Praxent

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

Our internal developers and designers would sit in on our weekly meetings to evaluate whether their insights were valuable to us. When we went to them with any architectural problems, we always had a proposed solution; once we got into discussions with them, we realized the value and advantage of working with Praxent. They proposed secure and scalable solutions that allow for a better user experience.  

How did Praxent perform from a project management standpoint?

We had a few meetings per week to review designs with their architecture person. We didn’t do any formal metric tracking, but we knew from week to week exactly where they were and what the value was in their work. 

Communication was right on point. They had many sessions with us and would suggest additional meetings to provide clarification or offer good points. They recorded all of our meetings and provided us with access to the recordings. Anytime we wanted to involve somebody else in the discussion, they were willing to onboard them. All of these aspects were managed pretty well. We had 1–2 weeks where the project manager had to leave for personal reasons, and they provided a replacement. We never felt there was any gap in the process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Praxent has quality people and quality insights. They addressed all of the concerns we had.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Initially, they could have done a better job of identifying internal gaps. They allocated a junior person to the project for UI/UX, and we ultimately got the results we wanted, but that process of adding a person to help create the wireframes could have happened sooner. There was a little bit of misunderstanding about the extent of their involvement; they were taking it very high level, but we wanted more actionable deliverables or certain wireframes to start building our own work from. That required a little bit of push from us, but, in the end, we got what we wanted.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a good workshop with them and a solid discussion so that you can agree on what the real need is for their services. This was very beneficial to us. Be specific about what you want from the start.

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

Our UX team is up and running and is working every day to improve customer UX. Praxent trained us well and gave us all of the skills we need to be successful.

More of our customers are able to use our self-service, and we’ve experienced a 30% reduction in call volume. Our net promoter score has been fantastic since working with them—it’s about 80.

How did Praxent perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was very good. They delivered consistently on time and within budget. We used Jira and cloud to track tasks and stories. I wasn’t a big fan of a project manager that came on board later in our engagement, but all of their other employees were outstanding.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their employees are great. They’re very skilled and they have excellent demeanors. They’re easy to get along with and they have a fantastic culture.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I would tell them to make sure they continue to hire people that match their company culture.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure your people are involved with the project so you’re able to learn from their team on the day-to-day.

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

As far as quantitative metrics, we don’t know yet because we haven’t released our new UI/UX. I would be surprised if, in the first 12 months, we didn’t have at least a two to one ROI. 

In fact, it will likely be better than that because our UX was really bland before this. Now, it is legitimately night and day. When the UI/UX is released, it will absolutely be a completely new experience that will be worlds better.

How did Praxent perform from a project management standpoint?

I cannot say enough good things about their project management, reporting, and communication. We’ve had a great amount of input into the process, which I have really appreciated. 

As we go through the project, they make sure I’m fully aware of everything they are working on, everything that is expected of me, and all the required resource planning. 

They are believers in overcommunicating, even on sensitive things. They make sure they are bringing their expertise to the table for exactly what we have hired them to do. If I decide I need to cut a corner or take a different path, they make sure that I am thinking through all the potential risks. 

Outside of that, we have a weekly project meeting where I know exactly where I stand on the budget and completion of the project. They do a great job of making sure that there is never a question of where you are in the process.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their two high points for me are the synergy and preparation they bring to the project. Their synergy as a team is fantastic — truly is exponential in comparison to others. The other impressive thing would be their preparation.

They are always prepared in advance with great detail, but also a great amount of simplicity. They are very concise in what they provide you and the direction is always very clear.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would have been helpful to have a discussion earlier in the process around systemic alignment. They work on Apple, and we work on Windows. Now that we are further along in the process, we are finding there will be a bit of a translation issue with the design elements. They are doing the work using Sketch, and we are doing it in Adobe. If we had been aware of it months ago, we might have been able to take steps to avoid that.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Listen to them when they tell you there are potential pitfalls. They have been right every time, and they have been very helpful. 

Outside of that, don’t shortchange yourself. If you are really going in on a project, go all in and get what you know you need. Fully utilize the team as a resource.

Initially, we decided on less research than our initial plans. But, after talking it through, we had decided to go with the full research method. Those 12 weeks made a huge difference for us. We felt good about the preparation we brought to the project.

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

They helped us build a tool more focused on what we actually needed versus what we originally wanted. We’ve launched the app globally within our organization, and all teammates use it. 

We’ve been able to create a network of information about how retail is being executed on a global scale. At any time, we can go into this platform and time travel anywhere around the world.

How did Praxent perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done an excellent job of working around my personal hectic schedule of work. It didn’t matter where I was, they were always flexible and understanding. 

The planning process was very thorough. We did several in-house meetings and a lot of brainstorming. They came back with an excellent scope that was within our budget. 

Also, they kept up with deadlines and expectations. They always monitored to see if something was out of scope. There were no surprises. Everything was communicated well to us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team displayed hospitality and patience. They really did a lot of handholding and walked us through the process since it’s a different type of technology. I was very pleased through the entire process. 

There were points where we didn’t agree on things, but they saw the long-term relationship and not just the short-term results. We’ve decided to develop more work with them because of the relationship we have with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They only use Slack, email, and their work phone for communication. But, I’m so used to using WhatsApp. This was definitely an inconvenience at times, but I got used to using Slack.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

If you’re looking for a cheap vendor, don’t go with Praxent. If you’re looking for the best, they’re definitely the best. 

It comes down to how you define your ROI and what kind of product you want. We wanted something that would function no matter what, and we intensively bug tested it. Pricing-wise, there are much more competitive bids, but they didn’t have the history or the recommendations that Praxent had.