Starbase

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a Founder at You are launched, a startup consultancy firm. Our company helps startup founders sort out their core value, launch digital products, generate first users, and get profits.

For what projects/services did your company hire Starbase?

Our client is a young startup that developed an Airbnb-like marketplace for pets. We've been working with them from day one, helping them validate their business idea, create an MVP marketplace, and attract their target audience. We hired a Starbase team to design the website and a mobile application for this project.

How did you select this vendor?

Starbase actually found me first through Clutch when they were looking for an iOS & Android development team to deliver their project. We've been working since April 2021 (we were their vendors), and when we needed to find a design team for our project, I knew they were the right team.

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

Because the project comes from a pretty competitive field, we knew we had to come up with something extraordinary (including UI/UX design) to generate loyal users. Our workflow was broken down into bi-weekly sprints. At the end of each sprint, we had demos and retrospectives to review the artifacts, gather feedback from stakeholders and users, and plan the future steps. When needed, a Starbase team demonstrated high flexibility to make necessary changes and urgent fixes. They set up all communication tools (Slack and Zoom) and design tools (Figma) and led us through the working process.

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

There are two UI/UX designers and Art Director that work on the project.

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

First, they totally fulfilled our expectations. Their delivery speed, diligence, proactive approach, and quality of work are excellent. Second, we got a chance to run a series of A/B testing sessions, user testing, and focus groups to get first feedback. Our users outlined usability features like easy and intuitive navigation. Overall, users and our team were more than happy with what we saw!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Like I said before, a Starbase team really excels at collaboration with their clients. They took our hands and guided us through every working step, artifact, and report. Their communication and responsiveness are excellent. I've worked with many contractors in the digital industry and I can definitely say that it's one of the best collaborations I've had so far.

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

I like how they understood all of our requirements and ideas on the fly. They also think a few steps further and always put an end-user to a cornerstone. Sometimes, design teams put their creative ambitions before users. With a Starbase team, that's not the case.

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

It's hard to find something that I'd drastically change since didn't have any troubles with the quality of work, communication, or our work in general. When everything goes as you expected, you don't see any flaws!

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of a small german software agency consisting of me and 3 employees. We are developing software for medium sized companies and work on our own projects.

For what projects/services did your company hire Starbase?

We are working on an inhouse app project for endusers. For this reason we wanted the app to be beatiful and easy to use. Our skillset mostly consists of developing software, thus we needed external help for the design part.

What were your goals for this project?

We are building an app to become the market leader in a small animal niche. The current competitors ui's are still looking like they were developed in the early 2000s. We want to bring that niche to the current state of the art of ui design.

How did you select Starbase?

I searched online on multiple platforms for different designers. We started working on a trial basis with 3 designers/agencies. Starbase was by far the most professional one in the planning phase as well in the result.

Describe the project in detail.

At first I told my contact at starbase about the general project. From that description he created a general flow chart of the neccessary screens. We used that as a basis to gain a mutual understanding of the project.

After some adjustments they started working on the wireframes. He quickly reported me, when they made progress so that I could give them my feedback. The first draft was already very good and the general style more than met my expectations.

As we tackle a complex topic there were obviously a couple of details that needed changes. From my comments, the designers at starbase were able to understand the gist of what I wanted very precisely. Based on that, they made me a couple of suggestions from which I chose the once that I liked most. We used these to develop the final designs. The communication was very fast which led to great results in allmost no time.

What was the team composition?

I have a single contact which I am communicating with. He also does major parts of the design which helped in keeping the overhead low. He clearly communicatd, that there are other people wokring in the background on my project as well.

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

After only 2.5 weeks in the Projects I were able to show allmost final designs to potential customers of our app. Most of them are not tech savy, but all of them found the interface intuitive and beatiful.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We got frequent updates on the project status and They quickly reacted to my comments and change requests

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The general workflow was very impressive. They led me through the process that is neccessary to gather all information for a successfull app design. Other designers I tried just started working without even gaining a proper understanding of my wants and needs.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Honestly I am perfectly happy with Starbase and will hire them for all of my upcoming projects that need dedicated design work.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a travel and social media app.

What challenge were you trying to address with Plastik?

We needed help with UI/UX design.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We had a specific concept, and Plastik helped us structure and visualize our idea into concrete designs. They created our app’s UI designs and helped us move onto the next steps of development. Their team created a mind map showing critical stages of the project and areas that needed more focus.

What is the team composition?

There are three people including a project manager.

How did you come to work with Plastik?

We were considering a few agencies we found online and chose Plastik in the end. Also, they had past experience with e-commerce clients, which was very important for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $2,500.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2019, and the work is ongoing.

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

Plastik has good experience in this domain. We liked the different types of visualizations as well as the structural design and UX approach that they implement. Our team was pleased with their work in the areas of project profiling and how the landing page and different components came together.

How did Plastik perform from a project management standpoint?

There’s a very high level of interaction. Plastik is supportive, consistent, and always delivers on time. They have good precision in the average estimate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very transparent as a team and meet our expectations.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t have any criticism.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Take advantage of the visual roadmap and their feedback after diagnosing the project.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CTO of an e-Healthcare business. We develop an ecosystem to promote healthy activities and products.

For what projects/services did your company hire Plastik?

We desire Plast for all UI/UX and design tasks. They build a complete design concept, website concept and app concept from zero.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal is to have a developer-ready prototype with all UI and UX prepared. Furthermore, the project includes a marketing landing page and a complete branding concept.

How did you select this vendor?

We've searched online and recognized some very nice sample projects, which fits perfectly to our needs.

Describe the project in detail.

We are working with 5 people on this project, 2 from HealthStars and 3 from Plastik. A manager from Plastik and two designers. We discuss everything in different slack channels and using skype calls. Reviews are also done via slack. The communication is very good and changes are implemented very quickly.

What was the team composition?

We have conversations with the designers as well as with the project manager to avoid a lack of information. This is working very well, because of our iterative progress.

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

We got a complete app and brand book design from zero to everything in two months. Our business partners are so impressed that they have sped up the onboarding process and increased the project priority.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Due to a simple communication channel (slack), we have a very effective workflow.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The short time they finish their work and the modern look and feel. Furthermore, we have a very good communication workflow and everything is done as expected and better. But the most impressive part is the amazing output they have generated by only getting a few information about the project at the beginning.

Are there any areas for improvement?

-

Please describe your company and your position there.

CEO/Startup Founder

For what projects/services did your company hire Plastik?

We hired Plastik agency to design the UI for our website.

What were your goals for this project?

The goals for this project were to create an intuitive tool for complex stock market data analytics. A lot of information has to be communicated on the analysis page, which was going to be a challenge.

How did you select this vendor?

I saw a few examples of their work on Dribble, and decided to give them a call.

Describe the project in detail.

The project required complex price graphs, infographics, and customizable parameters to be able to analyze market data on various timeframes. We needed to develop the UI for the entire site from the homepage to plans, subscription management, profile settings, and password recovery, to name a few.

What was the team composition?

We were assigned a project manager, with one designer working behind the scenes as well.

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

Plastik agency always delivered in a timely manner. They not only understood our vision but augmented it with their own creative touch. They did a great job with the initial pass on each page, and they were able to quickly integrate later comments and find solutions that met the requirements while allowing the site to remain intuitive, visually pleasing, and not too cluttered with information.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communicating with Plastic agency was very easy. For the initial pages, we worked with mockups, and later we used Invision to add comments to each of the pages.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They've never failed to deliver in a timely manner, and always the highest quality work. Beyond just dealing with the "look and feel", they had a good sense for the comprehensive brand of this company, and what we are offering to our customers.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I would recommend Plastik agency to anyone looking for a talented, affordable team to help realize their project.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of SPRT APP GmbH, a sports platform.

What challenge were you trying to address with Plastik?

We needed someone to redesign our application’s approach to how users connect with it.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We went through our UX/UI and analyzed the entire user journey. We optimized various screens where users have problems and solved them. We generated and created some screens that were transferred to us as business holders, then created the UX completely from scratch together for Android and iOS.

We’re 90–95% complete, but are still working on some screens, as the process of creating a completely new user journey will take a few more weeks. We have to close up some animation, post messages, and make small changes to icons on various screens—we did AB testing and figured out we had to change some icons, colors, and fonts.

What is the team composition?

The team is so great that I wanted to know them personally, so I went to Ukraine to collaborate with them more intensively. After being there 6 or 7 days, I’d met the entire team including the co-founders, the UX leader, the business person, and three junior designers.  

How did you come to work with Plastik?

I did an online search and messaged various UI/UX agencies. We ran a small design competition where three or four top design agencies competed, and after analyzing the results, found that Plastik delivered the best designs.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent 3,000-6,000 euros (approximately $3,400–$6,800 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2019 and the work is ongoing.

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

They have good knowledge of modern, 21st-century design trends. We tested out the redesigned screens with our present user base and they loved them—they were what we were looking for. It was hard to find a team who could do that for the price point they offered, so we’re very happy to work with them.

How did Plastik perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is great, using Slack, Trello, and Sketch Cloud. They’re one of the best companies we’ve worked with.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very responsive and have great ideas.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Everything is great so far.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Deliver all the necessary briefs for the designers to do their work.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and CEO of a startup called GetRenty. We’re developing a marketplace platform that combines peer-to-peer car sharing with a fully automated car rental process.

What challenge were you trying to address with Plastik?

The challenge centered on UI/UX design.

What was the scope of their involvement?

After making mockups and low-fidelity designs, Plastik. We made lots of small changes. I sent them a couple of examples of designs I liked, and asked for some options on that style. They gave me a mood board with samples I had to choose from. That helped them get more into my vision. turned them into high-fidelity designs
 
Outside of the UI/UX, they provided every type of work we needed within the design area. They created an entire brand book and portfolio for our company.
 
What is the team composition? 

I worked with the three co-founders. The rest of the teammates were backend developers.

How did you come to work with Plastik?

A company I know well gave me a strong recommendation.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $5,000–$10,000. I think they’re extremely cheap and should be charging 2–3 times more.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Plastik in January 2019 and finished the project 10 days ago. Decision-making extended the timeline. They’re still working on some banners for us. 

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

The work we accomplished together would have been impossible to achieve with other designers. Plastik was just as concentrated on securing results as we were. I’d give them a perfect score for communication.

When we took part in a startup exhibition in Dubai a couple of days ago, many people remarked on the high-level design Plastik created. At this point, It’s still too early to have quantifiable statistics. Rather than using hours as a metric, we evaluated them based on results.

Plastik is a highly professional team that always supported us. They handled stressful moments gracefully and always remained friendly and polite. 

How did Plastik perform from a project management standpoint?

Plastik’s speed of communication is very fast, and they stuck to all the deadlines we set. Once we gave them a task and set a price and list of terms, we didn’t need to track their work. Tools we used included messaging systems such as Slack for communication and InVision for design.
 
I appreciated that they were willing to work on weekends, which was very important for us. If we had a question even on a Saturday or Sunday, they responded immediately. Many larger companies told us they didn’t work after 6:00 PM.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Using a modern style, Plastik follows all the latest industry guidelines to create designs of the future. 
 
Managing design teams can be difficult because everything depends on keeping our ideas aligned with theirs. Past designers we’ve worked with delivered entirely different work than we expected. Plastik's team kept their vision in parallel with our own.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Plastik is an awesome team. I can’t think of anything they could have done better.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

I’m confident that Plastik could deliver any project, and do so professionally. They gave us the best price on the market and even let us dictate the timeline.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Flatiko, a real estate rental company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Plastik?

I needed an agency to help design and develop our platform.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We gave them the preliminary business model and detailed technical tasks. Plastik completed the branding concept and the website’s UI/UX design for the desktop and mobile versions. We’ve now moved onto development.

What is the team composition?

They have a good team structure. I’m in contact with a project manager, although I know there are a few designers involved at various levels.

How did you come to work with Plastik?

They were referred to us by one of their clients.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $5,000 so far. The overall project is expected to be worth around $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2019, and the engagement is ongoing.

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

The design project was successfully completed within the estimated budget and timeline. Plastik’s quality is good. They’re experts in the industry and they’ve exceeded our expectations.

How did Plastik perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was really good. We split everything into sprints, and they provided time and budget estimates for each one. It was a really convenient process and their estimates were spot on.

We used Slack for team cooperation and InVision for commenting and giving feedback on prototypes. It was a really good collaboration. We had regular calls to discuss progress and specific comments. They were really proactive in asking questions and providing solutions.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re proactive and meet their budget and timing. They also have strong technical skills and suggested solutions that made a lot of sense.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. There’s nothing I’d have them improve.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the founder of a personal security startup that aims to bring to society a safer environment without needing to sacrifice individual freedom.

For what projects/services did your company hire Plastik?

We hired them to take on web design as well as UI/UX design for the mobile app.

What were your goals for this project?

We were looking to obtain an MVP version for both the website and mobile app and continue the system’s development and improvement. Our long-term goal is to provide users a set of features that will improve public awareness and make people help and look after each other so that less police force is required to maintain a safe environment for everyone. Ideally, safety will be provided by average citizen activity.

How did you select this vendor?

I’ve worked with Plastik before on a smaller project, and they proved to be useful. I knew they were capable of handling this project so I gave it to them.

Describe the project in detail.

At the start, we had an online meeting and we went through the requirements document and user stories that I had at the moment. Based on those, Plastik created mockups of the interface for the mobile app, which took a few more meetings to review. Within a short timeframe, we had designs available for our developers.

The next stage involved designing the website, which went through the same milestones as the mobile app did. We’re still in the development stage, so we still use Plastik’s help every now and then.

What was the team composition?

Arsentii (Founder & Art Director, Plastik) was our single point of contact. As far as I’m aware, he has several designers to help him with projects.

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

We’re still in a pre-kickoff stage, so it’s probably too early to talk about the project's outcome. However, Plastik has helped us a lot with developing a professional image for the website and mobile app. They are reliable, flexible, and great to work with, so the journey with them has been a pleasure.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They’ve been very effective in this regard. Both Arsentii and I made the effort to be reachable to each other. He has been really cooperative and helpful in all circumstances.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their creativity, skills, can-do attitude, and willingness to go the extra mile for a client are outstanding.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There’s nothing in particular, though I don’t know of any situation where attention to details and testing is ever enough.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a co-founder of Mind Studios, a mobile app development company. I’m the product owner of several internal projects.

What challenge were you trying to address with Plastik?

I needed UX/UI development for some of our mobile games but didn’t have any internal UX/UI developers.

What was the scope of their involvement?

After discussing our ideas for the game with them, I provided some hand-drawn mockups. Plastik provided several concepts, starting with the game’s main screen. The game has a sci-fi, cyberpunk setting, so they created a futuristic design. Once we agreed on the overall UI concept, Plastik redesigned up to 100 screens. They’re doing part-time work now because we’re focused on development, but we still request they make small changes or updates or add new features.

What is the team composition?

The owner did the main concept work in the beginning and then brought on another designer.

How did you come to work with Plastik?

I’d worked with Plastik’s owner before. When he told me he’d started his own studio, I shared multiple design tasks with him.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent between $10,000–$15,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since May 2018.

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

Judges at a gaming event thought our prototype's interface was cool and weren’t confused by it at all. Its design was inspired by other sci-fi and cyberpunk games, so it was good they understood what we did.

How did Plastik perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done well, handling and adapting to the changes that have come up and keeping me updated. We use Trello, InVision (to create clickable prototypes) and a tool for sending sketch files.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They never complain when our clients change their requirements. Instead, they quickly get ready to implement them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I’ve seen.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

To save time, prepare a good specification and share examples of interfaces you like before starting any concept design.