Evermore

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

IDH orchestrates the powers of law, of entrepreneurship and investments to work together to create solutions for global sustainability issues at scale.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Evermore?

We needed to create a web portal for one of our sub-teams. We needed help with development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided full design work for the portal, including design, prototyping, wireframing, and building different sections. One section required complex custom development.

What is the team composition?

We work with three people from their team.

How did you come to work with Evermore?

I discovered them via Google. They scored highly on our assessment, and their references came back as extremely positive.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested between $50,000–$100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2019, and this main project will wrap up in June 2020. We’ll continue to give them more projects on an ongoing basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their quality is very good. It’s a quite solid tech solution on the front-and backend.

How did Evermore perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve set a high bar for how consultants should operate. They’re super communicative, which was great. We had a lot of transparency for how the project was going. I appreciated the Trello board they use to track progress since it was easy for me to add to the pipeline of work as well as comments. We had weekly meetings with the lead developer where he answered our questions directly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are probably one of the few consultants that continually bring solutions to problems.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I quite enjoyed working together and I look forward to working with them in the future. Even their costs were very reasonable.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s good advice to have a single point of contact on the client-side. I was able to field a lot of questions internally and bring them up directly. It saved a lot of time.  

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

NucNet is a Brussels-based independent news agency and information network for the global nuclear energy industry. It is registered in Belgium as a non-governmental non-profit association (‘association sans but lucratif’ or a.s.b.l.). NcNet operates a 24/7 service reporting nuclear-related news about the operation and construction of nuclear power stations, policies affecting the nuclear industry, nuclear safety and security, emerging nuclear technologies and the safe use of ionising radiation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Evermore?

NucNet entrusted Evermore with a complete redesign of our website, brand, newsletters and back-end system.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed a modern, up-to-date, website look and back-end functionality - essential for the competitive environment for online media outlets.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We selected Evermore after a process of analyzing three vendors, which took half a year.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

NucNet needed: - Compete rebranding, including logo change - New front-end look and functionality - New back-end CMS and CRM functionality - Migration of editorial and contact database from a Microsoft-based system to an Amazon-based one. Tasks included: • Content architecture • Digital strategy • User research • Design • Branding • Responsive website development • Content management system • Integration with a CRM solution • Development of a newsletter sending service • Quality assurance The whole process started with a workshop that took place in NucNet’s offices in Brussels. It was then followed by an in-depth analysis of their users and definition of the key metrics for success, which in their case is the number of new subscribers and the churn rate.

What was the team composition?

Evermore provided a project leader, front-end designer, and two full-time developers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In the first month after the launch, the number of new subscriptions tripled compared to last year’s total. In the first two months of 2020, we had more site visits than the whole of 2019 - an ever growing online presence.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

From the onset, the Evermore team grasped the essence of what we needed and quickly offered fresh ideas and solutions we hadn’t even considered. They also managed a substantial database migration and completed the project in the most professional and flexible manner. We had a set of complex requirements which kept expanding during the development process, but Evermore delivered on all with ease, patience, creativity and understanding. Communication with the Evermore team was never a problem. We will keep on working with them even after the successful completion of our mutual project.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Ease of communications, flexibility, eagerness to find solutions, pro-active project management, technically competent, never complained.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Perhaps a bit more attention needed for bug-catching during the development phase.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the managing director of a consulting firm that specializes in advisory for mergers and acquisitions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Evermore?

We were looking for someone to provide consulting services for the visualization and development of a web app. We specifically wanted a skilled software company that could grasp the concept quickly because we were curious to see how it could be implemented.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Evermore helped us to visualize the concept that we had in mind, supporting us through the process and welcoming the exchange of ideas.

What is the team composition?

Including the business relations management team, I’ve worked with two people.

How did you come to work with Evermore?

We interviewed and had conference calls with 20–30 companies across India, Israel, and some European countries. Evermore stood out because they had very good business relationship management and strong skill sets.

We ultimately chose Evermore because of their responsiveness, availability, and relationship with potential customers. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in May 2019. The project has since been put on hold but not because of Evermore.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I was positively impressed with them and absolutely satisfied with the way that they visualized the idea. I was very happy.

How did Evermore perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed well. We communicated mostly via email and also had a few video conference calls which have been helpful. They were timely and professional. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed by their interaction with IT specialists and customer service as well as how quickly they grasped concepts. I also enjoyed the way they worked with me. We had good, deep chemistry and they were professional and proactive.  They did a good job.

They are a good group of people with solid technical skill sets and a very strong customer approach. They were great at working with potential customers which I haven’t been able to find.

I also liked our interactions and how smoothly things went. If they were just good at interacting with customers but not good at helping technically or if they didn’t excel in the whole aspect of a potential temporary partnership around one idea, I wouldn’t have chosen them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

EDC-Free Europe is a coalition of public interest groups representing more than 70 environmental, health, women's and consumer groups across Europe who share a concern about hormone disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and their impact on our health and wildlife.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Evermore?

The Evermore team supported the process to redesign our campaign logo and website. The website was a few years old, and therefore our goal was to update it to make it more appealing and user-friendly.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goals for this project were to revamp our campaign logo and website to match new online trends, and to increase user-friendliness of the website.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

My team searched online for web designers and contacted several developers based on recommendations from our network. Following meetings with 2-3 potential designers, my team and I picked Evermore based on their clear and strategic project proposal. Their ideas were forward-thinking, fresh and gave new perspectives that we hadn't thought of ourselves.

Describe the project in detail.

Once we selected Evermore, we had an initial brainstorming meeting in our office to get to know each other and discuss the project in detail. We brainstormed about the target audiences, goals and desired outcome of the project. The Evermore team encouraged us to think outside the box and think of new ways to bring our message online.

Following this initial meeting, we had calls every 2 weeks to discuss process made and feedback. Evermore always answered my questions with great attention to detail and within a day, which I very much appreciated. Following the launch of our website, the Evermore team offered excellent support with maintaining all website elements. I still collaborate with them to this day.

What was the team composition?

Throughout the project, Evermore's project manager was my main point of contact. At the start of the project, I was also introduced to the company's founder and to the main developers behind the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since the launch of our new website and logo, we have received positive feedback from both our campaign members and our target audience. Traffic to our website has increased significantly, and the number of people mentioning our website on social media has risen.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The project manager we were assigned was easy to communicate with and gave us frequent updates about the status of the project. We arranged frequent calls to discuss progress made, and whenever I shot a question their way I always received an answer within a day.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The Evermore team is a joy to work with. They are great website developers with a wealth of knowledge about design and optimization, and take time to carefully tailor their style to each project. I very much appreciated their down-to-earth approach and honesty, and their creative way of thinking outside the box. I can very much recommend Evermore to everyone looking for a website developer!

Are there any areas for improvement?

I can think of no areas for improvement.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m part of a nonprofit that promotes scientific outreach to children, specifically about space science.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Evermore?

We needed development of a multilingual platform.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted the solution operational in time for a video contest in four months.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We chose them based on their reputation for web development.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They developed a backend system for admin access and a frontend web interface. The frontend’s simple concept and graphic design were optimal for use by children.

What was the team composition?

We worked with one point of contact.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The pilot version of the contest was successful thanks to the support of the platform.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

All of the development was remote, and we communicated with our point of contact through Skype. Our coordination was very effective. They worked in an agile method.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They took action quickly.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The platform requires a thorough explanation, but other than that, we’re satisfied.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the Program Officer for the European Union of Jewish Students. We’re a non-partisan, umbrella organization that supports Jewish student unions throughout Europe, and represents its members in international institutions and organizations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Evermore?

We needed design and update help for two of our websites: our main, EUJS site, and Summer U, our biggest event of the year.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to freshen up our online presence with a simple, young design.

SOLUTION

Describe the project in detail.

Evermore was in charge of offering a new design and coding the two new websites. They presented their ideas and then updated the websites. They’ve been in close contact with our team ever since, giving advice and making changes with great effectiveness.

What was the team composition?

We have two points of contact that are always the same.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We received great feedback after the launch of the new websites. The Summer U website has been a huge help to our marketing strategy and it’s being used much more than the previous one was.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was very good. Evermore has been and still is extremely reactive, helping with coherence and following up on projects.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They work fast and well and are always open.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am an architect and head of design and construction for a small firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Evermore?

We hired Evermore to design, create and maintain a website for our skatepark.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to have a platform for future clients to see photos, videos, and written material about our past projects.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We selected Evermore because of their connection to extreme sports and its culture.

Describe the project in detail.

We worked with Evermore to discuss the website’s design. Within two weeks, they prepared examples of designs for us to choose from. We made a few corrections, then the website went live.

What was the team composition?

The team consisted of two designers and a project manager. We only met with the team twice throughout the entire project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our skate school enrollment increased significantly after we launched our website. We also received more likes on our Facebook page.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication between our teams went smoothly. We only need to meet twice throughout the project.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Evermore was extremely professional and communicated quickly about our requests and ideas.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We saw no areas for improvement.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We're an NGO focused on different aspects of human rights and liberties. I'm the editor-in-chief of the website.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Evermore?

We needed to start the development of our website from scratch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provide full-fledged web development, dealing with some of our databases in the background. The platform was custom developed using Ruby on Rails. The main challenge of the site is that it’s multilingual, but it’s not fully in-sync when it comes to the content in different languages. We have a mobilization platform using tools developed by Evermore, including open-letter sending modules, petition pages, and so on.

We have a CMS through which we task our translators, and collaborate and communicate with NGO partners. We try to arrange as many things as we can through it. We provide different levels of access to the members so that they see the right things for them in the system.

What is the team composition?

We worked with their head of development. He assigned different tasks to the developers on the team. The team size has fluctuated, but I believe that there’ve been two or three people working for us on average. We also have a project manager.

Evermore has a designer, but we use our in-house designer for content artwork and general website layout elements. It’s a kind of hybrid situation. Their designer collaborates with the rest of the team.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent around €15,000 [$17,736 USD] per year on their services. The total cost has been around €60,000 [$70,947 USD] plus tax.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Evermore in November 2013. The first version of our website was up-and-running in April 2014. We have an ongoing contract with them for 12 months, which we will probably renew next year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're growing in terms of the number of users and time spent on the website. Our Google Analytics figures show us that it has made sense to invest in Evermore. Since we're not a for-profit company, we’re not extremely picky about the data. We try to grow and we try to invest in what we need, but that doesn’t mean that we are completely data-driven.

How did Evermore perform from a project management standpoint?

When the ball is rolling on our side, they're responsive and quick. I have nothing negative to say. They coordinate well, and their project manager is good at following up on things and making sure that tasks are not lost.

We work through Basecamp with the developers. We have a list of feature requests, which is always updated. The editorial team, the content team, the developers, and the graphic designers all collaborate through Basecamp. This made all our lives much easier when it came to new features, debugging, or solving outstanding issues.

They resolve any issues quickly. We have a close working relationship and they're very responsive. When something is wrong, I let them know about it on Slack and they get back to us within half an hour at most. Most often, it’s in a matter of minutes. On the other hand, we are running on Heroku, so the website itself doesn’t have too many crashes. The Amazon servers are serving us well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They do their job in the best possible way. I appreciate their speed, and the head of development is very creative when it comes to special solutions or addressing certain needs we may have. We've never heard that something was impossible. The worst thing we heard was that something would cost a certain number of development hours, so we had to decide whether or not it worked for us. They really bring their brainpower to the work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We were not keen on using their graphic designer initially, because we had our own. The decision never came up again. I know that they do have in-house designers.

We overran our budget last year, but they were willing to do some pro bono work for us. They like us as clients and we like to work with them, so we resolved the dispute through some bonus hours from Evermore.

I don’t know if the developer fluctuation is an issue or not. I think it’s normal that they had a few developers leave over the years, as it’s a high-demand industry.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the CTO of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), a representative body of Jewish organizations around the world, outside Israel.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Evermore?

We originally had a very old website and knew it needed to be redone; we were looking for someone to rebuild our entire site.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Evermore used Ruby on Rails to build, from scratch, a fully functional website that included user registration, credit card processing, multilingual capabilities and audio, video and photo upload features. MailChimp, as well as WJC’s own database, which Evermore would subsequently help rebuild, were integrated into the site. Evermore designed the site while also providing branding strategy and logo creation. Evermore continues to update content and responds to any needs that come up.

What is the team composition?

One project manager, who was my point of contact, led three developers.

How did you come to work with Evermore?

Someone within our own organization knew an Evermore team member and introduced us. We interviewed Evermore, as well as four other development companies, before choosing to ultimately work with Evermore.

How much have you invested with them?

Thus far, we have invested around $200,000 with Evermore.

What is the status of this engagement?

The initial project began in October of 2017. Although the site was finished many years ago, the professional relationship is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After the new site was built, our web traffic increased dramatically. All of us—across multiple departments—who dealt with the development process were extremely happy with Evermore's work. They provided excellent quality and I would give them five stars.

How did Evermore perform from a project management standpoint?

They were exceptional project managers and were even more organized than we were. They guided us very well. We have a dedicated channel that we communicate on several times a day. We also have regular video meetings and, whenever possible, meet in person, which is usually about once a month.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They knew better than us what we needed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

For us, they were perfect.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Come into projects with a sense of honesty and flexibility.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a postdoctoral research fellow at Lund University in Sweden. More specifically, I am currently in charge of a research group called Comparative Literature. I’m part of a small group of research scholars who wanted to create research solidarity within our school.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Evermore?

We hired them to construct websites for research purposes as part of a university initiative. We’re the first cross-section, cross-disciplinary research group. We wanted an online business card, and a tool for organizing and disseminating research information.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

A friend recommended them to us. We got in touch with them and had an initial face-to-face meeting, during which they gave us a list of questions about our needs, our objectives, and the main function of the site. We gave detailed descriptions, even though we weren’t sure about the technical feasibility of the product since we weren’t familiar with IT services. After hearing about the things we wanted to do, Evermore offered us functional solutions.

They questioned us a lot about known competitors and asked whether we had any models to follow. We coudln't answer this, so we did some research and thought more strategically about the market. We are a small group of researchers within a university, so the economic aspects of the product mattered less. We then formalized the pages, chose color palettes, and passed things on to the design team.

The main function of the site is to introduce our research group. It also works as a source of news, informing our followers about events and activities, and allows us to organize our own activities as well. We conduct our own research projects, provide information about seminars, and collect information about comparative literature. The site acts as a knowledge-sharing network featuring colleagues within our university and internationally.

The functionalities and database we required were probably less demanding than many proper business solutions. It’s an online business card for other people to get in touch with us for potential collaborations. We had a test run in the beginning. We’ve updated the site a few times since its launch and changed certain pages to meet our needs. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve had close contact with two people from their team. Based on the number of people who have access to our administration portal, I believe that Evermore assigned five people to our project. We’ve worked directly with their project manager, who passed on relevant information to the designated resources.

How did you come to work with Evermore?

We found them through a friend’s recommendation. We weren’t sure what a collaboration like this would be like, since no one in our group had worked with web design companies. At the same time, we didn’t have a massive budget in the beginning to contact bigger and better-known companies. It was just a small trial. We were looking for a provider that worked with small startups and businesses.

I got to know Evermore’s marketing representative and looked at their past work. They were a relatively young group, and they were quite enthusiastic about our project. The scale and experience of the company already made them a suitable choice. We didn’t consciously compare their offer to those from other companies.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost of their work has been €5,000–€8,000 ($5,833–$9,333 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with Evermore from June to October 2017, then signed up for another year of maintenance work. We’ve made some minor page modifications as well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everyone in our research group has been extremely impressed by the design of the website and the services provided. Evermore was very quick to reply to our questions and modification requests, and patient in training us after passing off administration of the site. None of us were IT-savvy, but they trained us through Skype and guided us through the website’s various functions.

The site helped us consolidate our online identity. We’ve had quite a few international scholars give talks at our university. Having a website like this has definitely helped convince them to come, since it showed them who had already been here and what topics had been addressed. It has made a huge difference in the way we present ourselves.

Our audience is fellows and colleagues more than investors and clients. Evermore has helped us expand and consolidate not only our identity, but also our professional network. People who were impressed with our work and online presence have started to contact us. They want to use our platform for announcements and promotional activities about their own publications or books.

How did Evermore perform from a project management standpoint?

Everything is done through Skype or email, and we also use Basecamp for collaborative work. They were quick to reply to messages and questions. Since we didn’t know how IT projects were run, we expected to progress slightly faster in the beginning. We set a deadline at the later stages of the discussion, once they were sure exactly what was involved. Once we had that, everything was done according to the schedule.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were approachable, especially their marketing official. The whole organization was very professional. We didn’t have business experience, but they improved our marketing, visibility, and online presence. They helped us rethink how we reach out to people.

Apart from their organizational competence and efficiency, and their speed in replying to our inquiries, I was most impressed with Evermore’s ability to help us think about the online space in a more businesslike way. We weren't expecting that.

In the beginning, we gave them some ideas to put into a product. Evermore asked us a lot of questions about goals, clickthrough rates, and competitors. We've learned quite a few things from their business mindset.