Movade Studio

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of engineering for a company developing a business intelligence suite. We have multiple modules responsible for analytics, planning, budgeting, managing by objective, and so on. We have a task module and collaboration features.

Our customers are mainly large and medium enterprises that use our software on a daily basis to analyze their data, run their budgets, and make future forecasts on the data they’re interested in. Our products span quite a lot of processes in our customers’ daily work.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Movade Studio?

We were looking for ideas to revamp the overall UX of the platform, getting a unified look and feel across all modules.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with a series of workshops that allowed Movade Studio to understand what we do, who our customers are, and so on. They then worked on prototypes of how we wanted the platform to look. We had a series of meetings and workshops to advance that. We worked in more detail on various modules, and we had Movade Studio talk with our end customers independently on several occasions, to ask them what was and wasn’t good about our platform.

What is the team composition?

We primarily worked with Mateusz (Service Designer and UX Researcher, Movade Studio) and Mariusz (UX and Service Designer, Movade Studio), the owners of the company. Additional members were added later on, including a UI designer. Mateusz remained involved throughout the process, and we worked with five people from their team in total, at different times, depending on the task.

How did you come to work with Movade Studio?

They were recommended to me by someone who’d worked with them on a project for a different company.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent at least $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in August 2016. We last worked together in May 2018, but we’re still in contact with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Movade Studio has put in a lot of work hours, and we wouldn’t have stuck with them if we weren’t happy.

How did Movade Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

It’s difficult to answer, given that the project management part was handled by them for some tasks, while we handled it for others. I would say they’ve performed well overall, with only minor glitches. They worked quickly to fix those.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The visual appeal of their designs stands out, and many people have appreciated them. They’ve shown us that our software is complex and business-oriented, but it can also be beautiful and have a wow factor. This is something we really appreciated.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They’ve overrun some estimates by weeks or days. Also, because the specifics of our software require fairly-in depth business knowledge, making useful designs can require a lot of expertise and business knowledge. As such, getting to the results we wanted on certain details required more iterations than we’d have wanted at times.

There can be a difference between a good-looking site or application, and a useful one. I would’ve wanted us to have a lower number of iterations, but I don’t know how this could’ve been achieved.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We build custom software for external clients. I was a business analyst. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We asked Movade Studio to help with UX design, since we encountered a lot of challenges in that area. 

What were your goals for this project?

Our main goal was to build a modern, usable, and efficient HR app based on a legacy system.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They were a local shop with great recommendations and fantastic ideas. 

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

They worked closely with our client and our development team to design functionalities and conduct requirements gathering workshops. They discussed ideas and created solutions directly with the client.

What was the team composition?

We worked with a team that had a project manager and 8-10 back- and frontend developers, business analysts, designers, and testers. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

Thanks to their deep expertise, we improved the efficiency of our team and delivered the requested functionalities quickly. Their detailed designs were easy to implement. 

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Movade Studio fit perfectly into our agile Scrum methodology. They wisely chose a variety of tools depending on the situation and need. We all used English, so there were no language barriers. They met our deadlines for small milestones as well as big ones.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I loved their enthusiasm for the project and the quality and detail of their designs. They gave us many solutions to choose from, but were still flexible enough to implement changes. 

Are there any areas for improvement?

They should have a bigger team to provide even more support. Because they make a positive impact, we always want to involve them more. Expanding their capabilities would be great.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of an online world-travel agency. We provide agent services to tour operators.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Movade Studio?

We needed a firm with UX knowledge that could help us make proper newsletters and webpages.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Movade Studio provided UX design services. They examined how clients behaved on our site and revamped our entire user journey. Next, they prepared a set of newsletters with graphic designs for our clients. The team also designed new pages for our site. They did most of their graphic design work in Adobe PhotoShop.

What is the team composition?

We worked with three people from their team. They assigned us a UX designer, a developer, and a graphic designer. The UX designer focused on how clients behaved with our site.

How did you come to work with Movade Studio?

I’ve known the team at Movade Studio for a long time. We work in the same city, and some of us went to the same college. We knew what they could provide for our company.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Movade Studio around two years ago.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They built our newsletter into our mailing system, and this gives us the ability to track customer behavior.

How did Movade Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

I spoke primarily with one member of the project team, and they managed the rest of the people from their side. We used a variety of communication tools.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Movade Studio gave us useful insights into our competition. They looked at other travel sites to see the type of graphics they used and how clients behaved on them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

None that I can think of. We’ve had a good collaboration with them.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Movade Studio is a good option for companies that want to change their processes. It took some time for us to shift the way we did things, and they did a great job of facilitating that. They’re good researchers that deliver results, but their work can take a long time.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of Very Human Services - strategic design & research consultancy. Focused on strategic development projects related mainly to service management based on innovation and design in retail, transportation, food, automotive and banking. Working both for private and public sector we observe new phenomena, interpret the trends and translate them into products and services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

4 clients: banking, insurance and transportation sector

What were your goals for this project?

Developing ideas of web products and services for our clients (mainly banking, insurance and transportation sector)

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Client recommendation

Describe the project in detail.

Developing ideas of web products and services for our clients (mainly banking, insurance and transportation sector)

What was the team composition?

8 people: strategist, researchers, developers, analysts

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Veryfied prototypes, accelerated implementation

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Highly effective

What did you find most impressive about this company?

We had been working together with Movade for quite a few years. Guys were primarily responsible for developing ideas of web products and services for our clients (mainly banking, insurance and transportation sector). We could rely on them in all matters. They did a great job.

They demonstrated maturity, enthusiasm, interdisciplinary big picture approach and deep knowledge of the matters they were involved in. Big respect. Besides being professionals, Mariusz and Mateusz are very good people and colleagues. One can always ask them for a favour and they will do his best to deliver one. I recommend them fully.

Are there any areas for improvement?

n/a