Praxent

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

One of the things that anyone is tracking when they launch a website is how many issues there are and how many clients are having problems accessing the site. We were completely staffed for two weeks around the time of the launch, and we had zero major issues. Since Praxent had a significant impact on the site’s development, I think they were also a big part of us not having any major issues during launch.

Ongoing, we’re gathering and continue to gather analytics from our old site as we completely retire it, and then analytics from usage on our new site. What we’re seeing is exactly what we were hoping for: better adoption rates, so we’ve been able to drive people back to our site more times per month for longer periods each time. Again, without Praxent’s help on the development side and then their questions and feedback along the way from the management side of the house, we may not have gotten to where we are today. Also, adding the modeling functionality to the site was a huge win for us.

How did Praxent perform from a project management standpoint?

Because it was such a large project for us, we kept in touch with both Chris and Kevin. When I dealt directly with them, they were extremely responsive. This was a very large effort for us, so Kevin and I met on a bi-monthly basis to touch base on milestones, issues, and anything that was high-risk. Whenever we had questions on invoicing, Chris was always quick to respond. From that perspective, they were at the top of their game. 

There were many contracts that needed to be extended due to how our HR and legal teams do things, so being able to be in touch with Chris and Kevin every week was necessary. They were always really quick on responses and edits to contracts. They helped ensure that we met all of the scope items within our MVP.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I think the most noteworthy thing about working with them is the fact that they’re not one of these huge nationwide companies; rather, they have an interest in your project because they’re here locally. They will take more of a vested interest in not only finding you talent but also checking up along the way. If something isn’t right, they’ll come on-site to talk through what changes can be made.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Although being a local company is great from my perspective, one of the things they will naturally have a challenge with is finding all local talent. That was not a requirement of ours, but had they been able to find mostly local talent, I think we would’ve been able to extend some of the contracts even longer, whereas some of the talent that they sent us was nearshore. From our HR and legal perspectives, we try to keep some of those contracts to certain time parameters.

Any advice for potential customers?

Set a time for you to check-in with your point of contact. The bi-monthly checkpoint helped us clear up communication rather quickly. 

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

The work Praxent did to validate our idea gave us the confidence to stay the course and build our solution. Now we have a final product that we’re working to make commercially viable. 

Though our engagement with Praxent has ended, the initial work they did on the UI/UX components has laid the foundation for the capabilities our team has now. 

We’re very happy with the output Praxent developed. We’ve tested it with a number of potential clients, and it still holds true.

How did Praxent perform from a project management standpoint?

Kelly was an excellent, communicative project manager. Our timeframe was very strict, and he did a great job of balancing deadlines while allowing space for us to brainstorm. He had a strong sense of ownership of the project, keeping us on schedule and contributing to content, workflow, and design.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We valued Praxent’s input greatly. Throughout the engagement, we looked forward to the collaborative discussions that took place between our two teams. We work completely remote and they were able to employ really effective tools, which made it easy to work together. We never felt like we were losing out because of the distance.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We were very happy with the quality of their deliverables. The process flows, the prototype, and the design were all extremely high quality. However, the team could have improved the presentation of the competitive audit and user interview results. 

They were detailed, but the team could have provided a version for us to present easily to senior management, board members, or potential investors. Despite that, we’re very happy overall with the quality of work Praxent produced.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Know that the team is very responsive, flexible, and willing to change their approach according to your needs.

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

They dug into both our work and our culture in order to provide a more thoughtful redesign of our platform, and that effort really paid off in the product that we got in the end. We were incredibly pleased with the work that they delivered, in large part I think because it reflected their dedication to our account and their desire to stand behind the quality of the final product.

How did Praxent perform from a project management standpoint?

In my 3 years at EDF, I haven’t worked with a more responsive third-party vendor than Praxent. They’re not just responsive, they’re proactive, which was an incredible benefit to the engagement as a whole. They would come to me anticipating potential issues that we were able to tackle beforehand because of the thoughtfulness of their engagement.

There was a lot of open and honest feedback back and forth provided by both of our teams which really made us feel like partners together more than just parties in a transaction. Praxent also has a very organized, methodical method of tracking budgets and milestones that really sets them apart from other consultancies and helps them to keep everyone in the engagement satisfied.       

What did you find most impressive about them?

I think the most noteworthy thing that I found about working with Praxent is that they really listen to what you have to say. Most similar companies tend to pressure their clients into doing what they think is best by arguing that they’re the experts so you should listen to them, but their team understood that understanding what we do was the key to doing their job better. The flexibility and iterative process enabled by their culture made the whole project enjoyable from start to finish.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I honestly don’t have any negative comments on the engagement. They came in way under their forecasted budget, were on time with everything, and were always flexible, so we have nothing to complain about.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure that no matter what you’re looking to do with Praxent, you’re open to having them come in and really understand your business. Our organization was really open to the effort that we were undertaking, so we had buy-ins from stakeholders across the business, but without that, it would have been much more difficult to establish the level of consensus of opinions that made our engagement with them as successful as it was.

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

Praxent gives us weekly updates, so we always know where we are. They’ve always hit their dates and goals. They’re fantastic. Kelly and her team are great.

How did Praxent perform from a project management standpoint?

I couldn’t have asked for better communication, and the project is exactly what we were expecting it to be. They’ve blown us away with the design, and truly listened to what we and our customers said. It’s a great product that they’re rolling out. It’s going to be a huge game-changer for our company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I’m beyond pleased.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I’d recommend Praxent to anyone.