Prolific Interactive (Acquired By The We Company)

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for Hudson’s Bay Company, which is the parent company to Saks Fifth Avenue, Hudson’s Bay, Saks off Fifth, Lord and Taylor, and Gilt Groupe. I oversee customer-facing mobile applications.

What challenge were you trying to address with Prolific Interactive?

We had a legacy app in the marketplace. We weren’t updating it very frequently, and it wasn’t driving a lot of revenue. We knew that our customers increasingly are turning to mobile first, and we wanted to create a high-touch, high-value experience for our most valuable customers. At the time, we didn’t have the resources to hire an iOS development team in-house, so we reached out to Prolific to help us rebuild the app from scratch and roll it out to the market.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were really a full-stack team. They had a product manager who really helped us scope the details of the entire initiative and project. We had frontend iOS developers, and we had two folks working on the backend. We also had two designers on the project, one of whom specialized in user experience. We also had an analyst helping us sort through the analytics architecture and the different database flows that we would end up using.

They pretty much built everything from scratch. One important feature was our navigation. We put a lot of time, effort, and resources into thinking about a way to reduce the number of taps it takes our customers to access products. We did have a user testing of the navigation, and then spent a lot of engineering time to develop a highly custom navigation experience. We had a person on the team who helped with app store optimization, strategy, onboarding the marketing team internally on best push notification strategies as well.

How did you come to work with Prolific Interactive?

That slightly predates me. My old boss was the one who connected with them and brought them in. By the time I joined the team, we already in the scope of work signing phase. I believe she met the founder at a conference or something like that. She really liked Prolific’s approach to user experience first testing, really focusing on the customer first and then evolving from there. They why they ended up winning the account.

How much have you invested with Prolific Interactive?

We’ve invested upwards of $2 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in November of 2015, and the relationship is ongoing. They’re currently helping us build an iMessage app.

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

Our app store rating went from under three stars to now close to five with the new version of the app. From the initial app launch to December, when they rolled off the primary development for the iOS app, we went from 3% of our revenue from the app, to closer to 5%. In terms of year-over-year, it’s about an 80% increase in revenue. The app runs very smoothly. If we do receive bug reports, it often isn’t related to the app, but the website services.

The feedback has all been very positive. People overwhelmingly think the new app is incredibly user-friendly. The look and feel is much more elevated and more in line with the Saks brand or a luxury designer brand.

How did Prolific Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re pretty strong. We’ve worked with a couple folks on Prolific’s team. The project manager we had for the iOS app roll-out was very strong. The person we have working on iMessage isn’t as strong. I think it depends on the team that’s working and the dynamics. Overall, I’d give them strong project management performance.

We’ve varied the tools we’ve used. In the beginning, we used Pivotal, and now as an organization, we’re using JIRA across all projects. Those are the primary tools we use to communicate stories and all that stuff.

They’re great at delivering on time and on budget. The way our contract was structured, delivering on budget wasn’t an issue for us. In terms of on time, when we initially wanted to build this app, we wanted a million features within six months. Obviously, that’s not realistic. Together with them, we hit our launch goal, which was awesome. They built an app from scratch within five months, which is incredibly aggressive. We didn’t have all the features we hoped for, but that was an unrealistic goal.

What did you find most impressive about Prolific Interactive?

It’s their focus on the customer and using customer research to fuel all aspects of product development. We incorporated weekly user testing into the app build, so we could vet high-level themes of our customers first, understand the customer intimately, why they’re using the app, why they don’t use the app, and why they shop at Saks in the first place. When we got to the prototype phase, they really validated all concepts with our actual customers. Even though Prolific is not on our primary team, that’s something that we’ve brought into our own process here. So, their focus on the customer and how that influences all aspects of product development is extremely unique.

Are there any areas Prolific Interactive could improve?

They’re a great agency with a ton of really talented folks. They love thinking deeply and strategically about things. We work with a lot of different consultancies. The one thing about Prolific is that they have high expectations and high standards for their team and how their team wants to work, so it took a bit of time to meet in the middle on a couple things. They want the best setup possible for their dedicated team, and it’s important for them to keep that team intact. They’re not necessarily as flexible as other consultancies, where you can just hire one analyst or one UX person. They have a point of view, and here’s this whole team. You can’t really build a team piecemeal.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We sell wedding dresses along with other items for weddings and prom dresses. I’m the senior manager of omnichannel and e-commerce. Along with managing the app, I also manage our SEO program and website initiatives.

What challenge were you trying to address with Prolific Interactive?

We wanted to build a mobile app that was a replica of our website. The app also has some new and fun features like a wedding dress finder that allows our customers to take a quiz about preferences that they’re looking for in a wedding dress and it gives them recommended results. I was not with the company when they initially launched the project but the goal was to maintain our competitive advantage. We're a large retailer, and we wanted something that would distinguish us from all the mom-and-pop bridal retailers and all the smaller sites.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Prolific has been a great partner soup to nuts, handling all of the frontend development work and the design work. They’ve gone above and beyond and done some of the user research analysis. They not only built the backend code for the app but also did the frontend design, all of the analytics for the app, and provided some recommendations for app strategy. The wedding dress finder used to just be in our app but they created a web version of it within an IFrame that’s linked through from our desktop site. The app was developed for both iOS and Android. They helped us launch the app in the app stores.

How did you come to work with Prolific Interactive?

I wasn’t involved in that process. The folks that made the decision are no longer working here.

How much have you invested with Prolific Interactive?

We typically invest $1 million to $1.5 million per year with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April 2014, and the work is ongoing. We’re transitioning to one of their partners, Heady, just because the app hasn’t been as big of a priority for us this year and we’re looking for a company to help keep the app functional. Prolific is a better provider if you’re looking to make innovative changes or doing a lot of updates. We will maintain our partnership and keep in contact with Prolific. I can see us bringing them back in at a later date when we do want to make some major enhancements for the app.

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

Our conversion rate and appointment rate is much higher on the app than it is for our mobile website. Appointments are worth more than orders for us. We really use the app as an appointment driver. We’ve been neglecting it a little bit. We’re getting back our stability this year. We’ve been focusing on cleaning up the code, making it more stable, making it faster. That’s not a result of anything Prolific did. It’s more that we’re not investing what we should have in the app.

How did Prolific Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

They are wonderful. We had a couple of different teams and once you get rolling with a new team, they can almost run on their own with limited input from our team. They’re a full-service shop. They’re very responsive. They’re not always able to finish tasks by the deadline but it’s not always their fault. We use Google Docs and they have a repository of notes from every call and meeting we’ve had. We have daily standups with them. They use a tool similar to JIRA for ticket management and also a Gantt chart. They’re extremely organized. We use Slack, email, and daily calls as our primary forms of communication.

What did you find most impressive about Prolific Interactive?

I haven’t really looked at other providers but the thing that’s unique about them is they’re the one-stop, full-service shop. That is really nice because when there’s a lot on your plate, they can take it and run with it as if it’s their own.

Are there any areas Prolific Interactive could improve?

We’ve had some hurdles in the road in terms of the development team. We’ve had a lot of bugs or issues with the code that is deployed. They have the mentality of moving quickly, being super innovative and getting things launched, but they need to make sure everything is fully QA'd.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I run the mobile growth team for an e-commerce company. We are a multi-platform company and are live on every platform, including mobile web, iOS, and Android.

What challenge were you trying to address with Prolific Interactive?

We had limited resources on the native teams. Also, our app was not differentiated from our mobile website. We wanted to bring in a company that could give us a better idea of how customers use native versus mobile web. We wanted them to help us understand our holistic mobile web strategy and how we should differentiate our native app from other platforms. The second challenge was since we had limited resources, we wanted to make a case to build out an autonomous native team. We also asked Prolific to come up with a strategy for staffing in order to have a fully functional native team. We had our own UX [user experience] design team, so we just were looking for strategy and a road map for getting there.

What was the scope of their involvement?

During the first week, they came to our office and interviewed all the stakeholders that would have a point of view on mobile. That was really important because they took the time to ask the same set of questions to each stakeholder to get their perspective on mobile and identify their goals. We spent the next week onboarding the team so they would have the full background of our business, brand, performance, etc. The next phase was focusing on user research. Prolific recruited users to come into our office and interviewed them about their mobile shopping habits. They also conducted a survey that we sent out to our own mobile app users. This survey helped us get an understanding of what features they’re interested in, how they shop on mobile, etc. The last two weeks was spent synthesizing all the information and putting a strategy together for us. The total engagement ended up being six weeks, and we worked with a team of three people.

How did you come to work with Prolific Interactive?

We went through a formal request for proposal process and spoke with a few different local agencies.  Overall, we thought they had worked with a lot of great clients in the past. Their team, particularly Al [Director of Strategy] really understood our business and challenges more so than the other providers. We also spoke with some of their clients who provided really strong references.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in July 2016 and the project was completed in August 2016.

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

They had a number of final deliverables that we still use today. They are our guiding point for our strategy. Since hiring them, we have doubled our resources that are focused on native apps.

How did Prolific Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

They stayed within the timeframe we had outlined, charging a flat fee for their services. The first two weeks of onboarding were really important in aligning goals and expectations. At the beginning of every day, we had daily stand-up meetings. Each person on the team would talk about what they’re working on, which was great for transparency. They were also really good at sending out recaps and doing weekly retrospectives, where we talked about what we could do better and what we liked and want to continue doing. We used Slack as our primary communication tool and Trello to keep track of all the tasks within the project. Trello is a tool that we use internally, and Prolific wanted to use the same tools we were using.

What did you find most impressive about Prolific Interactive?

Their focus on mobile was a differentiator from other agencies. There are a lot of agencies that focus on UX and broader products while a few companies are similar in terms of native app strategy, but I thought Prolific had the strongest area of expertise compared to other providers.

Are there any areas Prolific Interactive could improve?

They could have done better at communicating final deliverables before presenting them to the whole group. It would’ve been nice to have more check-ins with the stakeholders to make sure we were progressing as they wanted. That way, the stakeholders could have given feedback into the final deliverables.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We manufacture plant food, fertilizer, and garden soil. I lead the digital team.

What challenge were you trying to address with Prolific Interactive?

We have a need to connect with our consumers in all channels, which includes native mobile applications. We came to Prolific Interactive as a partner to help us conceive and bring to market mobile app experiences for our consumers.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Right now, we have at least four or five developers that are actively working on iOS and Android on the frontend and backend of the apps. We scale our relationship with them up or down based on the needs of the projects for the business dates that we have. Sometimes, we need more help, and sometimes we need less help.

One app is a lawn app, and the other is a garden app. The lawn app helps you identify what’s wrong with your yard. It will recommend a care plan for the season to help you take care of your yard, including product recommendations and reminders on what to do and when. It's a very functionally oriented app. The garden app is more about inspiration and helping you understand or articulate why you want to garden or why you would want to do things in your yard. "Do you want to grow food? Do you want to grow flowers? Do you want to grow inside? Outside?" Then it will serve up projects and plants that have a high likelihood of success, mapped against where you live, your weather conditions, and the interests or things that you've expressed to us.

Prolific Interactive is involved with us in mobile and device strategy, but not marketing per se. We launched the app ourselves. Since we're a large enterprise, we have a media agency that helped us with the acquisition efforts.

How did you come to work with Prolific Interactive?

We did a multiagency search where we talked to agencies that specialized in the mobile space. We felt like Prolific Interactive was an agency that would roll up their sleeves and work with us, rather than either being a pair of hands or being too dictatorial about the way in which we needed to interact with them. We felt they were willing to meet us in the middle.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Prolific Interactive in August 2015. The relationship is ongoing.

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

We’re very pleased with the engagement in the apps and with the weekly and monthly active users within the apps. We get feedback every day, and it’s largely very good. 

How did Prolific Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

I worked 20 years at an agency, so I have a high bar, but Prolific Interactive works well from a project management standpoint. We feel in tune and aware of what's going on and what's next. We communicate with them using Google Hangouts, phone, and email.

Prolific Interactive, like other agencies, could do a little better job of looking forward and helping us understand where there are impacts—not what do we need to be conscious of for the next week, but what do we need to be conscious of for the next month, or three months, from now. But to be fair, we move very swiftly with them, so there's not always the opportunity to do that.

What did you find most impressive about Prolific Interactive?

The most noteworthy thing is that Prolific Interactive cares about the work they do for us like it was their own. They have as much ownership and pride in what they deliver as we do. It's not them simply doing what we tell them to do. They give us dialogue and push back in a very constructive way when we’re making decisions—not in a "We want it this way," but "We're thinking about the user and the consumer, and is this going to make sense to them?" That's definitely noteworthy because there's plenty of firms that will just do what you tell them to do.

Are there any areas Prolific Interactive could improve?

Not really. Not in what we would expect from Prolific Interactive. 

Please describe your organization.

I worked for Abercrombie & Fitch in Columbus, Ohio.

What is your position?

I was the Mobile Practice Lead on the team that was building mobile applications for A&F.

What business challenge were you trying to address with Prolific Interactive?

In working with other web and digital marketing agencies, we couldn’t find any with enough resources to help us be a mobile first company. That’s when we started looking for different partnerships. We found Prolific to be one of the leading agencies in the mobile retail domain.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

We wanted to shift to a mobile first design, meaning that we wanted to revamp all our mobile applications with them.

How did you come to work with Prolific Interactive?

We were considering seven or eight different agencies including large, small, mid-size, US based, and offshore based companies. The reason we chose Prolific was because we realized that they offered exactly what we were looking for. They were a perfect cultural fit with us. One thing that we learned in the past from choosing different agencies is that people from the outside don’t always blend well with A&F because we have a very specific culture. That was one of the main reasons that they were a good fit for us besides their engineering capabilities.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

It cost probably over a million dollars.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our project with them is completed.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The first application they built for us was the Abercrombie & Fitch Android application. Up until then, we only had iOS. Hollister had Android, but not A&F. The iOS and Android apps were not very successful from a performance perspective, according to in-app reviews. I think we had 1.5 stars or 2 stars in all those applications, but once we brought Prolific in, the first application they built immediately had 4.5 or 5 stars. We’ve seen more revenue coming from the Android application than iOS, even though about 85% of our customers are on iOS. Before working with Prolific, everything we built were marketing applications: things that would engage customers with the brand. Then we would hope they would come to the store and purchase things. The app Prolific built was our first e-commerce application. It was the first one that generated any revenue that could really be attributed to the application itself. After that, they implemented a similar platform for iOS, where we saw revenue increases as well. With our Hollister app, they implemented a loyalty program which is more successful than the previous program we had.

How did Prolific Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

They were really good communicators. We were co-located half of the time because they were in Brooklyn and would have to travel to Ohio, but I was in New York most of the time, so I would meet with them and we’d work together. They were really good with that. They fit in our project management model. We didn’t have to change anything for them. They just changed to fit within our business model.

What distinguishes Prolific Interactive from other providers?

They’re definitely great business partners. One thing that stands out compared to other agencies I’ve worked with is that they spend a few days working in our stores to learn about them, blend with the culture, and understand what our business model is. That was really helpful. I haven’t seen that before. Because Prolific Interactive is mobile first and mobile only, they had lots of vision in areas that we didn’t know about. We were just trying to figure out what the mobile space should look like. I’ve worked with probably 20 different agencies in my lifetime and they were the easiest to work with.

Is there anything Prolific Interactive could have improved or done differently?

Their ability to scale up was not there. If we needed to speed up our process or we needed to build something new, they could not scale up. Another thing is that their model is built around them owning everything, like having their own project manager on the project. They have their engineers. They have their designers. They have their strategists working on a project. It would be hard to create a blended model where you would have your product team only working with their engineering team and their project management. They automatically have their whole team working on a project. That would be another thing I think they could fix.

Please describe your organization.

I worked for a notable women's fashion retail brand.

What is your position?

I was the mobile experience supervisor. I managed the project between my team and Prolific.

What business challenge were you trying to address with Prolific Interactive?

We were having trouble with our conversion rates and traffic on mobile. We wanted to build an app targeted toward our top consumers to increase their overall purchase frequency and average order value and to get them used to purchasing on mobile.

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

It was available on iOS only. Approximately 95 percent of our customers were coming to us from an iPhone, so we didn't need to have it on Android.

How did you come to work with Prolific Interactive?

We did a comprehensive RFP [request for proposal] and looked across 10 to 12 different vendors. It ended up coming down to Prolific Interactive and GPShopper. There were probably eight people on our team that were part of the selection process. We selected Prolific because we felt like they understood our brand the most. They had worked with other lifestyle brands like lululemon, and we liked some of the other apps they created. We felt like they could offer us a customized app that looked new and different and wasn't just a template like other firms were offering.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

It cost upward of $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project was completed.

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

The app totally exceeded our expectations in terms of revenue and of significantly increasing our mobile traffic. Then, when the app launched, within six months, a significant portion of revenue was coming through mobile if you include mobile web and the app. We worried that it was going to cannibalize our mobile web business, but we felt like it increased it. It wasn't taking away from mobile web. It was an additive business.

What distinguishes Prolific Interactive from other providers?

I thought the Prolific team was incredibly communicative. I felt like they were understanding of our needs. I thought they over delivered, and it was probably the best vendor experience I've ever had, I've worked with probably 15 to 20 vendors at this point, and I have nothing but good things to say about them.

Is there anything Prolific Interactive could have improved or done differently?

We knew this going in and that created some hesitation in choosing them – back-end technology-wise, they're not as strong some of the others. We had some difficulties integrating APIs [application programming interfaces] and stuff, but that was something that we were responsible for, too. I think that's a challenge that's pretty common. I think they're well aware that it's a weak point for them.

Could you briefly describe your organization?

I work for a company [that is] primarily an online e-commerce shop that retails crowd-source designed T-shirts directly to customers. Anyone in the whole world can submit a design to our website and then the rest of the users on the site can vote for their favorite designs. The winning designs are printed onto the T-shirts and then merchandized to anyone interested. The website functions as an e-commerce platform for artists to sell their designs, but it also functions as an online community for artists to interact and potentially collaborate. All of the contributing artists remain independent, so we feel like it’s a really great vehicle for these fledgling artists to gain more exposure, build their brands and actually monetize their hard work. 

What is your position?

I’m the director of user experience and the head of digital marketing.

Could you describe the challenges you were attempting to address when you first approached Prolific Interactive?

Sure, there were a few challenges we were facing when looking for a partner to build a mobile application for us. One of the key challenges was that we didn’t have the appropriate API [application programming interface] required to run the app. More importantly, though, was the fact that we didn’t have the internal development capabilities or resources to remedy the issue ourselves. We needed to find a qualified technology partner to perform the custom development on our behalf, under our direct supervision and guidance.

How did you select Prolific Interactive as your solution partner?

Interestingly enough, I believe it was they who reached out to us first to inquire about our mobile strategy. Our CEO had been familiar with the work they’ve done for another company, so we were very open to meeting their team and hearing what they had to say. During our first meeting, we expressed our difficulties and frustrations with developing a mobile app. We explained that the real issue was the API. Outside of that, we were pretty much ready to go. Two months later, they returned to us with a very elegant and viable solution to our API problem: It worked flawlessly. We were very impressed, so we decided to negotiate the terms of retaining their services for our development and design work. That’s how it all began.

Could you describe the scope of work they’ve delivered over the course of this endeavor?

When we worked with them on the app, they had a group of people working on the API. There were, I believe, two to three developers working on it full-time. They architected some of it, integrated it a little bit with our existing APIs, tested and validated all of the code. In terms of resources, we were allocated a project manager and three iOS developers. It was great. We worked remotely with their team. We’d have remote stand ups at the beginning of each day with their New York team, and we’d go over benchmarks, objectives, and alterations. It was extremely helpful from a project management perspective, and I’m sure it added to the quality and consistency of their work

Could you provide a sense of the size of these initiatives in monetary terms?

That information is confidential. Our work has been extensive, to say the least.

How long has this partnership remained ongoing?

We started working officially, I believe, in September of 2013.

In terms of results, could you share any statistics, metrics, or user feedback that would demonstrate the effectiveness of their work?

Yes, absolutely. First of all, I want to say they did a fantastic job of building both apps. The app was a pretty straightforward deployment, and I really liked the way that they would offer their unique ideas. They’d offer alternative solutions to us and provide strategic recommendations. That’s been one of the most valuable aspects to them. 

In terms of impact, we’ve also been very satisfied. We have close to 100,000 downloads at this point. It’s been very well received by primary our customer base. We’ve also been able to attract new users from other devices, which is great. I can’t share exact figures, but it continues to grow, which we’re thrilled about. There have been virtually no issues with the application. We’re hoping to continue building on it as we move forward. This app was our first foray into e-commerce with a mobile platform. I’d say that overall, it’s been a very positive experience for us.

When working with Prolific Interactive, is there anything you’d consider unique about their strategic approach or development methodology that distinguish them from other vendors?

I’ve been fortunate enough to work for and with many different types of creative agencies on the digital side. I really like that they’re all young and very passionate about mobile technology. They really put the effort into devising and developing a viable solution. Even if it takes a little than initially expected, they’re OK with that, because they know it’s about having the right solution, not necessarily the fastest. They’re also very well versed in the latest and greatest technologies, approaches and solutions. It’s clear to us that they place a lot of emphasis on professional development.

In retrospect, are there areas in which you think they could improve as a service provider?

That’s a good question. I’m typically not good at answering these. I can’t really offer much in the way of constructive criticism. Our experience has been entirely positive with them.