Equal

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Chairman of an advertising & marketing company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Price comparison for PC parts and videogames.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Get a easy to use / modern design for our Price comparison website.

SOLUTION

How did you find Equal?

• Online Search
• Other

Why did you select Equal over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Equal were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Fully responsive website design on Figma. More than 13 pages were done like the homepage, product, category, account, register, or login page. The designs were reviewed and improved very frequently so we ensured that the final quality of the work was perfect. The project is a price comparison website so it is not something frequent to be designed, it was a big challenge to make the design better than what big corporations have.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

As the design was made, we were taking surveys to different people asking to review the design. The final work had a very good rate in this survey. For now, we have to develop the design and then we will can have more details about progress/success.

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

The team was always ready to help and understand my needs/reviews. I am very happy with the delivery time.

What was your primary form of communication with Equal?

Email or Messaging App

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

They adapted to all my needs until everything was perfect.

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

Maybe I would suggest trying to create more movement/effects on the designs. Of course, this is a personal preference.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive at a tech company.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are a tech company that offers sustainability services to homeowners, installers and companies in the Netherlands

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

• Design an MVP for our innovative platform
• Create a unique and creative design system

SOLUTION

How did you find Equal?

Online Search

Why did you select Equal over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Equal were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

From scratch, in co-creation, design a fully functional multi-sided marketplace & platform where Dutch homeowners can scan their home, filter and find a suitable certified installer and request quotes to take the next sustainability step to zero for their house. 

Turning their house into a homezero. 3 different key users and 10+ micro-journeys fully optimized for desktop and mobile utilizing the latest trends and best-practices in UI/UX design. A visual appealing design system and a unique and creative logo for our company.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

On time, on budget and above expectation.

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

Collaboration wise it went absolutely perfect. And it still is. We work in Slack, Figma, Upwork & Notion and have infrequent video meetings. Their communication is fantastic and they really understand complex issues. The consistency of their work is admirable and it shows that they have a strong culture with high norms that everyone adheres to.

What was your primary form of communication with Equal?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The quality of the work, the collaboration to design something beautifully simple and the value for the work.

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

Literally none. They are a pearl in an ocean of mediocrity.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the managing director of a private therapy company. We provide a range of mental health services bespoke to clients

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We firstly had the brand vision, we lacked software related skills and that is when we sourced Equal X for materialisng the UI concept from the brand vision.

SOLUTION

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

Interviewed a number of possible companies, and found this one to be friendly during the video call and the portfolio also reflects this.

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

The scope was designing the entire website as we did not have an existing website. We wanted a website that would be unique , eye catching and also able to showcase content. Wordpress and other front end like react was used.

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

I worked with a few project managers, 2 developers and 1 ux designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Launching the website allowed us to get clients enquiries and start to properly operate as a business. We were able to publish articles that had been written but had no where to be put.

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

They were flexible and willing to put in hard work to get the job done. The path was not so clear but the team is talented, so we made it to the finish.

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

Tons of experience, feedback on website layout have been nothing short of personal acquittances, and they have worked in or with large tech firms, so this is great feedback.

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

I can only think that some bugs could be better avoided if there was a standard set of test suite prior to go-live. But close collaboration really helped overcome this.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Im head of development in Carsystems company. We developing adapters for upgrading electronics in civilian vehicles

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We needed an upgrade for our website, so we ordered a new one.

SOLUTION

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

My friend introduce this company to me, I talked with their CEO for a while and made a desicion to hire them

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

We had an initial meeting where we laid down our goals for a new website, next day we received a workflow draft. After that we had a couple more meetings, where we choosed some design variations and additiobal options. One final meeting before website was moved from sandbox to its release address

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

Project manager, one fullstack developer and one designer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It has been a month seens we launched our New website and we receiving lots of positive feedbacks.

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

We used Google Meet for meetings. Every meeting was on time, short and productive. I appreciated the fact that they valued our time

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

Those guys were nice and easy to communicate, they offer us advise on what kind of plugins would be best to reach our goals

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

We had a minor problem due to power outrages, but this is not their fault

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of an education company. We create training programs, do educational research, and guide international students.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Equal?

We were looking to develop a web application for our main website to showcase our products. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

At first, Equal laid out the roadmap of the design phases. I had an initial prototype, and we showed it to them. Then, we had a few meetings and studied a couple of designs. From there, they designed as we went, and we added functionalities throughout the process. They provided brand guidelines and color schemes. The team used Figma for design and designed the web app from a template through Webflow.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a team of five people: two UX designers and three web designers.

How did you come to work with Equal?

I found Equal through Upwork.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested about $9,000 in our partnership with Equal.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Equal from June–December 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The functionality and design of the web application are good; we tested it internally.

How did Equal perform from a project management standpoint?

We mostly used Slack to communicate, and Equal was responsive to our questions and when reporting progress.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I have some web design experience, and Equal's interface organization was excellent; the usability of the web app was good. This was the first time we did an outsourced project, and I was very satisfied with their work. They were a professional design team and had experience in this area.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only thing I’d recommend Equal improve is defining the scope at the beginning of the project. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d recommend potential customers have a clear understanding of their project’s requirements before they approach Equal. Having an initial framework or prototype saved us time and revisions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a principal software engineer for Engineering Economics, Inc. We’re an engineering firm specializing in building and commissioning new buildings and ensuring all the equipment in those buildings works properly.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Equal?

We hired Equal to design the UI/UX of our web application. We have a fully-featured web app that is entirely built out, but we wanted to have an external company look at everything and figure out where we could improve the UI from the UX perspective. We also wanted to bring a uniform look to the whole app. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve collected a lot of internal feedback from users on issues they’re having with the app; we also collected data from our external users with questions about what works and what doesn’t. We gave Equal targeted tasks we wanted to accomplish from the data we collected.

We started our process with Equal by looking at a feature we were going to build and wanted to get some ideas on what that could look like. After that, we had them look at the entirety of the application, and they gave us several suggestions regarding interactive pieces and making them more prominent. They overhauled our interface and brought a more modern look to the application while maintaining our core functionality. Equal designed the project using Figma. 

What is the team composition?

At the beginning of the project, we worked with a project manager, but for the most part, we interacted with a design lead and a UI/UX designer. 

How did you come to work with Equal?

We found them on Upwork; we spoke to a few companies on that platform, and Equal was the company that impressed us the most, so we decided to move forward with them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested between $15,000–$20,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together between June–October 2022. We have plans to work with them moving forward.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve presented mock-ups to internal and external customers, which has excited people about the new look and feel. We don’t know how that will translate into ease of use and actual usage, but the excitement is certainly there. 

How did Equal perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated daily via Slack; we usually gave them a snippet of the next feature or section of the application to start applying the design. We didn’t give them hard deadlines, but they had a good turnaround time and usually had a weekly cadence for wrapping up a certain feature. We would go over any changes needed and then move on to the next thing with a steady rhythm. 

It was clearly communicated if there was ever a time that something would take a little longer. We met around once a month on Google Meet. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They had clear communication and no issues with a language barrier. They consistently checked in on multiple levels to ensure we were happy with everything. We liked their communication cadence and style; overall, it was a positive experience. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

It wasn’t always clear whether or not they had as much development experience as they did with design, and occasionally we ran into issues with designs that weren’t completely practical. We wish they had a little more development experience to match that design element. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear idea of what you’re looking for and asking of them. We were the most successful when we laid things out clearly and explained where our pain points were. The more sure you are of what you want, the more closely it will line up with what they give to you.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CMO at Promodo, a digital marketing agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Equal?

We wanted a new UX/UI design for our website because the current one didn’t work as we wanted it to work. It wasn’t a complex website, but it had many pages with our services, so we decided to build a new one from scratch on Webflow.

Our goal was to have a clear, easy-to-use, and attractive website with different designs for different countries. For example, we wanted the design for Ukrainian visitors to differ from the design for US visitors. However, we had a tight two-month deadline, so we needed help with the project.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Equal created the UI/UX designs for our new website from scratch using Figma. Based on those designs, they then developed our website on Webflow per our requirements.

How did you come to work with Equal?

They were recommended by our colleagues.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent over $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July–October 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Equal created a very interactive website for us, which designs we can now modify on Figma and implement on Webflow very easily. Thanks to this site, we can also create content on Webflow internally, which is fantastic. Throughout the process, they were very open to our ideas, and they gave us helpful tips to make an ideal site for our purposes.

How did Equal perform from a project management standpoint?

Equal was great at meeting deadlines; they delivered the website before our two-month deadline, after which we only iterated to make adjustments. Additionally, their communication was very pleasant. We communicated via Slack and had weekly calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Equal was very creative and professional, and they worked as a team. Unfortunately, they aren’t very popular in the country, and it isn’t very easy to find them on Google, so I would highly recommend them to others.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any constructive feedback on their work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Spend more time and attention on details to receive the results you want to receive.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a gig booking mobile app for the music and entertainment industries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Equal?

We needed someone to develop our mobile app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Equal serves as the main designer and developer of our Android and iOS-based app. They initially helped us by building the frames and making us understand the design process.

We’re now implementing various features, so we’re close to producing a beta version for the testing phase.

What is the team composition?

Our team consists of the CEO, designers, frontend developers, and backend developers.

How did you come to work with Equal?

We came across Equal through Upwork.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve invested somewhere between $10,000–$12,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in October 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We measure the success on what promises they’ve made and delivered — so far, they’re able to accomplish each task they’ve set out to do.

How did Equal perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re highly communicative from a project management perspective, and are very responsive when it comes to resolving technical issues that come up throughout the week.

We generally use Figma to design the build and utilize Slack as our main communication channel.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed with their attention to detail and their ability to follow through on their promises. They’re rather thorough in their approach and they have a personal interest in the project to ensure the final product is up to our expectations.

Are there any areas they could improve?

My experience working with them has been stellar, so I really can’t think of anything they need to improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

What helps the process a lot better is to provide Equal with all the requirements and paperwork, so they can have a better understanding of how to successfully complete your product.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am CEO and Founder of BluBinder, a hybrid FinTech/LegalTech focused on protecting elders from financial exploitation and taking the headaches out of estate resolution.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Equal?

We hired Equal to collaborate with us on rapid-cycle prototyping, user research and UX/UI design of the first version of our mobile app.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We searched online (Upwork) for vendors, selected a shortlist based on prior expertise in both fintech and LegalTech space. We decided on Equal based on their combination of talented staff, collaborative style and willingness to be flexible in taking a design approach that was new for them.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We did 6-7 design sprints. Our goal was not to design a full app, but rather to prototype potential app features so we could gather feedback users in order to narrow down for MVP. The Equal team designed each set of features according to our research script, we did an interactive interview with 5-6 users, then refined their feedback for the next sprint. With very little advanced warning, Equal also designed a great short video for our application to several accelerator programs.

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

We worked with 4 people over the summer. An overall account manager, Val. Then 3 other UX/UI designers at different times.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The outcomes were great, though not in the way you might expect. After spending the summer prototyping, we learned invaluable insights from our users that caused us to change our business focus and approach. This ultimately will end up having saved an enormous amount of money had we gone, without prototyping or validation research, into build without that stage. Equal was an incredible partner with us along this journey.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We quickly got into a good rhythm of daily standups, Slack channel communications, and design reviews. I would say the only challenge we had was related to the language difficulties. Our particular business relates to some very arcane areas (estate law) in the US, with lots of concepts and words not only highly specific to the US but also requiring the understanding of many words that even native English speakers might not know.

This made things complicated sometimes. And also because it was difficult for some Equal staff to understand things when we met on Zoom and spoke at a native-speaker speed, we had to put lots of things in writing in detail to clarify things. Probably a good practice anyway, but given the short time we had and how small our own team was, it added a bit to our workload in the early going.

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

Their UX/UI skills, flexibility in taking feedback, and quick project turnaround time were impressive.

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

See above on language skills (spoken/comprehension of native-speed English speakers).

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the project manager at Gardenvity, an e-commerce company. We work with different brands, helping them be successful in various markets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Equal?

Our main goal was to increase sales in the UK and reenter the German market. We wanted to research the user market and apply that knowledge to improve the site’s UI/UX.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We wanted Equal to do market research for the UK. We had some of it done before, but we wanted them to do the market research, and find out who our customers are, our metrics on Google Trends, and our competitors. Then, they would propose improvements for the website, and they would do the same for the German market. They also did competitor research to determine our main customer personas. That was the first stage of the study. After that, we went on to the main work, applying the knowledge from the analysis.

They also worked on our website and made wireframes, prototypes of the new layouts, UI concepts, and mockups for our website's mobile and desktop versions. We gave them access to our Hotjar and Google Analytics, and they worked based on our current metrics. They also went through the main competitor websites and benchmarked that — they used data from our website and competitor websites and did market research based on some reports they found.

The features of the German market were based on a JP Morgan report; they used various sources to collect data about the market in general and the specific hot tubs market, and they used their expertise to curate the customer profiles. They reviewed competitors based on what they could find about them online. So, their websites and their reviews are in places like Trustpilot and Amazon. They would usually provide a summary and a video presentation, delving into different areas. For us, it was important to get the data necessary to know our customers, and Equal helped with that.

They started with wireframes for the new version of the website. Then, they did UI concepts of how the design should change. After we approved the UI concept, they went through the site page by page, suggesting new desktop and mobile versions methods.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two people from Equal. Valentina (Project Manager) and Max (Designer). We spent most of the time consulting and exchanging iterations with their UX designer, who was doing the research, presenting it, and doing the designs.

How did you come to work with Equal?

Originally, we found them through Upwork; we posted a job post, and there were a lot of responses. We selected several options based on their cover letters and Upwork feedback, and we chose Equal because they had the experience we needed. They were in our price range, and they were communicative.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $10,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September 2021–January 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve started implementing their work bit by bit. For example, we took part in the design of the mobile header of the website. We saw increases in sales in the UK and Germany due to these changes. We also saw some increased sales just by doing these incremental updates and applying the market research they did and key personas in defining our customers. That was also very insightful for us to target the ads, prepare assets for the ads, etc.

How did Equal perform from a project management standpoint?

They were always on top of the deadlines and asked what the next plan was — In terms of project management, I have only good feedback.

We usually communicated through Slack; they had their channel for us, where they posted questions, updates, and videos. They also used ClickUp as a project management tool and provided basic project plans there. We didn't use it regularly, but it was a good tool to evaluate the project schedule and hours estimates. Also, they used the Upwork messenger if they couldn’t reach us through Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ease of communication and flexibility was outstanding, which was important for me. Also, I was impressed by the insights they provided; from the first presentation on market research in the UK, we saw that they knew what they were doing.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They provided everything we needed, so it’s difficult for me to say at the moment. They could improve their English level, but that was minor because I could understand everything they said.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Be clear and concise about what they want. — the better we provide input for them, the more focused they can be. The specs and communication are important for every detail, which was a part of our success working with them. Also, keeping them informed about the next steps helps them plan and perform better.