Prismic Reflections

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of Bynry Technologies India Pvt Ltd, a cloud-based SaaS platform for small- and midsized utility companies.

What challenge were you trying to address with Prismic Reflections?

We wanted to revamp our platform and make it a cloud-based SaaS. One of the key challenges was how to build a consistent customer experience on the platform. We needed a partner to help us because we didn’t have in-house capabilities.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Prismic Reflections provided user research to help us understand what kind of interactions a customer is willing to do and what the important things are for them. Based on that, they then came up with the initial design.

Their team developed wireframes and visual designs later using Figma. They came up with the branding. As part of the package, they also delivered the HTML. Their team helped us deliver the initial design in Angular. They only did frontend development.

What is the team composition?

I worked with their founder, two UX designers, and two visual designers.

How did you come to work with Prismic Reflections?

We received a very strong reference from a friend of mine who’s the founder of another company.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested 25 lakhs (approximately $34,000 USD) apiece.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2019–June 2020.

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

They know their design, and the quality is good. Prismic Reflections was very flexible and accommodating in delivering what we were looking for. They improved the design and UX in a significant way. The platform is going live soon. Once it is, we’ll work with them again to do the adjustments that are needed.

We’ve received good feedback about the platform. The designs were accepted through multiple iterations. Whenever there were gaps, we communicated them to Prismic Reflections and they fixed them.

How did Prismic Reflections perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management was great. We received good attention at the executive level. Our teams used email and Skype.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re good designers. They have an excellent sense of design.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The domain knowledge isn’t expected but if they know the specific design in a specific industry and can reuse the iterations, that would work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a very good outline of a project and what they want to achieve out of the design project. If it’s a specific industry and you have a specific flavor, that knowledge will have to be transferred to them. Once you help them understand your specific industry, they can do a much better job.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a startup that offers a personal digital chef service. Our unique solution empowers users to cook meals containing several recipes by following simple step-by-step instructions.

For what projects/services did your company hire Prismic Reflections?

We built an alpha version of our digital chef, and came to realize that we needed a more professional approach to the UX of our platform. We hired Prismic Reflections to redesign our product and upgrade the UI.

What were your goals for this project?

Our ambition is to create a solution that mimics the experience of communicating with a real-life professional chef. We want to develop a site that is consistent with this goal, and suitable for a first market launch.

How did you select this vendor?

I discovered Primsic Reflections through personal recommendations, and decided to run a test project with them to verify that we would work well with their team. This initial project went well, and we felt confident that we could continue with the larger task of designing our site.

Describe the project in detail.

They’re currently designing our cooking instructions site. They’re in the process of implementing a meal calendar planning tool, a shopping list function, and integrations that allow for sharing on social media.

What was the team composition?

They’ve assigned three designers to work on our platform.

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

Although we haven’t tracked any specific metrics, we now have a consistent design that fits our requirements.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We communicate with their team via Skype. They listen well, and always make time to confirm our intentions before translating them into designs.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They produce high-quality work and innovative designs.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The only aspect that might be improved is their scheduling. There’ve been a few instances where they’ve missed deadlines.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the founder of a startup building software as a service (Saas) for cloud costs.

For what projects/services did your company hire Prismic Reflections?

We needed UI/UX design, information architecture services, and a marketing website developing.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to build an enterprise-class website frontend that is simple to use after minimal training for our SaaS offering. We also needed to build the marketing website for the product.

How did you select this vendor?

I was looking for a team that was experienced in building low touch engagement enterprise products, and that offered the full suite of information design and UX/UI design. Given that we were an early stage startup, we wanted someone who could offer the services at a reasonable cost while taking ownership of the deliverables and delivering quality design for a global audience.

Describe the project in detail.

The project started with a series of discovery meetings. These came up with information architecture, competitive analysis, and the key criterion that we needed to focus on.

Based on this, low-fi wireframes were developed. After feedback, a sample set of wireframes were developed. Once the workflows were finalized, these were converted to HTML. The marketing website had a similar workflow, with more focus on the discovery of items and visuals.

What was the team composition?

We had initial engagement with a UX information architect, two UX designers, and an HTML designer. We also worked with one person from accounts and one from marketing.

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

The final website received good feedback for its simplicity, clean design, and visual appeal. The application was easy to use for newcomers, even those with very little training. We generally exceeded expectations.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The team members were very responsive and willing to work through multiple iterations. They were as interested in getting the UX right as we were, often coming with suggestions for improvements. We used Basecamp and Figma to help understand each other, and to give quick feedback on the design.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The attitude of the design team. They were willing to try out different options as we worked to iron out the details and finalize options. They would come back and tell what would work and what would be the potential issues with some non-standard design options. They were also flexible in terms of timing.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Sometimes, reassignment of team members meant having to bring new members up to speed. Given the inherently creative nature of the project, it’s difficult to stick to a firm schedule due to reworks. They could also provide better expectation setting in order to plan downstream activities.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of Auth N Tick identity services. We work in cybersecurity and offer identity and document verification in a virtual world including national police and know your customer (KYC) checks. Our small startup company has a population of 2–5 employees right now. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Prismic Reflections?

As relatively new concepts, few people understand identity theft, fraud, and verification. We wanted our website to give users a clear picture of our service offerings in just a few clicks and present our business model as a viable proposition. As a startup company in the B2B space, making a positive impression on our larger partner companies is especially important. We had sufficient technology resources and knowledge in-house but needed Prismic Reflections’ support with crafting a brand identity.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our AI and biometric-based web application provides online identity check and security services to individuals & businesses.  We tasked Prismic Reflections with creating an interface to simplify the user journey for our cloud-based web application & website.  They supported us with UX Strategy, UI & Brand Communication Design. It began with the conceptualizing and defining the flow of the app to simplify the User Journey. After conducting analysis, user research, and strategy, they created information architecture and wireframes. Along with the frontend development they provided, the team supported backend developers. 

The design brief placed a focus on articulating concepts visually, using pictures rather than excessively wordy copy. From a user perspective, they translated technical aspects of our services into layman’s terms.  They made our platform accessible to colorblind, visually handicapped or impaired users. 

Prismic Reflections designed the UX/UI in line with our philosophy. They helped our internal content management resources with placement and advised us when we had too much or too little material. Upon completion, they converted the designs into mobile-friendly HTML and built a responsive website that works on any device. It's compatible with desktops, laptops, smartphones, and several browsers. 

Prismic Reflections formulated a brand strategy that encompasses print, digital, and social media. To enhance our LinkedIn and Facebook profiles, they created professional-grade graphics and implemented a cohesive appearance. They designed print media assets like business cards and letterheads to instate a uniform appearance throughout our company both on and offline. 

What is the team composition? 

Vishal (Head of Experience Design and Strategy, Co-founder, Prismic Reflections) led the design team. I interacted with a couple of the designers who worked for him. We didn't have a specific project manager.

How did you come to work with Prismic Reflections?

We found Prismic Reflections through a Google search. I read reviews, spoke to past clients about their services and how they work, and decided to take a chance. Our initial conversations convinced me they knew what they were talking about. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent between $40,000–$60,000 on their design, branding, and strategy services. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from August 2017–January 2018. 

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

I've received excellent feedback from users who have reviewed the new website, content, and designs. The assets Prismic Reflections produced are aesthetically appealing. I provided guidelines the site had to comply with specific standards required for startup companies in Australia. As they developed the website, they carefully adhered to an extensive list of do's and do not's. 

How did Prismic Reflections perform from a project management standpoint?

We held meetings with the co-founder and design team to make sure that they were completing all the deliverables we needed. Since we’re located in different time zones, Prismic Reflections worked remotely. 

Using Basecamp worked very well to house all our materials in one place. It sorted all our correspondence by date and time, making it easy to track messages from specific people and stay on top of pending tasks.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Prismic Reflections used User-Centered Design analysis & design process to solve challenging problems. They found innovative solutions like identity tests that verify customers who visit companies' websites. Asking the right questions provided the information we need to do more processing. 

Articulating an intuitive UX/UI design made the user journey very simple. That was a very helpful contribution. The user-friendly designs they produced make the complex material easier for our customers to understand. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

From the sourcing point of view, they sometimes felt a bit understaffed for our projects. They could have been slightly more responsive at times. Since we're working in different time zones, it’s important to be mindful of the best times to call customers based on their geographic location.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Credila Financial Services is in the student loan industry. Our company is a subsidiary of HDFC Limited, which is a housing finance company based in India. Our parent company has been operating since 1977, with a customer base of around 4.9 million people. I am a senior manager of the group.

What challenge were you trying to address with Prismic Reflections?

Since we operate in the education service industry, our main challenge is to target the right segment. Compared to other companies, our budget for branding and marketing is minimal. We have inbound and outbound material that goes to internal and external customers. With the help of Prismic Reflections, we have been sorting out all these challenges.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Over the course of our 12-year relationship, we have worked on several engagement programs with Prismic Reflections. We are targeting colleges, seminars, and cultural events. Prismic Reflections helps us with new and revised designs for our marketing collateral. They are our main partner for template designs and industry campaigns. With the help of their team, we’ve also recently revamped our website, credila.com.

How did you come to work with Prismic Reflections?

We had known Vishal Jadhav, one of their founders, for a long time, as well as Prismic Reflections’ COO. When Vishal started the company, we gave him small assignments. His team did a fantastic job.

How much have you invested with Prismic Reflections?

The payment is done on a project basis, and it varies from case to case. As per company policy, I cannot disclose this information.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Prismic Reflections around 12 years ago. We continue to work with them on a project basis.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Most of our projects with Prismic Reflections were critical to our business success. Prismic Reflections was able to deliver to the level we required on all the projects we’ve given them. We’ve gotten value for money, no matter the scope of our work. Prismic Reflections has helped make our web presence more prominent, particularly the online products we offer. For example, as a result of the website redesign, we saw a huge traffic increase in the Indian market. The site has also received a lot of good reviews.

How did Prismic Reflections perform from a project management standpoint?

Since we have a personal relationship, we have been able to leverage their senior management, including Vishal, their founder and strategist. As such, we never felt the need for a separate project manager. From our point of view, Vishal is the perfect person for our work. He knows our requirements and is able to fulfill them.

The communication is good. Our primary channel is email, which is how we send requirements. We also talk by phone and WhatsApp. We even have access to an online management system through which everyone on my team can review the progress of a project on a single screen. Prismic Reflections delivers on time. The team understands our projects, and they are very collaborative.

What did you find most impressive about Prismic Reflections?

Feelings are very important in design, and Prismic Reflections can combine professionalism with a personal touch. Prismic Reflections understands what the other person requires and what a design should communicate. As a company working in the service industry, this is very important to us since we need to connect to both the minds and hearts of customers. This understanding distinguishes Prismic Reflections from other agencies.

Are there any areas Prismic Reflections could improve?

To be frank, I am not an expert in Prismic Reflections’ field since I come from the financial industry. Whatever we required of them, Prismic Reflections delivered. I cannot see any need for improvement.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are an e-commerce platform that allows different business models to coexist. We have taken the bold step of competing directly against Paytm, which is a solution that serves mass audiences. We want to position ourselves similarly to Citibank, HSBC, or American Express, which cater to the affluent side of the industry. Apart from this, wallet-as-a-service is always associated with deals and discounts, but there is a wide-open space where we could create a wallet product aimed only at affluent audiences, and create associations with brands like Armani, Mercedes, and BMW. I am the founder of this venture.

What challenge were you trying to address with Prismic Reflections?

I have a decade of experience in this business and always wanted to venture into this domain. I have also mentored many startups and it made sense to start my own one. I had a good understanding of what the brand positioning in the market should be, which was important since there’s already a lot of competition out there. Plus, there are misinterpretations of the payments business in India, because of the rapid evolution of the entire industry. I divided the project into two parts: the branding as such (which also took care of overall user experience) and the backend technology.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I only had an idea, for which Prismic Reflections provided execution. They were able to take what I had in my head, spending many late hours with me on Skype, and actually delivered.

The brand name was the first step. It connected to the concept as a whole, namely that we wanted to provide a unique and different product. While we are not offering a different service, we are doing things differently, which was our motto. We would go beyond the boundaries in order to give something specific. The soul of Indian culture is that a consumer is never happy, despite what discounts are given. We started from this hunger for more on the consumer side, but also on our side, as entrepreneurs. I have designed this platform to be scalable at any level, and it is a platform where different businesses can coexist.

Given this mindset, we spent 20 days coming up with different brand names. Thereafter, Prismic Reflections worked on the actual creation of the logo. Its brand shade guide defines the brand style guide as well, which dictates the user experience. Everything is interconnected, and we started with ground zero. There were numerous iterations and rejections along the way, but we finally came up with Beyond Enough.

Our model is similar to big brands like FreeCharge. There are five phases in the traditional B2C model: acquisition of consumers, activation of consumers, dropout, redirection of the turnouts and retention. FreeCharge works well in the first two phases, but, through the way in which they are positioned in the market, the company will never be perceived as something else, entering the cosmetics or automotive industry, for example. We were supposed to be a platform where different businesses could coexist and had to take care of this brand positioning correctly. If I launched the entertainment section first, I had to ensure that I wasn’t perceived as offering only entertainment. We’re ever-evolving, and that was the soul of our concept. It’s the reason for starting with the logo creation. It’s made up of a dot coming out of the surface, which is a representation of solar flares and going outside of boundaries. The color combination of orange and black was selected because it also ties into that concept.

Each tab in our navigation menu is a business in itself, so we’ve had to create homepages for each of them. We still needed our own homepage, which had to be unique and tell consumers what Beyond Enough actually does.

Our entertainment section is supposed to be similar to BookMyShow, but, because we have invested a lot of money into Imagica, we are dedicating the entire page to it at the moment. We plan to revamp that section in two-weeks’ time, and show the actual UI/UX designed by Prismic Reflections.

We have a leg of affiliate marketing and have partners like Flipkart, Amazon, eBay and so on, but they are not made visible on the homepage, since we are focused on many more aspects than just affiliate marketing. Coming up with an innovative inventory system was a part of Prismic Reflections’ work. There are two blocks on the homepage which expand, and route consumers to affiliate partners. The scope of work was end-to-end, and we addressed any new challenges along the way.

How did you come to work with Prismic Reflections?

I had spoken with numerous other organizations, but I didn’t find the level of commitment and responsibility I was looking for. Everything boiled down to the scope of work and the amount I would be paying, with no flexibility on their part. If I had to tell the team what they had to do, then they weren’t right for me. I was hiring them because of their expertise, since, if I knew everything, I would have done it by myself. This is the exact culture of many upcoming and established agencies, and they have been conditioned this way by large clients who know what they want, don’t allow brand deviation, and don’t allow for a lot of thought. A startup is just that, a company starting up, so I definitely had to think outside of the box.

I met their team at an event and shared my concept. Prismic Reflections’ director was good at listening and absorbing what I had to say. We remained connected, and I was told that my idea was doable. From our second discussion, I knew that Prismic Reflections was the right company for the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

The first phase was completed in August 2016. The site is still under construction, since the backend technology is not ready, but we have made two of the modules live: entertainment and salon. The collaboration is ongoing. If I have to get anything done, I have the comfort of knowing that Prismic Reflections is there for me.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Prismic Reflections has produced creative work, so the only feedback I can provide is qualitative. They designed the entire platform from scratch in terms of look and feel, wireframing, propositioning, HTML coding, branding style guides, creative selection and so on. I am extremely happy about the creative level provided and I feel that the entire site is refreshing compared to the competition.

When consumers land on one of our pages from a search, they will have an exciting experience and become interested in what we do as a company. Prismic Reflections curated that curiosity in consumers’ mindset, so that they wouldn’t stop at our landing pages, but also go to our offers and vouchers sections. We provide something new, which users don’t come across every day. It’s more about user experience and flow.

It’s an ongoing process since, when starting small, there will be certain deliverables in the first phase, after which we will slowly evolve towards the last level. We plan to set up associations with 10 partners at first and eventually 3,000.

How did Prismic Reflections perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed as per our expectations. We spent late nights during the process, and I was guided by Prismic Reflections’ team in order to properly understand why any portion was supposed to be as it was. They maintained fluid processes and my expectations in terms of communication were met. We worked out of different cities, but the geographical distance was not an obstacle. I always had the idea in mind that, if someone was not sitting beside me, the quality would be compromised, but Prismic Reflections proved otherwise. We used phone, Skype and email for communication.

What did you find most impressive about Prismic Reflections?

Dedication and experience are what sets Prismic Reflections apart from others.

Are there any areas Prismic Reflections could improve?

They are pretty costly, but the price is deserved. I have learned that I have to pay a higher price if I want a higher-level result.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

ProKarma is a $200 million global organization developing several software products. The work done by Prismic Reflections was specific to our platform solutions group. One of our products is an energy management solution or EMS, as it’s known in the US industry. We have been in business for 10 years. At the time, I was a general manager for the company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Prismic Reflections?

I was working on developing a new age user experience interface for our EMS solution, so I scouted for a company which could help us achieve this. Our parent product at the time, which had been enforced for the last 10 years, needed a new design in order to achieve the next scale even though it’s best-of-breed and way ahead of its competition. The rest of the pieces had been figured out by us.

We figured that most of the pieces on our platform, from its finance and explore modules, were all organized in a segmented, old-school layout by which the top bar had drop down menus and users could click on options in order to have reports come up. It didn’t address the user-role angle. For example, what would be the four, five, or six most frequent reports that a financial analyst would need to have at their fingertips? We wanted to understand different kinds of functional roles people play, and the reasons for which they come to our platform for energy management from the points of view of facility, sustainability, or financial managers. We wanted to develop personas for all of them and try to organize the functions from that perspective, while also having much better dashboard features. This is where Prismic Reflections helped us.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Prismic Reflections came to our offices and spent the good part of a month interviewing me and my team, trying to understand the personas I mentioned. We focused on six or seven user personas, and came up with a design philosophy around the colors we wanted to use based on whom we were addressing. We looked at the fonts we would be using, the page layouts, digital assets, and so on.

Prismic Reflections helped us create the actual layout, as well as a number of digital assets for the platform, along with its personas and digital philosophy. The month-long discovery phase was followed by three to four months of actual off-site work. We setup remote sessions for the work. It was a creative process during which we made many downstream changes in the design.

How did you come to work with Prismic Reflections?

I found three companies online, looked at all of their portfolios, and found Prismic Reflections to be the better choice. I called them and put the business challenge in front of their team.

How much have you invested with Prismic Reflections?

The cost of Prismic Reflections’ work was around $12,000–$15,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We first interacted with Prismic Reflections in March 2016. They came to our office in May, and the work was finished in August.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

The impact was good. Vishal Jadhav [Co-Founder, Prismic Reflections] and his team are not energy experts, so I couldn’t expect them to understand fully where I was coming from a technical standpoint. Despite this, doing independent research and coming back with suggestions around how our platform should look, as well as setting up the actual UI [user interface] teams, was appreciated. Prismic Reflections worked on not just the frontend look and feel, but also gave us a number of digital assets and ideas on which UI style set we should use. The impact was huge, and it helped us speed up our process. Our time to market was reduced a lot.

Once our work with Prismic Reflections was completed in August, and even though we had budgeted for designing the second round of modules, we did not have to do that. The digital assets and the user philosophy created by them were integrated seamlessly by our own team. This was important since we’re a software company, not a design one. In one sense, we had a consulting project with Prismic Reflections as well, which was a plus for us. We were not straddled into having to use them again and again, which is something we experienced with other companies that would not hand over the actual intelligence to us regarding how they were thinking and what sources they researched.

The design assets created by Prismic Reflections are new age, and we believe we won’t have to change anything for the next five years. This said, no matter how many other pieces we add to our functionality, based on industry changes, we will not need to go to another designer. Prismic Reflections helped us develop with a module first philosophy.

We’ve recently rolled out Android and iOS apps into the market, and we didn’t need Prismic Reflections for the job. They had already laid the foundation, so all we had to do was use those pieces.

How did Prismic Reflections perform from a project management standpoint?

It’s rather difficult to undergo a remote design project. Prismic Reflections was based in Nashik, while we were in Hyderabad, but they came up with some creative ideas on how we could share screens in real time. They implemented something called Draw.io, for drawing collaboratively, but we also used Skype, Basecamp, and other tools. We were able to articulate to each other well. Prismic Reflections is a small company, but the way in which they leverage assets made our lives easier.

Many times, a company will disappear and come back after a month. At the end of that time, we will see that the results are not what we expected and this was definitely not the case with Prismic Reflections. My team members and I had access to the actual design resources on their site. We had full transparency and around-the-clock interaction.

What did you find most impressive about Prismic Reflections?

Prismic Reflections’ work culture stands out. The second differentiator is that they don’t monetize knowledge, but rather expertise. Someone can pose as an expert and help a client, earning money from that as opposed to keeping the actual knowledge and assets hidden so that they can be reused. I haven’t seen Prismic Reflections reuse any assets, which many design companies do, employing one to three user philosophies which they sell to everyone. What Prismic Reflections ended up delivering to us makes us independent. We don’t need them anymore. We are still trying to engage with them on some projects for customers since our larger company is a customer-facing IT solutions provider. For the money we spent, the long term benefit is beyond that.

Since we are a US company headquartered in Omaha and Portland, we did explore some American agencies, but Prismic Reflections’ bang for the buck was much higher.

Are there any areas Prismic Reflections could improve?

I’ve suggested to Prismic Reflections’ principal that they should start, at some point, to specialize in some verticals like pharmaceuticals or education. That would give them some actual domain knowledge which could lead to some more depth and insight into the designs. I couldn’t find this for the energy space while looking for partner companies. The field can be researched, and we can have a dialogue, but I still made the suggestion. His response was that, at the size and scale of the company, they cannot afford to do that and they would rather focus on the design itself.

Prismic Reflections is also limited in terms of actual HTML development. We were able to take it in-house since we are primarily an IT company. Their founder told me that this wasn’t their front in any case and that they didn’t want to stretch too thin.

They undergo six or seven projects per year. Based on Prismic Reflections’ expertise and culture, I would really wish for them to be more scalable, but that’s a conscious choice. Their principal values their current module, and I’m fine with that.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Prismic Reflections?

Clients should always have a short face-to-face discovery session. It will help when talking about user experience. Vishal might ask seemingly dumb questions, but you should be patient with him since he’s processing information and it can take some time to understand what needs to be designed.

Also, try to have realistic targets. Prismic Reflections is a small company, so you can’t expect them to finish a huge project inside a month.