Essential Designs

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder of Louise Lee Coaching & Consulting

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Professional Training and Coaching

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Essential Designs to accomplish?

• I hired Essential Designs to redevelop my website and build a custom app for my coaching clients. The goal was to create a seamless experience where clients could access past consultations, receive appointment reminders, communicate directly through the app, and track their progress using an interactive roadma

SOLUTION

How did you find Essential Designs?

Referral

Why did you select Essential Designs over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Essential Designs were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

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

Essential Designs provided multiple design options for the app, allowing me to choose the one that best fit my vision. They also built a modern, functional website to showcase my services and improve client accessibility.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The design concepts I’ve seen so far are promising. The completed portions of the website have already made it easier for potential clients to learn about my services and get in touch with me.

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

They stick to deadlines and usually respond to my requests within a day. When I requested additional functionality for the app, they accommodated it without extra charges, which I really appreciated.

What was your primary form of communication with Essential Designs?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their responsiveness stood out. I can often book a same-day call if needed, and meeting Scott in person was a nice touch. He actually flew out to meet me, which is rare in this industry. Most agencies I spoke with only offered Zoom meetings, and their CEOs were unavailable.

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

Their pricing structure could be clearer. The proposal made sense after I discussed it with them, but having a more detailed breakdown upfront would have been helpful.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of a company that is developing an app, so I handle the operations on the back end.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Essential Designs?

Essential Designs is helping us develop our app — we work very closely with their team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Essential Designs is in charge of coding and putting together our app for us. We initially went through a discovery phase, where we discussed the app's idea, defining our needs and what features we required to be on it. After that, we did a full design process, where we designed the overall look and feel of the app, as well as its UX.

Now, we’re in the development phase. Essential Designs broke down and laid out all of the features that were going to be implemented into milestones. That way, we know when we can expect to see each feature, as they’ll become available at every milestone.

What is the team composition?

Luke (General Manager & Sales Director) was our initial main contact with Essential Designs. After that, we worked with two graphic designers on the UX and the overall app’s design. Lately, we’ve been working with 2–3 developers, but I think that a couple more of them are working on the back end, coding the app.

How did you come to work with Essential Designs?

We were looking around for many different developers in Vancouver, and we went into a discovery and introduction phase with some of them, including Essential Designs. I really enjoyed working with Luke. He was very knowledgeable, open, and transparent about everything, which was a good sign. Additionally, I had read their reviews on Clutch, and I got a good feeling about them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $100,000–$250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2021, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I really like Essential Designs’ work methodology because we can test each functionality and give feedback instead of testing everything at the end.

How did Essential Designs perform from a project management standpoint?

I’m happy with the Essential Designs’ process. We interact with their lead developer, which is great, and we have a good system in place for staying in touch and communicating.

We haven’t been able to meet in person due to the pandemic, but it would be good if we could do that. Essential Designs actually had a COVID-19 outbreak, which delayed our project by four months. However, that was not their fault, and it was just an unfortunate incident.

Aside from the COVID-19 situation, they’ve been very consistent with their deadlines. Additionally, we’ve needed to add a few features, which has pushed things back. However, they’ve been very accurate with their estimates.

From a project management perspective, they get in touch with us whenever they need anything from our side, and they also get in touch as soon as a milestone becomes available. Essential Designs is also very easy to reach via direct messages.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Essential Designs’ communication skills are one of their strongest suits. Although I hadn’t worked with other developers in the past, I’ve heard complaints of people working with other developers, saying that they don’t hear about delays until they’re already happening. However, that doesn’t happen with Essential Designs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be good if their developers were more informed about what is requested during the design phase. As Essential Designs has separate teams for each project phase, we had to clear some things up when the development started.

Aside from that, I have no constructive feedback for them. Obviously, the delay wasn’t ideal, but we couldn’t plan around the pandemic.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Keep a constant stream of communication open. Although Luke is very involved in the actual coding and development process, he’s very easy to get in touch with. Thus, I recommend you stay in touch and check in with the developers and the rest of the team throughout the project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of product at a startup that offers custom payment solutions to institutional customers, such as higher education facilities, corporate campuses, and hospitals. We provide open-loop, Visa-backed, or stored-value products, depending on the scenario. We can also include promotions, offers, and loyalty programs in our solutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Essential Designs?

My company decided to outsource front- and backend development to free up our in-house resources. We hired Essential Designs to be our frontend developers and build our product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Essential Designs is responsible for our product’s frontend development. They interact with a couple of our other outsourced development teams to produce the end product. 

Essential Designs’s initial project was to build a web-based admin UI, or a web account center. My team provided documentation and presentations around the goals of our product and what was important to our buyers and users. We also had remote sessions with their UX designer discussing use cases. Their team built out full UX mockups based on those sessions and the information we provided. They’ve also developed an iOS and Android app for our end users.

What is the team composition?

I interact with three people, including a UX designer and two project managers. The project manager works with the developers, so we don’t have to deal with the developers directly.

How did you come to work with Essential Designs?

I did a Google search and came across Essential Designs as well as other Vancouver companies. After talking with a couple of them, I had a better feeling about Essential Designs fitting with our culture. I was confident about moving forward with them.

How much have you invested with them?

The original project was around $260,000. We’re continuing to do more work with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our work together began in December 2018, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Due to circumstances outside of Essential Designs’ control, the product isn’t yet on the market. This is a big project, and there have been a few changes along the way. The product is currently in QA. We hope to have our first real customers using the product within the next few months. So far, the results are good. The functionality in general works and matches what we’re looking for. The team grasps the requirements.

How did Essential Designs perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve been really happy with the process they’ve taken. It’s good to have two project managers so that if one is away, the other one can provide coverage. We have weekly meetings with them, and we use Basecamp for written communication on different topics.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to immerse themselves in and understand what we’re doing sets them apart. They provide suggestions, especially around UX, and have even improved upon our ideas, which is not something you generally get with outsourced developers. I think we are getting value for having a local Vancouver company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really. We changed the project a couple of times in the latter part of this year, and that really slowed down our progress. However, that was our own doing. 

Any advice for potential customers?

It’s important to understand what you want and be able to communicate that. Have written documentation, whether that is a flowchart or a PowerPoint, and spend time going through those things with the project managers and UX designers so that they have an understanding of what you’re trying to achieve. Also, be available to respond to questions. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a product manager for Schneider Electric, a company present in more than 150 countries. We have a solar and mobile department in Vancouver, where we produce for different kinds of markets.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Essential Designs?

We had an app, but it hadn’t been updated in several years. We needed to work on the source code and make minor changes to the interface.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They took our app, updated its code to the latest Google API, and changed its font. Updating features wasn’t required in this particular project.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two people, including Scott (President, Essential Designs), who organized the work. I worked with him on setting the scope, and I then worked with one of their project managers.

How did you come to work with Essential Designs?

Since it was a small project, we didn’t invite too many companies to apply. I checked Essential Designs’ portfolio, and after discussing a scope of work, they were ready to work with us. They were a good fit.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September–October 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had a minor problem after publishing, but it only required a few changes in the settings. They did those changes right away after I gave them the feedback.

How did Essential Designs perform from a project management standpoint?

The process was pretty smooth; they were responsive and happy to make small changes that we required but hadn’t described in the beginning.

We had a timeline for the project, but we didn’t provide any documentation. We used a standard project management tool, Basecamp, which allowed us to send replies using email while providing an online interface.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It was a pretty small project, and I didn’t interact with the whole team but generally, I was happy with their efficiency.

Are there any areas they could improve?

In the beginning, they suggested we use their agreement model, but they were forced to review ours since we were the bigger organization. They did so without any problems; they’re pretty flexible in this sense.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

No.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the sole proprietor of an app called FabSwitch, a quilt-pattern customization app, and I design quilt patterns for Coach House Designs. I receive digital images from a fabric company, convert them into a pattern, and then incorporate them into marketing materials to sell the associated fabric lines.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Essential Designs?

I realized over the years that some patterns weren’t selling with the original fabrics, so I wanted to create an app that would let customers select their own fabric options based on what’s available and print an updated pattern with the new list of fabric requirements for purchase. I approached Essential Designs to help me build the app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed a web-based app that works across devices and platforms. They also designed the site content associated with it, including the landing and FAQ pages. The features are fairly straightforward: customers log in, choose a pattern, and customize the fabric choices as they wish. They can choose from fabrics in our database or upload an image file of their own swatch, and the app allows them to receive a digital download of their updated pattern immediately after purchase.

What is the team composition?

I primarily worked with their owner, who interfaced with the development team. I think there were four or five people on the project in total.

How did you come to work with Essential Designs?

I searched for local app developers. I’ve worked with developers from other regions before, but since this project was labor-intensive I wanted to work with someone in the same time zone who could meet up face to face. It was a little nerve-wracking for me as I’d recently been scammed online, so I didn’t want to invest a lot of money and be taken advantage of. Essential Designs had done a lot of work for government agencies in Vancouver and had a good reputation, which reassured me. I met with their owner and decided to go forward from there.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost around $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I worked with them from January to September 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

My demographic is older adults (ages 45–60), so it can be challenging to get them engaged with digital tools, but those who are more comfortable with technology have really liked the app. Many people who do this kind of crafting have a hard time visualizing beyond what’s available on the preview pattern and if those fabrics aren’t available, they give up. The app allows us to increase sales by giving customers more choices and helping them see exactly what their finished product will look like before they buy anything.

How did Essential Designs perform from a project management standpoint?

I was pleased by how well they met deadlines and felt like they managed costs reasonably. They were also very easy to communicate with and timely with all of their responses. We met in person occasionally and talked on the phone a few times but once the project got underway, we communicated primarily via email, which was most efficient for me as a small business owner with a demanding schedule of my own.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Some developers have difficulty communicating with people like me who don’t have deep technical knowledge, but they were very respectful in how they went about explaining anything I didn’t understand. They even used a screen-recording tool to make demonstration videos for me so I could learn how to manage all the back-end components I’d need. The process was very user-friendly.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t be intimidated if you’re like me and aren’t familiar with technical jargon or software. Their team will work with you and help you master what you need to in order to operate your business.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the owner/operator of a marketing platform for companies to advertise their products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Essential Designs?

I have no technical background and needed a company to help build our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They created everything from top to bottom. We went back and forth for what felt like two years and drew out exactly what I wanted the site to look like. They made templates and sent screenshots of where visual assets should go and the different layers underneath. They provided a skeleton of the entire site; then, we went into detail on each page.

There was a customer view and an administrative back page where I could keep track of everything behind the scenes and manipulate both sides of the platform. We were most excited by the live feed option. We could toggle between the back page and the broadcast page to see viewership spikes and loads. They made sure that everything was flawless, right down to the tiny details. They were very involved and offered a variety of choices for the CMS and other key features. We relied on their expertise.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with Scott (Partner, Essential Designs). We put our faith in him and there was a lot of mutual respect between us. There may have been other people on the team, but we only worked directly with him.

How did you come to work with Essential Designs?

I reached out to a couple of companies I found via Google search. Essential Designs was the quickest to respond and were very good at selling their services. It was the only company I spoke with that was confident they could accommodate us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $50,000–$60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We had a long business partnership, but development ran between March to August of 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We did a dry run with a few acquaintances to test it. Everyone felt it was well done and feedback is great overall. At the time, we didn’t have the finances to upgrade to live broadcasting. We hope to do that in the future. Once we’re ready to make that change, it will take them half a day or so to get that up and running.

How did Essential Designs perform from a project management standpoint?

They did well. We went back and forth on ideas and Scott clearly took pride in his work. He was delicate with everything and made sure we were completely satisfied. He operated at the same level of perfectionism that I do and was great to work with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very personable. There was a lot of underlying humor in our interactions. Scott was entertaining and in-tune with everything we needed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

My partner is less tech-savvy than I am. It would have been comforting to have more hands-on meetings in person. I sure they would have accommodated that kind of request if we had asked them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the president and creative director of a design agency. We provide comprehensive creative services for branding projects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Essential Designs?

My company designs all creative and visual elements for my clients’ websites, but we sometimes need outside help to provide web development for those projects.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Once our creative design is presented to our clients and approved, we send the design files to Essential Design to create a working website. We coordinate to create a design solution that will fit the user experience, interface design, and functionalities implemented in the development stage. They write the appropriate code and build modules and page templates. Once the beta version is ready, we’ll review with the client and address any concerns. Our most recent websites have used WordPress and have employed parallax scrolling.

What is the team composition?

I interfaced with the owner and two project managers, who were my main contact points.

How did you come to work with Essential Designs?

They came as a referral from my IT consultant. We met and discussed our goals, and I found them to be a strong contender to join our team.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent approximately $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from August 2017 through November 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

All feedback from our clients has been positive. The websites are well-received, and the clients are impressed by the product we delivered.

How did Essential Designs perform from a project management standpoint?

They were prompt in answering questions and addressing issues. We used mostly Basecamp to communicate, and they were very efficient and responsive. I was happy with the entire process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Clear communications and prompt follow through. They stayed on top of the game and it was critical for our business. They are capable of much more than simple websites. They have produced several very complex applications. They are truly experts in their field.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I was hesitant at first because of our budgetary limitation. However, we were able to come to an agreement for both scope of work and prices.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a data consulting company that works in the oil and gas sector.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Essential Designs?

Each oil company has an inventory of wells or locations where there are going to be wells in the future. They have a whole bunch of land and plans for where they’re going to drill the next wells. They wanted to keep an inventory of all these wells and all the hundreds of attributes associated with them in a centralized place. They were using Excel worksheets and it was a disaster. The business problem was storing all of this in a centralized place, capturing the attribute changes that occurred over time, and allowing us to report on those changes. We needed to create a web app.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We worked as a partnership on the design and database design. They did all the coding. I worked with a project manager through the testing phase to test it and provide feedback, and then they make the change. They used ASP.NET and it’s a SQL Server database.

We’re still engaged with them for changes or bug fixes. It’s an ongoing relationship.

What is the team composition?

I worked with 1–2 project managers. The development team was 2–3 people. There may have been a person in quality assurance as well.

How did you come to work with Essential Designs?

I visited three companies. I had worked with Essential Designs a few years back. I really liked Scott (President, Essential Designs), the owner. I found him reasonable and down to earth. The price was also really good; it was half of what others quoted.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $45,000 CAD ($35,194 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in October 2017 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The app performs exactly how we wanted it to. Pop-up boxes come up and data writes to the database exactly the way we wanted. The users are really pleased.

It’s been a new journey for our client to have a problem, dream up a solution, and then, have it come together, and work exactly how we wanted it. We typically buy software off the shelf and go through a big implementation. It’s been neat to tackle this problem on our own and make something to fit.

How did Essential Designs perform from a project management standpoint?

I deal with the project manager and he deals with the developers. We met in-person a couple of times. We tried to keep all communication inside of Basecamp. If I saw a bug, I’d screen capture it and post that to Basecamp. They communicated very well, and their responses were really timely. When we had a new feature that we wanted to add, they’d go to the developers, get a quote, and keep it in the queue until it was approved. I was pleased with that. The project manager was excellent.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It was a good, solid experience. The coders know what they’re doing, and they do things quickly and efficiently. I’ve been quite pleased.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. It was a positive experience.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Provide clear, concise instruction on exactly what you want. If you’re vague on how you want something to work, they’re going to come up with the way that they think it’s going to work. It might not be the correct way and you end up doing rework.

They have a shop overseas and there’s always a time lag of one day. You put in a request and you get a response the next morning. It was never an issue but it’s something to be aware of.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and CEO of LifeguardOD, an iOS and Android mobile application designed to expedite emergency response time to drug overdoses and address the opioid crisis in Canada.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Essential Designs?

I had a vision for an emergency response application specifically for drug overdoses but did not have the technical expertise for app development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We came to Essential Designs with an idea of what we were looking for and provided initial sketches, and they provided storyboards based on our ideas. We worked together to start building the application screen by screen, and they went on to develop and design the LifeguardOD mobile app for iOS and Android. They programmed and implemented text-to-speech technology into the applications as well.

What is the team composition?

I worked primarily with a project manager, and the team consisted of about five onsite and 14-15 offshore developers.

How did you come to work with Essential Designs?

I did some research on Google and contacted several application developers. Scott Jackson (Management Executive, Essential Designs) quickly and enthusiastically expressed interest in the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started development in November 2017, and the application is set to launch in April 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re partnered with emergency responders and during our testing phase, they’ve found the application to be very user-friendly and reliable. The app will be ready to roll out this spring.

How did Essential Designs perform from a project management standpoint?

The Essential Designs team communicated with me constantly and kept me updated on project deadlines. Scott was very warm, open, honest, and professional. They made me extremely comfortable with technical knowledge.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their professionalism and knowledge of their craft were exceptional. Scott took our financial situation into consideration and adapted to meet our needs and terms.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I have no complaints.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would tell them to be honest and open with their team.