Guidea

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Head of Product Design of Finix

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Finix Payments is an integrated payments platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Guidea to accomplish?

• Help re-design the existing Finix dashboard
• Run large scale usability refresh projects
• Design and help build new features

SOLUTION

How did you find Guidea?

• Not sure

Why did you select Guidea over others?

• High ratings
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from Guidea were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

1. Design key features for the Finix payments dashboard, including settlements, disbursements, disputes etc., that allow Finix to acquire more customers and scale. Jes worked on the designs, user research, and usability testing for each feature, and supported the front-end implementation after hand off.
2. Dashboard usability refresh: Jes and Claire planned and executed a month long user research initiative to understand customer pain points and build a repeatable UX pattern across the dashboard. Their work led to a significant improvement in the user experience.
3. Design and deliver a design system: Jes designed Finix's first full-fledged design system from scratch, thoroughly documented all specs, and supported engineering with the implementation in the front end.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

While we do not have a quantitative way of measuring success on design projects, the team from Guidea was instrumental in designing the dashboard that our customers use and led to hundreds of thousands of revenue dollars. They also played a key role in building the design system which has made the design and engineering teams about 30% more efficient than they used to be.

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

Jess was always thorough and incredibly detail oriented in her work and always managed to finish projects and deliver items on item. She went above and beyond what was asked to deliver high quality work while managing her own timeline and priorities really well.

What was your primary form of communication with Guidea?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

My primary contact at Guidea checked in with me regularly to ensure the projects were progressing smoothly and that the partnership was working.They also supported us in finding the right designer with prior experience that matched our needs well.

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

No, everything went very smoothly, and I could not be happier with the deliverables.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Vice President of Product of an enterprise software provider

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Our company provides enterprise software to automate your database change process, supporting continuous delivery.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Guidea to accomplish?

• Provide a design roadmap and framework for a new product
• Validate market and product assumptions with key stakeholders

SOLUTION

How did you find Guidea?

Other

Why did you select Guidea over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Guidea were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Guidea worked closely with key stakeholders and subject matter experts to map a future product vision and define a design roadmap for a new product focused on bringing Database schema changes into the DevOps workflow. The final deliverables included a vision prototype, high-fidelity screen designs and a UI Kit.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Guidea provided full analysis and context maps for internal and external stakeholder interviews. Guidea also provided a core design and React UI Kit for product development. All deliverables were mapped into phases and supported with strong data-driven research.

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

Guidea always delivered on time and exceeded expectations. They helped manage the entire process and interview and follow-up processes.

What was your primary form of communication with Guidea?

Virtual Meeting

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

Guidea was able to quickly understand our market and value proposition and were able to hit the ground running. Overall, they were quickly engaged and effective at hitting milestones.

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

Nothing comes to mind.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a department manager of Rx Outreach, a nonprofit mail-ordering pharmacy serving patients in all 50 states of the US.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Guidea?

We recently rolled out a new ordering software to order patient prescriptions through. In doing so, we had to recreate our online patient portal so that patients could log in, manage their own profiles, and place refills. As part of this project, we had the idea of redesigning the entire frontend flow of our patient portal, so we needed help with UI/UX design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Guidea helped us revamp the entire UI/UX of our patient portal. Initially, we had a couple of meetings, during which my team showed Guidea our current design assets. Then, they created some UI/UX design mock-ups based on what we wanted and focused on the platform’s ease of use.

Throughout the project, we went back and forth with Guidea’s team to discuss things we wanted to change. Guidea gave us different variations and versions of the UI/UX designs and let us pick between them.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two teammates from Guidea: Nikki (Associate Director of Research & Strategy) and Natalie (UX Researcher & Designer). Nikki acted as the project manager, while Natalie was in charge of designing all the mock-ups.

How did you come to work with Guidea?

Another person in the pharmacy industry recommended Guidea to us. Thus, we reached out to Guidea and took it from there.

How much have you invested with them?

I wasn’t part of the negotiations.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in the middle of March 2023. The project was four weeks long, so the design delivery was exactly one month after we started, in April 2023.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We recently finished implementing the UI/UX designs that Guidea created for us, so we launched our new patient portal recently. Thus far, we’ve received a few positive reviews from our patients on it. They’re very happy with the new platform, as it looks much nicer and much cleaner, and it’s also easier to use. Additionally, we were absolutely pleased with the quality of the work we received.

How did Guidea perform from a project management standpoint?

Guidea was very communicative throughout the entire project. Their team was open and detail-oriented, so we never had doubts; everything was upfront and forthcoming. Whenever we had feedback, Guidea implemented it within a day.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Overall, everything was absolutely phenomenal.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was nothing Guidea could have improved on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t hold back any questions; be completely open and honest with Guidea regarding your expectations. They’ll take your input into consideration when they create your designs.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the President/CEO of Rx Outreach

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Rx Outreach is a nonprofit pharmacy that uses automation to provide more than 200,000 prescriptions annually to people in all 50 states.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Guidea to accomplish?

• create process flow for pharmacy customers
• create easy to use templates
• ensure templates worked for desktop and mobile

SOLUTION

How did you find Guidea?

Referral

Why did you select Guidea over others?

• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Guidea were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

We worked with Guidea to determine priorities and develop a timeline. This included evaluating and selecting which activities were the most important for our clients to be able to use in the online patient portal. Once we determined what activities we wanted the clients to be able to do, Guidea created the process flows and screens. Guidea delivered the project as identified and on time. Their communication and timeliness was excellent and they brought ideas and suggestions for best practices.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Completion of screens for several work flows. They created high quality designs in the timeline that was created at the start of the engagement. They were wonderful to work with!

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

Delivered on time. Very responsive to needs - and even changes.

What was your primary form of communication with Guidea?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Commitment to excellence. In work product and professionalism.

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

No suggestions for improvement. They are an excellent company that provides excellent results.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Design Program Director for a large IT company, specifically responsible for the UX of our Data Storage products and services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Guidea ?

We needed a deeper understanding of the consumers and users of Container-based data storage so that we could deliver products that are easy to use and meet the clients' needs.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Guidea was referred to me thru a colleague who had used their services in the past. After interviewing and discussing our needs, they were the top fit for our project.

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

Two researchers from Guidea worked closely with the product team, VP, and subject matter experts to research users’ needs and feature priorities in order to guide designs for Container-based data storage products and services.

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

We worked closely with two of Guidea's best, Alicia and Brian.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

By using Guidea's user research capabilities, they were able to recruit and interview potential users and customers much faster than our in-house design team could have. This gave us user insights within 2 months that we could use to inform our designs and drive quick, iterative mock-ups and prototypes.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective. They worked as if they were one of our own designers, completely aligned and interlocked on the task at hand.

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

We were impressed with their ability to quickly understand a very technical space to conduct meaningful UX research. Also, ensuring alignment and agreement across many stakeholders throughout the process, in order to stay on track at all times.

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

Nothing to note.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a growing portfolio of pharmacy software companies focused on improving operational efficiency and streamlining how pharmacies communicate with their patients. As the the VP of Product, I lead the Product Managers and the UI/UX Designers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Guidea ?

Our challenge was to completely redesign the UI/UX of our two-sided platform for pharmacist and their patients.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

GUiDEA came highly recommended to me from teammates that had worked with them at two prior companies that I worked at.

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

We worked closely with GUiDEA to map current state experience; identify, prioritize, design, and test a large volume of high-fidelity screens from an elaborate set of B2B and B2B2C scenarios; and establish a new visual design direction based on revised product branding to launch a new integrated pharmacy and patient experience. The final deliverables included:

• development-ready assets
• UX design specifications
• Visual design direction
• white-label “translation” kit
• scalable information architecture

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

We worked together with:

• Claire (Principal UX Designer)
• Selma-Rachel (Principal UX Designer)
• Ivan (Principal UX Designer)
• Erik (Principal UX & Visual Designer)
• IX (Principal UX Designer)
• Karin (UX Director & Strategist)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are close to releasing our new and improved pharmacy platform. When shown mockups, the initial feedback from customers and prospects has been extremely positive.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The Double Diamond design approach helped keep the entire team aligned and organized throughout the creative process. Artifacts created along the way enabled new team members to join the project and quickly ramp up.

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

They were able to distill a complex set of requirements into a cohesive UI/UX experience.

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

Nothing comes to mind.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the interim Head of Product Design, working at a growth-stage fintech startup.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Guidea ?

I was hired to build out our product design team, but in the mean time we bootstrapped our department with 1-2 (at various times) designers from Guidea, who worked with me full time.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We spoke with a number of design agencies and individual contractors. Guidea stood out by having both top-notch people as well as the ability to dial their involvement up or down as our needs changed.

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

While working on my design team, Guidea's designers did the full range of product design:

• contextual research
• information architecture mapping
• prototype development
• user testing
• UI design
• engineering handoff

They also worked closely with both product management and engineering to make sure they understood product goals and delivered fully buildable specs. They've integrated into the team beautifully and have taken direction well.

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

We worked with 3 designers from Guidea in total.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The UI designs Guidea delivered were leaps and bounds better than what we started with: grounded in user research, systematized, and beautiful. Our users loved the updates to our web app and the internal team was really excited by the momentum that work delivered.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Guidea's designers were fully integrated into our design department, reporting to me and participating in all internal product development activities. I met with Guidea's management every two weeks to discuss how the engagement is going and address challenges and plan future work.

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

1. Top notch talent. These are some of the best designers I've worked with.
2. Management's involvement in the work as a second layer of design review, which was really helpful.
3. Management's attentiveness to our needs and flexibility in sourcing the right people at the right time.

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

I wish I'd known sooner how productive a frank conversation about project challenges could be. This is on me, though.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of digital strategy and innovation at University Federal Credit Union, one of the largest locally-owned cooperatives. We’ve been in business for 86 years, helping improve our members’ financial lives and our community.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Guidea?

We were launching a new digital banking app, and we felt that we had an opportunity to revamp its visual design and overall UI to show our membership that our product was new and our brand was evolving and maturing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, we had a discovery exercise to identify our target audience, where we helped Guidea identify the members and non-members of our cooperative to conduct interviews and research with. Additionally, they got our internal teams to partner with them to learn from them; it was an intensive research process.

We had already identified user personas, but this initial process helped us update them slightly. After the discovery exercise, Guidea helped us create the designs and visual assets. For this phase of the project, they created three very different designs to discover what people thought about the different elements of all three. Then, they ultimately designed a fourth one with the best of each design.

Finally, Guidea implemented the design elements in the UI/UX of our system. As for the technology stack, they used Miro and Figma to create the designs and prototypes. In addition to the UI/UX design, they helped us craft a design guide that our marketing department could provide to outside agencies if we needed them to create collateral for us.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Theresa (Founder), a UX strategist who managed the project, a UX researcher who handled the research process and the interviews, and two visual designers who focused on responsive web design and iOS and Android design.

How did you come to work with Guidea?

We had worked with them before when we knew them as Theresa Neil: Strategy & Design. Theresa was also a member of our cooperative when she went to the University of Texas; that’s how we came to know her.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our project ran from March–July 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Guidea was very helpful at delivering what we needed and working with us to craft the design guidelines, which was like a bonus deliverable for me because I didn’t think we would get that product. Moreover, they were supportive outside of their scope. For example, they taught us how to respond to comments in the App Store and other platforms once our product sees the light.

We haven’t launched the new banking platform yet to share some quantitative results. Still, one of the most important results was sharing the outcomes with certain executives that weren’t involved in the process. We received zero pushback from them, and everyone was very excited about our new look and the direction we had taken with our product’s visuals. Now, I’m very curious about how well our members will receive our new product.

We’ve worked with Guidea 3–4 times on various projects — we wouldn't continue engaging with them if we didn’t like what they did. We foresee engaging with them again as our needs arise, and we couldn’t be happier with what they’ve done for us so far.

How did Guidea perform from a project management standpoint?

Guidea did a great job at managing their resources and sticking to deadlines. I was amazed at how quickly they worked; they brought great resources to the table who were very dedicated to their work, which made them move what seemed to be too fast. At times, we even struggled to keep up with them, which was a good thing because it pushed us to move forward with the project.

Guidea sent me status reports, and I had weekly meetings with my internal design team. However, my team met with them almost daily over Zoom to check how things were going. Or engagement was 100% remote.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was fascinated by Guidea’s overall research process. Additionally, I really enjoyed that they’re a boutique design firm; they provided a personal touch and personal attention. We worked with really talented and dedicated people who listened to our needs and expectations, acting as active partners during those discussions, and creating a very collaborative environment.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Everyone can always do things better. For example, things were moving so fast at times that we weren’t clear about our expectations and the next steps. Thus, I would only advise them to slow down a little bit at times so that we could catch our breath.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Trust them; they’re the experts and know what they’re doing, so don’t try to change their process.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder and COO of Wrabbit. Platform build to assist Latinos and Latinas find good investment opportunities in crypto.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Guidea ?

We needed to extend the reach of our product to attract people who are new to crypto investing in addition to their more seasoned crypto-investment users. Our onboarding process was not ready for it, UX needed to be adjusted.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We were familiar with Theresa's work and were introduced trough Manos Accelerator. We realized the team was really talented and professional since the very first meeting.

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

After refining the new target user with us, Guidea crafted and conducted a study with several potential users to evaluate their homepage and new designs for their onboarding workflow. Guidea also performed a UX Audit review of the homepage and workflow. Guidea delivered the test and audit results in a detailed findings document with actionable recommendations along with guidance on how to conduct similar tests with users in the future.

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

Wrabbit's team worked directly with Jes, Karin.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to redesign our onboarding to make it accessible for anyone who is not familiar with crypto.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They gave us very clear instructions and steps that needed to be completed in order for the project to be successful.

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

They delivered very actionable insights. In my experience, sometimes there is a lot of work and research, but at the end you do not know what to do with all the data. With Guidea, we were very clear and confident on what direction we needed to take after the project was completed.

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

No, we enjoyed very much working with the team, not only are they very professional and talented, they are great human beings.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the CMO of a company that provides digital credit cards as a service to other financial institutions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Guidea - A Theresa Neil Design Company?

We were originally called differently, and our product offering was a digital credit card for international students studying in the US. However, the company evolved from that point, and Guidea helped us with that transformation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Guidea provided us with UI/UX design work, which was very helpful in bringing our new brand to life. Over our engagement, they did a couple of significant projects for us.

When we were offering credit cards to international students, we relied on a lot of other ways to score students and predict their creditworthiness because they generally didn’t have a credit history in the US. Given that our evaluation process wasn’t like any other credit card application process, Guidea helped us redesign our funnel and our application.

For this project, we went out to a couple of universities to interview actual students about their financial practices and challenges, as well as about their experience with credit card applications. Our research focused on other things beyond design, but it was still very beneficial for the design work.

After the research phase, Guidea designed a new flow based on inputs from our company and prospective customers. Then, they helped us perform RITE studies (Rapid Iterative Testing and Evaluation studies), where they had prospective customers go through the flow to provide us with feedback. This process helped us go deeper into the user’s friction points.

After completing the first project, we decided to rebrand and expand our product offering. Guidea helped us by taking some of the design work they had already done for our first product and expanding upon it. Additionally, they helped us design our mobile app. They used the Adobe Suite for their designs.

What is the team composition?

We worked with four main people from Guidea, but more people probably worked in the background. Their team included Rebecca (Associate Director of Research & Strategy), who acted as the UX researcher and provided the reports, Theresa (CEO), who was very involved in the strategy, a primary account manager, and a designer.

How did you come to work with Guidea - A Theresa Neil Design Company?

We got connected to some of the best firms in our area. We interviewed around four of those companies, compared their prices, and tried to understand their different approaches to the project. Of those companies, Guidea was the most research-and-evidence-driven, and they were at the midpoint of the cost range. These aspects made them the safest bet because they offered the best value for the money.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $300,000 across our multiple projects.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from October 2016–August 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The new workflow designed by Guidea for our student credit card applications proved to be very successful, increasing our application completion rate from 14%–19%. This 36% improvement not only gave us better results but also changed the trajectory of our business. It was a pivotal time for our company, and the work they did was instrumental in achieving that transition.

As a result of our change in direction, we were invested in by important financial institutions like Goldman Sachs and Mastercard. Although I left the company in 2018, the last valuation I saw was $500 million. The work we did with Guidea set us down this path towards becoming a unicorn, a private company with over $1B valuation.

Additionally, Guidea did great design work during our rebranding process. After our rebrand, we saw a significant lift in our overall business, as well as very little bounce rates. People were able to look for our former company’s brand, find the new one, and understand that they were in the right place. In general terms, we didn’t lose a lot of customers, and we gained new ones.

How did Guidea - A Theresa Neil Design Company perform from a project management standpoint?

Guidea’s project management was excellent. They were very good at hitting the milestones, staying on budget, and delivering on very aggressive deadlines. We had regular meetings with their team, and they always treated us as a priority. The project had good cadence, and we got daily visibility into the progress.

Whenever we were approaching a major milestone, Guidea was very collaborative and available so that everything ran smoothly. They adjusted to our needs and also held us accountable, which I really appreciated.

During the research, we worked with Guidea in-person on-site, and we spent a lot of time in our offices during some of the critical milestones. Inbetween those collaborative processes, we had Zoom meetings and communicated via email and Slack.

We also used Zeplin to collaborate and provide comments on their designs. For the RITE studies, Guidea used a platform to record the users as they went through the flow; we could see their screens and listen to the audio as they asked questions when they found it challenging to continue.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Guidea’s biggest asset is their research-driven design. Other companies might make research part of what they do, but research is the center of what Guidea does. The UXR (user experience research) helped remove a lot of the anxiety around how successful the final result would be because we were able to validate the designs along the way. We were excited to launch rather than nervous, which was a completely different experience.

Furthermore, when working with large firms, clients usually get assigned a B team. Something that really stood out about working with Guidea was that we got their top talents working on our project, which made a huge difference.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any constructive feedback about their work, but Guidea probably could have done a better job articulating what they did during our first interview. Although their pitch was good enough to gain my interest, it wasn’t until we had a second meeting that we understood better what they meant by research-driven design and its value.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear on your objectives, understand your customers, and be honest about what you don’t know. Their research will help you validate your beliefs.