Lithios

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work as a technical program manager for a university. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Lithios?

As a research organization, we didn’t have a lot of experience with UI design. We were interested in getting Lithios’ help to create the UI for one of our research projects.

What was the scope of their involvement? 

In the first half of the project, Lithios took us through a design exercise to help us develop what the UI would look like. Out of that experience, we got a branding package for our project. The other primary deliverable was the software code that Lithios developed for us. 

The team has recently finished our product about a month ago, but we still have some issues to work through to get it set up on our network.

What is the team composition? 

We worked with about 7–10 people.

How did you come to work with Lithios?

My friend ran a nonprofit that helped small startups, so I reached out to him to see if he had any recommendations for local companies that could help with our UI design. He mentioned a few, and we talked to all of them. In the end, Lithios was the one that we went with.

How much have you invested with them?

It’s been about $68,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve worked with them since June 2020.

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

We’ve just gotten to the point where we can put our product in front of analysts for feedback, so we don’t have any metrics yet. 

How did Lithios perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication is great. We connect with them periodically through virtual check-ins, and there’s also a collaborative Slack channel where we can reach out to them dynamically.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Overall, we’ve been very satisfied with Lithios’ services, and they’ve met the objectives that they’ve set out to do.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The development work did take a little bit longer than we’d intended. However, that’s partly because one of the people on our team left to go to another company, and then one of the people on their team also left to go to another company. Those two disruptions made for an understandable delay.

Other than that, there’s not much I’d really recommend that they change. They’re a really great team to work with, and we were really pleased with the service we’ve received.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Keep in contact with them. Lithios has been good about getting back to us whenever we’ve had questions or issues. As long as you reach out with your concerns, they’ll be more than happy to get back to you.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m starting my own company that’s focused on education.

What challenge were you trying to address with Lithios?

I needed help building a prototype.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Lithios designed a prototype for my business. It’s a new website. The team helped me come up with my idea and vision.

How did you come to work with Lithios?

They’re located in the area that I’m interested in living. I liked that they were a small team with great reviews.

How much have you invested with them?

I spent $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2021, and we wrapped up in May 2021.

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

I needed my deliverables completed in a certain time frame, and they did an excellent job with the execution. I’m very happy with Lithios’ services.

How did Lithios perform from a project management standpoint?

They were great at meeting deadlines.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team was very professional and friendly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I found it to be a great experience.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to ask any questions you have.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of a medical device company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Lithios?

We partnered with Lithios to develop an app to accompany an upcoming product.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially worked with designers from Lithios who designed the app’s screens and flow. Their team then developed the mobile app for Android and iOS devices. They built features that enable users to take pictures and overlay pictures. That was a requirement because we wanted there to be as much consistency as possible between photos. We’ll have them handle the updates when updates become necessary.

Basically, the platform helps patients who use our products for care to track their wounds at home. Patients can share their progress with physicians.

What is the team composition?

We've worked with about seven folks. Although we've mostly collaborated with their developers, we've also worked with several designers.

How did you come to work with Lithios?

We found them through a referral. However, I knew Kyle (VP of Operations) before he moved to Lithios. I trusted him, which was one of the main reasons we decided to work with Lithios. We also talked to a couple of other development agencies, but they were much more expensive.

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent about $70,000 on the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project with Lithios around November 2020, and we’re still working with them.

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

We’re still internally testing the app, and it's easy to use. Although we haven’t tested it with the broader public yet, it works extremely well.

How did Lithios perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team’s communication and ability to meet deadlines have been great.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re on top of their responsibilities. Our measure of success was whether or not their team accomplished our requirements. Lithios definitely achieved our goals.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, the only issues have been outside of their control.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Provide Lithios with the materials they request as quickly as possible.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Director of Operations for RIoT. RIoT is a non-profit organization that focuses on economic development by capturing emerging markets and accelerating startups — creating IoT opportunities locally, nationally, and globally.

For what projects/services did your company hire Lithios, and what were your goals?

The RIoT website was created several years ago and had become outdated.

How did you select Lithios and what were the deciding factors?

The RIoT Team knows the Lithios Team well, as we both work out of the Raleigh Founded co-working space in downtown Raleigh.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

The Lithios Team helped upload the content that our team had created via the WordPress site. They helped update the content to reflect our company's services.

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

Our main points of contact for the project were DeShawn Brown and Kyle Linton. DeShawn and Kyle are extremely knowledgeable, helpful, and professional. We truly enjoy working with the entire Lithios Team.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Our Team and our partners love the new website design and are impressed with how easy it is to navigate all the services RIoT provides.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

The Lithios Team always clearly communicated with our team. If there were any delays, they would let us know ahead of time so that we could prepare. The Lithios Team is outstanding to work with!

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

The Lithios Team is flexible, courteous, and knowledgeable. They are always upfront about meeting expectations and providing the best service possible at the lowest feasible cost.

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

n/a

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of TraKid. We’re building wearable tracking devices for children, marketing to amusement parks to rent to families. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Lithios?

Building the mobile app for parents was the first stage.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Lithios helped to design, brainstorm, and develop the app, which is native to Android and iOS. We started with the UI/UX and flow, going through the day-to-day options for parents and parks. They even drove down with us to Virginia to meet with a park client, where we got feedback to make changes before development. 

One of our requirements was that the app needed to communicate well with our backend servers and hardware. A lot of stuff went wrong on the hardware side; the coronavirus delayed delivery from China. Lithios was super flexible and worked really well with us to figure that part out.

What is the team composition?

We work with 6–7 people, including two designers, two developers — one for iOS, one for Android — and the management team. 

How did you come to work with Lithios?

We met a bunch of app companies and got a lot of quotes. I first heard about Lithios from a coworking space. They didn’t offer the cheapest quote, but I liked their personalities and all the questions they were asking. They felt like the right fit, which was very important to me.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $48,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in December 2019 and is ongoing. The app has been delivered, but we’re awaiting the hardware to test it fully.

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

The app has been delivered, but we’re awaiting the hardware to test it fully. We plan to work on a bunch of other stuff in the future with Lithios.

The quality has been excellent. The design phase has been their strongest phase; we’re especially pleased with the look and feel. We have yet to fully test the development side, but everything’s perfect from what we’ve able to test. Lithios is good at taking feedback from us and clients. 

How did Lithios perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re on top of everything. When it comes to scheduling weekly calls, they’re flexible in working around my schedule. Our offices were next door, so it’s become really convenient. Lithios is great at managing all that. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication impresses me. I’d like to point to quality work, but I don’t know the quality of work for other people that well. For us, they’ve done a great job, though.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have no negative feedback. I would like if they were cheaper, but they charge industry-standard rates.

Any advice for potential customers?

Go ahead and work with them. I’ve recommended a lot of people to them. I would gladly put myself as a reference for them.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the software development manager for Cree Lighting, a lighting manufacturer.

What challenge were you trying to address with Lithios?

We needed a tablet application to control a lighting product. Tablet software is not our expertise, so we found that expertise in Lithios.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We selected a particular Samsung tablet, and Lithios built an app for that tablet that sends messages over Wi-Fi to control a lighting system built by us. 

The control surface allows users to select various lighting features in a room. It can control individual lights or multiple lights and provide a dynamic lighting profile.

We gave Lithios initial screenshots to inform what kind of screens we wanted, but they also offered their ideas for how to implement the solution. 

What is the team composition?

We work with 2–5 people at any one time.

How did you come to work with Lithios?

We found them through word-of-mouth, but I didn’t select them personally: my boss had known from some other place. Plus, we had a connection in our roots: their office is a think-tank for NC State graduates, and it was an NC State graduate that founded our company.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in October 2018 and is almost done; Lithios is doing one last detail. We may come back and add more functionality, but the original scope is complete.

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

We had our marketing guys use the new app, and we tweaked a lot based on their input. About 25 of our sales kits have the app and are showing it to customers across the country. We had some stability issues and crashing problems at first, but those are largely resolved now. With everything else, Lithios has made it look easy.

How did Lithios perform from a project management standpoint?
They’ve done very well. We use Slack for communication. Everyone down to an individual worker is highly responsive. Almost always, I get a reply to a question within half an hour if not immediately.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We invited them to our campus to do integration testing – we were unable to provide them with the amount of hardware that they needed to conduct the tests. Those visits were amazing; we fixed an astonishing number of bugs together, and Lithios would often leave after an afternoon with the fixed code in hand. 

I also appreciate the personable nature of everyone I’ve worked with from Lithios. Whether it’s over email, Slack, the phone, or in-person, they’re professional and proactive. When we point a problem or ask for a change, Lithios is always very willing to make it happen. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They lost one key team member during the process through no fault of their own, and they recovered from that very well. They also have continued to work during the coronavirus and made significant changes to the code while working from home. So, I have nothing negative to say at all.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be willing to listen to their suggestions as they implement your designs. They have ideas that you won’t think of and that will make the product even better.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of operations at a digital media company. We own and operate several websites for different categories of celebrity news, auto, sports, movies, television shows, and more. We have over 30 million monthly readers and almost 200 million page views per month, so we have a large following.

What challenge were you trying to address with Lithios?

As our company has grown, we’ve developed new websites, which have established our parent company as important for new employees, advertising partners, and industry partners. We needed to create a brand and a website for that parent company.

What was the scope of their involvement?

There were two main things. The first was a branding exercise around what’s important to our brand. It wasn’t about logos or colors, but about our tone. They asked us who we wanted to be and how we wanted to depict ourselves in the industry. It was a small-time commitment.

The major process was going page-by-page through our website, about 12 pages, including the home page, brand page, team page, benefits, and culture. They helped with the layout, design, flow, and imagery of those pages. We were going to use stock images but they pushed us to hire a photographer. We had a company retreat where we captured images of the team in a professional manner.

Overall, they helped us create a genuine look and feel. They gave the code to our developers, because our developers built the side.

What is the team composition?

Tim (Director, Lithios) was my main point of contact. I also met and interacted with Kassidy (Business Development Analyst, Lithios) and Kyle (Consultant, Lithios). There was also a design resource that worked with Tim.

How did you come to work with Lithios?

Our company is completely remote—all 70 of our employees. I work in a coworking space where Lithios also works. I met them three years ago at happy hours and around the office. I also reached out to four or five other design firms all over the country. I decided to go with Lithios because I liked the examples on their website and the simple yet thoughtful storytelling in their design work. Some of the other companies were more about finding a good outsourced resource than being end-to-end.

How much have you invested with them?

The agreed contract is $14,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our contract had two pieces. The first was the website, and that ran from August 2019—December 2019. The other half is to redesign our home page, and that’s ongoing; it started in January 2020.

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

It’s only been live for a week and a half, but everyone on my team loves the site. Our writers believe that they really captured our goals for the site. Early readers have also commented that they like the clean, modern design.

How did Lithios perform from a project management standpoint?

They used InVision as the core design tool. We normally use PhotoShop in-house, so this was a great learning experience for us. They set clear turnaround times so we knew if it would take one, two, or three weeks. This way, we were never sitting around and waiting for them. We were able to align our sprint planning with his turnaround time pretty easily. It was all pretty seamless.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re really easy to work with and schedule with. They also took feedback easily as well. Tim and the entire team have been very engaging and nice to work with. They listened to our needs and understood our desire to make our writers the forefront of the website. We delivered about three principles we wanted to follow, including who our audience was. They took them into account for all their decisions.

Lithois felt like an internal team, rather than an outsourced design team. It felt similar to when I worked with an in-house designer. They asked about how our business ran and how we made money. Those up-front, strategic questions informed their design, which helped them deliver on both aesthetic and business concepts.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We were surprised when they sent us InVision files at the end, rather than Photoshop or illustrator. I would suggest more clarity upfront about the deliverable format. It only took one email to clarify though, so it didn’t slow us down.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would consider that Lithios both designs and builds apps. Our was just straight branding and design.

Introduce your business and what you do there. 

I’m the software technology manager for a company that provides hardware and software technology to different market segments. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Lithios? 

We were developing an app. We had an idea of the functionality but we needed to hire an external resource to design the actual workflow and UX/UI. 

What was the scope of their involvement? 

Lithios built a proof of concept (PoC) of the app rather than an actual finalized product. The designer was literally in a room with us going over ideas on a whiteboard. The PoC was built for both iOS and Android, using those technology stacks. 

What is the team composition? 

We worked with Tim (Senior Design Manager, Lithios). 

How did you come to work with Lithios?

I wanted to find a resource that was near my location. I did a Google search for mid-price UX/UI designers. I interviewed several companies and most fell within our budget. When I reviewed their website and had an initial call with them, Lithios’ ideas felt really fresh and cutting edge. That's what I wanted for this app. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent less than $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement? 

The project took place in July 2019.

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

Lithios did an excellent job. The deliverables they provided to our developers used state-of-the-art tools. Using the latest technology available allowed the PoC to seamlessly integrate with the development environment. 

Members of my team were impressed by Lithios’ use of responsive animation. In other words, the animation responded programmatically each time the app carries out a particular function.  So wasn't just a story animation. The animation actually interacted with the functionality of the app.

How did Lithios perform from a project management standpoint? 

They were excellent. This was an extremely fast turnaround. Lithios was able to meet our somewhat ridiculous deadline of only two-and-a-half weeks. It was completed on time, which was important. 

What did you find most impressive about them? 

Their accessibility was super. It was crucial that they were local and available after regular business hours because of the tight time frame. Tim’s skill was definitely top notch. We will 100% use Lithios again in the future.

Are there any areas they could improve? 

No. Given the timeline, it's hard for me to say anything negative. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers? 

Have all the information available upfront in regards to what you want them to accomplish. Be as clear as possible so that they can create a design that meets your needs. That way you don't slip something in at the eleventh hour that requires changes to the design. We learned that the hard way, but they were very flexible.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of Silbo. We’re a curated marketplace that connects sports officials to games.

What challenge were you trying to address with Lithios?

We were a new startup with a small development team. We built the API of the two-sided marketplace and needed help in making the mobile application for officials.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Since Lithios is local, we would meet with them for pre-sprint meetings where we had our ideas drawn up on a board. They took what we had, assisting our team through the design and implementation of a mobile app. Their team developed a React Native mobile app in conjunction with our designs connected to the API we built.

What is the team composition?

DeShawn (CEO & Founder, Lithios) was my main point of contact. During the life cycle of the project, we worked with a designer and two to three developers.

How did you come to work with Lithios?

Lithios is well-known in our area, and we heard great things about them through the startup community. One of my co-founders saw them speak at an NC State entrepreneurial presentation. We met with different companies, but after talking to Lithios, we saw that they stood out. We were impressed with their ability to understand the scope. They were straight to the point, delivering detailed project plans with a projected timeframe. I felt confident in their capabilities.

How much have you invested with them?

The project cost under $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement took place in 2017. In the span of six to eight weeks, we went from initial meeting to beta testing. We worked with Lithios for another few months on refining and updating.

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

Lithios was able to get a high-fidelity MVP out the door within six weeks. We’ve received excellent feedback from users on the speed, slickness, and usability of the mobile app. That is a testament to Lithios’ design skills and ability to take our ideas that put them together.

How did Lithios perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management style was excellent. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking to take their current project to the next level or building their project from the beginning. Working with Lithios’ professional team is easy. Their team scopes out all of their work effectively.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I think their design team is impressive. We plan on using them again for our website redesign this year. Their team’s active communication made them always available for ideas and open to changes. They deliver fast turnarounds from idea generation and design before jumping into coding.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’ve noticed during the times I’ve worked with them that they’ve gotten better at timeline projections. Every development project has shifting timelines.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Hire them. You find any team more dedicated to your success. All of their customers would agree. Lithios is wholly invested in taking creations from their clients’ heads to their hands as a mobile or web product. Give them a shot because you won’t regret it.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the SANE/ Forensic Nurse Program Coordinator at UNC Health in the Medical Center.

For what projects/services did your company hire Lithios?

We are creating a website for Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) to keep track of their classroom and clinical training, cases, and ultimately display a map open to the public to identify where patients can seek expert medical forensic care.

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Many folks on the Lithios team volunteer their time to a website called OurWave, which is a place for survivors of sexual violence to build community. This seemed like an appropriate fit for our project.

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

Lithios assisted us in coming up with a name for our website, staySANE, a color scheme and logo. They also developed an extensive UX flow for each of the different user types, and have just completed the full mock up design of the website.

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

We worked with a project manager and two designers.

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

They did an amazing job at taking the time to fully understand our work and just how convoluted it is to become a SANE in NC. Sarafina particularly showed us such patience as we constantly wanted to double check that we had the onboarding piece accurate and in accordance with the NC Board of Nursing requirements.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We met weekly, and the team showed us a lot of grace when our clinical obligations trumped the meeting on several occasions. The team was always quick to respond via email. There were several occasions I needed some quick data, screenshots, or even a video of the product to date and they always got it right back to me.

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

I have not ever worked with a tech company in this capacity before, but I was impressed with their creativity, hard work, and patience with us learning. And, most importantly the final design mock up!

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

The Lithios team is amazing, and it has been an absolute pleasure to work with them.