MakeReign

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the CEO and co-founder of UCOOK, South Africa’s leading meal kit delivery service.

For what projects/services did your company hire MakeReign?

MakeReign consulted on a number of UX and design challenges for some exciting projects and product launches of ours. One of the challenges included launching a completely new e-commerce solution within our existing weekly subscription-based meal kit offering.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal was to launch our new product offerings. We needed MakeReign to answer a number of UX questions and deliver strong creative solutions for those launches. How we structured them, how they fit in with our existing site and offering, where they should sit, etc. We needed to bring a point of differentiation for our offering compared to our competitors, acquire new customers and further drive customer retention, and ultimately increase the average basket value of customers.

How did you select MakeReign?

We take on a rigorous process of selection whenever working with third-parties. We needed a team that could easily fit into our existing team, work closely with our product owners, understand the technical constraints and adjust solutions accordingly. We chose MakeReign as they're approach to product design is solutions-driven and results focused. Their UX processes are thorough and methodical.

Describe the project in detail.

Our team was working on a few new product launches. Taking our briefs and the objectives we had for these projects, they did an impressive amount of research and looked into best practices from a UX perspective. They did in depth research, extensive sitemaps and evaluated the entire architecture and structure to make a seamless experience.

They walked us through their entire design process, each step of the way, presenting their work and showing a level of understanding and knowledge that left us impressed each time.

What was the team composition?

Our team included the Product Owners, Project Managers, Brand team and Brand designers, Technical Leads and our development team. This was a key focus of the business so I was involved for high-level strategic input. MakeReign team consisted of project manager, creative director and two designers.

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

Our service has seen phenomenal success over the last year, far exceeding key metrics and KPIs. Our product extensions and new launches have too done extremely well.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

As I said, they walk you through each step of the process and really take you through their design process meticulously at each stage, which makes it easy to understand the work and their vision. We were updated continually throughout the process and communication lines were strong. They integrated closely and collaborated effectively with our team. Was a pleasure working with them.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Thing that really impressed our team was how in-depth they went from a research perspective and their understanding of our customer segments in order to deliver truly customer first solutions. They way they could simplify and deliver solutions to some complex asks and challenges makes it easy to see why they are one of the best UX agencies in South Africa.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Head of Marketing for an exciting InsureTech startup called Pineapple in SA. Pineapple is the first fully realised, decentralised insurer and was the first company in the world to initiate insurance using computer vision (AI). 

For what projects/services did your company hire MakeReign?

A relationship was formed when MakeReign approached us in 2018 to help with the initial design of our app UI. The rest was history. The app elements created by the team, helped us set the tone for our brand - minimalistic, fun and slightly edgy. The only problem, our inconsistent creative did not match our UI.

In 2019, early 2020, we approached MR to help us phase out our old CI with a new look and feel to really bring our personality to life in the digital space. Slowly we have been working with MR to roll out a new refreshed CI that is clear and consistent but in line with the tone and personality of our brand!

What were your goals for this project?

We knew that by creating a clear and consistent brand image (internally and externally) would help us establish trust amongst new, digital users and trust in the insurance space, equates to new leads which then, in turn, results in sales.

How did you select MakeReign?

We were absolutely blown away by the UI work that MakeReign delivered after having approached us in 2018. The UI was everything we wanted and more. Creating the UI for the app, gave MakeReign a competitive advantage - they truly understood the intricacies of the business - who we are, what/why we do, where we are going, how we plan to do it.

ving been so close to the project it was easy for MakeReign to consistently bring the brand to life in the digital space through design.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

MakeReign is extremely professional and handles every element of our brand extension as a sperate project. Usually, we will brief the project into the MR team. A week later, a concept with wireframes is presented with clear, easy to understand notes. From there a selection is made.

MakeReign will then deliver final rollout in two formats - as individually downloaded images that we can post/ publish straight as well as an open, editable Figma file. This helps us a lot especially when it comes to cutting project costs. if we are extremely strapped, MakeReign will help us establish the initial look and feel.

From there we are able to create our variations using the open files created for us, on Figma.

What was the team composition?

Our main go-to is Luke Engel the co-founder of MakeReign, he heads up People & Partnerships for the business. However, as our relationship with MakeReign has developed over time and we have had the opportunity to work directly with every team member involved in each project - Creative Director, Designers, Copy Writers, etc.

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

I am excited to say that since the new look and feel, we have consistently broken our record for the number of leads and sales we have made month-on-month.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Getting more than just the Project Manager in the room for a briefing/ discussion has been a positive experience - we are able to brief the team once, together. In those briefings, everyone is able to ask questions, ensuring that everyone is on the same page which streamlines the process.

MakeReign is extremely professional when it comes to delivering on the deadlines set out. When a concept with wireframes is presented, delivery is always 99.9% accurate with little to no changes, which makes the creative process and delivery of creative extremely fast!

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The team is incredibly professional when it comes to every project. Clear timelines are drafted, deadlines are always met, the presentations are quality, the team is extremely helpful and professional at all times. World-class standard when it comes to delivery.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Not really. We have found a unique way to work with the MR team that works for us.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Wolf&Whale (www.wolfwhale.com) is a digital design consultancy for clients like GoDaddy, WeWork, Meetup, PAX Vaporizer, Walmart, SendWave, and Serial Box. We are a team of experts in user experience design and product strategy.

For what projects/services did your company hire MakeReign?

Hired MakeReign to design a portfolio website (UI/UX/Web Development) and digital identity for our company that scaled across social, web, and print materials.

What were your goals for this project?

Goals of the project were to align our branding with the new digital presence, highlight our work and backgrounds, develop a smooth interaction design and website experience, and build a scalable digital identity for us to attract new clients and partners.

How did you select MakeReign?

I saw MakeReign's work online through various portfolio sites and awards organizations. I was impressed with their ability to combine user experience thinking with beautiful visual design and art direction.

Their team is multidisciplinary and I appreciated their thoughtful process and communication style.

Describe the project in detail.

We were a consultancy that had some clients but needed our message sent across the web. We wanted to develop a first-class web experience so we could attract the type of clients we desired and made sure people knew what we do, how we do it, and how great we're able to be.

MakeReign did a wonderful job not only thinking through the 'design' aspects of our project but also the content and strategic thinking to attract more customers.

What was the team composition?

Our team was myself and a few business partners. MakeReign has a project manager a couple of designers, a couple of developers, and 1on1 facetime with their founder.

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

Once our website launched, we received almost immediate feedback and praise from the community and was recognized by some of the most heralded awards organizations for 'website of the day' and nominations for 'website of the month'.

We were overwhelmed with the traffic increase and general impressions of the site experience. MakeReign also helped promote the project which helped direct attention on us.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Excellent workflow. Very collaborative team. They love to experiment and show work from their process which gave me a good sense of their perspective and creativity.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their process. Very thorough and creative process that starts with early conceptual ideas and experimentation all the way down to meticulous execution and quality assurance. They're always 10 steps ahead and allowed us to anticipate what's next. Very logical and collaborative approach.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I think at times there was some back and forth on projected timeline but I wasn't in a huge rush so I had room for extra time to work out the details. I would recommend that the next clients let MakeReign do their thing in an appropriate timeline because the results will be much better versus rushing them.