Space 48

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a director at a direct-to-consumer brand that sells hair color products. We retail directly through an exclusive partnership with a pharmacy chain.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Space 48?

We hired them to design and develop changes and new features for our web experience.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Space 48 took over our existing website and tech stack from a previous provider. Their work falls into three categories: UX design, conversion rate optimization, and web development. Our first project was to migrate our encryption service. When we onboarded them, we had already done the discovery and scoping work, so I handed over the website, which is an API-based, headless Shopify platform. 

The first thing they did was audit the site. From there, they generated recommendations for improving our UX design based on best practices and their experience. Space 48’s designers specialize in a field that focuses on conversion rate optimization, which was the new design’s goal. They used MURAL as a workshopping ideation tool and Figma to create the design. Then, their developers implemented the new UX. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve got a dedicated project manager who can act as a Scrum master to schedule releases, and she coordinates a design team, a development team, and a QA team. 

How did you come to work with Space 48?

I found them through a referral from my Shopify Plus account manager. 

How much have you invested with them?

Our first project had a budget of around £100,000 (approximately $125,000 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2021, and our collaboration is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Thanks to our migration project, we’ve been able to add additional products for our subscription customers. This has increased the average order value of a subscription by 10%.

How did Space 48 perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very good at project management and transparent in sharing information and documentation. They use Confluence to document the project history, tasks, meetings, and key decisions that we make. The project manager helps distribute the budget, and she uses Jira as a workflow management tool. 

We have weekly planning sessions attended by the developers and designers when relevant so that they can estimate the work we’re asking them to do. We communicate over Google Meet.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The breadth of services that Space 48 provides is impressive. They have expertise in data, design, development, and marketing — they’re a one-stop shop.

Are there any areas they could improve?

One area we're still working together to perfect is the correct distribution of the budget across design and development work. We always want to ensure that we have ready-to-implement designs. As for the developers, that corresponds to the highest priority goals for the website. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice is to be as detailed as possible when specifying the engagement’s objectives. Make sure these objectives align with your goals and are realistic and affordable within the budget.