funs

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the co-founder and CEO of Health2Sync, an online digital solution that helps patients manage their diabetes. We have a cloud-based mobile app that interacts with patients and care providers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with funs?

We contacted funs to help us build a prototype of a UX-friendly mobile app that would capture patient data in an easy-to-use format. We also hired funs to design our first company website and all of our corporate imaging, including our logo and package design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We did all of the developing ourselves, and funs supplied an account manager, two designers, and maybe two or three other staff members behind the designers who would help implement the designs the designers created.

When we began work on the project, funs ran a design workshop where we had different personas representing who would use the product and the problems the product would solve. From there, funs went ahead and designed a prototype, and from the prototype to the actual design stage there was a lot of discussion regarding editing and changes, etc. After the prototype was confirmed, funs went ahead and sketched the designs and created the images that later would be used to develop the app.

After the app was confirmed, funs designed our packaging, because we also sell a smart cable that allows patients to easily download data from their blood glucose meter to the app. They designed the first version of our corporate website (we’re currently on our third version). Some of the company’s collateral uses the same corporate image funs designed, so they pretty much did everything involving our company’s image, including anything that was used in PR for the company.

How did you come to work with funs?

I previously had met Sandy, the account manager and director of funs, through other means. After interacting with her and seeing what her company had designed for other clients, I sensed that she was someone I could trust, and she was someone who would fit our case and not deviate too much from the image we were looking to deliver to our customers. At the end of the day, I think it was just a matter of trust and comfort.

How much have you invested with funs?

We’ve invested around $30,000 to $40,000 with funs.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with funs in May or June 2013, because as a startup, we didn't have our own design team until our second year as a company. After we brought our own design team in-house, we stopped our engagement with funs. That happened around July 2014.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The corporate color — Tiffany blue — that funs chose and the logo they designed worked well for us, and we’re still using them today. People remember our company by that color and logo, which really fit well in the digital healthcare space. People also liked our first mobile app.

How did funs perform from a project management standpoint?

We never had any bad experiences with funs, and I think they performed quite well. On a scale of 10, I would probably give them an eight or nine. Occasionally we had differences in thinking when it came to reviewing certain drafts, but funs was open-minded, and they incorporated our comments into their designs. We were never in an awkward place in terms of disagreement over a design or a product that we wanted changed. I think that has a lot to do with Sandy and her account management skills.

What did you find most impressive about funs?

Funs had good cost performance pricing, and we didn't have any major surprises on that front, which is good, in a way. When outsourcing vendors, it sometimes can get ugly — the original cost estimates, products, or schedules can come out completely different.

Are there any areas funs could improve?

Our product was specific to diabetics, so it could have been better if funs had engaged more diabetics when conducting the test group. Everything came out OK, but I think they could have spoken to more diabetics. Then again, that could have been a cost component; it might have cost us more or taken up more time.