Slide UX

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

The organization is St. Edward’s University in Austin.

What is your position?

I am the Creative Director and Brand Manager.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Slide UX?

We launched a new, responsive website in August of 2015, which is a combination of three of our older sites. Since our new website was attracting a different audience, we knew we needed to rethink the navigation and content on the pages. After a few months of living with the new site and working with the content, our team was running into a few user experience challenges. In looking at the analytics, we could see that our users were also having difficulty finding information, and they weren’t experiencing the site in a way that was beneficial for conversion. Our end goal is all about getting users to apply, schedule a visit, or request more information.

My Assistant Vice President and I took it upon ourselves to find an agency that we could partner with for a very brief time to identify the areas that were a challenge for users and make recommendations.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

We only worked with Slide UX for a few weeks. They looked at our site and came back in about three weeks with global considerations and high priority considerations, as well as some areas that we should look at where users may be frustrated by the design. From the beginning, we didn’t share too much information with them because we wanted to see if they were reaching the same conclusions that we were, and we were pleased to find that they did. The recommendations they brought back were very specific and helpful for the user path, and more specifically for navigation on mobile devices. They were ordered in terms of prioritization and accompanied by clear next steps that we should take.

How did you come to work with Slide UX?

We were looking for someone that was local to Austin and knew St. Edward’s University and brand. We looked at a couple of agencies here in town, but I liked that Slide UX was a smaller team. We knew that we wanted something done very quickly and we wanted to be able to meet face to face. We needed an agile team that could really be an addition to our staff for a short time.

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

Total spend was under $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement lasted about five weeks in early 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We are still implementing Slide UX’s recommendations among our team of 20. Our first set of changes will be completed within the next couple of weeks, and we expect to have results by August.

How did Slide UX perform from a project management standpoint?

Once I talked with Erin [Principal of Slide UX] and a few of her team members, I could tell that they understood what we were trying to accomplish and what was important to us. They were very well-versed, easy to work with, and adaptable to our tight timeframe. They even taught some people here about user experience, which was helpful.

Our audiences can vary greatly, from 16 and 17 year olds in high school looking for a university, to their parents, to grad students, and returning adult students. It was important for us to be able to make improvements that would affect all of our users. Erin and her team provided us with results and action items that we could use right away.

What distinguishes Slide UX from other providers?

Even though Erin and her team knew going into this that it was going to be a very short project, they still brought back presentations and results that were representative of a larger scale project. They’re just that type of team that delivers to the best of their abilities no matter the size of the project. Other agencies I’ve worked with will make something feel small budget and quick if they know I have a small budget and short timeline. By no means do I feel that Slide UX did that. They provided recommendations in the areas that they saw opportunities, not only where we asked them to look.

As I’ve recommended them to others, I say that they’re a small team with big results and big ideas. They are always willing to have an additional conversation on the phone or via email, and they always go the extra mile. I’ve gotten the same feeling from Erin and the three or four other people on her team that I’ve interacted with. User experience is Slide UX's thing, and they really do make it a priority to get the results that their clients are hoping for.

Is there anything Slide UX could have improved or done differently?

No, I felt like even before our initial meeting, they had done their research. They knew who we were and spent time on our site finding out about St. Edward’s University and how we differ. They came prepared and ready to make things happen.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I worked at a self-storage space company.

What is your position?

I was the chief product officer, which meant I had all of product management, product marketing, and user experience under me.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Slide UX?

Our company is in the self-storage industry, which is not super exciting. However, there's a new kind of storage system where a truck comes to you, picks up your stuff, and brings it to a warehouse. We were trying to enter this new category of business, but were really struggling with branding and messaging surrounding that. We engaged with Slide UX to help us come up with terminology that distinguishes this form of storage from the traditional storage experience. Then, we wanted to come up with images, words, and messaging to brand and market that idea.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Slide UX has a team member that works specifically with branding, Chad [Slide UX's creative director]. He met with us to understand our problem and turned that information into different terms, images, and icons. He then met with us to narrow down the options to a manageable amount. Slide UX then took those designs that we chose and did online surveys to determine what ones were received the best by our users. That objective data was very helpful because it proved that all of our gut feelings were wrong as they often are. We came away with a set of terms and images that we can confidently use across our website.

How did you come to work with Slide UX?

My VP of marketing had worked with Slide UX before and had a good experience, so he recommended them. We talked to a couple of other firms and weren't impressed, so we went with Slide UX.

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

Our cost was just about in the middle of $10,000 to $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in January of this year and lasted about six weeks. They were very efficient.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We completely redesigned the part of our website regarding this new type of storage, and although Slide UX didn't do the redesign, their work was critical to the changes that we made. Since those changes, our conversion rate has doubled.

How did Slide UX perform from a project management standpoint?

They managed it very well. Hanna [O'Brien, senior producer at Slide UX] was our project manager and Chad was the creative talent. Hanna attended all the meeting and gave a very clear idea of how long it was going to take. They kept all their timelines – nothing was ever late. Hanna was awesome.

What distinguishes Slide UX from other providers?

They were a pleasure to work with. Sometimes one of the things you get with UX [user experience] people is attitude, which is what we got from some of the other firms, but Slide UX is a group of very nice people. I would happily use Slide UX again not only because they're talented, but because they were lovely to work with.

Is there anything Slide UX could have improved or done differently?

No. I couldn't expect anything more without them being magical. Given what we asked of them, they performed as well as anybody could.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I work for SeniorAdvisor.com. We are a ratings and review site in the senior housing space. We help families with senior loved ones make better, more informed decisions as they choose senior services.

What is your position?

I am the Vice President of Marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Slide UX?

We had a website that was built by developers, so we brought Slide UX in to update the design and make the site more customer-friendly. Erin [Young, founder and user experience architect at Slide UX] and team did a complete redesign from top to bottom from a visual and UX [user experience] standpoint.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

It actually started a number of steps back from the site itself. We initially spent time determining the goals of the company and how we wanted the site to help us accomplish those goals. Erin did an awesome job of synthesizing our ideas into a nice set of statements that defined who we were as a company and then building the site to meet that vision. Slide UX did user research, prototyping, wireframing, and finally design work. They also provided us with design files that we could chop up and turn into code.

How did you come to work with Slide UX?

They came in as a referral to the president of our organization, and we've been working with them close to three years now.

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

Total spend to date is north of $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

At this point, we have them on retainer as our go-to resource for UX needs. They are an extension of our team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

When we started working with Slide UX we didn't rank for any search results, and we had a terrible user experience. Today, we are the biggest ratings and reviews site in this space. One of our most notable competitors has about a six-year head start on us in terms of content, but we have surpassed them in the short time that we've been around. I attribute much of our success, going from nothing to being the best in the space, to Slide UX's work on our site.

How did Slide UX perform from a project management standpoint?

They are very tight on project management. One of the benefits of bringing in Erin and her team is that they are very schedule-driven. They understand how to break a project into various milestones and deliverables, and they hit their targets. They bring a lot of precision and rigor to the table and actually helped us strengthen the way that we do things internally.

What distinguishes Slide UX from other providers?

We haven't used any other providers, and we're not shopping around. We've been pleased with Slide UX and we view them as a part of our team.

Is there anything Slide UX could have improved or done differently?

A year ago, I would say they were stretched thin on resources, and we couldn't get as many hours out of them as we wanted. They have since bolstered their team and brought on some good new hires. As of today, no, there is nothing to improve.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I work at KindHealth, a digital insurance platform that markets health insurance plans to individual consumers nationwide.

What is your position?

I am the president.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Slide UX?

We're in an industry that typically has a terrible design around its offerings. Most health insurance platforms out there show a consumer hundreds of different plans, but fail to communicate what plan best fits their needs. We wanted to show the product in a whole new way and make shopping for insurance like shopping for any other consumer product.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Slide UX designed the entire site. They chose the colors, redesigned the logo, and created a smooth flow for the user from start to finish. They also did much of work with the data and the coding. We had several applications with 800 to 1,000 unique fields for each insurance carrier, but were trying to create one application. Slide UX was instrumental in creating that universal application.

How did you come to work with Slide UX?

We were referred to Slide UX, specifically Erin Young [founder and user experience architect at Slide UX], by our development team. We met with a couple of design firms at the beginning, but chose Slide UX because we were impressed.

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

The cost ended up between $50,000 and $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project is completed.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

We did a pick-through with a random audience to compare the design and usability of our site with our most admired competitors. We not only won that, but have gotten tremendously positive feedback on the layout of the site.

How did Slide UX perform from a project management standpoint?

They did very well. One of their strong points was keeping us updated. It's common for these types of projects to spiral in terms of timeline and budget, but Slide UX did a great job of keeping us on track and within budget. They always let us know if they were going to be over in hours and how we could adjust to stay cost-neutral.

Is there anything Slide UX could have improved or done differently?

That's a tough one for me because I feel a little lame when you can't find an area for improvement but, no, they did exactly what they had to do.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I work for SENTO Design, a small marketing communications agency in Austin, Texas. We help our clients with their marketing efforts including strategy, design, and branding.

What is your position?

I am the owner.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Slide UX?

One of my clients needed a web application developed to help them reach and better interact with their customers. Normally my team would handle most of the work, but the client needed their product fast, and I knew I needed help from user experience professionals.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

I wanted someone who really knew what they were doing, and who could do it quickly. I engaged with Slide UX to create a development plan for the web application, and they provided the user interface design and experience elements.

How did you come to work with Slide UX?

My small agency has been around for a long time, and I value referrals much more than searching on the Internet. I reached out to an old colleague of mine and told her I needed a professional in the user experience area who can get started immediately. She referred me to Slide UX.

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

The cost falls between $50,000 and $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The initial launch phase that Slide UX was a part of is almost complete [as of April 2016]. After this phase, we'll need to reassess what functionality to add, at which point I expect to reach out to Slide UX again.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

There is nothing that I can specifically speak to at this point, but I am confident that the result of this web application is going to allow my client to surpass their competitors technologically.

How did Slide UX perform from a project management standpoint?

Excellent. Slide UX was very communicative and responsive, and they set the expectations where I needed them to be. Overall, I was very fulfilled as their customer.

What distinguishes Slide UX from other providers?

This is the first time I've hired out for a role like this, but it ended up being awesome. Slide UX performed very well, which helped me make the case to my client that UX [user experience] is a very valuable skill set that we should be hiring for.

Is there anything Slide UX could have improved or done differently?

I don't want to say that there is no room for improvement, but I honestly think they knocked it out of the park. They did everything they said they were going to do and that's what we needed.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

At the time of this project, I worked for SolarWinds, an IT [information technology] management software company.

What is your position?

I was director of the website, and I was responsible for improving lead conversion and keeping our features and functionality up-to-date.  I also oversaw product management, front-end development, and all UX [user experience] projects.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Slide UX?

We didn't have an internal web UX team. All of our internal UX was related to our software which is much different from web UX. We were looking for experts in UX to standardize the look and feel of our website and optimize our user experience to increase lead conversion.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Slide UX worked with us to understand user problems, participate in research, and then develop UX solutions to solve key problems. They developed everything from page components to whole pages to a series of pages in a particular user flow.  Additionally, they worked with us to completely redesign our site header and footer as well as navigational flow.  

How did you come to work with Slide UX?

My company already had a relationship with Slide UX when I started. I didn't find them, but I wish I had.

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

The cost was more than $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I am no longer with the company, but we used them on an ongoing basis for many projects while I was there.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did Slide UX perform from a project management standpoint?

Slide UX really stands up for what's right for the user. They are extremely collaborative with the team, use the latest project management and project review tools, and hold weekly meetings to keep everyone accountable for deadlines and deliverables.

What distinguishes Slide UX from other providers?

Slide UX partners with you to understand your business. They want to know what your goals are, what the users are trying to do, and what the user problems are. They approach projects holistically and start by sitting down to think through how the user should process the information in front of them. From the information architecture and UX perspective, they come up with innovative designs. We actually did a few bake-offs with other design firms while I was working with Slide UX because I think it's always good to keep it fresh. I was overwhelmingly impressed with their ability to understand the business and creatively go about solving the problem.

Is there anything Slide UX could have improved or done differently?

No. We used them for everything. We even had them do an online style guide for us, which was fantastic.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

I work for a water analytics company. We process big data for small water utilities providers around the United States.

What is your position?

I am the senior director of product marketing.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Slide UX?

Our hallmark product has a user interface that was pretty old school. We needed a huge redesign that included an intuitive, easy-to-use, and well-thought-out interface.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.

Slide UX did a ground-up redesign of our next generation of software as a service. They began working with information architecture and then moved on to building a basic wireframe. From there, they started adding design elements and packed in a lot of functionality. There was so much personnel change and growth while Slide UX was working with us, but they were incredibly flexible and accommodating and felt like an extension of our team.

How did you come to work with Slide UX?

The decision was made above my boss and me, but my guess is that they were recommended to us since we have an office in Austin.

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

The cost falls between $50,000 and $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement is on pause. Slide UX did exactly what was needed at the time, but we are evaluating our budget because there are many moving pieces.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

How did Slide UX perform from a project management standpoint?

Excellent. I've worked with many agencies in the past that agree to a specific statement of work and don't deviate from it. I was impressed with Slide UX because they were super flexible and accommodating as things shifted within our company. I always go back to how understanding they were given the extraordinarily high-change environment.

What distinguishes Slide UX from other providers?

It was very clear that they weren't just designers – they were UX [user experience] experts. They constantly thought about the usability perspective and they were incredibly easy to work with. One of the things that stood out to me was their professionalism. At our last meeting, instead of giving us a sales pitch, they understood that it was not the time. They let us know that they enjoyed working with us, and they were excited to talk to us in the future.

They also took the time to understand the water industry and the data they were dealing with. They asked a ton of questions in order to create a functional, good-looking product.

Is there anything Slide UX could have improved or done differently?

I was impressed with them. They could have been a lot meaner to me about not staying on top of the project, but they were sympathetic to the situation and remained positive the entire time. For a company that needs guidance during high-change situations, I think we were fortunate to work with Slide UX.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am a teammate of KindHealth

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

KindHealth is an AI platform that helps people make smarter decisions about their healthcare that maximizes their financial gains and minimizes their risks by guiding them to the best insurance portfolio, navigating price transparency and plan benefits.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Slide UX to accomplish?

• Ideation
• Product strategy
• Product planning

SOLUTION

How did you find Slide UX?

• Referral

Why did you select Slide UX over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Slide UX were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Has been integral to high level product strategy and roadmap planning, has designed workflows and captured product requirements, has integrated with the engineering team to keep task/epics/stories on track, has performed user testing and research, has worked closely with the design team to communicated requirements and to ideate on the design.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

requirements gathering, product planning, product roadmap, design feedback, user testing, project management

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Yes, this has been fantastic

What was your primary form of communication with Slide UX?

• Virtual Meeting

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

Such a high level of professionalism and quality of their deliverables which has exceeded expectations. They're extremely communicative and do great work.

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

none