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    Toronto, Canada
    6479160048

Digital products through prototyping.

5.0
3 reviews

KRFTWRK is a digital agency focused on:

Digital Products through Prototyping

Specializing in user-onboarding, digital products, and admin dashboards.

Marketing Results through Process

Growth marketing is a science. We build a mix of inbound content + outbound growth hacking for optimal marketing results.

 
$5,000+
 
$50 - $99 / hr
 
2 - 9
 Founded
2008
Show all +
Toronto, Canada
headquarters
  • 32 Britain Street
    Toronto M5A 1R6
    Canada
    6479160048
other locations
  • 260 Church Street
    Oakville, ON
    Canada
    6479160048

Portfolio

Key clients: 
  • Canadian Red Cross
  • Arcestra Inc.
  • Sigma Systems
  • Quiznos
  • Ontario Chiropractic Association
  • Toronto Transit Commission
  • Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation
  • Universal Music Group
  • Iristel Canada

Cloud Contact

About

Founded in 2001, AireSpring is a privately held, profitable, and debt-free cloud communications and connectivity provider serving thousands of businesses nationwide. AireSpring has the largest national footprint in the U.S. and a partnership with fourteen major network providers.

The Challenge

Update their customer service cloud application to work with modern browsers. Enhance the user experience for multi-tasking between calls, chats, SMS messages and scripted content.

Our Solution

A clean user dashboard for managing multiple calls and interactions with quick fly-down menus for switching between interactions.  Updated UI style guide. Simple navigation for call queues.

Exactfinance.io

Exact uses machine learning to find exactly what to do with your money. Working from the ground up with out client, we built a fintech product that puts the power of a financial advisor into an easy-to-use digital product. With a few questions, the user is on boarded to a simple dashboard that outlines exactly what they need to do to get optimal returns on their finances.

Reviews

5.0
3 reviews
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Branding & Marketing for Sustainable Development Charity

"The branding and website are absolutely phenomenal."

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
5.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$10,000 to $49,999
 
Apr. 2018 - Ongoing
Project summary: 

KRFTWRK rebranded and redesigned a website and logo to improve visibility. The team now provides digital strategy, email marketing, and social media services.

The Reviewer
 
11-50 Employees
 
Canada
Steve Lee
Executive Director, Foundation for Environmental Stewardship
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

The new designs have improved sales and enhanced the website’s professional reputation. Future positive results are likely. The team is personable and accommodating. They meet deadlines and communicate clearly over a variety of platforms.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive director of the Foundation for Environmental Stewardship. We’re a youth-led and youth-serving sustainable development charity.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with KRFTWRK?

Our website lacked a professional design, and many of the schools we had reached out to questioned our organization’s legitimacy. We hired KRFTWRK to redesign our branding and logo with a new color palette. This project coincided with one of our national initiatives. Second, we needed short-term marketing solutions to increase our visibility among Canadian high schools.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

KRFTWRK completed the branding in a few months. The team then delivered our new website and took responsibilities from our other outsourcing partners. They now do our marketing, social media, and digital and email campaigns based on the new branding.

What is the team composition?

I have one main point of contact. We talk at least once a week.

How did you come to work with KRFTWRK?

The KRFTWRK team and I both occupied the same shared co-working space. I explained our challenges and they generated ideas for the logo. We met other design firms as well, but being in the same building was an unbeatable advantage. What’s more, they were nice people that we wanted to partner with.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2018 and the partnership is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The branding and website are absolutely phenomenal. Before the engagement, we had trouble reaching out to schools. Now, schools approach us. We rarely have to send more than one or two introduction emails; we regularly get follow-ups. The team also helps us manage the improved interest and sales flows. This year is big for us, and KRFTWRK is focusing on digital marketing to ensure great results.

How did KRFTWRK perform from a project management standpoint?

The team is highly responsive and professional. We communicate via video calls and email. KRFTWRK usually uses Slack, but we prefer email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

KRFTWRK adapts to customers’ needs and keeps iterating to find the best approach. I’m a difficult client and I have specific things that need to be communicated a certain way. My organization targets climate change topics to rural parts of Canada. KRFTWRK can translate our technical jargon and explain it to our audience in an accessible manner.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Set up a video call and talk to them. That will usually do the magic time that I was captured by.

5.0
Overall Score I'm one very satisfied customer.
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
    They always meet their deadlines.
  • 5.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
    They’ve been great with price and have considered are financial constraints as a nonprofit.
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
    Their deliverables completely changed the way we do our program and our business.
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer
    I've Already recommended them to two of my colleagues who are also working in the nonprofit sector.

UX Design & Marketing for Cloud App Consulting Company

"We liked the fact that they're a young company with a fresh perspective..."

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
4.5
Cost: 
5.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
Confidential
 
2017 - Ongoing
Project summary: 

Using agile approach, KRFTWRK provided UX design for client-facing projects and internal websites. They also managed website marketing.

The Reviewer
 
11-50 Employees
 
Calgary, Canada
CTO, Cloud App Consulting Dev Company
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

Being a young and creative team, they bring a fresh perspective and are not afraid to try new things. While they don’t have the experience of a large agency, they use various design languages and provide appealing, modern designs. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work at a cloud app consulting development company. We develop data-driven applications, primarily on Amazon Web Services, for a wide variety of businesses and NGOs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with KRFTWRK?

We were looking for UX design support for one of our projects. We wanted to find a Canadian designer with good portfolio and flexible availability. We have one designer in-house, but we outsource for specific talent or for capacity.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, we worked with them on one client-facing project. Later, they did more client-facing projects as well as internal websites for us and our subsidiary products.

I will provide more details about our first project, which was done for a Canadian NGO. We met with KRFTWRK and completed a week-long design sprint at the client's office. We used the feedback to develop a series of user experience designs, ultimately leading to follow-up phases of development work. In addition, we see them as our marketing department – they support most of our website marketing and presentations.

What is the team composition?

We usually work with 4–5 people. Our main point of contact is their founder Justin Wood, but we also deal with designers and web marketing resources.

How did you come to work with them?

I found them through an online posting.

How much have you invested with them?

We would prefer to keep the cost confidential. We have a master services agreement with them that sets out the rates, and after that, it's ad hoc.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2017 and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Overall, we've been very satisfied. As with any working relationship, it hasn't been perfect – some projects have gone perfect and for others, there's room for improvement. They've provided modern design patterns, using material design and some other design languages. We’ve liked the modernity and enjoyed working with them.

How did they perform from a project management standpoint?

We didn't have any problems with their teams and the deadlines were acceptable. We use Slack to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We liked the fact that they're a young company with a fresh perspective that is adopting and implementing nice design practices. They're not too set in their ways – they're still adapting with the industry. That has some analogies with how we do development in-house, so their agile, fairly modern approach appealed to us.

We worked with larger agencies in the past and found them fairly administrative, constrained, and not very creative. A small firm like KRFTWRK is less administrative, so there is a lot more room and time to try new things and ultimately deliver more creative end products.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Being a small, young, and talented team, they don't have the experience of a big design firm. They almost exist in some space between freelancers and an agency, so you have to source them into your team a little to facilitate the work process.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Understand your design process and your needs. Agencies have an excellent way of doing it, but they can be fairly expensive. If you move towards a smaller firm like KRFTWRK, you can usually afford more iterations and more time to experiment. They're a small creative shop, but a lot depends on what you’re looking for.

5.0
Overall Score
  • 4.5 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
  • 5.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer

UX/UI for Commercial Real Estate Marketing Startup

“I have nothing but good things to say about them.”

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5.0

Quality: 
5.0
Schedule: 
5.0
Cost: 
5.0
Willing to refer: 
5.0
The Project
 
$50,000 to $199,999
 
May 2017 - Ongoing
Project summary: 

KRFTWRK collaborated with an in-house team to revamp the UI and UX of an existing platform. They redesigned the basic SaaS web page frontend and the platform’s backend, which was the core application.

The Reviewer
 
11-50 Employees
 
Toronto, Canada
Alain Cohen
President, Arcestra
 
Verified
The Review
Feedback summary: 

KRFTWRK worked well with the in-house team, successfully integrating work the client had already done and interpreting additional needs. The team understood the business priorities of the project and communicated seamlessly. They are professional and experienced with broad-reaching skills.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a technology company providing a data-driven marketing platform for commercial real estate. We currently have 40% of the Canadian office market on our platform and manage over 300 million square feet. I am the president of the company, responsible for operations and performance.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with KRFTWRK?

We wanted to change the user experience and user interface in order to drive business. I wanted to start fresh.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We are a Software-as-a-service company providing each customer with a web page for their properties. This was one element of the UI/UX. The other one, which is more unique and complex, is managing all the information in the backend of the platform, which we call the core application. It has multiple variables, use cases, and business users.

We had a senior product manager who created a very good spec, something which was appreciated by KRFTWRK; they were not used to clients coming so prepared. They interpreted our needs and all the work we’d done and executed diligently. To me, this was key, since it was not just a matter of creating a UI/UX design, but of working with a team which understood that we were a tech company which had been in the market for over five years and not a first-stage startup. Everything was driven by business and had to align with the output, return on investment, and client retention.

What is the team dynamic?

I worked primarily with three people from their team, including Justin Wood, founder of KRFTWRK, who coordinated everything in a hands-on manner. One person was primarily dedicated to the backend of the platform, and another, to the frontend. They collaborated well as a team and stayed on-target.

How did you come to work with KRFTWRK?

We met casually at a trade show, while I wasn’t really looking for anything. I saw a screen that caught my attention and went to one of their people, who turned out to be Justin. I asked him who was responsible for the user experience and interface design on that screen, and he told me it was him. We met quickly afterward and connected well. I gave KRFTWRK a first project, and they performed well, so I gave them a second and third task. I liked how the team listened, analyzed business goals, and translated them into an appealing UI/UX.

In my past, I have worked with many designers and I am one myself with more than 25 years of experience in tech. I have seen my fair share of designers, content providers, and so on. The interaction with KRFTWRK clicked for me from the beginning, and I hope it continues.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost was competitive and reasonable, but I cannot mention the exact figure. It was between $50,000 and $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with KRFTWRK in May 2017. So far, we have worked on two large projects with them and are starting a third one shortly.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have worked with prototypes, which is typical for most people in the industry. I was able to use those successfully for client retention and new sales. We are currently working with two different software development teams separate from KRFTWRK, which was a part of the challenge. We wanted to find a partner who could work with different engineers, making sure that we provided the right prototypes so that the engineers wouldn’t have too many questions and could execute to the specs. This was achieved through the quality of the prototypes.

How did KRFTWRK perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication was seamless. We knew what we would be using in terms of communication technology from the beginning, but some of the platforms were suggested by KRFTWRK. The scheduled meetings were on time and the deliverables were met. I have nothing but good things to say about them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We had in-house UX at one point, but it wasn’t working that well. We partially hired another marketing and UI/UX company, which worked well but didn’t make us their top priority. With KRFTWRK, it was very different—we connected well at a human level, and I liked the idea of working with professional and experienced people who saw the project as a new challenge. KRFTWRK is not a well-established firm, but, to me, it has a lot of reach. We will continue to do quite a bit of work with them.

5.0
Overall Score I see us having a long-term relationship.
  • 5.0 Scheduling
    ON TIME / DEADLINES
  • 5.0 Cost
    Value / within estimates
  • 5.0 Quality
    Service & deliverables
  • 5.0 NPS
    Willing to refer
    I would prefer to keep them for myself, but I would refer them.