Graffino

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

It’s been amazing to work with them. I can’t fault them at all. They exceed every other developer I’ve ever worked with. Graffino is brilliant, and they delivered. We changed the brief slightly, but they took it in stride and were quite receptive to it. Account management and customer service were both spot on. I’d recommend them tomorrow.

Since the website launched, we’ve had no issues. There have been no bugs reported from users; we found a couple of bugs internally. Deployment only took a couple of hours, and the Graffino team always keeps in touch. I’ve enjoyed the entire experience. It’s been a pleasure to work with them.

How did Graffino perform from a project management standpoint?

Our account manager is brilliant. He was brilliant and maintained daily contact. What’s more, he was responsive to all my requests and queries as well as educated me. I can’t speak highly enough of Graffino.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed with how their process and implementation work. The lack of bugs has been great. First, they’d develop a few pages and then send it to us to proof. After a few tweaks, it’d be ready to brief. Their output and account management are excellent.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s not anything. I’ve not had this high level of experience before. It was the least stressful website I’ve had to launch.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Develop a good rapport with them. Make sure there’s an account manager who’s been dedicated to you. They’re a great partner to have. Their team really knows their stuff.

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

The anecdotal result of the work is the credibility with our customer base. My co-founders and I are pretty young, so the website added credibility. Our customers feel like we’re genuine about building this company.

We’ve had no bugs since the project finished. We had a two-week period of the MVP, where they were tasked with fixing all the errors. They delivered on that.

How did Graffino perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re excellent. The team was flexible upfront. We had a tight timeline, and their team actually under promised and over delivered. They did a phenomenal job. It’s hard to come up with critiques because we felt very well taken care of.

What did you find most impressive about them?

First, I was impressed with their communication. The team was also open to feedback throughout the process.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only thing we thought of was the time zone difference of about 10 hours. We ended up having our calls at the same time. If we’d gone into the project knowing that was a good time for them, that might have been helpful.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

We were very clear and upfront about what we cared about. Outside of what we cared about, we gave them free rein to do their quality work. Graffino is excellent at what they do, so we gave them the ability to do their job.

When they did their first version of the site, we made sure to document every bug, put it in video form, and sent it back to them. They loved that.

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

The last project deadline seemed impossible, but they finished ahead of time. They effectively reduce the internal IT workload, successfully finishing projects given to them.

How did Graffino perform from a project management standpoint?

I am the project manager. They do well, enabling me to effortlessly manage from our side. All deadlines were met.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are professional and do a good job. Compared to other agencies I’ve seen, they're a great partner for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. They should just continue to grow and improve as they’ve done over the course of our engagement.

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

We’re getting ready to launch the site, so we can’t speak to its success yet — though we have an estimation of six months in place in terms of when we’ll see a return on our investment. We’re quite optimistic that the new website will perform well. We’re satisfied with the work they’ve done, especially some of the UX components they were able to integrate.

We had quite a few requests and the project wasn’t easy, but Graffino handled the challenge extraordinarily well.

How did Graffino perform from a project management standpoint?

The team granted us access to many of their software accounts, which was extremely helpful. It provided us insight into which team member was working on which task and for what amount of time. They also used ClickUp, which was a very useful instrument.

Even when we needed to adapt project deliverables, Graffino always managed to complete work on time. 

Throughout the project, we visited one another’s offices on a few occasions, and each time they prepared a detailed presentation on their progress. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

In one word, professionalism. They’re experts in their field, and the team is up to date with all of their technology. Graffino introduced us to so many new possibilities, and our experience working with them was just excellent. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing that comes to mind. They’re far better in every facet than previous web developers we’ve worked with.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take advantage of their willingness to conduct research, and take the time to explain the mission, values, and long-term goals of your company so they can take you in the right direction.

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

Internally, we are really pleased with the results and it is exactly what we wanted from the start. They exceeded our expectations. It is completely different from what we had and is very high quality. They did everything that was required from them and it was within budget and on time. 

How did Graffino perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication was really good between our teams. They were easy to reach and very responsive, making changes whenever necessary. Their team also gave us suggestions and feedback. We spoke on the phone and also met in-person once. Everything went through email or Dropbox.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were really supportive. Their team was really creative in their ideas, and they understood how to meet our expectations. They met our needs when it came to creating a design. Besides that, they were really helpful and supportive with the process of bringing the site online, even though it wasn’t their responsibility to take care of that.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Because of our previous unsatisying experience with a vendor, I can make a clear comparison, and there isn’t anything we are not pleased about with Graffino.

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

We didn't have any specific measures of success, but it was a pleasure to work with Graffino. They delivered high-quality work on time and within budget.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We stayed in touch through email and had regular meetings every week. I could call the co-founder at any time and he would call back. They used project management software to track tasks, issues, and questions.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We appreciated their willingness to support us after the project was complete. They were honest, professional, and highly responsive. They went above and beyond to make the product as good as possible.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, they met our budget and focused on delivering our products. We had no complaints.

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

We closed the project recently, and our customer was satisfied. We loved the site and it looked great.

The only back-and-forth and tension that can arise in a project like this is during the clarification of expectations beforehand. We always plan three or four rounds of feedback before any major step. The client may want something that isn't in the designs and technical requirements they approved. Graffino was reasonably flexible, adding things that weren't in the initial brief. This can be tricky to navigate, but it went well for us.

How did Graffino perform from a project management standpoint?

They used multiple online tools, including ActiveCollab. They always populated it with all the tasks, deadlines, and project phases. Both the client and I could check the project’s live standing and comment on tasks and open discussions. Coupled with Slack, it helped a lot. We coordinated excellently using those two tools.

The finances were also straightforward. They used online tools, and everything went quickly. Compared to my other experiences, it was easy to work with Graffino. They were well organized.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They really like what they do, and they don’t view it as a job. Talented individuals, particularly artists, value the freedom to do what they like. I saw this with Graffino.

During the design phase, the client asked for a newsletter popup dialogue box. Graffino responded by suggesting the latest trends in user experience, gave us an interesting explanation about why this was not necessarily a good idea, and told us that we had better possibilities. Neither I nor the client would have known this. Graffino knew because they read about this every day and understand everything that happens in the industry.

I loved their passion. I felt confident with them, and I listened whenever they gave me feedback or suggestions.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I know it sounds strange, but not really. No one I’ve worked with was perfect, but you can solve anything if you understand the goal and adopt a decent level of flexibility to adapt to circumstances. Even if some things seemed negative in the short term, their strategic and communicative approach to the project was great.

I’ve worked as a consultant for five years, and it’s hard to find a flaw with Graffino. They have a grasp on the basic, evergreen principles. If they keep following those, there is no limit to what they can do.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Listen to Graffino’s advice. They are experts, but clients sometimes have fixed ideas about what they want. Suppliers can always just submit to them, but if a client truly listens to Graffino's opinions on web development, they will get great value for the price.

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

I’m thrilled with their work and have continued using them. Based on other designers, I didn’t expect Graffino’s work to be so pixel-perfect. They’re not the cheapest option we could find locally, but they are diligent and deliver top-quality work. 

How did Graffino perform from a project management standpoint?

They are based in my hometown, so I’ve visited their office frequently. I typically handle project management, and I have access to their entire team. We communicate through Slack, Skype, phone and email. We have an Agile process with daily standup meetings and retrospectives at the end of every sprint and every project. We discuss how we can improve the work, if there is something to improve. They are very responsive in this respect.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I have used other designers in the past, but the experience was not that good. I like to continue working with the people I like, and Graffino is definitely that.

They are thorough in terms of implementation. As a developer, I’ve appreciated seeing another team break down problems and solve them bit by bit. We’ve never ended up with big CSS clusters—style elements are brought together one by one in a modular form. It’s a programming approach to frontend work.

Graffino was the first agency that asked for feedback at the end of a project. We met for a coffee, discussed the project and determined what went or didn’t go well. Things have gone better and better with each project. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

We continue to have feedback meetings, but there was nothing I could identify for our last project. I simply congratulated them on their great work.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

It’s important to trust the team and talk to them. They may decline to work with the type of customer that comes in with fixed ideas. On our first project, I came in with a set of ideas, but they explained what was wrong about them. In the end, they were right.

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

Our conversion rate went up dramatically after their involvement. I don’t remember the exact increase, but it was substantial. I’ve since sold the company and we’ve merged into a fairly large entity.

How did Graffino perform from a project management standpoint?

They did well overall. Most of our communication was through video calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

This was one of the better experiences I’ve had. I’ve done a lot of web projects before and this one was the easiest. They offered a really good value. They were affordable, delivered in a reasonably timely manner, and we didn’t have to deal with many bugs. They worked with myself and our COO and made the process pretty painless.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any net negative feedback for them. There were a few mild scoping and project management issues on both sides. It was a complex project and there were occasional delivery delays. Given the nature of the project, it was never a problem. They operated within one standard deviation of normal.

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

When we started on my personal website, the number of questions I got from them was overwhelming. They were passionate about the project and wanted to get it done fast.

How did Graffino perform from a project management standpoint?

Their philosophy is that it’s not about what you’re working on, it’s about who you’re working with. They’re very picky about who they work with. They choose projects based on who is bringing the project to the table. They want to engage in long-term relationships. They're not the kind of agency that will just do a website and move on. They're looking for three-, six-, or nine-month long projects that are more than just a regular website.

They take pride in how the code is written. They put quality above money and timelines. They don’t develop from one day to another, and they don’t take on projects that have very tight timelines because they can’t guarantee that their code will be 100% correct. They don’t work towards hard or shifting deadlines because then they’re not able to meet their own quality standards.

We email when we need to share notes or documents but we mostly communicate by phone and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Fairness. I think that describes them. They're also eager to do quality work rather than quantity. They're my number one choice simply because they can actually deliver what I want them to deliver.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could work at a faster pace. There are probably certain things that they’re taking a bit longer on than they should be.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be transparent with the people at Graffino because they'll do their very best to help you. If you don’t give them the right information, they’ll make assumptions which lead to mistakes. The more transparent you are, the greater the chances that the solution will be developed faster than initially thought.