New Haircut

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a co-founder of Attain.care, an online wellness platform for employers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with New Haircut?

We hired New Haircut to help us clarify our product strategy, and confirm that our business was moving in the right direction.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

All of their work has been centered around a week-long design sprint. They began the project by conducting field research, which included securing interview participants. Their team also identified healthcare industry experts and used them as resources to gain relevant knowledge.

After completing that foundational work, they analyzed our business goals and created user personas that guided our sprint. The workshop itself ran for a week, and they’ve provided additional post-sprint support.

What is the team composition?

The team that was involved with the sprint included two representatives from New Haircut and two or three industry experts from other companies.

How did you come to work with New Haircut?

We hired a technology consultant to help us find potential service providers, and New Haircut was one of the four firms that he recommended. Soon after hearing about them, one of my colleagues and I attended a workshop that they hosted in New York. This gave us a chance to initiate a relationship with their team, and it became clear that they would be the best fit for helping us with our product strategy.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent approximately $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in February 2019, and we are negotiating a plan to continue working with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

After completing the sprint, their team created a presentation that gave an overview of the project. We showed this to our board members, and they now have a much better understanding of our long-term goals and vision.

How did New Haircut perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team has been very efficient. They’ve surpassed our expectations in terms of timeliness and task management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They seem to have perfected the design workshop process. Jay (Partner, New Haircut) did an excellent job of explaining the timeline, and I was impressed with how they fit a variety of activities into a short period. I’ve also been pleased with how invested they’ve been in the success of the project. From reaching out to industry veterans to leveraging their healthcare expertise, they’ve shown a commitment to delivering a high level of impact.

Are there any areas they could improve?

So far, their work has been exceptional, and I'm excited to continue the next steps with their team.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s essential for an organization to reach a consensus regarding the problem they’re trying to solve, especially before participating in a design sprint. Hone in on a single issue, and be open to their team disproving preconceived ideas, because that is part of the process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the UX manager of design sprints at a major retailer.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with New Haircut?

We needed a consultant to run a design thinking and strategy workshop for certain staff within our company. We were running into some challenges when it came to properly scoping out the design challenges we faced when managing design sprints internally. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially spoke over the phone to go over what we needed to cover in the workshop, including design pain points and goals. New Haircut's team came in for a day to run the workshop, which included different exercises to help us scope out projects in advance of design sprints. Twelve of our employees attended the session, including UX designers, user researchers, and project managers.

What is the team composition? 

We solely worked with Jay (Partner, New Haircut).

How did you come to work with New Haircut?

I had known Jay for a number of years and was very impressed by his leadership in the space.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $5,000–$10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The workshop took place in September 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The workshop New Haircut ran was effective in improving our internal design processes and they were able to recommend some valuable tools for our team to implement. They did a great job of coming up with a case study for us to work on and our staff felt that they learned a lot and will be able to implement strategies that will significantly improve their approach to design sprints overall. 

How did New Haircut perform from a project management standpoint?

Jay sent a proposal and agenda for the day-long workshop, and we spoke over the phone as needed leading up to the event. He was very responsive and collaborated closely with our UX director as needed until all elements of the budget, schedule, and agenda were approved.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They're one of the most influential thought-leaders in the space and are always focused on creating new, valuable content to share with the design community.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. The workshop went very well and the agenda was tailored to our needs.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take the time to have an in-depth discovery conversation with their team in advance of doing a workshop, so they can tailor the agenda to best meet the needs of the company. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the senior director of an IT and business consultancy.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire New Haircut?

My company continually looks for new ways to provide value to our clients. In the last year, we began using a technique called “Design Sprints” as a way of helping our customers unlock and test new ideas. As this method gained traction, we decided to offer Design Sprints training within our company, as well as to select customers. Our team hired New Haircut to facilitate these training sessions. 

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to introduce Design Sprints to more people within our company and also offer clients the opportunity to learn this new technique.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Earlier this year, a few members of my company attended a public training session held by New Haircut. Following that, we chose New Haircut to lead our in-house Design Sprints training based on their ability to work within our desired timeframe and budget.

Describe the project in detail.

The services provided were specific to the two-day workshop. Before it began, New Haircut held consultations and did thorough planning to ensure our expectations and attendee backgrounds were well understood. They facilitated the event and then conducted post-workshop follow up.

What was the team composition?

We worked with one facilitator. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

New Haircut’s facilitator was experienced and provided a pleasant workshop environment. The workshop received positive feedback from attendees. The participants described the information as relevant and appropriately detailed. Group exercises were useful for reinforcing knowledge. Many attendees said they would apply at least one technique to their current work.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The facilitator from New Haircut was extremely organized and asked pertinent questions to ensure a custom-tailored experience. This preparedness enabled our team to host the workshop successfully. During the workshop, he was clear and confident in his execution.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

New Haircut did a great job facilitating the workshop we requested. They were extremely professional in their interactions with my company. There was never any ambiguity about what they were going to provide or what we needed to provide for the workshop to be successful. This level of clarity allowed us to execute a highly professional training event with relatively low effort on our part.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There are no significant areas of improvement. However, New Haircut could have done more follow-up after their workshop.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of product design and UX at a global pizza chain.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with New Haircut?

We wanted to design a centralized approach to dispatching our pizza delivery drivers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We brought New Haircut in to work with our delivery team. First, we started with a problem framing session where we looked at our challenges, potential features, and what we wanted the end solution to look like. From that discussion, we were able to carve out a scope for the project. While prioritizing the features we’d identified, we created a proto-persona and identified the effort levels and value measures for each item. Using all of that information, we created a journey map and a problem statement that outlined the solution’s features, what challenges it would solve, and how.

What is the team composition?

Jay (Product Strategist, New Haircut) was our main point of contact. We also worked with two designers to build the design spread.

How did you come to work with New Haircut?

I was looking for a company that had experience working in design sprints, as described by Google Ventures. I came across New Haircut, who had created their own niche version of the strategy. They’d use the process many times and had refined it to better fit their workflow and their client relationships. We were impressed, so we decided to partner with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from June–July 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t launched any of their work yet—those are 2019 initiatives. With that said, it is an internal-facing solution, and we’ve received praise from employees. It adds tremendous value to our relationship with our staff because it shows that we’re investing in their needs just as much as we are investing in our customers.

How did New Haircut perform from a project management standpoint?

They set up documents on Google Drive to plan the discussion for every meeting and take note of any key takeaways. Their organization was tremendous. We mainly communicated via Slack, and I texted Jay a couple of times. Across both channels, the New Haircut team was very responsive.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their command over the design sprint process is amazing. They’ve used feedback from clients to refine and shape the method to work best for them. New Haircut has even put together an application and training session that teach other companies how to implement this workflow into their own internal operations.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Honestly, I can’t think of anything at this point. They were a joy to work with, and we plan on partnering with them again in the future. We plan on sending our product designers to one of their sprint training sessions.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the senior director of curriculum for an educational technology company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with New Haircut?

We engaged New Haircut to help us develop an e-learning application from scratch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Following a number of conversations with their team, New Haircut visited our offices for a week and facilitated a design sprint. Within five business days, they developed an e-learning platform prototype to be used on tablets, including Google Chromebooks and iPads.

What is the team composition?

I mostly worked with Jay (Partner, New Haircut), as well as another UI/UX designer.

How did you come to work with New Haircut?

After interviewing a few different firms we found through an online search, we decided to work with New Haircut based on the quality of their presentation.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested about $30,000 for the prototype. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them on a week-long design sprint in February or March 2018.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

New Haircut delivered a high-quality, user-friendly prototype that we were able to introduce to classrooms within just one week. Their work has helped catapult our our business. It's remarkable how they were able to accelerate a process that could have easily taken years to pull off.

How did New Haircut perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very thorough in the preparation work leading up to the design sprint, documenting the scope of work extremely well from start to finish. Jay was very quick to respond to us and very committed to the project overall.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They bring a lot of experience to the table. I was especially impressed by the thorough research Jay conducted in order to understand our industry and product before going into development. He's also very personable, responsive, and easy to talk to, which helps speed up the process from a communications standpoint.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Even though these types of projects can be expensive, working with a vendor like New Haircut is worth the investment because it won't be a waste of time or money in the end.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a project manager for a SaaS platform. We provide full-service recruiting software – from intake to back office solutions – for large and small staffing firms. I help manage the integration of our in-house software programs that move critical information between different products for our support, sales, and financing teams.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with New Haircut?

We wanted to streamline our customers’ online billing management and engaged New Haircut to build a billing portal for our clients. This project ended before I joined this company, but New Haircut had become one of our regular partners since that time. Most recently, we asked them to add a payment portal to the original billing product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The payment portal is a web-based application. New Haircut developed the interface and connected systems in the background to ensure all information navigated properly for the client. They also took steps to make sure that information displayed correctly via the interface.

What is the team composition?

The project manager, Karolina [Karolina Major, Project Manager & Site Manager, New Haircut] and the lead developer are our two points of contact. We have up to three additional resources working on projects, depending on the scale and scope. 

How did you come to work with New Haircut?

Some of our contractors and clients were former customers and recommended them. Personally, I knew their reputation and UX/UI capabilities from the vendor’s interactions with our internal team.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent at least $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2017 and the relationship is ongoing. Currently, they’re working on two separate projects.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We can now provide our clients a more streamlined and effective way of managing their billing interactions online. New Haircut also built functionalities into the backend of our internal programs that resulted in faster calculations speed for our finance and sales departments when managing quotes. Overall, our financial systems work better with our CRM. They improved the accuracy and user experience for both programs.

How did New Haircut perform from a project management standpoint?

We’ve had nothing but phenomenal experiences with them. The project manager is equally impressive; she provides regular updates on project status via email and phone calls. She’s also good at tracking deliverables, development, and documentation. A true talent, she notifies us about changes to the timeline and scope as well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The quality and consistency of their work and customer service stand out. Their ability to take on projects outside of their normal expertise – get up to speed very quickly, and then make a measurable impact – is excellent. We continue to engage New Haircut because they continue to impress us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’ think of anything.

Any advice for potential customers?

Even if a client isn’t sure New Haircut can handle a certain task, ask them anyway because they can probably figure out a solution. Also, get Karolina as your project manager for the engagement - she's excellent.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

Ad Nation News is all about the news for new businesses in the advertising and marketing world. We can work with anything from broadcasters to newspapers, magazines, ad tech companies, and outdoor companies. They’re all looking to find out where in the news there may be an opportunity to sell. So, we basically interview hundreds of companies per year.

We also aggregate and curate news about advertising, and then put it through a filter to determine whether or not there will be an opportunity to sell media or marketing services now or sometime in the coming year. We work in the cloud. Our headquarters are in New Jersey, but our editor works in Manhattan and our reporters and sales staff are spread throughout the New York metropolitan area.

What are your role and responsibilities?

I’m the publisher and founder.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal in working with New Haircut?

We needed a new content distribution platform.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

They built a platform that would talk to our legacy platform. They worked hand in hand with our other development firm. There was no miscommunication, friction, or cultural walls as one might expect when you ask one team of developers to work with another. They built the original prototype, and they have added ongoing tweaks, which have been well executed for a good price.

New Haircut has begun helping us in our marketing. Their visual communication of our value proposition has drawn very high marks. We’re in the process of field testing our home page. Visually, from the point of view of the understanding of the value proposition, New Haircut has been just terrific. We’re very happy with their work and how they represent our company.

What was your process in selecting New Haircut with which to work?

We have a new content hub that we’re using to distribute our news on a a la carte basis versus a subscription model. We gave a presentation to one of our client’s venture capital division, and we got into a very detailed conversation. In the process, they recommended New Haircut as someone that we might want to talk to develop our presentation and our wireframe. We were sufficiently impressed with their immediate initial understanding of our mission. Once they did the wireframe, it was very clear that for a very good price they could give us some good work with some very talented people.

Can you provide a ballpark dollar figure for the size of the work that they’ve done for you?

It’s turned out to be a six-figure project.

When did you start working with New Haircut?

Our relationship started around April 2014.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Do you have any statistics, metrics, or general feedback from the project?

What New Haircut said they would do, they did. They have shown leadership in some areas that didn’t occur to us, and it’s changed the original prototype that we envisioned. They showed us how to take some shortcuts that enabled us to tune-up not only what they built for us visually, but what we’re doing with our legacy site.

I would say that we’re impressed with their ability that we’re seriously considering moving the legacy site to their care and maintenance. We think of them very much as a partner in being able to sell or license the product they helped us develop.

Is there anything unique about New Haircut that really makes them stand out compared to other companies?

I think that they gave us a very distinctive look. Everyone that looks at that site and what they’ve done with it says, 'Wow.' They’ve done a nice job of adding some aura and energy in the process.

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

There is really nothing I can comment on.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company.

Our company is located in Boston, Mass., and our business is content marketing. We are a content marketing technology and services provider. We have a platform that allows brand marketers to create content. In order to help our brands become great storytellers, we also have a services division that focus on helping place great editors and great strategy professionals with client account. 

What is your role and responsibilities?

I’m the director of marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was your goal for working with New Haircut?

We’ve had a couple business challenges that we’ve addressed through our partnership with New Haircut. One of the earliest and most important at the time was being able to tell our own corporate story quickly in a nice slick presentation. They helped us tell an early iteration of our story in a PowerPoint presentation. They took the concepts that are important in our industry and made them visual. Because of their great design capabilities, we’ve continued to partner with New Haircut on additional products and assets that help push our brand forward, at different industry events and also on the Web.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their work.

On the first project it was all inclusive, really all-encompassing. It was consulting and direct support in translating our story into a storyboard that was then turned into a presentation. From then on, it’s really been a combination of services. Because they understand who we are in our brand, they’re able to jump in and create some one-off assets. We had them create everything from new e-books to flyers and handouts for events.

What was your process for selecting New Haircut with which to work?

It was a referral process. There was no RFP [request for proposal] put out, so we weren’t looking for a long term partner at the time. We heard some good references for these guys from another presentation that they had done for a partner. So, through that partner referral, we got to know them.

When did you begin working with them?

Relationship started in October of 2013 and is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of the project?

In terms of taking the time to really get to know us as a client, getting to know our brand, and getting to know our goals, they are truly dedicated to their clients. There’s definitely a great personal touch that makes the relationship successful. They have created new collateral that’s definitely driving new leads for us.

Within the company, the presentation and the materials that we’ve taken from the presentations, have been really great. They pushed the brand forward and helped salespeople feel a lot more confident going into meetings, knowing that the materials they had with them were of great quality.

Is there anything unique about them that really makes them stand out, compared to other companies?

They offer a great variety of design skills. They’re great at coming up with a lot of great original concepts. 

Looking back on the work so far, is there any area that you think they could improve upon or something that you might do differently?

No. I’ve been very happy with the relationship.

BACKGROUND

Please give a brief description of your company.

I work for a company that provides communication, collaboration, and learning management systems to K-12 [kindergarten through 12th grade] schools.

What is your role at the company?

I am the chief technology officer for the company. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What was the business challenge that you were trying to address when you approached New Haircut ?

The largest trade-show for K-12 tech-ed is the ISTE [International Society for Technology in Education] Conference, and so we enlisted New Haircuts services to design a prototype of our new interface.

What were your company’s business goals for the project?

This year's conference was particularly important for [our company] as we are in a midst of a complete replatform of our products. We needed a compelling design to generate excitement for our new platform.

SOLUTION

Can you talk about the scope of the project?

The project required a complete, polished interface demonstrating the workflows of our new LMS. We required this work to be complete in six weeks.

What was your process for selecting New Haircut with which to work?

Jay [Melone, CEO and co-founder of New Haircut] and I worked in the same dotcom together years past. He was our project manager. One of the best I've worked with. When our company needed design help with ISTE, I recommended New Haircut as part of the evaluation. They were selected against several other design shops and freelancers for the quality of their portfolio and professionalism.

Can you give a sense of the size of the project in dollar terms or personnel work hours?

The scope was six weeks with two full-time designers from New Haircut.  

When was the project completed?

The project was completed on time the week prior to the conference.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the results of the project, and are there any metrics you can share?

The prototype was very well received by attendees at ISTE. It is a significant improvement compared to our existing user interface/user experience and serves as the blueprint for the actual product we are currently developing.

How did New Haircut perform?

New Haircut performed exceptionally well, especially given the tight timeline. We were very pleased with the thoughtful UX of their design and their professional approach.

When working with them, was there anything unique or special about them compared to other companies with which you may have worked?

I was particularly impressed with the aesthetics of their designers. Very modern and polished in comparisons to other overseas shops.

Looking back on the project, is there any area that they could improve or you would do differently?

Nothing beyond the typical issues associated with working with shops overseas. Still, New Haircut is very accommodating with meeting times.