Neuralab

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I look after marketing at Plastribution. We are the leading UK distributor of thermoplastics and raw materials.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We came to Neuralab with an ambitious project to deliver a digital platform that would allow customers to access their account information, invoices, sales orders and give us the opportunity to present our value added services in a single portal.

"Intuitive" was the word of the day. Our industry is made up of a variety of people across demographics, not all are experienced at using software, but we believe by encouraging our customer-base to embrace digital change, we can enhance both their workflow and ours.

To achieve this, we needed something easy to use with an intuitive UX that our customers could learn in less than 5 minutes, with no need for a manual. We believe this is the way to onboard customers and encourage them to make what could be quite a big change to the way they interface with us.

SOLUTION

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

We felt that Neuralab were aligned with our values and onboard with the vision of this project from the start. Like us, they are excited by big ideas and are ambitious. We liked that Neuralab see things in very customer focused way.

Their processes, such as an in-depth discovery phase for our project was eye-opening and since then, we knew they were a fantastic fit. We were looking for a "development partner" rather than a one off "developer".

Neuralab fit the bill well. Although they aren't a UK based company, their communication skills have been fantastic and their understanding of the brief made us feel comfortable working with them. They respect our ideas and expertise, but had no problem interjecting with their own ideas and experiences which we liked.

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

Our requirements were quite bespoke, but we opted to build this using Wordpress since our internal marketing team had experience with this anyway. The project was developed using PHP & MySQL and needed to integrate with our existing ERP/CRM platform Oracle Netsuite.

Project management is completed using Trello, which is easy enough to get to grips with and allows everyone involved in the project to communicate easily. Live chat functionality is implemented into the project and for this we will be using Zoho's suite of products.

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

We were assigned several team members - a project manager, UX designer and 2 developers to our project. Internally I manage the project along side our finance director and communication with all members of the team is fantastic, thanks to the channels that Neuralab have set up for us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The project is in its very early stages and is yet to launch to the public, however internal feedback from our team has been good and based on customer surveys we believe the portal will be well received.

When it does come to gaining measurable outcomes, Neuralab have implemented a suite of tools to measure website analytics, alongside Mandrill for email handling. This will provide click-through analytics and will assist us in making informed decisions about the projects next steps going forward.

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

Professional, easy, fast. We have outsourced agencies before and the professionalism of Neuralab is up with the best no doubt. We love their communication tools and methods. If something will take longer than expected, they will always communicate this. We really value working with honest partners, and Neuralab fulfills this criterion.

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

I get the feeling they really enjoy what they do and embrace challenges. They have taken the time to learn our business and what makes us unique. They are very customer focused and share our ambition to make a fantastic tool. Our developer (Ivan) is both an excellent communicator and is very knowledgable, as is Monika, our project manager. We believe it would be difficult to find a better partner for this type of project. A really smart group of people who think differently.

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

I really would prefer not to share publicly, since I'm convinced that if we have any issues, we can get these resolved between us as a team. There will always be teething issues with a project as complex as this, but we're confident Neuralab will be on hand to help if we need them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a Business Development Director at Kliker.biz, a market intelligence company providing structured market data in real-time, covering global online supply.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with [XYZ COMPANY]?

After 5 successful years for Kliker.biz, we have decided to conduct a complete redesign of the app's dashboard. We chose Neuralab for the thorough UX/UI design of the new interface.
 

SOLUTION

How did you come to work with [XYZ COMPANY]?

We have received a recommendation from one of Neuralab's former clients.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The project was done through a series of on-site and online workshops. 
The first step was to create a timeline and define tasks between every workshop. Then we created a wireframe from scratch for every screen in the app - this phase helped us a lot to improve the content presentation and to put focus on the core of KLIKER - the data. 

When wireframing was done, a design phase took place. This was also a final phase of the project.

What is the team composition?

We have collaborated with 3 team members from Neuralab - lead designer, UX designer, and product manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We're very satisfied with the outcomes of the project. Implementation of the new design will allow our customers a better experience, and easier analysis of KLIKER market data. The main goal was to improve usage and create new content for our customers.

How did [XYZ COMPANY] perform from a project management standpoint?

The workflow was great, and deadlines were always met. Every workshop was structured and effective.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Understanding of UX/UI for a quite complex B2B app with a lot of data presented in various ways (graphs, charts, lists, tables...). This was a key thing for successful project completion.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The preparation phase (defining project scope) would be something that we could do better if we were doing this project now from the start. This goes for both sides of the project team.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of an online training and education company that teaches digital marketing skills to up-and-coming entrepreneurs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Neuralab?

We had a DIY website with a low-quality shopping cart and course platform, so we hired them to build a new website that was more professional-looking and made with higher quality. We also wanted the backend that to be more streamlined, which would allow us to better accommodate our customers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Neuralab provides web development and design services. After understanding our business and brand guidelines, they’ve completely redesigned the frontend of our custom WooCommerce website. This involves creating wireframes and designs on Figma. They’ve also fixed our shopping cart issues.

Currently, we’re engaged with their team on a retainer basis for maintenance support; they handle any problems that pop up on our site.

What is the team composition?

We work with at least five people from their side, including their lead project manager.

How did you come to work with Neuralab?

I found them on the WooCommerce website. We decided to go with them based on their expertise in using WooCommerce.

How much have you invested with them?

We started working with them in March 2018, and our collaboration is still ongoing.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve spent about $40,000–$50,000.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re a very capable team, and the quality of their work is really good — especially their designs. As a matter of fact, we’ve been getting a lot of compliments regarding the visual design of our website.

How did Neuralab perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate via Trello.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re knowledgeable when it comes to the integration of different technologies; they really understand how each technology works and interact with one another. Their web design skills are very good as well.

Are there any areas they could improve on?

Some aspects of the project have taken longer than expected, so we’ve had to follow up with them on several occasions.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to clearly define what you want and let them show you the best way to execute that.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a digital performance agency and we help our clients achieve results with digital advertising.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired them for website design and development for one of our US clients. We created a lead generation strategy for that client and since their actual website was not good we needed to create new landing pages for each stage of the funnel. So we decided to create a microsite with different landing pages for every step of the user’s journey, along with the unique content on the landing pages. Part of the content was also a lead magnet content in a form of a quiz, with an aim of collecting valuable data in a way that is meaningful for our target audience. In order to achieve good results, we needed a great designed and developed microsite, and for that we outsourced Neuralab.

SOLUTION

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

The deciding factor was their experience and a history of working together on many different projects. We knew that they will do a great job which will be delivered on time.

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

We started with a kick-off meeting in which we presented our project and discussed what we’re planning to do. Then Neuralab presented us the timeline because it was very important for us when we can expect that each part of the project will be completed. In the next step, they came with a few proposals of wireframes, which they presented via video call, and we agreed on how to move on. A similar process was with the design of the website. And after we agreed on every detail, we continued with the development. This part was the easiest because they delivered everything just perfectly.

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

A project manager was our main contact, but we also cooperated with two designers (because of the very short deadline) and one developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We and the client love the outcome, they really did a great job. What's most important, it helps us meet our digital advertising KPIs in terms of generated leads.

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

We communicated by Trello, while each part of the project was shared via Figma and presented on the weekly video calls.

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

The process. Everything was moving forward very smoothly, and they met all expectations.

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

No

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a central institution in the Croatian audiovisual industry. My department promotes Croatia as a filming destination. We’re responsible for administering a cash rebate program that offers 25%–30% cash rebates for international projects filmed in Croatia.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Neuralab?

We needed a new website that would show what a great job we have done since founding the program in 2012 through the present day. 

We had an old webpage that was created to just display an image gallery of locations. However, we decided it wasn’t good enough to be improved or redesigned, so we needed a brand-new webpage. Since we’ve filmed so many great projects in Croatia, we wanted to highlight that content.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Neuralab designed and developed our new website on WordPress. We had a good structure of how our program works and what people must do in order to participate. We also had a production guide brochure. Neuralab really liked the brochure and said it would be good to follow its logic on the webpage. They provided design suggestions.

They put Croatia and different Croatian locations in the spotlight, which we really liked. They also created various connections between projects, locations, and production houses. The site puts events that were happening in Croatia at the time of filming in the spotlight, which is another thing we’re really pleased with.

What is the team composition?

In the beginning, we worked with the graphic designer, and he oversaw the project from the start. When everything was going smoothly, I continued with the designer and the developer.

How did you come to work with Neuralab?

I found out about them through a colleague of mine, and I was very pleased with what they did for her. I had asked people to let me know if they were familiar with any good firms that were very creative and could do this type of work. My friend told me that Neuralab does development as well. 

I asked them and six other Croatian firms to send me an offer, and Neuralab was the most creative. Their price was also very good.

How much have you invested in them?

The page was €11,500 (approximately $13,600 USD), plus VAT (value-added tax).

What is the status of this engagement?

We began in December 2019, and we just ended at the end of October or beginning of November 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everybody was thrilled to see the new page, which launched before the American Film Market that is currently happening. People who had seen the old page said the new one looked great. The feedback from our clients is that they are really pleased. The site looks really nice. Everybody is really, really pleased. 

From the beginning, Neuralab understood what we needed. The webpage really explains Croatia and its beauty. When our team is negotiating new deals, they have something to show to our partners.

How did Neuralab perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication was very good, and they did everything on time. The only thing was that this project took longer than I thought it would. However, they warned me at the beginning that the content is the most important aspect of these kinds of websites, and that uploading all of the content would take time.

Since I am the only one working in this department, I didn’t have enough time to upload so much content. A lot of things needed to be done for the first time, such as finding the exact pictures of certain locations.

Finally, at the very end, I got some help uploading the photos. For the rest of the time, I did it all on my own, in addition to the regular work I do. The delay wasn’t on Neuralab’s side; rather, it was on our side, because we didn’t have the people to help upload the content.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I had never run a page before, uploaded so many materials, nor worked in WordPress, and Neuralab was very understanding and taught me everything. They had the patience to explain everything in detail, as this was the only way I could learn, and I was very grateful to them for that. They are also very creative, and I really love the way they think outside of the box.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I could have used help when it came to the content, but that wasn’t their job. I didn’t have the extra budget to pay them to do the job for me, so in our case, it was not possible to improve in that way.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Explain what the goal is and let Neuralab be creative. I think it will pay off for everybody.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the owner and managing director of a company that distributes skin- and haircare products. We run an online shop for retailers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Neuralab?

We were working on the redesign of our old online shop.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

At first, I told them what we wanted to do, and Neuralab came up with an offer and a timeline. They used all kinds of online platforms for the things they were doing. For instance, for the staging phase of the shop, I was able to log in and request changes so that the site would be the way I wanted it. They made those changes and proposed things on a daily basis. 

We collaborated the most during the design phase. After that, they worked on the programming, and I didn’t have much to do or say during that phase. It took approximately 2–3 months, and it took about two more months to make some changes.

What is the team composition?

I think it was five people in total, including Krešimir (CEO), Emanuele (Lead Designer), another person from the design team, and a copywriter. In the final phase, we worked with a programmer.

How did you come to work with Neuralab?

I did some research on online shops in Croatia, and I realized that the ones I liked the most were done by Neuralab. I asked for offers from several companies, and Neuralab seemed the most professional, which is why I chose them.

How much have you invested in them?

We have spent around $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in April 2020, and it was finalized in October.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We just went online a month ago, but we have received compliments from some of our loyal customers and colleagues. I would say the general opinion is very positive.

How did Neuralab perform from a project management standpoint?

It was very good. The communication was easy. They put everything in written form on Figma, which everyone could see. They responded within a day.

Everything was done online. We only held one in-person meeting, and that was our initial meeting.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Working with Neuralab was easy. It was very precise and easy to understand who was in which role, and it was easy to communicate with them. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

They had some changes with their personnel, and it would have been easier if they had the same team the whole time. I don’t know if it was influenced by the situation with COVID-19. That is the only thing that I can remember.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear idea of what you want and explain that to them. Once you explain it to them and they understand, they will do the work accordingly. The most important thing from my point of view is to have a good understanding from each side.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for the National Center for External Evaluation of Education, a public service firm that’s mostly in the education industry. I’m an expert advisor in our IT department.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Neuralab?

We needed help with communicating with external collaborators.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Neuralab has been our primary provider for our networking and website hosting. They developed a communication platform where we can input users and collaborators.

The team used WordPress to develop the platform. We can input tasks for our collaborators while still having the ability to monitor the tasks. We have a top-down view of everything that’s going on. 

What is the team composition?

I worked with the owner and a developer. 

How did you come to work with Neuralab?

My organization has been collaborating with Neuralab for some time now, even before I started working here. We chose them for this project because our partnership had been great in the past. 

How much have you invested with them?

Our total spend for the duration was €7,600 (approximately $8,900 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

This particular project began in late September 2019, and they had the platform up in late April 2020. The project formally finished in October 2020 when they put it in production. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Neuralab answered all of our demands and implemented everything we wanted. They were willing to change things to fit our needs. Before the platform, we had to use phone or email. Now users have ease of access.

How did Neuralab perform from a project management standpoint?

They generally met the deadline. We initially planned to finish earlier, but we enlarged the scope of the work a little bit, and Neuralab managed to work within that framework.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were a friendly team. Their customer service was good. We were able to call them or use some of the apps to post problems, and Neuralab pretty much answered within an hour. They didn’t have a big corporate structure, which was good for our communication with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, nothing comes to mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Get out of the box and try to be open about Neuralab’s design work because their designers are innovative. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a corporate social responsibility manager and corporate software responsibility manager for a banking group. I’m also involved with our payment app team. We’re the third biggest bank in Croatia.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Neuralab?

The challenge was how to integrate our payment app with as many webshops as possible. We have a payment app that lets users pay by scanning a QR code on offline sales. We wanted to integrate as many webshops as possible like Apple Pay or Google Pay so they can pay on various webshops.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Together, we programmed and developed the payment app integrations. We provided input and they gave us feedback. We plan to follow-up with them regarding new versions of the plug-in as well.

What is the team composition?

I work with the director of the company and a web developer.

How did you come to work with Neuralab?

It was important to me that the company I chose had good references and experience developing a plug-in for a WooCommerce app before. I did a lot of research and found that Neuralab is licensed in Croatia for WooCommerce. They had developed a plug-in for another payment app. I also heard good things about them, so I got in touch with them through LinkedIn.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent €5,000-6,000 (approximately $6,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2020, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We released the plug-in 10 days ago. They work quite fast and did a really good job. They also advised me on how to organize things better in the plug-in. With their advice, we made the plug-in easier and better than we originally planned.

How did Neuralab perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is really great. They used Trello for the project and communication. Usually, the development of this plug-in lasts 2-3 weeks. Everything was done on time. It was really great. The developer even worked from home and late in the evening because he wanted to give us feedback on some questions as soon as possible. Communicating through Trello was enough.

What did you find most impressive about them?

It was fast and easy to come to an understanding with them. During the whole project, they understood what I was saying. They realized that I’m not an expert in their field and they helped me make better decisions. They were always overachieving and going the extra mile in terms of communication. 

They took care of me. The owner also proposed things beyond what we scoped because he wanted to integrate the plug-in with some webshops that they are dealing with. They were fast and communicated quickly

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’m so happy with them. I’d do everything the same.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate with them clearly. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Bizzon is an EPOS provider for the hospitality business, including hotels and quick-service restaurants. We’re a cloud provider, meaning that we try to avoid hardware as much as possible. I'm the CTO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Neuralab?

We have in-house development capability, but we’re focused on product development — building new features and handling customer requests. It was very difficult for us to reserve time to build a public website, so we engaged Neuralab for this. 

The website needed to be built from the ground up, because our existing one was out of date. We also went through a rebranding and name change, and every aspect of our old website reflected the old brand. 

We wanted the new website to be fully separate from the product, we wanted a blog integrated into it, and we wanted it to be editable by non-technical persons.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We exchanged a few emails with Neuralab and gave them some sketches and other materials, and they started working within a few days. They handled the full website design, development, and deployment, and they recommended a hosting partner. It’s a WordPress website.

What is the team composition?

We had a single point of contact who gathered all of our information.

How did you come to work with Neuralab?

Neuralab was recommended to us by an acquaintance, and they had reasonable pricing. They also gave us a quick timeframe of about 15 days.

How much have you invested with them?

The development cost $4,000–$5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Neuralab in 2018 or 2019, and the collaboration ended around August 2020. The website they delivered was live for a year or two, and we parted ways after we decided to switch technologies. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The website worked well, and we were constantly receiving leads through its contact form. Overall, it was just a static website, so there weren’t a lot of things to measure on it, but the end result was what we expected. It was live for more than a year without any interventions.

How did Neuralab perform from a project management standpoint?

Neuralab answered all of our questions, and they worked with our internal design team to address anything that wasn’t clear. They performed well, and they improved over time. Things had improved dramatically by the end of the collaboration. 

They have a much more streamlined process now for communication and gathering requirements. They’re a much more mature company now. We worked with a single point of contact, which made it much easier to exchange knowledge between the two teams. 

The managerial changes they implemented on their side helped us work much easier toward the end of the collaboration.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were agile, responded quickly to our needs, and knew the technology really well. I sent them an email with the initial requirements, comprising about 15 bullet points of what we needed, and they gave us a one-sentence reply saying that they could do everything we were asking for. 

I was surprised by that, but it turned out to be correct. They fulfilled all our requests. They also understood the limitations of the technology and warned us ahead of time when something wasn’t feasible. 

The team gave us alternatives that would save time without compromising the overall look of the site. Neuralab stood out in terms of their professionalism.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They improved their process during the one and a half years we worked with them, so it was much easier to work with them in the end. Communication got easier over time, as they gained more experience.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

Clients should have everything ready in advance. That’ll help reduce project time. Improvising along the way isn’t good. We had a simple website to build, so we were able to gather graphics, assets, and styling rules easily.

We’re still in very good relations with Neuralab, and we’d definitely recommend them to anyone looking to build a WordPress site.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

SSAB is the largest producer and supplier of heavy plate in North America, with a market share of approximately 27% in 2019. SSAB maintains a strong market position in the energy and heavy transport customer segments.

The US accounts for about 85% of sales, Canada 10% and Latin America 5%. I was project Engineer for Hardox Wearparts Tuscaloosa, a service center of SSAB which pioneered a full-scale eCommerce platform for SSAB.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Management diagnosed that sales were missed due to the lack of a website for the company. There had been a website in the past, which was giving Hardox Wearparts Tuscaloosa a lot of visibility.

However, this website had been phased out. HWP Tuscaloosa has always been pioneering new technologies and approaches within SSAB, therefore this opportunity was selected to test a full-scale eCommerce platform, with the possibility to directly order customizable wearparts.

SOLUTION

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

We reviewed several vendors with capabilities that fit our goal, and ranked each on factors such as cost, reputation, and fit with the initial scope.

After meetings between internal stakeholders and Neuralab, the firm was selected.

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

eCommerce platform for SSAB, made with WooCommerce. Square Payments gateway. Custom-coded plugin for customizable products. Tax and shipping calculation plugins. Enhanced security plugin.

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

About 7 people. They were project managers, UX experts, programmers, and copywriters.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The platform was delivered and is fully functional. This positions Hardox Wearparts Tuscaloosa as an eCommerce leader not only within SSAB, but the overall steel manufacturing industry.

The Neuralab team was able to achieve a good user experience while including the most advanced features of the scope.

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

We had meetings and exchanged emails. After that, requests for new features and support tickets were tracked on Trello.

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

They adapted to fit the ambitious scope, and delivered a high quality platform.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There were several methods available to pay Neuralab, but given the accounting procedures of a large company like SSAB, it was a bit complicated at times sending money to Neuralab with the available methods in time for the different phases of the project.