Minomo Studio

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO at a social & dating startup called Daddy&Sunny's. D&S proudly represents a modern LGBTQ lifestyle that’s expanding into new platforms. From social issues to original content, we’re continuing to blaze innovative paths with a meaningful impact for our community.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Minomo Studio?

I wanted to create a new product without sacrificing any internal resources, so we decided to outsource design work to a third-party agency. And I hired Minomo Studio to consult and help us develop our web application user interface and overthink the user flow of our product. We wanted to create a definitely new product without sacrificing any internal resources, so we decided to outsource design work to a third-party agency.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We found them through online research, though it’s possible they were recommended to us. We interviewed five or six agencies before narrowing the list to two and conducting trial engagements.

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

We described the concept and handed wireframes to Minomo. We started out with a discovery phase where they talked to the product team and executives to understand the project’s key roles, visions, and what we were looking for the product to drive. They came back with a few different design directions for us to choose between and then created designs and screens for our platform. And also we gave them some data usage, and they also conducted their own UX research with our customers. From here, they designed the wireframe architecture and visual interface of our product. The initial deliverable was a full mockup of the tool’s user flow. After that, they worked on a high-fidelity visual design and motion design flow. So that programmers understand the task and the main idea of ​​the design flow.

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

We worked with four people from their team, including the CMO, the Design Lead and two visual designers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We definitely liked the direction they went in. They gave us available options, which was nice for us because we were able to look at different ways to think about the flows and design. We eventually hired an in-house lead designer who used Clay’s design templates as a baseline to start work on the app. We definitely used the work they provided. The app was launched but it didn’t get much traction due to lack of marketing due to unintelligent programmers. However, the feedback from the customers that used it was great.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The communication was on high level. They were easy to work with, responsive to feedback, and met every deadline. They made an Adobe XD prototype, which helped us see how the app would work before we began programming it. After that, we changed a lot of the features in the vision and user flow. They were a few weeks late on a couple of milestones, but that was normal. We’ve worked with a lot of designers who were late by several months, half of year and so two weeks is nothing :)

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

Their understanding of interfaces was great, and their work with color palettes and user preferences was impressive. The platform had a lot of complicated features, but they somehow made it work in an accessible way. It took a lot of time, but they were top-notch guys. Both sides of the UI & UX are very high-quality in comparison with other designs. When you work with designers and UX people, they usually look at other applications in the industry and create so weak interface that will never be used. Instead, Minomo Studio tried to invent something new in their niche. A lot of our ideas came from them.

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

Nothing comes to my mind.