A Small Studio

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for a global data center and infrastructure provider. I’m a senior director of product and marketing, handling product management and marketing for our digital platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with A Small Studio?

We wanted to find a small agency that we could develop an ongoing relationship with, as an extension of our team. They support us in production work surrounding UX and product design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’re responsible for research and design with our company on an ongoing basis. We’ve been executing conceptual product ideas with them. They attend many product management calls and help prototype our concepts based on listening to our business problems. We trust them with pretty extensive, dense projects. For instance, we just completed a wireframe with them that’s composed of about 200 screens. From there, they often work on product design as well. 

Once they’ve completed their work, our engineering team has everything they need to build out the project, including clickable prototypes in Figma. We work together to handle user testing in our market, working with them on a monthly retainer.  

What is the team composition?

We work with two designers and a project manager.  

How did you come to work with A Small Studio?

We were personally referred to them while looking for a small agency partner. Due to the personal nature of the referral, we’ve been able to work closely right from the start. We met with them in their facility and felt that they could function as an extension of our team.  

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $250,000 on the work.  

What is the status of this engagement?

 We’ve been working with them since July 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’ve provided us with the resources of a complete design team without requiring us to hire and recruit new internal teammates. Our engineers generally function on the same schedule, handling weekly sprints with their team pretty seamlessly. Whenever we need to build something, they operate like a world-class design team. We’ve launched features already and have received positive feedback from customers.  

How did A Small Studio perform from a project management standpoint?

They manage projects effectively through Asana. I’m able to log into boards to evaluate progress and gain insight into tasks that are taking longer. We collaborate on a shared Slack channel in addition to that. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve built a close relationship in which they’ve acted as an extension of our team. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’ve been very flexible and receptive to our feedback.  

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They understand branding and visuals as well as product design. That allowed them to elevate our UI to reflect our brand and its message. I’d hire them for branding or product design efforts.