Shaka Web Design Services

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a non-profit organization located in Oahu. We are focused on ensuring a strong future for Agriculture across the HI islands. I am the Food Safety Specialist and work on a variety of projects, mainly food safety training for our member farms. However, I am also the communications specialist for a superfood project and worked closely with Shaka Web Design Services, to translate the vision of the project into a website.

For what projects/services did your company hire Shaka Web Design Services, and what were your goals?

We have worked with Shaka Web Design Services in the past to create our organization's main website, so we knew that this service would be perfect for our newest project.

How did you select Shaka Web Design Services and what were the deciding factors?

We decided to work with Shaka Web Design Services for this project after having an amazing experience working with the service on our last website. The main factors that attracted us to Shaka Web Design were: superior customer service and quick response times, quick and reliable problem-solving skills, and Shaka Web Design's overall web design skills. Shaka Web Design Services is able to break down complicated "tech talk" into language a non-tech person like me can understand and relay to others.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

Shaka Web Design Services helped us build our project's website from the ground up. starting with the general concept and theme of the site, to the more technical aspects we wanted to include. Shaka Web Design Services allowed us to have a quick turnaround time on our website to meet project deadlines, created an interactive website for our audience, and helped create a project-specific email account.

We started working with Shaka Web Design for this project with only a vague idea of what we wanted. This service helped us pinpoint the features we wanted to include. we worked on this project remotely and communicated through email and phone calls.

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

We worked with one person from Shaka Web Design for all aspects of the project.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

• each month we receive a report showing website metrics so we are able to track the website visits.
• Shaka Web Design created to fillable online forms for website visitors to fill-out
• Shaka Web Design created an email account attached to the website and online forms to allow us to connect with site visitors

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

We had a flexible timeline but wanted to have the site up and running within a month- this was archived. we communicated via email and phone- this worked well considering COVID precautions and did not hider the progress of the project

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

The most impressive aspect of this service was Shaka Web Design's attention to detail, knowledge about website analytics and website traffic, and ability to communicate technical issues clearly.

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

Not that I can think of! Shaka Web Design was responsive, open to our suggestions, and helpful with any technical difficulties.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm one of the partners for a small family farm organized as an LLC. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Shaka Web Design Services

Shaka Web Design helped us design a web page.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We looked at different web pages and we took the good aspects from them before creating the web page. We wanted to highlight the farm and its history along with the family history associated with it. Moreover, we wanted to introduce some of the fruits and produce that we grow. The Shaka Web Design team continues to provide web maintenance services.

In conjunction with the webpage, they also helped us opened up Instagram and Facebook accounts. We're still trying to get more business through marketing on those social media accounts.

What is the team composition?

We are working with Paka (Owner).

How did you come to work with Shaka Web Design Services?

We searched for available web designers on the internet. In the end, we picked Paka because he was in the same area as our farm, and we wanted to stay close to home. 

How much have you invested with them?

We've spent $1,100.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in October 2020, and we still work with Shaka Web Design.

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

The website didn't roll out until January, and we're still in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, so at the moment we don't have solid metrics yet. However, from the people who have seen our website, they've been very pleased with our site's appearance. Overall, we're happy with Shaka Web Design's work.

How did Shaka Web Design Services perform from a project management standpoint?

The team has been good at meeting deadlines, and they've pushed us to get things done.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Paka has an impressive knowledge of web design and the requirements needed to complete it. On the team aspect, we've been thrilled that we can meet face to face and show them what we want to highlight. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only setback so far is Paka's very technical approach. For people who are not very technical, maybe he should simplify things. We've never had a website before and it's been overwhelming to see all the technical requirements needed for websites.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a clear idea of what you're looking for. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of North Shore EVP. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Shaka Web Design Services?

We were looking to communicate what we do as a nonprofit. We don’t do sales, and we mostly work with farmers. It was important for us to have a front-facing website where community people and stakeholders reviewing proposals could come and learn about us.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They helped us redeveloped our WordPress website. We had a good idea of what we wanted our website to be. The team picked a new template for us, including the background images. They also thought about symbolic images that they could include on our platform. For example, on our donation page, there was a “nice leather glove farmworker” holding their hand out. 

We provided the images and content so that they could work on dressing up our platform and enhancing it. We also went page by page when we did the site. Shaka gave us the URLs for the pages and we went back to them for the list of edits that they needed to do.

We now have a year-long agreement with Shaka where we can send updates, bring new projects, and more. 

What is the team composition?

We’re working with Paka (Owner).

How did you come to work with Shaka Web Design Services?

We got in touch with Shaka through a project we were doing over with Malama Kauai. Moreover, they did some websites for some farms and we were impressed with their work. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent approximately $1,750.

What is the status of this engagement?

We probably started working together in late December 2020, and our partnership is ongoing. Our website went live in the third week of February 2021. 

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

They’ve jumped right in and made our website pretty and responsive. We don’t have bugs on our website, and they’ve delivered more than we had imagined. It has been fantastic working with them. 

How did Shaka Web Design Services perform from a project management standpoint?

We didn’t use any tools, but their communication process has been constant and clear. We’ve established a protocol for what we would send and the timelines for the deliverables. Moreover, we’ve never had to ask Shaka what’s going on in our project. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re close by and responsive. Overall, they’ve been super impressive. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think so. Their services are top-notch and we’ve had a positive experience with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Clearly communicate with Shaka. A lot of people assume that the developer knows everything about the organization when they really don’t know unless you tell them. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the co-director of the foundation.

For what projects/services did your company hire Shaka Web Design Services?

We hired Paka to build a robust website from scratch including a online video course platform. We also hired him to create logos and do design work for the company.

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

We wanted to work with someone local to Hawai'i so began looking online and found Paka. When I reached out to him by phone he answered promptly and took a long time to understand the scope of our project. It was this type of attention and time taken that made me feel he was going to be good to work with.

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

Our first step was designing our logo. We had an idea of what we wanted and Paka helped bring our vision to life for the web. He went above and beyond giving us many color and spec options. Paka then began building the site. I had a lot of special requests in design that he was able to manage. I also made many changes throughout the process in what exactly my goals were and he handled these changes with understanding.

The build was very custom and he used his vast knowledge and ingenuity to help realize my expansive vision. He was able to implement several complex forms, calendars, graphics, and design points that made the site function as well as be attractive and user friendly.

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

It was only Paka that I worked with.

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

Everyone that views the site is very impressed. The feedback has been on how it really showcases our vision, the retreat itself, and gives people an immersive experience into Earthsong while being very concise and beautiful. Earthsong is a complex and multilayered organization and so Paka's ability to showcase that while also making it easy to digest/navigate is impressive! The site is too new to judge results on site traffic.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Paka is very prompt with communication. They write very thorough responses to my questions and try to never miss anything. There were a few times our wires got crossed and we misunderstood the other's request or intent but we were able to come to an understanding on a phone call when e-mail wasn't allowing for clear communication.

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

This was by far the best experience building a website that I've experienced. I have built a handful of other websites with webdesigners in the past that were also robust, but this one is the most interactive - it serves as both a place for information as well as a place for people to make donations and sign up to a membership portal - so, I needed someone who is versatile! Paka is so on top of new technology and I was very impressed by that. I also feel like he'll be there for me through thick and thin of this website, and that I have an ally now in growing my website and making it successful. In the past, web designers would make a website and then disappear, leaving me to figure out updates and errors on my own. It gives me so much peace of mind knowing Paka is there to help. I also want to point out that we are not your average "business" and that we are putting a lot of emphasis on our website to serve as the primary way that people find us/support us and aren't using many traditional platforms. Paka has been very cool with how unique we are approaching business and very helpful in making it possible through the site.

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

Paka admittedly got stretched through this experience creatively as I am demanding in this way of anyone I work with. I had a lot of requests design wise, and Paka informed me from the beginning that while he designs websites he is not a graphic designer. Therefore, there were a few times I could tell he was frustrated, and I do understand why. I suggested at the time directly that it didn't land well with me to feel his frustration and he took my feedback well, and acknowledged that it's best for him not to air his frustrations with his client. Again, this is pretty minor considering I understand that it was indeed a LOT, more so than he had realized when agreeing to work with me. He did very well considering, and I'm also an advocate for people being honest with their feelings. The situation helped me in understanding how difficult some of the requests I had were and helped me in managing my expectations.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Management Consulting Firm President

For what projects/services did your company hire Shaka Web Design Services?

Web site design, implementation and on-going support

What were your goals for this project?

A new web site, responsive to multiple platforms/devices/screen sizes.

How did you select Shaka Web Design Services?

By interview and listing to his options for the solution and review of his prior work.

Describe the project in detail.

Having listened to our requirements and goals we were presented with a number of options/prototypes from which we selected one. This was then developed into our final solution.

What was the team composition?

I primarily worked with Paka and when required he worked with one of my employees.

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

The web site was complete and implement to our satisfaction. We were very please with the outcome and the ongoing support services we have received.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We were amazed by their creativity and responsiveness.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Creativity and responsiveness.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No.