Palma de Web

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Associate to the Head of Partnerships at an educational travel company that partners with schools in the US and Canada to create programs around the world. We also have a virtual education product (Summits) for which I am the lead sales person.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Palma de Web?

We needed a redesign of our travel website and a new website for the Summits since we didn't have one.

SOLUTION

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

We looked for web design agencies in Colombia where part of our staff is based. Their pitch of the design process seemed simple and we found their pricing affordable.

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

We started with the Summits website, for which we did a few exercises and meetings so they could understand the product and our vision. We got a first draft of the website but weren't pleased and opted to ask Palma to switch our lead designer. We got our second draft which fit our expectations better and went live. We then moved on to creating a new homepage and developing the Travel website, which was based on our previous existing website.

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

My understanding is we had 4 team members involved: a lead designer, an account lead, and 2 other sales executives.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We ran a virtual Summit Series in the 2021-2022 academic year that was advertised through the website Palma designed.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It was generally okay. We switched lead designers twice, once because we requested it and once because our lead designer moved on to another job, and the transitions were pretty easy. They each had different methods of communication, which made the workflow slow down. Our timeline expectations were sometimes not met.

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

The feedback process is effective and surprisingly fun. When they give you your first draft they send you a link to a "piñata" where they ask you to "break it" by giving them all the feedback that comes to mind of things you think aren't working. They also provided a video that walked us through the design choices and the website functionality.

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

We were told we'd be able to make small edits to our website directly without messing up the design, which we had been able to do before, but it turned out they couldn't give us the access we needed due to the way the website is hosted. This causes us to have to send every single edit to them and we don't love working that way.