Equal

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Normod, a direct-to-consumer furniture brand located in Turkey. We design, produce, and sell in Turkey.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Equal?

We needed someone to redesign our website. It had a basic template and needed a completely new UI to keep up with our growing company and processes. That is why we hired Equal.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

As a growing online business, we were beginning to encounter certain problems. We had ideas on how we could leverage the web experience to better communicate our products, and Equal listened to our general brief. They also provided us with their own suggestions using samples of their previous work.

Equal then went into redesigning our Shopify website. It was a frontend design project where they reworked the whole UI page by page. 

What is the team composition?

We were in contact with the founder and a designer. The founder was very engaged in the project.

How did you come to work with Equal?

We found them through Upwork. We spoke to several designers, but Equal was the best match for us because of their experience with other direct-to-consumer businesses.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from June–August 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Equal was very proficient at redesigning our website. They helped us double our sales across our online channel and two experience centers in Istanbul. Working with them immensely improved our business.

How did Equal perform from a project management standpoint?

Though I wasn’t personally engaged during the project, we had one product manager who said that Equal was very specific when it came to defining tasks, giving feedback, and setting up meetings. They managed the whole process, making it super easy to work with them. They delivered on time and within budget. 

We communicated through email and shared a Google Drive. We also used Figma for reviewing the designs, taking notes, and making improvements.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very professional. They made things very easy for us to understand.

Are there any areas they could improve?

At certain times, I felt that they could be more creative.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you want things to happen faster, be very clear and detailed with your brief. Equal is a professional team, so you have nothing to be afraid of when working with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Chloe Padfield: I’m the head of marketing and sales for Brevio, a UK-based tech company that aims to match charitable organizations with funding organizations through mutual criteria.

Victoria Gregory: My role is product lead and I deal with the development team that builds our products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Equal?

CP: At the time of engaging with Equal, we had a very basic website that was loaded with too much information, so we wanted to create a funnel that would allow us to start executing leads and engaging with people.

VG: That meant making large changes to the website because it wasn’t providing what we needed in terms of drawing in leads. It was built in WordPress, so it was very restrictive and it only gave us control of the content.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

VG: We decided to do a rebuild into a technology that allowed us more flexibility CMS-wise, so Equal helped us build a new website in Webflow from scratch. Some of the deliverables were a complete set of Figma website designs, new logo branding, and a basic style guide.

They developed a basic brochure-style website that acts as a funnel to push users to register with our platform — its key purpose is providing information and converting users through registration.

CP: The rebranding aspect of the partnership wasn’t intentional, but since Equal had a good UX team, we decided to have a complete refresh of the site’s look and feel at the last stage. We worked with them to determine how people would navigate through the site, create logos, and simplify other design elements such as fonts and color schemes.

What is the team composition?

CP: Valentyna (Business Sales Manager) was our main account manager, and she was the one who brought together our basic requirements, project timelines, and budgets. We were then introduced to Sergey (Founder & Art Director) and had a conversation about our main vision — he was more focused on technology, so he was able to brief his developers and designers.

We also worked with Maxim (UI/UX Designer) who put together all the designs, wireframes, and logos.

VG: Additionally, we had developers that Maxim and Valentyna managed. They filtered through our requests and requirements as the website was getting built.

How did you come to work with Equal?

CP: We posted an initial briefing on Upwork and engaged with a few vendors. Equal had great reviews, a good website, and we liked how engaged they were when we first communicated.

They quickly understood the brief and were able to put something together in terms of how it would work.

How much have you invested with them?

CP: We tallied the costs at about $14,000 USD across the project mapping, development, and design work.

What is the status of this engagement?

CP: We worked with Equal from April–July 2021. There were a couple of amendments and changes postlaunch, which were included in the budget. Equal built the platform in a way that we can handle all the small amendments ourselves, and also provided us with decent information and training around it.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

CP: We had a little look at our average signups and in the four months since we launched the website, we’ve seen a 107% increase in registration compared to the performance of our old website in 2020 — the platform did its job tenfold in terms of bringing us new customers. 

We also found that people are more engaged and understand the navigation better, so the drop-off rate is significantly lower. 

How did Equal perform from a project management standpoint?

CP: They invited us to their Slack workspace and set up a channel where we had constant conversations with the team. Rather than having to ask for updates, we were kept in the loop and had micro-conversations to move the project along. We also managed the work through Figma and made our comments there. Our requests were accomplished instantaneously, so we never had to chase them.

The way Equal structured our interaction was to have a go-to person, as well as direct communications with the design team. The process was brilliant from that perspective, as we didn’t have any issues because we were doing it all through messaging and visual updates.

What did you find most impressive about them?

CP: We were impressed with their ability to quickly understand what we wanted. Equal started the project from scratch and created something bespoke that suited us as an organization, for a fraction of the price.

Are there any areas they could improve?

CP: There’s isn’t anything significant they could change, but they could’ve had a few more video calls right at the beginning for gathering requirements.

VG: Using Slack worked really well for us, but I can see how other organizations would prefer something else. Having worked in digital agencies, we always get clients that prefer face-to-face and video meetings.

Nonetheless, they were always good in terms of responsiveness, interpreting our feedback, and asking sensible questions. They were really interested in our organization and wanted to make sure they understood what we were trying to achieve. Equal did a really good job and we’re really happy with the output.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

CP: My advice is to be clear about what they’re trying to create to avoid wasting time. A half-baked idea isn’t useful when working with a design agency and at the end of the day, they’re only there to put the designs in place. It’s best to have a clear picture of what the requirements are going to look like before engaging with Equal.

VG: That applies to providing feedback as well. My advice is to work out specifically what you like whenever they send you a design — provide them with clear directions.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a business events and job board service platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Equal?

We were looking to redesign our platform's UI/UX to be more intuitive to users.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We put out an RFP to UI/UX vendor and chose this vendor after seeing their portfolio, chatting with their team and receiving a quote in-line with our budget.

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

Their team onboarded us by first assessing our needs and proposing to break down the project in multiple phases. This allowed us to focus on specific aspects of the project and provide consistent feedback at key stages. The team would submit weekly updates with video walkthrough and examples of the new UI/UX concepts.

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

We worked with 2 team members including a company representative and a designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Thanks to the new UI/UX concepts the team provided, we were able to give our development team a clear vision of the look and feel for the new platform. The platform is still in development but this UI/UX wireframe is speeding up our development time.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow integrated with our team very smoothly. The weekly touchpoints ensured we were able to provide feedback throughout the design process which minimized wasted time on design aspects that may not have been critical.

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

Their UI/UX portfolio was very professional and in-line with the type of designs we were looking for.

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

I can't imagine having a better experience with a UI/UX service provider.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am one of the founders of a product for customers that provide proactive data privacy.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Equal?

This team was hired to help with designing our product and performed an assessment which helped shape the likelihood of our typical user. This was extremely helpful in defining the platform as a whole since this information was leveraged to develop the UX/UI for the web platform, mobile responsive, and administrative panels. This team was critical in developing the overall branding and positioning for our product.

SOLUTION

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

Although our team visualized what our product was, and we came into candidate team interviews without any technical or design solutions in mind, this was the first team that was able to visualize our product and the functionality we were looking for.

We interviewed easily 10 teams and it was clear with this team that they weren’t just agreeing with us to be agreeable, they understood what our desired outcome is and immediately started to pose probing questions which aligned with our end goal. We were looking for design competency and studied their portfolio – Their elegant, intuitive, and graceful content sealed the deal for us.

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

The initial work focused on market research, competitor analysis, and target audience. The result was an output displaying likely click patterns for hypothetical users, and highlighted focus areas. A user flow was designed which led to wireframes. The team was patient and accommodating as we came to decisions.

They wanted to get this critical phase right – and continued to probe our assumed logic, expectations, vision, and end goals. Each portion of the wireframe was tested. As we moved into clickable prototypes we began to see the design come alive.

Each phase of the product continued to gel with the prior and the seamless screenflow was intuitive, easy to navigate, and inviting. At the tail-end of the engagement, the team helped integrating with the backend development team.

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

Valentyna - Business manager and Sales representative: Gathering requirements, compiling a statement of work, account management. Dmitry - Product designer and Art-director: Direct cooperation with a full-time devoted product designer, a designer was offered upon relevant experience in business analysis, legaltech sphere, and ability to join weekly meetings via video calls.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Each milestone was appropriately phased to display progress, and wasn’t closed until the agreed-upon deliverables were met. At the end of the project we had the product that we visualized so that is a complete success. The Equal team carefully made sure that we were satisfied with each goal as the project progressed for each phase of the project.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The collaboration was smoother than many domestic projects, despite our teams being on different continents. The Equal team was very good at managing expectations and letting us know what they were working on so we always knew what to expect with each meeting. They were also very accommodating to our time zones and worked hard to meet when it was convenient for us on a recurring schedule.

The Equal team heard and incorporated each requirement over the duration of the project, and added value in areas that we didn’t foresee. Overall, the product that was built would not have been built without the Equal team’s professionalism, experience, expertise, patience, understanding the vision, and driving the whole project to completion.

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

Mostly, that their services encompassed the entirety of the project and fulfilled the product’s requirement to create a product that was user-centric, had an interactive and intuitive interface, was carefully executed paying attention to the intricacies of the industry, and had a UX focused product design.

This team had great high fidelity prototypes, micro-animations, and built us a product that considered future scalability when it comes time for growth.

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

Nothing comes to mind – This is a very professional team that is up to any challenge!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

My company is febc international and I am Partner and Chief Commercial Officer here. We are a hospitality solutions company for new build projects. Offering Procurement, Pre-Opening, Supply and Installation for projects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Equal to revamp our procurement software. Our goal was to bring life, minimalistic design and simplicity to an already complex software

SOLUTION

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

I selected vendor after numerous calls with different companies and individuals. We were looking for a progressive forward thinking team who are well versed in what it takes to deliver an excellent user experience

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

• Study existing platform and existing UI and UX
• Develop a new simplified flow
• Create a UI kit to match the flow
• We work together on Slack and Figma

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

2-3 people who were art directors and UI/UX designers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Superb results soo far and I will not hesitate to recommend Equal to any company who are looking for a long term partner for their Websites, Applications, Softwares and so on and so forth

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

Clear, Concise and Effective. We talk on slack and we are also notified every step of the way on Figma

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

I like their attention to detail and understanding of their client's goals and scope.

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

Soo far none

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Co-Founder & Creative Director of Action Factory which is a start-up that sells original, customizable action figures with mix-and-match capabilities.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Equal?

The company needed a website and I hired Equal to build it.

SOLUTION

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

I was looking on Upwork and their experience, portfolio, and price point seemed like a good match.

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

We met to discuss the company and the overall aesthetic we envisioned. I provided them with our logo, design sketches, 3D renderings of the toys, and some copy. After that, Equal built the landing page as well as several additional pages needed for the site. I was able to make notes for any edits I wanted in Figma and we collaborated in this way until I got the desired results.

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

My primary contact was always the president of the company. I believe one other designer was assigned to this project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website is yet to launch as other aspects of toy development stalled for the time being. We will continue working with Equal, as soon as other elements are in place on our end to continue the collaboration. We look forward to doing so this year.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our workflow was very effective. I had several video calls with the company owner throughout the process and anytime I made edits, suggested changes, and/or introduced new materials, the updates were implemented very quickly and to my satisfaction.

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

The professionalism of the owner and design staff was wonderful for our collaborative process. I felt that my input was always considered and implemented unless the design team felt it would be detrimental to the end user experience.

If this was the case, they would always explain their reasoning and I felt very comfortable trusting them even if that meant changing some initial vision I may have had. After just one meeting, they immediately picked up on the aesthetic I wanted with little to no guidance from me. This is clearly a talented team of professionals.

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

I have absolutely no notes for improvement. I found the entire process extremely easy, highly efficient, and very satisfying. I look forward to picking the work back up as soon as I am ready to move forward.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the EMEA Account Manager for Smartcom, an AWS Partner. Specialized in Platform and App building for Family Wearables and Wireless Devices.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Equal?

Through the course of a project, a customer had a specific feature requirement regarding a companion application for their child's device. Equal helped us design and animate the characters for the wearable Android app.

SOLUTION

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

In the past, we found Equal on a freelancer platform to develop the design of our website. Strong from a first experience we decided to trust them with one of our projects.

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

During the development of a new kids' smartwatch for the Western Market, the customer requirement was to get a feature keeping engaged the children to the device. Thus came the idea from the Product Management to develop a companion pet app, enhanced with gamification based on coins earned through other features.

Once the SoW settled, Equal's team came in to select, design, and animate the different pieces of the app. From buttons to 3D characters. The work provided offers a great outcome visually. And they have been very helpful with our development team to provide them the pieces they needed.

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

Not sure of the entire team. We only had discussions with the main PM. But the result was provided on time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everything was provided on time. Bugs were fixed very rapidly. Results were at the liking of the customer. Overall very satisfied.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective. We had created an SoW with a Product description. Then once reviewed and approved by the customer. Equal provided the deliverables in the estimated time as expected.

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

taste in design. fast productivity. understanding and listening to needs and recommendations.

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

so far so good. we'll see with the next project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of Neorise - an IT consulting company based in Australia. We specialize in custom software and apps to improve productivity, and help businesses to grow and thrive.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Equal?

We have been working with a long-term client for many years on a solution to manage their mechanical workshops. They needed an app for their mechanics to use in their day to day work. The design for this app was critical. We don't have any in-house designers so we needed to outsource the entire design.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted an easy to use app that gave the mechanics all of the information that they needed to do their job, plus automate the paper checklists that they use. And it needed to be fast and responsive. They work at a fast pace and the app needed to match their speed and not get in their way.

SOLUTION

How did you select Equal?

We had previously outsourced this work to another design firm and the results were 'mixed'. Luckily we had engaged Equal on another design project. We were impressed with their skills, communication and turn around time and most importantly their design thinking. They think about the user experience deeply from the user's point of view. So we approached them to take on the design for this app.

Describe the project in detail.

We had prepared a brief and a number of videos describing what the app needs to do, how the associated workshop software works, and user expectations. We exchanged a number of messages early in the project to answer and clarify requirements and case studies. The first stage of the project was to clarify the workflows and this was done using wireframe mockups. These were shown to us regularly and we were then able to provide timely feedback to the designer to improve the workflow and the expected use cases. The wireframes were designed and refined over a two month period. During this time we were given access to clickable prototypes in Figma which helped to understand how the app would work. Once we finalized the wireframes the UI was quickly and professionally designed and then they worked with our developers to make the design more developer-friendly and to speed our implementation of the app.

What was the team composition?

We were assigned a lead designer and we communicated directly with him. I was also aware that the Design Director at Equal was reviewing the design work at every stage.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have shared the Figma app prototypes with our long-term client and a number of their mechanics. They like the look of the app and they think it is intuitive and easy to use. They are keen to start using it and they are confident it will boost their productivity in a number of areas.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication was great between our teams. They communicated regularly and always kept us up to date. Communication was mainly done by chat message but we also exchanged video messages to highlight design improvements or important changes.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We were really impressed with their design thinking and their UX skills. The workflow was critical to us and we were nervous after a previous design agency had done a poor job. But Equal delivered a fantastic design with clear easy to understand workflows and an obvious UI. They really spend a lot of time thinking about the app from the end user's perspective and this is reflected in the final design.

Are there any areas for improvement?

They did an excellent job.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a Marketing Manager at Magecom, an ecommerce agency. Our company has more than 70 employees and delivers web development/business solutions for online businesses to help them achieve their goals. We are official Adobe (Magento), Shopify, and Shopware partners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Equal?

Our company website was created a while ago and had not been updated since. Our positioning and brand identity have entirely changed, so we needed to visualize it on our website. Our in-house team included only one web designer for our internal needs, so we decided to outsource the entire redesign.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to deliver a high-quality user experience, improve website usability and customer journey. Our goal was also to increase the number of inquiries that we received through our contact form.

SOLUTION

How did you select Equal?

Our team searched online a lot for web design agencies and found Equal. We were impressed by their portfolio and case studies. Besides, it turned out that our offices are pretty close, which facilitated our communication and made it possible to hold meetings regularly.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we selected Equal, we had a series of discovery meetings and discussed our user personas, main goals, and objectives. Over the coming weeks, we have already received several prototypes and mockups. We constantly held meetings, shared feedback, and in the end, opted for one of the designs, which was further refined.

What was the team composition?

The main point of contact throughout the project was Sergey, a Founder & Art Director. He involved many UX designers, who worked a lot on our web designs that resonate with our brand identity.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our user experience has been definitely improved, which is seen based on the user data from Google Analytics and heatmaps. We’ve also noticed that the website’s bounce rate has decreased, and conversions have risen. We continue to hear positive feedback from our clients on the usability and the overall look of the newly built website.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

In our case, the design was approved by several top managers with different visions and aesthetics, who were completely satisfied with the results the agency provided.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The team is proactive — they took the lead, offered creative ideas, and made recommendations on some effective UX/UI solutions while considering our requests. All processes in the studio are well organized. The team is open to feedback and ready to make edits as much as the client-side team requires.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We had some experience working with other designers before we reached out to Equal and now highly value the design agency's work and expertise. We feel excited that we had an opportunity to work closely together, as the results surpassed our expectations.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO and co-founder of the company. Our company has over 50 team members and our main focus is designing and selling our products online, getting it to the hands of our customers without any intermediary. I’m accountable for tech, website and data.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Equal?

Our e-commerce store was designed in-house roughly 3.5y ago by the co-founders who have no deep experience in e-commerce design. The performance has always been great, but we knew that it could be further improved if experienced hands would help us. We were looking for a redesign that would take into account UX as well.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to increase brand-status so we could keep on being the industry leader. Another goal was to increase the conversion rate on our website.

SOLUTION

How did you select Equal?

We have conducted interviews with over 10 parties. 3 parties were selected to do deeper interviews with. Equal showed us the best combination of experience in e-commerce and pricing. Moreover the communication was pleasant which always is a good indicator of future success

Describe the project in detail.

As the whole website would potentially need an overhaul, Equal took a data-first approach in determining the pain points of our current store. Which pages perform worst and need immediate attention? Eventually designs have been made page by page with various variations for some pages. Hotjar was used to tests and get a better understanding of the current store. Designs were delivered in Figma which made interaction understanding much easier for our developers.

What was the team composition?

Development agency (1 main contact), CTO (for approving designs), 3 managers for approval of branding direction, and one team member that is responsible for the store. Equal appointed one main point of contact to us and we had regular talks with the founder as well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Within weeks we had the first designs ready which were positively received by the team. Over months we have been able to launch some designs to our stores and multiple hotjar tests have been performed to validate the UX. Conversion rates are still under review but seem to be positively impacted.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Slack was our main tool of communication during the whole project. The response and delivery time was super fast, which made working together very pleasing.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The extra mile they take when designing. It is not only design, but also the UX and measurement of it that makes it unique. Tools like Google Analytics and Hotjar made it possible to reach conclusions that would have otherwise never been reached. This knowledge on their side was a nice and unique touch.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Even more focus on the data driven approach would give a real edge in my opinion. Starting with hypothesis design on e.g. conversion rate uplifts, and then testing and measuring together after implementation. We are still working together so I am sure this is still to be come.