HPPY

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Lead Product Manager of S477

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Product management consulting and app development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire HppyHour Digital to accomplish?

• UX improvements

SOLUTION

How did you find HppyHour Digital?

Referral

Why did you select HppyHour Digital over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

What was the size of HppyHour Digital’s team?

2-5 Employees

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

Redesign of the Agent Experience Platform site that supports sales for B2B and B2C customers, five business units, and 1200 users; central to up/downstream systems and a data science pipeline. Increase the number of users on the Agent Experience Platform through superior UX/UI design. Remove friction in the sales process for B2B and B2C customers. Increase users by 130% and sales by 43%.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Increased users by 130%
• Increased sales by 43%

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

Project management was agile. A roadmap and staged delivery were presented. While there were some delays the team were transparent and informative about their progress.

What was your primary form of communication with HppyHour Digital?

Virtual Meeting

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

Their attention to customer service and attention to the quality of the work they delivered were impressive.

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

All around very happy but they could consider incorporating daily standups with design for short feedback loops and alignments.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing at Revolution Capital. We offer cash flow financing to small- and medium-sized businesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with HppyHour Digital?

We’re well known in Canada, but we’re trying to expand our presence in the US. We felt that our current website wasn’t properly conveying what we did and wasn’t properly set up from a technical standpoint. Thus, we decided it was time for a fresh overhaul of our website.

Our existing website was a fully customized HTML and CSS website, but we wanted it to be based on a CMS system, so we hired HppyHour to build a brand new website for us from the ground up.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

HppyHour has been helping us create a completely new website on Webflow. They’ve been in charge of the whole process, including its design, development, and content creation. As for the content, they write all of it, and we’re in charge of editing it. Additionally, they’ve created animations for the website.

What is the team composition?

We’ve mainly worked with Brice (Lead Web Designer) and Kitty (Head of Design) joined our initial conversations to go through the UX.

How did you come to work with HppyHour Digital?

I went online to research companies, looking at their reviews and some of their past work. Then, I shortlisted and reached out to 5–6 different companies, including HppyHour. Most of them came back with a proposal and a quote, and our team went through those proposals. HppyHour’s proposal and portfolio stood out from the rest.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $20,000–$25,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2021, and our engagement is ongoing. Our project should be fully wrapped up before June 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Given that we haven’t launched the website yet, I don’t have any metrics to share. However, we’ve been seeing the project updates every week, and HppyHour’s designs look great. They’re doing a great job with the site’s visual esthetics, as well as with the written content.

How did HppyHour Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

HppyHour’s performance has been good. They’ve stayed on track with the pace they said they would follow, and we haven’t had any issues so far.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality of HppyHour’s work distinguishes them from other providers. From an aesthetic standpoint, their designs and previous projects look a lot more solid than others; they have strong graphic design skills. Additionally, they have a lot of skill sets built into their company, which makes them capable of doing designs, animations, and copywriting work. This aspect makes them a one-stop-shop.

Are there any areas they could improve?

At the beginning of the project, HppyHour did a great job outlining the different milestones on a visual timeline where we could see everything needed to complete the project. It would be great if they used that visual element throughout the project, showing us where we are in that timeline during every meeting. Still, they’re great at verbally conveying every week’s goals, but using visual elements would be helpful.

In addition to that, as I mentioned, Kitty was involved in the initial meetings. However, she suddenly dropped off the project, which wasn’t a problem because she wasn’t as involved as Brice at that point. Still, it would be great if they offered better communication regarding their onboarding process, explaining everyone’s role and letting us know when team members may drop off. 

Finally, it would be great if the content creation process were more collaborative. We usually discuss the content, but they then come back with a document presenting what they’ve written. More detailed discussions before we receive the draft would be helpful.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend working with them; they’re very tolerant and talented. Having a keen eye for design to look into your website is helpful. I have an in-house design team, and I have a background in design myself, and we’ve been able to pick up on things that developers haven’t.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are national in scope, independent and focused on detecting and preventing insurance crime. A not-for-profit organization, we support insurers in Canada to fight fraud by using advanced analytics, intelligence best practices, and coordinated investigations. We are proudly industry-founded and member-driven: our members are invested in protecting their customers and keeping insurance crime out of Canada. 

Director of Communications, Insurance Not-for-Profit

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Hppy Hour Digital?

As a new company, we were looking for a partner to help us create our website (design, development, support and maintenance). When searching for a vendor, we looked for creative minds who wanted to partner with us, not just in the present, but also as we grow in the coming years – a true partner.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started the web development project with a discovery session of our goals, from our brand to the user experience we want. Hppy Hour Digital’s workshop was extremely useful in creating a visual perspective of our needs.

From proposed concepts, wireframes to design mockups, the process was iterative, with open feedback and enthusiastic collaboration from both sides. Given the project’s short runway, we divided and conquered – they designed and suggested imagery while we provided the copy. HPPY Hour Digital “hero heading” suggestions helped lift our pages.

What is the team composition?

From sales to the developer (our main point of contact), we had HPPY Hour support when we needed it.

How did you come to work with Hppy Hour Digital?

After a small RFI, HPPY Hour Digital was one of 4 selected to meet with us. In the end, they chose to work with us and our limited budget / team, as much as we chose them for their vision and capabilities.

What is the status of this engagement?

The initial engagement was 8 weeks. However, we continue to work with HPPY Hour Digital as we grow our website and other digital needs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

In the first month, we had just over 1000 hits on the English website and the average engagement time was about one and a half minutes — the engagement itself was more than 11,000, so there were a lot of clicks throughout the site.

How did Hppy Hour Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

We met for an hour each week at the beginning of our partnership, which evolved into weekly half-hour meetings with the developer and myself to show the progress. Executives were involved in all workshops, reviews and sign off.

It was really easy to work with them because of our mutual knowledge and experience, and they were very responsive throughout the duration of the partnership.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They exceeded expectations while never over-promising and were very knowledgeable. The entire team was always enthusiastic and ready for challenges.

The developer in particular was incredibly creative in applying solutions to our business case.

Are there any areas they could improve?

An outline of the pros and cons (e.g. a PDF doc) of the various hosting services would be useful for those new to building websites and unfamiliar with SEO.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know what your end goal is and be realistic about your budget. The clearer you are about your goals and end product, the easier the process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the group director of an advertising firm. We’re a full service, integrated marketing agency doing everything from digital to events to everything in between.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Hppy Hour Digital ?

We needed a partner to help a client build a website for some digital assets. We didn’t have the capacity so we needed backup.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They handled the entirety of the development. We led the design, but they were partners on the design and we valued their contributions.

What is the team composition?

Stephen (Growth Lead) was my main point of contact.

How did you come to work with Hppy Hour Digital ?

They were a referral form some contacts we had. We talked to them and decided to give them a chance. They gave us a proposal, we reviewed it, and then compared it to other agencies.

How much have you invested with them?

Although I can’t give the specifics, it was in the $35,000–$45,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in September 2019 and wrapped up in January 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

From the procedural perspective, they hit all of our milestones like deliverables and trigger points. That was huge for us. We deemed the partnership a success because they were able to be on time consistently.

How did Hppy Hour Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was really good. They kept us very organized because they were organized. They were always easily accessible by Slack or phone. We also had weekly status updates.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The project management impressed. As an agency ourselves, we needed them to be an extension of us and they handled that incredibly well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing ever got escalated to me.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Like any other project, write a clear brief and take the time to invest in finding the purpose. That’s advice for any project.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the Chief Revenue Officer at Delvinia. We focus on innovative ways to collect data. We have multiple units under our parent company. One of them focuses on automated ways to collect research and data.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Hppy Hour Digital?

We’ve recently expanded into the US. We used to have internal team members to build websites for us, but we had to trim that part of our business to focus more on data collection. We hired Hppy Hour Digital to create our web presence.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

It was an end-to-end website. The team worked on the design, UX, and everything in between. We were looking for something more user-friendly compared to other research-related websites.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three people, including a project manager and a UX designer.

How did you come to work with Hppy Hour Digital?

A friend referred them. When it comes to UX and builds, it’s important that I know a little bit of background. Once we got Hppy Hour Digital on a call, it was apparent that they were customer-focused and communicative when it came to design. It was clear that they did their research on us, and they ended up giving us an interesting way to approach the website design.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $55,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from January–March 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I really enjoyed Hppy Hour Digital’s communication style. We’ve done other projects in the past with other partners. With those, they started and then came back to us at the end.

Hppy Hour Digital connected with us weekly. We had the ability to connect through Slack with them. For every piece of feedback we gave, they either had an answer or tried to find it. It was much more of a partner approach, which I enjoyed.

How did Hppy Hour Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

I thought it was great. For our own clients, we have project managers. When I’m hiring them, I focus on what Hppy Hour Digital does as well.

They have strong communication, flexibility, and project planning. If there’s ever an issue, they come back pretty quickly. The project manager understood how everything related back to our vision. That was a breath of fresh air.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

We never had to go back and tell them our vision and story. Hppy Hour Digital was an extension of us. It’s always nice when someone understands your business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they delivered exactly what we scoped out for. They’re a solid group.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You have to embrace the fact that communication is important. Some clients want a hand-offs approach, but I think communication is very important. If you miss out on something, it could delay a project pretty significantly. Make sure you are understanding what the communication looks like and be willing to adhere to it.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Director of Product Management

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Hppy Hour Digital?

Partnership to help build and design prototypes for a national client in the hospitality space.

What were your goals for this project?

- Reinforce the value prop of the product and consideration - Reduce user abandonment as they signed up for a new product online - Simplify user journey from existing path

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Referred from a friend, spoke to Stephen a few times on the phone to ensure their vision, cost and approach was aligned to where we planned to take the product; which it very much was.

Describe the project in detail.

Client in the hospitality space was expanding their service offering to existing customers and new, and needed to validate that a) reinforcement of value prop was clear, b) That the user would understand and easily click through, and c) convert. Hppy Hour developed an Invision prototype per the outlined brief in only 8 weeks per our brief.

What was the team composition?

Project Manager was lead, 1 UX designer and 1 visual designer (UI designer) as well.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

1) Pilot group initial feedback was very well received during focus groups, 2) Have yet to roll out commercially yet.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Excellent, weekly touch points, sprint review and constant communication as questions arose.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their partnership, collaboration, and flexibility were most impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Expansion into HTML prototypes and true agile would be a great benefit for future projects.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of product design for Clickatell. We develop platforms and products for chat-based solutions. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Hppy Hour Digital?

We were looking for someone to do a full range of design work on one of our products. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Hppy Hour first gathered requirements. They did UI/UX work such as wireframing. They worked on the information architecture (IA), making necessary architectural changes to the platform. There was a design QA process where they worked with our internal development team and a third-party development team, to make sure everything was built to spec. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with a project manager, Kitty (Designer), and another designer. 

How did you come to work with Hppy Hour Digital?

I had worked with Kitty in the past, and so when this project came up, I reached out.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $90,000 or so. We pay an hourly fee.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from November 2019–May 2020. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The team was talented and versatile within the design process. They were heavily involved with the architectural decisions at the beginning regarding how to integrate the portal and how it would work with our other products. They did a great job with all of that. 

How did Hppy Hour Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

They were timely and very engaged, showing up when they needed to be in the office. They worked after hours when it was needed, and our communication was professional, clear, and friendly, both remotely and in person. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Hppy Hour has raw talent. Early on in the process, I was confident in their ability to accomplish any design-related task without micromanaging them. They have exceeded my expectations every time I look at their work. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I only wish we had brought Hppy Hour into the project sooner and worked with them from the initial architectural decisions rather than having to make so many changes. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They can handle more than just UI/UX. They have the knowledge and expertise to the IA and QA work and pull it all together. It usually works better when it’s handled by one team. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of sales for a company that uses machine learning to compress images and video—essentially, extracting data using a compression algorithm. We provide this service for a variety of clients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Hppy Hour Digital?

We’re a startup with less than ten employees that’s just starting out. We hired them to design our website in order to unleash its potential for generating leads.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They completely designed our website and optimized it to function as a sales funnel. Since I onboarded the company with the role of driving sales, I worked closely with Hppy Hour Digital to come up with ways to generate leads with our website.

What is the team composition?

We worked with a team of three: a project manager, a UX/UI designer, and a visual designer.

How did you come to work with Hppy Hour Digital?

They came recommended by one of our investors.

How much have you invested with them?

It was around $12,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2019 and the engagement lasted until November.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They implemented my ideas, but also integrated other features that I hadn’t thought of. They worked very well and collaboratively with me and the rest of the team. They were great providing insight and feedback on other projects we were working on as well. Additionally, their communication was very transparent, because they set out clear guidelines on what to expect and when.

They were extremely quick to make any necessary adjustments; we’d send them an edit request, and they’d execute it within a few hours (depending on how big the issue was.) I’d never experienced that kind of responsiveness with any other agency.

How did Hppy Hour Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

They’d originally laid out a timeline of ten weeks, but they delivered the website within a 7–8 week period. Additionally, their communication was very transparent, because they set out clear guidelines on what to expect and when.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really appreciated how quickly the team could turn things around. Their speed was a huge benefit for a company with a startup mentality. The quality of their work, too, was something that really impressed me. They brought to the table and executed ideas that hadn’t previously been on my radar.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think so. If I did, I wouldn’t be working with them again!

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re looking for a smart team that can execute on a project in a timely manner—or someone that can work collaboratively and provide great insight, Hppy Hour Digital is a great choice.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of revenue for a cryptocurrency payment platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Hppy Hour Digital?

We were creating a payment plan service that would be separate from our larger brand. We needed support creating a new website and branding around this platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Hppy Hour Digital’s responsibilities are web development, design, and branding, which includes creating visual assets. We began with a comprehensive discovery process, where we explored how we wanted to visually capture and outlay the products.

The site had to be up and running quickly, because we were planning to use it as a platform to sell some of our book demos and other products during a conference in February. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve interacted mainly with three people: a lead designer, a lead UX designer, and a chief commercial officer.

How did you come to work with Hppy Hour Digital?

I knew Hppy Hour Digital from an engagement several years ago. When the need for this project came up, I knew they would be a good fit, so I introduced them to our CEO.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $20,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in December 2019 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The site was up and running by the February conference, and as a result we were able to pull a significant amount of demos. We couldn’t be happier with what we’ve gotten out of this experience. 

Throughout the project, Hppy Hour has been extremely collaborative. If something we suggest won’t be beneficial in the long run, they’re open to giving us their thoughts and feedback. They have our best interests in mind.

How did Hppy Hour Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed really well. The timeline was extremely important, and the team delivered before deadlines. Hppy Hour definitely exceeded expectations. Further, communication has been excellent as well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The discovery process we went through really stood out. We went into the engagement after working with another vendor who we weren’t happy with, so the stakes were high. Hppy Hour ended up really impressing us with their thoughtful approach to getting to know our company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing I can think of at this point.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open to collaboration and feedback.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a director in consulting for one of the largest global consulting firms. I focus specifically on the digital side of things.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Hppy Hour Digital Designs?

We were facing a time crunch and needed help in creating a web and mobile customer experience for one of our clients.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Adrian (Co-Founder, Hppy Hour Digital Designs) and his team produced designs for our customer experience project.

What is the team composition?

I had two points of contact—Adrian and a project manager—but I know that there was a team working behind them.

How did you come to work with Hppy Hour Digital Design?

I knew Adrian from a previous job, and knew that he now had a team. I trusted that they would deliver good results.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent somewhere in the range of $70,000–$150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2019 and just wrapped up, in November.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

While it’s rare for us to outsource design work, their team’s work has been very well received. Thanks to their help, we’ve gotten positive feedback and requests for further work. It’s been a successful project for us.

How did Hppy Hour Digital Design perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very good; the project manager and I interfaced through weekly calls, and if there was any issue, they were a phone call away. Although the partnership was remote, they were quick to resolve issues and implement updates.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re able to truly think outside the box. They’ll challenge your thinking and push the envelope with their ideas. You can tell that they’re trying to help you be successful, which I really appreciate in a partner.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about what you’re looking for, but at the same time, be prepared to be challenged. Don’t be prescriptive; be welcoming of their questions and suggestions. You want a great product at the end of the day, so let them do their jobs.