Pendulum Design Ltd

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the operations director of Webexpenses. We’re a software company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pendulum Creative?

We brought them on for a rebranding effort and their UX skills. We don’t have those skills internally.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Pendulum Creative redesigned our entire branding and our marketing website. The rebranding efforts were an evolution of our existing brand and modernization of it. We briefed them and provided guidance on what we were looking for stylistically.

After updating our brand, they delivered brand guidelines, rules of engagement, and a pack of developer guidelines. Currently, we’re working on another project for our application. They’re doing a visual refresh for that platform. From a marketing side, they provided all of the designs and layouts for every single one of our pages on our marketing website.

What is the team composition?

We worked directly with Miles (Creative Director).

How did you come to work with Pendulum Creative?

We’ve had a long working relationship with Pendulum Creative.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested about £30,000 (approximately $41,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

The project was from September–November 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We went through very few rounds of amendments and changes. Pendulum Creative really understood us as a client. They understood what we were looking for and delivered on point every single time. Their team redid our brand, marketing site, and UX for our mobile app all in three months.

Everything was done and delivered on time as well as exactly on brief. The project was well-received internally. Everyone is very proud of the work they’ve done. We’re very pleased and happy with everything. Additionally, our users have provided incredibly positive feedback.

How did Pendulum Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

They used Sigma to share their designs with us and that worked well. We held regular meetings as well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They understood what we wanted and delivered it. That’s rare to find. They listened well and delivered what we asked for.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they managed our expectations and delivered on their promises.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’d highly recommend them. Have a clear idea of what you want to do.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of support for GeoPlace. We’re an organization that deals with the production and maintenance of addresses and street data which are then licensed by the Ordnance Survey. We work closely with local authorities across England and Wales.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pendulum Creative?

Since we work closely with local authorities, who are measured by their performance and quality of data, we provide them with PDFs of monthly reports and statistics. The project we’re currently working on with Pendulum Creative is to move all of our reports and data into a user interface that will be able to show up-to-date statistics to local authorities, which they can easily interact and work with.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We put together a set of requirements with our internal users and external stakeholders in our company and presented them in our meeting with Pendulum Creative. From there, they started the first stage, which was to design a UI based on our requirements. They then went ahead and developed that UI to fit within our existing environment.

One of the requirements is to develop the interface using Angular 8. Bitbucket is the other technology used to exchange codes on the site between ourselves and the team.

What is the team composition?

We work closely with Miles (Creative Director) and Mark (Technical Director).

How did you come to work with Pendulum Creative?

We researched suitable companies and invited a number to pitch for the work.  Pendulum was the best fit in terms of experience, portfolio and budget.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our ongoing collaboration in April 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven’t gotten any metrics because the product hasn’t gone live yet. However, I have been presenting the data, results, and what they’ve produced to regional forums across the country and so far, we’ve received a lot of positive feedback on how it looks and the way it will make their lives easier once it goes live.

We’re really pleased with how it’s all coming together from our initial requirement to now seeing statistics and information that we want to display interactively.

How did Pendulum Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very good. We meet weekly via Microsoft Teams and we’ve got an issue tracker that they keep up to date so we know what progress is being made on any issue. They’re good at communicating with us to let us know when new releases are being rolled out so we can see progression with the testing from our site.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What impresses us the most is that they make us feel like we are their priority. I’m sure they have lots of other projects, but it always feels like they put us first. Any time we have a question or want to ask anything, they’re very prompt in responding.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be good to meet more in person, but that’s been restricted due to the current COVID-19 situation. Another area to improve would be having a more formal issue tracker because, at the moment, we’re using Google Spreadsheets to record issues.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If there’s one piece of advice I would give is that to make sure you have a full set of requirements gathered and an idea of what you want to include within the design.

They’re very good at taking what we want and then turning it into something creative, so just make sure they know what you want to be captured so they can do the best job of bringing it back to life.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of an integrated communications agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pendulum Creative?

We outsource a number of websites and digital asset creation to them. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Pendulum Creative develops and builds consumer-facing websites in WordPress for our clients. They then handle all ongoing hosting and management. In addition, they do HTML development and some ad hoc design.

What is the team composition?

We typically work with a 4–5-person team.

How did you come to work with Pendulum Creative?

A colleague of mine used to work with them at an old company. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together for 5–6 years. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have to track metrics with them; we have a really good working relationship. hey always deliver on time and go out of their way to accommodate us. If they didn’t, we would’ve stopped working with them. 

How did Pendulum Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done a great job.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their flexibility to work with us on a project stands out. They’re good at delivering and often go above and beyond for us and our clients. Additionally, they can come up with creative ideas to work within tight budgets, which is something we have to deal with quite often.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, to be honest, I can’t think of anything. They’re great.

Any advice for potential customers?

Give Pendulum Creative a very detailed brief. They add value to projects and are experts in the field. With more information, they can really add ideas and a deeper level of understanding of the project. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a sports tech startup developing solutions for professional sports organizations, and I am the CEO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Pendulum Creative?

Our components have both hardware and consumer-facing software components, and we needed an organization to help us develop the data portal from scratch.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The customer-facing aspect of our application includes a web and mobile portal with data reports that deliver basic insights and comparisons between players and across training sessions. Pendulum Creative helped us with every aspect, from the look and feel of the design to the data visualization.

We were balancing a lot of data capability with trying to present a user-friendly application, so they helped us figure out the best way to present everything to our customers. They worked primarily in JavaScript and coordinated with our engineering team to connect the application to our database in how we record and produce the data.

What is the team composition?

I think we worked with their whole team, which consisted of about three people with broad expertise in software development.

How did you come to work with them?

When we initially met with their team, they not only offered a lower price than most of their competitors, but they demonstrated a genuine interest in working on our project specifically that not many other company’s managed. That combination convinced us to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $25,000 with them in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in June 2018 and are continuing to work together.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We work closely with several professional football clubs, so the most recent updates to the portal are key elements of all of our meetings with those customers. The feedback we get from them has been really helpful in the whole process, and on the whole, they have been incredibly pleased with and receptive to Pendulum Creative’s work, which means that they’re doing a great job.

How did Pendulum Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

Given the constraints in resources that we have working with such a small team, they do a great job of managing expectations around deliverables and budgets that are ambitious but ultimately feasible. They are really good at keeping us in the loop on their progress and providing status reports on various aspects of the work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team is really dedicated to the projects that they commit themselves to. Throughout our work, it has always been clear that they are committed to our long-term success and are going to work hard to make sure they achieve everything that they set out to deliver for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I wouldn’t say that there’s anything I think they need to do differently. As a small organization, the times in the project when we needed to accomplish a lot very quickly presented a challenge for them, but they were always able to deliver the solutions in the end. They were also very open about that upfront, so it wasn’t a surprise for us.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s really important to understand your strengths and weaknesses as a company and the needs of your project. If you need an organization that is available 24/7, you might want to look elsewhere, but if you would prefer an organization that is quite passionate and dedicated to the projects they do choose to work on, they’re definitely the right partner for you.

Also, really make sure you give them a detailed explanation of the use case, including who is going to use it and what exactly their goals with the program would be because they are really good big picture thinkers. As long as you brief them well and establish a good working relationship, you will get a lot of value out of their partnership.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

The company is a new social media platform that launched in beta in the UK in late 2019. I am Head of Operations.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Pendulum Creative?

Design and development of a wireframe of the platform for initial testing, followed by the design and development of the website itself.

What were your goals for this project?

Complete website MVP for initial testing, beta launch and investment drive.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Based on satisfaction with initial wireframe project and references from previous customers.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Full design and development of MVP website, daily follow-ups to iron out bugs post-launch, consultancy on other tech-related issues

What was the team composition?

The development and design teams were led by one team head each, based in London, with whom we spoke regularly. Back-end development was carried out by a remote team of 2-5 people.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are satisfied with the website as an MVP, which we are in the process of showing to potential investors, strategic partners and users. The website's proprietary software has already been used by major UK publishers and companies. We are currently planning a Phase 2 post-investment expansion of the platform with Pendulum, including development of apps and the addition of video capability.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

We spoke via Skype on a daily basis to keep on top of bugs and changes to the initial spec. The launch of the beta website was delayed and went over budget as a result of Pendulum's time management but we were eventually happy with the final product and have had no issues with it since. All subsequent updates to the platform have been on time and on budget.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They are very responsive and happy to help even on issues unrelated to the main project.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Time management is a concern but we are confident this will not be an issue in Phase 2.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Marketing Manager, ELMO UK. HR and talent management products.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Pendulum Creative?

We needed to have a complete rebrand and refresh for part of our business that had been acquired by a new company. This included PDF's, website assets, google docs, imagery.

SOLUTION

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

We have used Miles from Pendulum in the past and the knowledge dedication and attention to detail that their company was a reliable second pair of hands in our team

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

We briefed Miles in stages breaking down the project as we went through it. Starting off with the priority areas as required.

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

Just one

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Transforming our standard company documents to a full suite of google documents, so much easier for keeping track of within a large company. Well presented and designed assets and imagery for website and collateral.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Really good - we continually use Miles for projects and trust him to deliver a great job every time.

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

Attention to detail, making suggestions for new ideas and changing the way we should approach/think about things.

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

Not that I can think of, they are realistic with timescales so that is a plus point