hipinspire

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of an advertising platform located in Canada. Our Company caters to global clientele.

For what projects/services did your company hire hipinspire?

The design of our website was not user-friendly. We initially hired another designer but his design did not meet the vision we were going for. We needed our location page, category pages and product pages to be redesigned to be visually appealing and at the same time very user-friendly.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to increase our userbase by giving them the best UX and UI design that they could trust. We wanted to go for that enterprise look. In our line of business first impression is important and that's why this new design had to give them the wow factor we were going for.

How did you select this vendor?

As mentioned previously, we had another designer who simply did not deliver the look we were going for despite the intensive communication explaining what we are going for.

I found this vendor by going on Behance to see some of the best designers around. I ran into Marko's work and I was very impressed. After asking him to do a test designer for us, we knew right away he was the designer for our company.

Describe the project in detail.

We asked Marko to design us a category page that will give our users the wow factor. He showed us the first sample, it was good but not quite there yet. So I discussed the project in more details and I showed him examples of the look we are going for and after one day he came up with the redesign and it looked perfect.

We send him design to our internal team for feedback and everyone that saw it really liked it. Then we asked him to create us a product page which he did exactly according to specifications. We didn't need a revision because he got it right the first time.

What was the team composition?

We worked with Marko himself directly. He has done all the work himself.

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

After we implemented the new design, our user base grew by 30%. This was because our site looked like an authority site that users could trust. It also gave us that enterprise look which got us big name clientele. We received lots of positive feedback from our current customer base on how much easier it is to navigate the site now.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Marko and our team mostly talked over email or skype. He replies to inquiries very quickly. The communication between us has been really good.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Marko is a very talented designer. I am was impressed by how quickly he understands the requirements. He even will provide his own feeback to guide you in the right direction. He truly passionate about what he does and it shows in his work.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I don't have any improvements. At first I thought his rate was a bit high but once you see his work you will quickly realize it's worth it. You can easily get cheaper designers but you get what you pay for.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a marketing intern for a radiation dose tracking software company (Imalogix).

We have developed a software client that uses AI and machine learning to provide metrics and insights for the amount of radiation being administered to patients by healthcare organizations. It helps find discrepancies and how to improve.

For what projects/services did your company hire hipinspire?

We used hipinspire for various website updates and refreshes. From injecting tracking code into our headers to adding design elements promoting upcoming events.

What were your goals for this project?

To be able to better track what users visit our site and what they click on so that we could better target them with marketing collateral. It was also to keep our site as modern and functional as possible by adding/editing various visual elements.

How did you select this vendor?

The company was looking for a reliable and affordable web design vendor, that was able to be flexible in the services they provided. Hipinspire fits all the criteria we had.

Describe the project in detail.

The project first entailed pasting various tracking code from Google Ads, Analytics, and Mailchimp so that our tracking could flow from segment to segment as smoothly as possible.

It was then to paste in visual banners throughout the site promoting our attendance at the upcoming RSNA conference.

From there, it was building new landing pages for the different projects that we had. For example, we needed different pages for each of our sales team members, so we used hipinspire to take care of that.

What was the team composition?

The main team for interacting with our hipinspire contact (Marko), consisted of the marketing team. It includes myself, our content marketer, and the VP of Marketing.

If something needed to be added or changed on the site, one of us was usually the person to let Marko know.

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

The positive impact was felt almost immediately after using hipinspire. We went from not knowing at all who was clicking on what on our site, to receiving a wealth of data. We used this to better tailor our site to what customers were interested in.

We saw RSNA booth registration jump 22% from last year based on the new banner design, and have been able to promote much more content on Google Ads due to the numerous landing pages we've had built.

Overall, they made us more flexible as a company from a marketing and sales perspective.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Overall, I would say workflow was effective between the teams.

Sometimes, there would be things that were not done 100% to our liking, but we could easily email to have changes made. It's a pleasant experience working with them.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The quality of work done was very impressive. Everything that was made for the site was high quality and always functioned well. I was also impressed with how fast our contact Marko, got back to us with emails.

Considering the time difference, I thought that email would take 1-3 days for a response, but Marko usually responded either the same day or within the next day.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The only gripe I can have is the timeliness of work. The contact and response would be very fast, and the work would be of high quality, but sometimes it would take a bit longer than expected to receive back the deliverables.

It's a very small concern though, as I'd prefer quality over a rushed product.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm one of the co-founders of QuikNode. We provide infrastructure (i.e., Ethereum Nodes) for blockchain developers.

What challenge were you trying to address with hipinspire?

We needed a website designed and developed as this was a brand new project we were building from scratch.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided a couple of sketches and ideas of what we wanted in the design. hipinspire built the website using HTML and CSS as we wanted it to be simple and streamlined. Marko (owner, hipinspire), who is both the designer and coder, has done several iterations of the site. Once the home page was complete, we asked him to create an FAQ page. He provided UX/UI work for an administrator’s panel and status page.

He also worked on a side project for a branch of QuikNode. We had an idea for the design and gave him a mock-up. He delivered a live product in two weeks.

What is the team composition?

As far as I know, it’s only Marko.

How did you come to work with hipinspire?

Marko had initially reached out to us through another company, and we decided to use him on this project.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $3,000–$5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2017 and the engagement is ongoing.

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

It only took a week or two from the time we hired Marko for him to finish the initial product and have live website up. We still use the same website, with a couple of custom tweaks. Our business has around 200 customers right now, and each one visits the site and uses the admin panel. It's simple and they get all the information they need.

How did hipinspire perform from a project management standpoint?

His communication is good. We asked him to join our Slack channel, which is great for being able to communicate about the project. Marko is able to understand our use case because of his IT background. He’s excellent at tailoring the design to our audience.

What did you find most impressive about them?

He's very good at following instructions. We give him an outline and a mock-up, and he will create several versions for us to consider. We iterate two or three times before we end up with exactly what we wanted. If something doesn't work — it needs to be darker or it needs to bring our message — he’s able to fix it right away. When we give feedback, he will deliver something that we’re happy with, usually within one try.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There was one thing that we later corrected. When he originally did revisions for our website, he would send the updates to us in a ZIP file. Our preferred method was to use GitHub. It took some back and forth, but he did agree to use commits in GitHub and adjust to our workflow process.

Any advice for potential customers?

The more design direction and guidelines you can give Marko, the quicker he can be at delivering your site. Providing a mark-up, even if it's just a sketch and colors, will give him a better sense of the type of website you want. That's how we were able to get a live website in less than two weeks.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company is Banzai, a SaaS company. I am the CEO.

For what projects/services did your company hire hipinspire?

A redesign and development of our website in WordPress.

What were your goals for this project?

Rebuild the website, including custom graphics and new pages to handle all of our various types of content and corporate materials.

How did you select this vendor?

We spoke to multiple vendors and selected Marko based on the quality of his portfolio, graphics, and cost.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Marko provided full design, development, and graphic design of our website.

What was the team composition?

Marko worked with our head of marketing and an in-house designer on our team.

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

This has allowed us to grow the content on our website and showcase it in the best way possible. We've expanded our content footprint and presented our business in a much more professional manner.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Marko worked with our head of marketing to manage the project. We took daily check-ins over email. This was effective. Marko is a good independent worker.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Marko does great design work and he's a great graphic designer. He is easy to work with, and he was very flexible in accommodating change requests.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Marko was unable to implement our website on top of an existing theme, which makes it harder for our team to maintain.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of 3CC Partners. We’re a private equity company focused on buying small to medium sized businesses and taking over management when the owners are ready to retire. In the process, we often digitize company operations to add value. 

What challenge were you trying to address with hipinspire?

I’ve worked with Marko (Web Designer & WordPress Dev, hipinspire) on three different companies that I founded (e.g. an online consumer security company, a software-enabled property trading company, and 3CC Partners).

For 3CC Partners, I wanted quality, simple web design produced on an efficient timeline with a straightforward delivery. My software developers would use the resulting designs to build a website.

What was the scope of their involvement?

For all three companies, I asked hipinspire to create designs based on provided briefs and wireframing. 

The process consisted of emailing Marko with bullet points of the project scope and timeline. When he confirms he has the capacity to do the work, I create wireframes and send them to him. Based on my vision, he produces UI work. Usually, he works in two to three iterations before completing a product. 

What is the team composition?

I work with Marko because hipinspire is a one-person firm.

How did you come to work with hipinspire?

Initially, Marko applied to a job I posted to my homepage and asked if I had remote work available. My human resources manager really liked him based on his proactivity and excellent work samples. However, we were looking for a full-time designer. He didn’t accept that position because he didn’t want to relocate, but I kept him in mind for future projects.

For 4–5 years since then, I’ve worked with Marko as needed. I always choose hipinspire when I’m looking for fast, cost-efficient delivery. Local freelancers are expensive, but Marko provides very good work for reasonable pricing. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested below $10,000 for the 3CC Partners solution.

What is the status of this engagement?

3CC Partners started working with him in December 2018, and the project ended in January 2019.

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

Whenever I give him a briefing, he turns around a rough outline in only 2–3 days. He also has a fast e-mail response rate; he usually responds in less than 12 hours. 

How did hipinspire perform from a project management standpoint?

His English is very easy to understand, and collaboration is effortless. Unlike other providers I’ve worked with, he offers concise, quick feedback to my emails. Also, his time estimations for tasks are always accurate and never vague. He strives to avoid risk by outlining a detailed plan at the very beginning. For example, he would say, “If we have two to three iterations, I’ll need at most 8–10 hours to complete it.” 

What did you find most impressive about them?

hipinspire is a great choice for an entrepreneur with time and money constraints. He doesn’t produce sophisticated, bombastic designs; his value proposition is practical designs at a reasonable cost. While he isn’t the best choice for complex designs, he is the fastest, most pragmatic designer I know, and he delivers solid work. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m very happy with his work. There’s nothing I would want him to do differently.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a software company that specializes in competition-management software platforms. We help with marketing, design, and e-mail for competition operations. I am the client services manager. I manage operations for clients and help with the project management of our contractors.

What challenge were you trying to address with hipinspire?

hipinspire helps us with a multitude of projects. We initially needed them to design a 404 page for us. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Originally, hipinspire helped design a 404 page for us, which served as a test trial for our company. We wanted a specific page for our clients to see rather than a typical error message and were pleased with what they came up with.

After this project, we brought them on to help design some of the public-facing pages we offer to clients on our platform. When hipinspire designs these pages, we usually provide them with designs from our clients--essentially what we currently have and what we want to see. The designs usually depend on how much latitude the client gives us and how flexible they are.

Marko (Designer, hipinspire) does a good job of interpreting what we want and listens closely to our feedback to make specific tweaks. I'm a visual person and will usually send him .jpegs of the design choices we're looking for and my comments. 

Marko has also helped us with internal projects for our company. For example, he's helped with the design of our platform so that it looks better for the clients who are using it. 

What is the team composition?

We primarily work with Marko Bijelic (Designer, hipinspire).

How much have you invested with them?

It's hard to say how much we've spent with him over the years, however, I believe it has been within the $10,000–$15,000 range thus far.

How did you come to work with hipinspire?

Marko originally reached out to our company and got in touch with my boss. My boss wanted to give him a try so that's how we came to work together.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started around three years ago and the work is ongoing.

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

Our clients are happy, and we receive a lot of positive feedback on their designs. Additionally, the work hipinspire is doing for my internal team is running smoothly and well received.

How did hipinspire perform from a project management standpoint?

Even though they're a foreign company and working on other projects, they're usually responsive and typically respond within a day or two. We do have minor communication issues sometimes, however, this is due mostly to my lack of technical knowledge and English not being their first language. For the most part though, we've cleared up these issues and they're great about not charging for any errors that arise from miscommunication. We use mostly email and occasional Skype calls to track milestones and handle all communication.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We have a fairly complicated and complex system for our designers to design on. Marko really understands our system though and gives us great recommendations on how to improve it. 

His response time is fast compared to other design firms we've worked with. Additionally, our engineering team respects him, and they have a great relationship. They really understand each other. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could be a little more assertive from time to time, especially since I get really busy. When he doesn't hear from me, it would be nice to receive a nudge from him as a reminder.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about what you want.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the radical innovation manager at One Acre Fund, a non-profit in the US that works in East Africa providing seeds and fertilizer to small farmers. 

What challenge were you trying to address with hipinspire?

We were looking to create a website for a new fundraising program we're launching to benefit our experimental programs. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

hipinspire designed and developed our website from scratch. We shared some initial ideas and similar websites with their team. Then, we gave them the content and visuals for the website. hipinspire provided us with a few designs — one was perfect right off the bat. The website's primary function is communicating project information, so their team created bespoke graphics to translate our information into a visually appealing format.

They implemented several important features during development, including a slideshow, interactive data tables, and contact form. After the website was developed in WordPress, they transported it to our URL and showed us how we could make edits in the future. 

What is the team composition?

We only worked with Marko (Web Designer, UI Designer, & Web Developer). 

How did you come to work with hipinspire?

I found hipinspire through a Google search. They had a lot of excellent reviews and offered excellent value, so we hired them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $7,000 with hipinspire.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with hipinspire from June–November 2021. 

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

The website will launch within the next month with our broader campaign, so we won't have any concrete success metrics until then. Once it launches, one of the ways we'll measure its success is whether or not it raises any money for our organization. 

In general, hipinspire has delivered exactly what I wanted — they put precisely what was in my head onto the screen. They were even able to achieve every small request I had. 

How did hipinspire perform from a project management standpoint?

I was impressed with hipinspire's project management. Whenever I set a deadline, Marko would deliver early. Their team communicated and shared website components via email; they kept me in the loop if they were particularly busy on another project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

hipinspire's creativity and flexibility were really impressive. They had a great understanding of what we wanted and translated it perfectly onto our website.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything for them to improve. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise potential clients to share concrete examples of what they want and not be afraid of making edit requests. It's important not to hold back on making additional project feedback because hipinspire is great at understanding and implementing client requests. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO for a big data company called Sparkflows. We provide self-service software for big data management and analytics.

What challenge were you trying to address with hipinspire?

Before hipinspire, we’d worked with numerous vendors to develop the interface for our web-based platform. However, despite redoing it multiple times, we never felt that the visuals were cutting edge, and users often criticized the overall look and feel as being too unprofessional. As a result, we approached hipinspire to provide UX/UI and web design services for both our platform and, later, our website.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, they worked on the UX/UI for our product before redoing our website’s look and feel. They first showed us a few different wireframes to choose from. Once we approved the design, we gave them our CSS files, and they updated the code to develop a new UI end to end. This allowed them to make direct changes rather than having to convert from another language. Throughout the process, we collaborated with them on stylistic choices such as colors, fonts, icons, and messaging.

What is the team composition?

In the beginning, we met with 2–3 people, but for the most part, we worked with Marko (Principal, hipinspire).

How did you come to work with PX Media LLC?

We found them through our enterprise accelerator where they participated as a vendor.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $4,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Their work lasted from September 2017–February 2018. However, he completed both projects within a month each.

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

We’ve received great feedback from our users. Previously, when we showed our platform to prospective clients, people would immediately focus on the lacking UI instead of the features. But now, they praise both the platform and our website for their professional UI. Marko did an exceptional job and took our designs to another level.

How did PX Media LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They were productive and responsive, consistently generating good ideas. We collaborated through email and Google Drive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Building on my previous comments, Marko was professional, and his focus helped us identify and execute our needs.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of any major improvements. I had a great experience, and I’ll always go back to them for future projects.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear idea of what you’re trying to do. For us, we went over multiple designs upfront before narrowing down the choices. This ensured that we would do the project correctly the first time.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of theBrokerList.com. Our platform connects users to commercial real estate brokers.

What challenge were you trying to address with hipinspire?

While we had a programmer develop our website, we needed resources to design the interface’s visual elements as well as provide graphic design work across our digital and analog channels.

What was the scope of their involvement?

In addition to designing our site’s interface, they’ve provided design work for numerous projects, ranging from page layouts, headers, slide decks, and social media content to event invitations, business cards, and everyday documents.

Generally, we describe our ideas and collaborate with them to design it. From our discussions, they provide a few design concepts to approve before creating variations on the theme. Afterward, we give feedback, which he incorporates into the final product.

What is the team composition?

We exclusively worked with Marko (Principal, hipinspire).

How did you come to work with hipinspire?

They conducted an email marketing campaign describing their services, which intrigued us. We eventually reached out to Marko for design work, and we’ve been collaborating ever since.

What is the status of this engagement?

Work began in 2011 and is ongoing.

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

Everyone compliments hipinspire’s designs, and we value their talent. Unlike other vendors, they understand what we want and consistently deliver impressive work quickly and accurately.

On a personal note, I often refer Marko to my colleagues; it’s important to me that he succeeds because, if I refer someone, I could potentially jeopardize my credibility. To this day, I’ve heard nothing but praise for hipinspire’s work.

How did hipinspire perform from a project management standpoint?

We almost exclusively communicate via email and use Dropbox to manage the projects. They place the different concepts and designs in folders, which we can download. Responsive and professional, they always meet deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Besides their creative talent, they’ve designed a wide variety of projects for us, which has proven quintessential to our business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We don’t consider this a significant issue, but they currently organize and transfer our designs to a client folder within a single Dropbox. We approach them with an idea to organize our files into a client-specific Dropbox. Although they were willing to organize our links, we haven’t given them the files yet, so we’re considering this for the future.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Customers should clearly define what they want through a variety of means and offer constructive feedback. If we need him to complete a project, we specify the different visual elements required such as the call-to-action button or the main copy. Sending examples of similar designs and writing annotations on screenshots also facilitates a productive engagement.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder and CEO of a company that provides delivery services to businesses using aerial vehicles.

What challenge were you trying to address with Hipinspire?

We needed a vendor to build our website from scratch.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Hipinspire designed and developed our website from scratch based on some preliminary sketches and specifications, using HTML and CSS. In additon to the design of the home page, contact page, and recruiting page, they incorporated contact forms for visitors to fill out. 

What is the team composition?

I just worked with Marko (Web Designer, Hipinspire).

How did you come to work with Hipinspire?

I believe they were referred to me by a previous vendor I'd worked with.

How much have you invested with them?

I spent $2,000–$3,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together for a couple months, from the end of 2015 to early 2016.

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

I'm very happy with the website's functionality and reliability overall. We've had no issues with it over the last few years and received positive feedback from users.

How did Hipinspire perform from a project management standpoint?

Marko delivered the project in a fairly short time. He was responsive in communication, which was mostly conducted through email and a couple phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

In addition to meeting our requirements, Hipinspire's final product exceeded expectations.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have wireframes and a clear idea of what you want before going into discussions and development.