Sparkle Design

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and developer of a mobile app called ProCardApp. It serves as a digital business card, and it is already available on Google Play and the App Store.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sparkle Design?

I needed help with market analysis.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sparkle Design did a market analysis for my business. Initially, I gave them our business plan documentation and provided them with some ideas I had been thinking of. From there, they were in charge of the entire analytical research and did the due diligence necessary before launching a marketing campaign.

After they performed this analytical research, we came to the conclusion that we needed to redo the app itself, following the advice that Sparkle Design provided us with. Additionally, they proposed developing marketing materials for when we were ready to relaunch the app.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with the owner, but I didn’t know how many people were involved from their side. However, I know that their team included a designer, iOS and Android developers, and people involved in the market analysis strategy.

How did you come to work with Sparkle Design?

Sparkle Design has 22 years of experience. Some of my friends had worked with them, so I trusted them and decided to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

I spent around $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from October–December 2021. Now, Sparkle Design is waiting for me to have the funds to redevelop the app. Definitely, they’ll be involved in the next part of the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I was very happy and satisfied with Sparkle Design. They did a very good job, and the numbers were clear.

How did Sparkle Design perform from a project management standpoint?

Sparkle Design’s project management was excellent. Every week, we had a Zoom meeting where they showed me the results and numbers of the work that they were doing. They delivered everything on time, and they even delivered some numbers faster than expected. In the end, the time and money we spent on this project were very accurate compared to what we had estimated. Besides the Zoom meetings, we communicated via WhatsApp.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Sparkle Design has a very comprehensive in-house team, including project managers, iOS and Android developers, and designers. Their internal communication and different skill sets made it possible for them to deliver great results. Whatever they were doing in the background reflected amazing teamwork in the result.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t think that they could have done something different. Of course, every company has the human factor, but Sparkle Design works great as a team and demonstrates their experience.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Explain exactly what you need so that they’re able to deliver what you expect.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of marketing practice in B2C markets, and I work for iMark, an insurance marketing company. We market complex products and services like finance, B2B, and services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sparkle Design?

We needed a simple, fast-paced, and modern website with a minimalist design. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sparkle Design designed and developed our platform from scratch. The website featured how we could help our clients and how they could take their business to the next level through us. 

What is the team composition?

As as I know, a team of 10 people worked on our project including Alexander (Founder & Owner).

How did you come to work with Sparkle Design?

Our colleagues and friends told us about Sparkle Design. When we saw the team’s portfolio, we decided that they were capable of creating our website. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $11,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from May–July 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Everything was fine, and we were happy with the website they developed. After launching our platform, we received several requests and inquiries. 

How did Sparkle Design perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated through Telegram, email, and more. Sparkle Design met the deadlines we gave them, and they finished their work immediately. Overall, their project management workflow was great. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They were able to reply to us even outside of their working hours, and we appreciated that because there were times we needed to quickly get in touch with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I highly recommend Sparkle Design to my friends and colleagues. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the head of the electronic banking services division for Ukreximbank, the state export-import bank of Ukraine. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Sparkle Design?

Our previous website was launched more than 10 years ago—in 2008—and we had to implement a new solution.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Sparkle Design had to create a new version of our site and integrate it with the enterprise service bus of our bank. They adapted all content to customer expectations and bought pictures from stock photo sites like Shutterstock. We divided the project into six stages and went stage by stage to implement it.

What is the team composition?

I don’t know what the team size was; we interacted with a single person from Sparkle Design. We solved all issues only with Alexander (Founder and Owner, Sparkle Design Studio).

How did you come to work with Sparkle Design?

We’d interacted with Sparkle Design 7–8 years ago. They created some Flash banners for our previous site, and we had a good experience collaborating with the company. 

In 2018, we arranged a transparent process for choosing a provider. We chose 5–6 Ukrainian companies that had experience developing and launching websites for banks. From that process, we decided to start collaborating with Sparkle Design. They had experience developing bank websites, offered a reasonable price for their services, and were the winner in meeting the transparent procedures required of us as a state bank.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $32,000–$33,000 for the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Sparkle Design in August 2018, and we finished the project in September 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The new site is quite different and modern, and it meets all our expectations. We now have a responsive design for mobile devices to accommodate more than 55% of our site visitors who come from mobile. Our colleagues, clients, and peers in the Ukrainian banking sphere all liked the new version of our site.

How did Sparkle Design perform from a project management standpoint?

Alexander was our single point of contact. We used various channels to reach him: a bug tracker, email, and a Telegram group. We could interact around the clock.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Sparkle Design went beyond what we required in our statement of work. We have our own IT teams, but they lacked experience in various web design spheres. Sparkle Design’s team helped us make some adjustments to our IT infrastructure as well as implementing the site.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We completed the project in September, but we had some issues and improvements to make. We have a 12-month warranty period, and we’re considering hiring Sparkle Design as a provider to maintain the website. We’re also considering migrating it to a cloud host, but our bank is rather conservative in this regard, and we don’t have experience with it. I’m sure we can start a collaboration with Sparkle Design to continue all these processes.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

We would recommend them to other companies. Of course, we had some difficulties during the project because we had stakeholders on the bank side involved in the process. Sparkle Design handled all troubles well during the project.