Lights Out Studio

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder & CEO of Strongr, a fitness application based out of India.

For what projects/services did your company hire Lights Out Studio?

We wanted design for our mobile application. In a fiercely competitive market like fitness, having great user interface & experience is paramount.

What were your goals for this project?

1. Simple design
2. Great experience
3. High shareability quotient
4. Effective on-boarding & referral

How did you select Lights Out Studio?

I was trying to search for design studios based out India, on Clutch. Lights Out ratings appeared high, but they had relatively lesser number of projects displayed. But I still decided to get in touch with them. My first call was a pleasant surprise with their founder, Saksham Mendiratta. He explained what Lights Out was and I felt a sense of connect with the story of running a customer service venture. I definitely went ind depth of their work, which was quite impressive. The work they've done for a similar customer in the fitness-tech domain was what blew me away. Over a period of time, we agreed upon scope of work & commercials and kicked off the project.

Describe the project in detail.

1. Discovery & Research - this is where we evaluated competitors in the segment and various UX modules that they've adopted.
2. UX & Wireframes - this is where we froze the wireframes of out new application
3. UI Design - worked on the design & systems for the modules
4. Iterations & Changes - We went through a few rounds of iterations & changes after new information was found every time.

What was the team composition?

My interaction was largely with the co-founder, Adil S. They maintain a single point of contact on projects and I quite liked that about them. He understood my vision and was able to get it implemented from his team.

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

The project (application) is under development, but the work Lights Out has done is simply great. you could see my reviews for them on it.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Seamless. No hiccups.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I am impressed with their customer service, ability to understand my vision, and the aesthetics in design. I don't think i'd get this combination elsewhere.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None at all, simply delighted with the work they've done

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder of a home composting company. Specifically, I am the project lead for this project.

What challenge were you trying to address with Lights Out Studio?

We were introducing a new brand in a new project category to market, so we needed a separate brand identity and guidelines that still spoke to our original brand but also stood alone.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Lights Out Studio provided branding services for us. They created our brand voice and identity. They took our input to shape the verbal and written communications surrounding our brand. They also created a brand book with visuals of fonts, colors, logos, and typefaces for us to refer to. 

Additionally, they deployed a website for us. They built an Elemental framework for a WordPress website.

What is the team composition?

For this project, I worked directly with Adil (Co-Founder & Experience Designer), who handled the design side of things, Harsh (Associate Project Manager), and someone else on the web development team.

How did you come to work with Lights Out Studio?

I received a referral for Lights Out Studio from a friend of mine who is quite influential in the direct-to-consumer space. I trusted his opinion quite a lot, so I decided to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $8,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement ran from January–March 2021.

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

We really wanted to take branding off the plate of our internal team so that they could focus on other priority areas. This gave our team a lot of time back. The results are great and our design team was quite happy with them. We have begun other projects with Lights Out Studio since wrapping up this one. 

How did Lights Out Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

They have strong project management skills. Everything is very simplified, especially given the number of projects we have going on with them.

Lights Out Studio was added to our Slack channel, which made communication a lot easier. IT helped streamline the process for our team. They also used Figma to share wireframes with us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a great attitude and always try to get things done. I’ve certainly had experiences in the past where designers were more wrapped up in the process than in the results, but that wasn’t the case with Lights Out Studio. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were some cases where we were waiting on things from our team. Sometimes I wasn’t aware and could have pushed things through faster if I had known. I gave them that feedback, letting them know to reach out to me directly if they were ever waiting on our team.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be super clear about your deliverables and the dates you need them by. Make sure you’re checking in on key project checkpoints and targets throughout the process. As long as you’re hitting those hurdles, it should be a positive experience.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Brand and Marketing Manager at ICICI PRUDENTIAL MUTUAL FUND headquartered in Mumbai. We are one the top asset management companies in the country with two decades in Fund Management, and contributing significantly to the growth of the Indian Mutual Fund industry.

For what projects/services did your company hire Lights Out Studio?

We worked with Lights Out, on designing digital campaign for one of our products, Freedom SiP, which is one of the focus products for the company.

What were your goals for this project?

The objective of the campaign, was to increase awareness about this long term product among the younger audience and highlight the need to invest in this product in order to generate secondary income in the future. We want consumers be aware of the fact that, they will need additional income in future if they have to fulfill their dreams and aspirations.

How did you select Lights Out Studio?

We had met with the team in the past on a different brief, which could not be materialised. We were impressed by the pitch that they made, the Strategy, design and overall communication. It was fresh and based on customer understanding.

Describe the project in detail.

Freedom SIP is a product offering that we had launched in 2019. It is a long term investment product with assured x percent returns over y number of years. However, the mutual fund advertising guidelines do not allow us to use words which give assurance or guarantee of returns.

The task given to the agency was to design communication to create awareness about this product in the Covid era among the younger audience who are more inclined towards the digital medium.

Since the name of the product is Freedom SIP, we wanted to launch the digital campaign during Independence day abs bring the connect of freedom.

HOWEVER, freedom as an angle would be insensitive during the pandemic when we all were locked in our homes. Hence the more difficult ask given to the agency was to find new relatable contextual meaning to this product and lead the entire campaign from a fresh angle.

What was the team composition?

We have been coordinating with only Amrrita Dey, their creative strategist. We would discuss the brief, creatives, changes, options, etc and jointly brainstorm in the solution and campaign strategy.

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

The work that Lights Out, did for us, helped design new and fresh communication for the product and create awareness about it. They were able tod decode our brief into actionable camapign strategy for the brand. Since our category is very much market driven, it won't be right to measure the outcome of the campaign in terms of ROI.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Their understanding on the brand, the category and overall mutual fund customer in India is spot on. At every point, they always did their research on user behaviour and attitude and then developed the communication.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their understanding of creative, design, and communication was impressive.

Mutual fund has very strict Regulatory guidelines on advertising and communication. Hence, it comes difficult to deliver the message in jargaon free language and verbose copy. Lights Out managed to give us cleanayouta and crisp communication and all this while being within the regulatory framework.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Yes, they could extend their services to more BTL communication and not just Digital projects. This will help companies like us to use their design expertise for more frequently used marketing materials and point of Sale collateral like product one pagers brochure, etc.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a growth marketing firm for CPG brands.

What challenges were you trying to address with Lights Out Studio?

They’re helping us design new brands from scratch.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We work with them to develop new brands. This includes creating websites, packaging, and logos to coming up with names, and building a story. The websites are built using Shopify, so each website has e-commerce capabilities. 

We provide them with insights gathered from surveys. They take that information and figure out how to shape the narrative around the brand. 

What is the team composition?

We work with the two founders: Saksham (Head of Business Growth) and Adil (Head of Experience Design). 

How did you come to work with Lights Out Studio?

I put a post on LinkedIn, and someone recommended Lights Out Studio to me. 

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent around $12,000–$15,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in October 2020. We’re still working together. 

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

They’re really good at what they do, and they have a strong understanding of the US e-commerce market. The team is fast and agile. They can work independently and be proactive. They’re always learning and improving. 

Our team loves the work they’ve done because it’s helped create a strong foundation for us to build on. 

How did Lights Out Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed very well. We mostly communicated with them through Slack, and they were easily available. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They move a lot faster than other providers. They work to understand the purpose behind the brands we want to build, and then they come to the table with lots of ideas. It isn’t about making fancy slide decks or having multiple meetings. They take your input and deliver tangible results quickly. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could continue to grow their team. However, I don’t have much to say beyond that because they’re a great team. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

Don’t haggle them over small things like putting together nice presentations and hammering down the SOW. They’re entrepreneurial, and they will overdeliver. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of GloGrid, a logistics company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Lights Out Studio?

We needed a website revamp and logo design for our new business name. I had developed a simple site but wanted an agency that could do a better job.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Lights Out revamped my existing landing website. I was very demanding in asking for a lot of changes. I gave them the basic layout of what I wanted on my homepage and wanted to incorporate case studies and something related to the actual work that we’re doing. There were a lot of graphics. 

They designed my logo as well. I wanted the logo incorporated into the website and to match the color scheme. 

What is the team composition?

My main contact was Adil (Co-Founder) who is a mechanical engineer. He could relate to my industry and the e-commerce industry.

How did you come to work with Lights Out Studio?

I talked to a lot of people regarding a rebranding or UI/UX team. Many times I had to explain what I was expecting out of it. With Lights Out Studio, they made suggestions and asked me to let them know if it was in sync with our other competitors. They did all the background study of what would stand out to our competitors. They carried out really detailed research. 

A lot of agencies just looked at us as a client but if someone is starting a journey of entrepreneurship by themselves, the agency also needs to understand having a cost structure. They had a very frank discussion with me and were able to help us out within our budget.

How much have you invested with them?

The total cost was $3,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project took place from October-December 2018.

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

Everything went smoothly. It was helpful for me to get all the things done with one partner, because they understood what I wanted for the website and the message I wanted people to get from it. It was a nice experience working with Lights Out. They were accommodative to the changes I wanted.

People were impressed. I received a lot of comments about my website being very nicely done and that it was impressive. People were referring to the case studies that were on my website so they could relate to my work and they were asking questions.  

How did Lights Out Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was very professional and I really appreciated it. From day one, once we defined the scope, Lights Out was vocal about it and straightforward on setting up the goals and timelines. They made it clear if I needed a change, they may need another week or so. They were able to meet the timelines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team they have is not only from a digital, UI/UX background, but they can also understand business needs. Accordingly, Lights Out gives you a brand perspective and then works around it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There should be more face-to-face interactions. If they could work a day with a client, they could understand much more in detail how we work and could come up with design ideas based on their experience. Knowing the culture of the company helps a lot.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open with them about your expectations from day one. You’ll get the same from their end. Share as much as possible.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Co Founder at Healthathon Tech. We are a digital health startup in the space of preventive healthcare.

For what projects/services did your company hire Lights Out Studio?

We were building a mobile app for holistic healthy living and connected with Lights Out to help us with the UI/UX for the same. We are a startup and did not have in house resources.

What were your goals for this project?

We were looking for a simple and user friendly design that would stand out from the rest of the healthcare apps in the market.

How did you select this vendor?

They were referred to us.

Describe the project in detail.

Happily Health is a preventive healthcare application aimed at challenging people like you and me, into forming habits that are aligned with a healthy lifestyle.

It tracks your current habits and recommends changes to your lifestyle, to avoid falling prey to ailments & predictable health hazards in the future, especially the ones that may develop due to sedentary lifestyles.

Lights Out (formerly known as ’Sector 7') team came in early in the product design process. As a team we fleshed out the design approach given that we were looking to build a habit forming product. UI/UX was built basis the above.

What was the team composition?

Healthathon was coordinating with - Adil Singh and Yash Biyani, their experience designer and technologist.

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

The link of the application is: https://apps.apple.com/in/app/happily-health/id1451112423

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

There was continuous engagement throughout the design and build process.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Three things in particular that stood out: The Beta testing of our design was an important point in the UI journey. It helped Healthathon to get critical feedback from users. They worked on converting the possible user bottlenecks into workable solutions. The team was enthusiastic, took onus and worked hard on design. The output was a simple and refreshing design.

Are there any areas for improvement?

NA

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-founder of FYRA Insights Pvt. Ltd. We have software platform for hyperlocal businesses. We help businesses connect with the consumer through our platform and we ensure the last mile connection. We are about 10 people team. Based out of Pune, India.

For what projects/services did your company hire Lights Out Studio?

We hired them to revamp UI/UX of our app.

What were your goals for this project?

We are a technology oriented company with very little or no background of how to deliver customer experience. Our interface earlier was developed within the team itself. We wanted move from that interface to a totally comfortable and easy interface for our users. We hired Lights Out Studio to help us get there. Our primary goal was to deliver an interface with the following parameters:

1. Professional and yet modern looks
2. Easy to use
3. Intuitive
4. Should cover all of our functionality

How did you select this vendor?

Lights Out Studio founders also runs a co-working place called Sector 7, where we are based. So there was a constant interaction between us. So when we had a requirement, they were a natural choice.

Describe the project in detail.

PasserBy is an upcoming hyper-local delivery application in India. Given that this is the time for digital innovation, we were perfectly on time to launch our application earlier this year in 2020.

Right from helping people with grocery deliveries to letting them order food from their favourite restaurant, as well as helping them with upcoming events in the city, PasserBy is a one stop shop for all their neighbourhood needs.

With this thought in mind, we went to Lights Out Studio (formerly known as Sector 7 Agency) to redesign our application that not only showcased our fundamental concept, but also kept in mind new trends in the coming years.

They took over the brief from us and got on with their job to redesign the ensuring that it meets global standards of product design.

What was the team composition?

The team for us was only a single point of contact - Adil Singh, the co-founder of Lights Out. He and his team worked on embedding a sense of brand, tonality, concept as well as user experience though out the project.

I was particularly happy with the single point of contact approach because it helped me communicate my thoughts only with one person, especially because he understood the product right from the word go.

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

The resultant work was demonstrated to us in April and I was delighted. It was more than I imagined and best part was even the slightest details were captured.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Since it was a point to point discussion, there were no problems in the interactions. Workflow was smooth. Adil was very good in capturing details.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Three things that stood out in particular:

1. In a highly competitive industry like ours, customers have umpteen options to choose from, digitally. How does one become the preferred choice? The answer perhaps is user experience that stems from user interface. Lights Out had customer centricity in mind and delivered a scalable design that worked really well for us.

2. The value addition from the studio’s end to enhance my core brief was impressive too. They threw themselves into the whole process to arrive at the finally constructed design brief. The design that came out in the end, was reflective of how we had imagined it to be or better.

3. Adil was attentive to details. He noted down even the smallest points that were discussed. In this area, the details makes the difference.

Are there any areas for improvement?

From a design & user experience standpoint, I wouldn’t have anything to share in particular.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am no longer associated with DIMTS however, during this Project I was consulting them in a creative and a legal capacity.

For what projects/services did your company hire Lights Out Studio?

To redesign the Application (Poochhoo) which is a Govt. of Delhi entity.

What were your goals for this project?

To increase customer acquisition and redesign UI/UX.

How did you select this vendor?

Due to our connects through Government organizations, we were introduced to Lights Out through a few common references.

Describe the project in detail.

Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) Ltd. is an urban transport and infrastructure development company committed to build and deliver quality infrastructure.

Back in 2016 we decided to embark upon the idea to digitise Delhi’s public transport system. We came up with an application under tight timelines that would enlist modes of public transport in the city. However, due to lack of our experience & expertise towards customer acquisition, we never managed to get users (people of the city) to use the application.

That’s when Lights Out (formerly known as Sector 7 Agency) came to our rescue. We entrusted them with the idea of revamping the application design to increase user acquisition. That was all we could brief them on.

What was the team composition?

For us, we were only coordinating with one person - Adil Singh, their experience designer. He used to come back to us with changes and options and we used to jointly brainstorm on the perfect solution. They went down to the streets of the city to understand the challenges a commuter faces during travel by public transport. I believe the primary research immensely helped us.

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

The application easily saw 30% increase in our user acquisition within 2 month

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was very effective. We didn’t face any challenge communicating with their team.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Three things in particular that stood out: Their patience to deal with us was commendable. We are a government organisation with multiple hierarchy tiers and they kept up with all the communication challenges.

Also, the fact that there was primary research involved in a project of this sort, was great. We gave them a certain challenge and they converted it into a viable solution for us. The design was impressive, simple and very user friendly. We ended up getting a lot more downloads from this new design.

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that I can think of.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Ace of Pubs is India's Largest Quizzing Company. I am the founder and sole proprietor of the set-up.

For what projects/services did your company hire Lights Out Studio?

UI/UX Services, making of the application

What were your goals for this project?

To successfully create an online community of like minded people, to whom we can promote our on-ground events while keeping them engaged as well as rewarding them for their engagement.

How did you select this vendor?

Saksham, one of the co-founders of this organisation and I studied at the same university. We kept in touch, I was aware of his organisation's work through social media. When the time came, I gave him a ring and things worked out well!

Describe the project in detail.

I’ve been running a company and venture called Ace of Pubs for about 2 years, in India. Over a period of time, it has gone on to become India’s largest offline quizzing saga and has redefined nightlife entertainment in the country. From covering events & quizzes by HBO, Game of Thrones, Star Sports to the who’s who of Indian Nightlife Industry, we’ve spread ourselves pretty much everywhere. After a 2 year offline stint, we started hitting roadblocks to continue scaling and realised that resorting to technology was the only way out to continue to uptick progress. With this thought in mind, we went to Lights Out Studio (formerly known as Sector 7 Agency) to build an application that not only showcased our fundamental concept, but also kept in mind new trends in the coming years. After days of brainstorming & joint discussions on what Ace of Pubs Application would look like, we finalised on the brief and from there on the studio took over the mantle of designing the UI & UX for this application.

What was the team composition?

The team for us was only a single point of contact - Adil Singh, the co-founder of Lights Out. He and his team very seamlessly transformed our idea on paper to a prototype keeping user experience at it’s core and embedding a sense of brand, tonality & concept. I was particularly happy with the single point of contact approach because it helped me communicate my thoughts only with one person, especially because he understood the product right from the word go.

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

The video shared with me (as it is on this platform) is reflective of the final design screens & prototype. It’s exactly how I had imagined it to be. Well, the application development is still underway and we’re just a few days away from launching it on the App Store, so it would be tough to sign success metrics to it, other than customer satisfaction, which was definitely very high.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Seamless. With one person coordinating along with me, I’m sure it would’ve been a task to get the whole prototype ready in less than 45 days.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Three things in particular that stood out: 1. How the application design was wired to imbibe customer centricity in mind. In an industry like ours (which is on the cusp of quizzing & entertainment), it’s essential to understand the nuances of customer’s moods & excitement and be able to add in layers that keep him engaged through out. 2. In fact the value addition from the studio’s end to enhance my core brief was impressive too. They threw themselves into the whole process to arrive at the finally constructed design brief. 3. The design that came out in the end, was reflective of how we had imagined it to be. Before kickstarting front & back end development, they shared a high fidelity prototype for user testing and the whole process of design approvals at every stage, helped build trust between us.

Are there any areas for improvement?

From a design & prototype standpoint, I wouldn’t have anything to share in particular.

Please describe your company and your position there.

The Fittest League is India's 1st competitive Fitness Platform, promoting the sport of fitness through rewards and recognition.The idea focuses on creating omni-channel opportunities to compete in fitness. We conduct online as well as on-ground fitness challenges with the vision of organising the TFL Games a national competition in the sport of fitness to Find the Fittest in the Country

For what projects/services did your company hire Lights Out Studio?

UI/UX development

What were your goals for this project?

We needed a consumer facing solution for this project

How did you select this vendor?

We decided to work together last year and were extremely excited to work with the entire team because of of how well they understood our vision and how we needed to get our app out to the consumer

Describe the project in detail.

We were focused on building a platform that caters to frequent Online Fitness Challenges with an in-built timer!

What was the team composition?

We were in constant touch with the founders who were extremely focused on aligning our vision and what we planned to build across the journey of the project but were aware that there was a dedicate team that was working on this as well.

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

The outcome of the project was to see exactly how what we plan to build will look and function. that was successfully achieved!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was smooth and it was very easy to communicate any changes or additions we wanted as a team

What did you find most impressive about this company?

In-depth research, business acumen to understand the customer and execute accordingly

Are there any areas for improvement?

None that I can think of now