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

We’ve doubled our traffic since last year. Our principals now have an easy way to share their relevant credentials with potential clients.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We used Asana as well as tools like Figma and Bugherd which made it a smooth process.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They were reliable, responsive, solution-driven, and collaborative.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Adding a full SEO service would complement the website team well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Money Making Expert, a content website that’s about business, marketing, and making money. We also have a forum on the site.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with eLEOPARD?

We wanted to build a complex site with custom features, and we needed to build it from the ground up. One of the biggest challenges was to create what I had in mind to be able to give to eLEOPARD, since this was the first effort at our website. I had used eLEOPARD before for smaller website, but this was the first big project

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

eLEOPARD did everything from scratch. They did a lot of the design work. I had a few designs sketched by someone else, but a lot of that was changed by their team. Overall, eLEOPARD designed 75% of the site and developed 100% of it.

The site works like a normal article site. There are articles, several widgets, and a forum which are standard. The custom things we were trying to build included the tax calculator and the budget planning tools. The budget planner was the biggest tool we made; it helps businesses track their business expenses. It allows businesses to input all their income and expenses and, at the end, they have a detailed plan to follow throughout the year.

We used WordPress as the management system because we needed something that would be easy for users. When they were finished, I tested the site myself, and eLEOPARD also tested it. There were a lot of bugs because I made a lot of changes. We made sure everything was working well.

How many resources were assigned to your project?

We had two resources that we worked with.

How did you come to work with eLEOPARD?

I came across them about three or four years ago when I needed a smaller project designed. Because I’ve been through so many other developers and designers, nobody understands what I want like eLEOPARD did. When I try to explain what I want to other developers, it’s too difficult and I never get the results that I want. I find eLEOPARD a lot easier that way, so I stay with them because I know the job will be done and it will be done well.

How much have you invested with eLEOPARD?

We have spent between £3,000 and £4,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working on this project in January 2015, and it’s ongoing. We have some more work to do before it’s ready to go live, and there will be ongoing maintenance to do when this site is completed. We did some side projects with eLEOPARD at the same time we were doing this project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s not live yet so we don’t have any metrics. The quality of the work is high; I wouldn’t use eLEOPARD if it wasn’t quality work. Out of everyone I’ve used, their work is higher quality than anyone else.

How did eLEOPARD perform from a project management standpoint?

My deadlines are pretty open so I can’t say how good they are with tight deadlines. They’ve always done the work quickly. In terms of tools, we use a time tracker called Hubstaff, and we communicate through Skype.

What did you find most impressive about eLEOPARD?

The unique thing about them is that they understand my project. I’ve worked with other designers and developers before, and sometimes the language barrier can be difficult. eLEOPARD seems like they could be from the UK or the US because they understand you and have a grasp of what you’re asking. What I needed wasn’t a typical project, so it’s impressive that we managed to get pretty close to what I wanted.

Are there any areas eLEOPARD could improve?

There may be times they don’t get back to me as soon as I’d like, but it’s not major. If I didn’t like something about them, I’d move on

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of HowardsHome, a news and social media aggregator. We build Software-as-a-service [SaaS] solutions for customers in the Netherlands that aggregate news so that it can be used by sales and marketing teams and large government organizations. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with eLEOPARD?

Initially, we needed to come up with some fairly basic logo designs. We had a lack of in-house resources and didn’t want to hire another full-time person. The logo design was not something that we considered a part of our core competency, and our requirements aren’t overly complex. We did have an in-house designer, but eLEOPARD has gradually taken over that entire role. We’ve been happy with their work so far, and the relationship works. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our collaboration with eLEOPARD started with design and branding, but we’ve actually progressed to having them do all our UI design in close cooperation with a colleague of mine, who’s in charge of spec’ing and wireframing. He passes the material to eLEOPARD’s team, and they typically come back with a number of proposals and take us through the whole process, including the delivery of the code, graphics, and everything else so that the developers on our end can integrate those elements into the product.

eLEOPARD produces mockups of various interfaces for us to choose from, including the actual layouts, coloring, and styles, which typically are based on the wireframes we provide. Once we agree on the actual choice, they see it through all the way, delivering the CSS and HTML code we need in order to develop the output again in our own environments.

We typically interface with 1 person from their team, who communicates to the rest of their organization. We appreciate having a single person who really understands what we want and what we do. He’s also hands-on and does some of the work himself, aside from the 6–7 other people he manages.

How did you come to work with eLEOPARD?

We use 4–5 different outsourced companies in different capacities. I believe we met eLEOPARD after making a post on a freelancing site. We liked their style and layout for our logos the best. We have experience using German, French, Polish, Indian, and American groups. Certain cultural differences can lead to different results than what we would expect, but eLEOPARD as a company delivers a modern and up-to-date style that we like.

How much have you invested with eLEOPARD?

The cost of their work for the past year was between $200 and $1,000 per month. The overall cost has been around $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

My email archive for the conversations with eLEOPARD dates back to mid-2014, which is when I think we started working together. We have ongoing work on a monthly basis. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their work is documented clearly and thoroughly. This proficiency developed over time, as we specified that we want clear naming within the code. eLEOPARD conformed to our documentation requirements, and they test everything upfront across different browsers and email clients. If something is missed, they will fix it quickly.

How did eLEOPARD perform from a project management standpoint?

We have more trouble keeping up with eLEOPARD’s speed. They tend to have a quick turnaround. After we brief them, we often receive feedback or initial designs within 1–2 days. We can comment on that work (although we rarely notice any major issues) and have it delivered at a high rate.

Other than Skype, we haven’t used any communication tools. We use GitHub for exchanging code.

What did you find most impressive about eLEOPARD?

eLEOPARD is the best partner I’ve ever worked with. We’ve done outsourcing before and found that the most important factor is understanding each other. This helps us work together and get things done fast. eLEOPARD’s speed is unique in this field. Working with them is a pleasure; they can easily grasp what we need and are willing to learn new things.

For example, we recently had a project in which integrated some of our software with the Salesforce platform; we didn’t have a lot of experience with that technology, and neither did eLEOPARD. We agreed to pay them for the hours they’d need to become acquainted with whatever framework Salesforce is using. They learned the platform at my expense, but they did it quickly and were able to create a well-designed environment in no time. I wouldn’t have known where to turn otherwise for those tasks.

Also, I asked eLEOPARD up front for estimates and for discussions if we come close to exceeding the budget. We’re typically fine with this possibility, but I want to know when it happens. They were quite keen to do this.

Are there any areas eLEOPARD could improve?

We gave some initial comments about their time reporting. It wasn’t bad, but we made new arrangements to provide a clearer overview of hourly tasks. This is a developing part of the relationship. As with every project, we also need to update our own books with the specifics. I’m far from being unhappy, but that’s a part of the relationship we both need to work on.