The Story Web Design

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I was an engineering professor at the University of Waterloo, a leading Canadian university, for more than 30 years. During that time, I developed a number of teaching models and YouTube videos, and I was keen to share them and some key research findings with others around the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The Story Web Design & Marketing?

I needed a new website.

What were your goals for this project?

I wanted a site that would be accessible and attractive to anyone, whether a fellow professor or a high school student who had viewed one of my YouTube videos. I also wanted it to be mobile-friendly.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I know the founder of The Story. I saw his prior work and believed he could do the same for me.

Describe the project in detail.

Trevor (Founder, The Story) started the project by learning about the content that was to go on the website. He offered many suggestions on how to better organize it and tie it to the home page. Then, he provided us with two unique design concepts. I was really pleased with how both layouts enabled visitors to quickly see the resources available and navigate to topics that interested them. After choosing the concept I preferred, The Story designed the inside pages and developed everything needed to complete the site.

What was the team composition?

Trevor was our primary contact, and because of the modest scale of the project, I didn’t meet the rest of the team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’m very proud of the new site; it’s everything I had hoped for, and more. A number of people have written to me to comment on how much they like the site.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The communication was prompt and effective. The overall duration of the project could have been shortened if I’d completed my final videos sooner.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I was impressed with Trevor's strong graphics sense, his tasteful page designs, and his restructuring of the site to make it more attractive and accessible to a broad audience. I’m also very glad that it’s now mobile friendly. The quality, creativity, and ease-of-use of the new site far exceeded my original expectations.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I was very satisfied with the excellent work The Story did for me.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the president of BeniPlus. We provide affordable, flexible benefit plans that are ideal for small businesses.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The Story Web Design & Marketing?

We needed a range of services to help build a digital marketing strategy, including web design, SEO and online advertising.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed to create and launch a website that clearly communicated who we were to our target market. We wanted to increase our online visibility.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I’d known the founder of The Story Web Design & Marketing (The Story), so I approached him to see what his team could provide. He was knowledgeable and open to working with us on the array of tasks we had.

Describe the project in detail.

We began with a meeting for The Story to gain a fuller understanding of my company, target audience, and the overall value we bring to our market. We also showed them the website appearance we were aiming for. We gave them copy for the site, and they returned with two unique design options. They refined the design we chose and began the development for the rest of the site. Their team helped us understand how to shape our landing page to better serve users making purchases. The Story continues to work with us, helping with SEO, online advertising through PPC, and copywriting for our site.

What was the team composition?

We interact directly with the Trevor (President, The Story Web Design & Marketing) during each stage. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve seen immediate results since implementing PPC advertising, and we’ve received fantastic feedback from our partners and new customers. The site has a strong flow that has a great overall look and feel.  

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We have regular meetings on a weekly basis for progress updates. They are a team of strong communicators. We appreciate that they provide us with meeting summaries for future reference, including the topics we covered and any agreements made.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The Story produced an attractive website and help us understand their process every step of the way. We now have a greater comprehension of what successful digital marketing requires.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There’s nothing I can think of—The Story has been helpful throughout the process.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the founder and president of AI Healthlink, Inc. We provide machine learning solutions to the healthcare industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The Story Web Design & Marketing?

We hired them for branding, copywriting, website design, and development. 

What were your goals for this project?

We needed a professional brand and website that would represent who we are and effectively communicate our value to healthcare customers. 

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I contacted The Story early in my search for a vendor, and they demonstrated an acute understanding of what our company needed to attain our business objectives.

Describe the project in detail.

The Story began by creating our brand and developing a logo, business cards, and letterhead. This was done in tandem with an in-depth discovery of our company and approach to client needs. They then composed an effective company description. 

What was the team composition?

They provided a web designer as well as branding and copy resources. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our branding is solid and compelling. The narrative copy describes not only who we are, but what we excel at, and the website’s professional design looks fantastic.  

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The Story helped push the process forward to ensure that we kept our commitments, they completed the deliverables, and things were done as quickly as possible. 

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I really value The Story’s contributions to shaping our message. They were fun to work with and we developed an excellent rapport.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the director of marketing for Eddy Solutions. We provide intelligent leak detection and risk management for buildings including commercial, multi-family buildings, and single-family homes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The Story Web Design & Marketing?

We engaged The Story Web Design & Marketing to redesign our website.

What were your goals for this project?

The website needed a “wow factor”—something to grab people’s attention and immediately engage users. We wanted video motion content as well. n our website that grabbed a visitor’s attention.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I worked with them at another organization. They delivered excellent work in a timely fashion.

Describe the project in detail.

During the kickoff, we described our company vision, business goals, target market, and messaging. We then described the style and effects we enjoyed from comparable websites. Next, The Story Web Design & Marketing provided various concepts for the homepage; we selected one theme from the multiple options. The team then designed and developed the site on WordPress. We supplied content and they created a motion video. We approved everything before the site went live.

What was the team composition?

We worked with the president, VP of sales, and three marketing team members.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Engagement levels grew at a tremendous rate. Our bounce rate decreased from 68% to under 3%. We also won an industry award for design. Furthermore, WordPress development enabled our team to make changes after the project’s conclusion.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The team regularly tracked our requirements, and readily shared concepts and drafts as they finished work. That approach maximized the project’s efficiency.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The home page’s “wow factor” exceeded our expectations.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Our side was responsible for the delays. They worked quickly and managed the project well.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the founder and owner of DRJ & Associates, an accounting firm.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The Story Web Design & Marketing?

We engaged The Story Web Design & Marketing to design and develop a website. We also wanted them to create content and implement SEO on the site.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a website that had visual appeal and easily conveyed who we are and what we can do to potential clients.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I knew Trevor (President, The Story Web Design & Marketing) from a past organization we were involved with. He impressed me with his knowledge and skill set, and I felt that he would successfully complete our project.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

The Story Web Design & Marketing first worked with us to understand our business. They then developed content for the site and created a concept for the design that felt highly professional. Lastly, they implemented the design and helped us incorporate SEO.

What was the team composition?

The Story Web Design & Marketing is a sole proprietorship, so we only worked with Trevor.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The site achieved our goal of representing our company in a professional and visually appealing way. We have seen higher SEO rankings as a result of their work. Also, The Story Web Design & Marketing has helped us sort through questionable emails via verification processes and helped us save time and money.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The Story Web Design & Marketing accomplished each stage of the project quickly and effectively.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They delivered an excellent website that continues to impress us to this day.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

No, we’re very pleased with their work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the founder and president of Salesforce Training. We help sales teams utilize Salesforce every single day.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The Story Web Design & Marketing?

We needed a variety of design and development services including a logo and emblem for our custom training area and a process for nurturing prospects who visit my site. We also had to import our existing blog and integrate into Salesforce generated pages.

What were your goals for this project?

I needed a professional website that incorporated some of the concept ideas I had and didn’t compromise our past SEO work. We also wanted to improve conversions from the site.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Their owner was recommended to me by one of my other vendors and his proposal made sense.

Describe the project in detail.

The Story created a number of logo concepts for us, which we refined and then picked from. I was pleased with their work so far so we had them develop an emblem to brand one of our Salesforce training options. They then provided me with concepts for the website and developed it.

What was the team composition?

We just worked with the owner, Trevor. He may have had backend support to help with some of the technical work, but I was never introduced or made aware of anyone else.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

My website continues to generate high quality leads regularly. The design concepts that The Story provided me with blew me away and were much better than I’d imagined. The colors and graphics they used absolutely represented how I felt about my brand.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The Story provided me with feedback and I was kept abreast of the project throughout the process. Working with only the owner suited me perfectly and didn’t impact the overall delivery or my satisfaction with their work.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I love the look of my website. The Story's design and development skills are excellent. I also love seeing quality leads come through on a regular basis. I refresh my website every three years to boost my online marketing, so I look forward to seeing how The Story can help me.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I can’t think of anything.

UPDATED REVIEW

The client updated the review on May 28, 2020. The original star ratings were Overall – 4.5, Quality – 4.5, Schedule –5, Cost – 5, NPS – 5.

BACKGROUND
Please describe your company and your position there.

Salesforce Training provides training for companies that are using or implementing Salesforce.com. We help companies that recognize that in order to scale their business, they need to embrace CRM. When we start working with our clients, some of them are still using spreadsheets, while others have already implemented Salesforce, but have discovered that their salespeople either can’t, or won’t use it effectively. We help them fix these problems with highly interactive and hands-on training that helps sales teams ensure that they will succeed with Salesforce.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE
For what projects/services did your company hire The Story Web Design & Marketing?

I hired The Story to create copy for the website, design a new logo, and create a new website that is very professional and engaging. We are also using The Story to increase our online presence and increase our website conversion rates.

What were your goals for this project?

Our old website was dated. We needed to update the website with current content and the website needed to work well on smartphones. The goal of our website is to generate new clients. We want more new clients each month.

SOLUTION
How did you select this vendor?

The Story had designed our previous website.

Describe the project in detail.

The process started with copywriting. As a trainer I know how to write, but I needed someone to create the copy for the website, so it reads easily on the website. The Story created multiple concepts for us to review in order for us to determine what look and feel we wanted for the website. I was able to pick what I liked. Throughout the process, I was often presented with multiple options simultaneously so that I could select what I liked best. It was an efficient process that provided a better result. We had a weekly standing meeting where I received regular updates of progress and clearly identified next steps. They were beneficial and kept us on track. The final result of the website aligned with exactly what I wanted. The Story was very professional and great to work with. I highly recommend them.

What was the team composition?

The team was comprised of Trevor Hamilton, my primary point of contact, and his designers, whom I did not meet or speak with.

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

Almost immediately after the website went live, we had 2 good leads in a single day. I’m very happy with the new website. It represents our overall theme and who we are. We’ve gotten lots of compliments on our website and it’s much better than our peers in the industry.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The Story had a single point of contact for me throughout the project. We had weekly meetings. Our interactions were efficient and productive and were an effective use of my time because we got stuff done.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The Story’s process helped the website to be a shared vision. They gave choices form the very beginning and we worked through iterations until it was perfect.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The Story was great to work with. I am continuing to work with The Story in order to increase our rankings on Google and increase the number of leads we are getting from our website.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the director of operations at CLAGETT PERIODONTICS AND IMPLANT DENTISTRY, PLLC. We are a periodontal practice in Kentucky that provides dental implants, gum disease and recession treatment, and other services to enhance the smiles of our patients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The Story Web Design & Marketing?

Our website lacked engaging elements and failed to leave an impression on visitors. We needed a new website to help us grow our business.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted the new website to be fresh, engaging, and highly professional. It needed to provide clients with insight into our company’s values through its design and content.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Both of our companies are involved in EntreLeadership, which is a community to help business owners manage their business. Our periodontist discussed the project with the owner of The Story Web Design & Marketing and loved the vision he presented.

Describe the project in detail.

The Story Web Design & Marketing helped us in a number of areas. The team created a new logo and custom designed a website that displayed photos of our practice and our team. They also wrote new copy that reflected our brand and the story of our organization. The website is compatible with all screen sizes and device types. Additionally, the team created forms to help us manager new patients and referrals. We collaborated throughout the engagement, they actively asked for our input and made changes as requested.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our website’s visitors gave the new platform excellent feedback. Engagement levels significantly rose, our bounce rate is under 10%. All of the copy provided by The Story Web Design & Marketing accurately reflects our company.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The team was extremely responsive to all of our feedback in all aspects of the project.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The Story Web Design & Marketing provided guidance to help us understand the technical elements of digital design and marketing. Now, we can use this information to help us make the right decisions for our practice.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I liked working with The Story Web Design & Development, but I think if they had provided a more definitive direction, then I wouldn’t have needed to be as involved in the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a pastor at Kingsview Free Methodist Church and I am responsible for communications. Kingsview is an inter-cultural and inter-generational community church serving the Kingsview Village-Westway neighborhood of Toronto and beyond. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The Story Web Design & Marketing?

We needed to redesign our website because it had become outdated. 

What were your goals for this project?

We needed simpler navigation and wanted quality content to showcase our church. We wanted to organize the content to make sure visitors and attendees could easily find the essential information.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We are familiar with The Story and its founder's work with other non-profits. We discussed with them our budget and proceeded to start the project. 

Describe the project in detail.

The Story assisted us with not just our website, but also our brand. They designed the style of our logo, including colors and developed associated material, like business cards and letterheads.

Once we had the logo, they provided website concepts based on the photos of the church we provided. Their team helped us clarify what information we needed, organized the content to be easily accessible to visitors, and worked extensively on our web copy. The Story's team created took our feedback, made the necessary changes, and developed a draft website. We reviewed the website before launch and their team trained our administrator on how to add new content to the site. After the completion, they called us 45 days later to make sure everything was running perfectly.

What was the team composition?

We worked closely with their web development team. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We had someone who came to our church because who they enjoyed our new site. They said the website really showcased what they wanted out of a church. We believe that our new site is much more effective at attracting new people to our church. We’ve received really good feedback from our congregation saying that the site looks great, clean, and modern; reflects our diversity well; looks professional, and is easy to navigate. 

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The Story was professional and customer service oriented. They communicated effectively and helped us to understand what we needed to rebrand. They took the time to coax our web copy and our website's development.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The Story was very understanding about the needs of visitors to a website and how to organize our information. The Story was also great at understanding how to represent our content to reflect who we are as a church.

Are there any areas for improvement?

If they had a more out-of-the-box solution, it would have taken less of an effort and completed in a shorter period of time.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

American Infection Control, Inc. makes private label disinfectant wipes for large companies that service the hospital and dental industry. We have the best formula in the marketplace because it kills everything in less than one minute without killing the user or surfaces it goes on. I’m the president.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Story Web Design?

Our business is B2B. Hospitals have to control all the hospital-acquired infections known as HAIs. We do that the wipes we produce. We wanted a website that would promote our private label business and the qualities of our formula. I have very little experience with websites.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I have two people in my office who are familiar with websites and doing the art for them. They worked with Trevor and his group. The whole thing was custom. We provided a lot of the artwork. Trevor had a graphics person who did some logo work for us, but all the other artwork was ours. The Story Web Design did all the layout and the appearance package for the website which we all discussed and made changes to. We have a detailed comparison sheet of our formula versus the main competitors in the marketplace. Those all had to be customized and plugged into the website. We were in constant contact. I was in my Toronto office and Trevor would come over and we would conference in the people from Cleveland. We did that two or three times a week until the project was complete.

How did you come to work with The Story Web Design?

I searched online and found The Story Web Design. I liked the work Trevor [Hamilton, president] had done for other people. He showed various sizes and types of companies that he had done websites for and I liked that. We were a startup business at the time and I didn’t want to pay a fortune to build the website. He gave average pricing for the types of websites he was showing. I liked that I could see a price estimate for the type of website I wanted to get. All the other website developers I looked at, I had to go through a process to get an estimate.

How much have you invested with The Story Web Design?

We spent $8,700 on the project. We negotiated what the price would be, and it came in right on budget. His price also matched what his website pricing showed.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in November 2015, and the project went live in February 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

There’s more traffic on our new site. We’re so specialized that we still don’t get a lot of traffic. We’re not a consumer based company at all, but we do have inquiries from serious players. One of the things we’ve gotten is inquiries from overseas. This year, we’ll probably have a large deal with someone from the United Arab Emirates, and we also have inquiries in from Germany and India.

The art is much better on this site than the old one. We redid all the logos which was done by Trevor’s team. The website looks a lot more professional and is easier to read and navigate. It has to look professional in the medical industry.

How did The Story Web Design perform from a project management standpoint?

We did joint conferences online and in my Toronto office, and they all went very smoothly. I have basic technological skills but I don’t have any depth, and Trevor treated that very well. He explained how things work and why we were doing certain things. It was a very positive learning experience for me. I would recommend them for anyone who is non-technical. He was very responsive. Questions were answered instantly when I went online.

What did you find most impressive about The Story Web Design?

I found that Trevor identified our needs very quickly and shaped out a plan and budget quickly. I was impressed by his ability to communicate with us in a way that was easy for all of us to work with.

Are there any areas The Story Web Design could improve?

There were several plugins on the website that are proprietary to him. We would prefer they were public so if wanted to make changes, we could. We haven’t had a problem.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with The Story Web Design?

He’s great for small and medium-sized businesses. I don’t know if he has the scale to work with large companies. He was very helpful to us, and I would definitely recommend him. I would say look at the website and see the cost estimates he has there. I like how upfront he was on cost.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP and webmaster for the North York Knights Hockey League. It’s a volunteer organization based in Toronto. Eight volunteers run this organization, and a thousand kids participate.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Story Web Design?

It’s not inexpensive to play hockey, so the reflection of how well the organization is run and how well it markets itself is extremely important in regards to having a professional website that’s easy to use and find the information. I’ve been to our competing leagues, and we all have top-notch websites. For the others who don’t, they lose participation.

When this project started, the website was what would charitably be called a 1990s version, and it’s now something you’d expect in this current day and age. Parents and their kids are registering are expecting.

The professionalism, ease of flow through the website, and registration process have to be really up to the standards of parents looking to send their kids to a hockey program. That’s not something I’m familiar with. It’s always been pen and paper, but I’ve recognized in my role that this has to be done, or else our participation will fall.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The website is a pretty critical tool for us. While we do send out emails for various things, our website serves as communication and marketing for what we offer to the kids in Toronto. While we’re associated with the GTHL, we’re not the same organization. Because we tend to feed into that much more competitive organization since we feed many of our players and coaches into it, we should have a combined website. It made no sense to be associated wihout linking to each other.

I had my ideas as to what the content would be. In fact, I provided most of the content. For the whole look and ease of navigation, there are two parts to our organization: there’s a Learn to Play, so that’s kids under seven, and then kids over seven are House League. Most families have kids in both. The content is going to be a little different between Learn to Play and House League in terms of how to register, what’s important, and how to pick a league. Families are coming in with kids at all different ages, so it’s got to be easy to jump from one site to another—from House League to All Stars to Learn to Play. It’s got to be seamless and easy. They can’t get lost and buried down in that sort of thing. So in navigation, he was critical.

Interestingly enough, he’s not a hockey person, and I’m a hockey person. He doesn’t know anything about that. It’s not like he had a certain bias towards anything. In fact, he said, “What about a parent who knows nothing about this and that?” And I said, “Parents do know that.” He would say, “Not really. I don’t.” So we had that conversation as to how to attract someone with little or no background knowledge and be able to guide them through the site.

I actually wrote everything I wanted on the website and submitted the content and pictures to him. He had the flair to identify if something was too busy, this was too thick/heavy, the eyeballs need to roll off this to get to somewhere else. We collaborated a lot. I said, “Don’t you think that’s too many titles at the top,” “Do you think it’s too crowded,” or “How do we use pictures effectively to bring them in?” That’s so out of my domain, and that was everything he did. The other thing he did was make it responsive for mobile and tablet.

For our landing page, 90% of our audience could figure out very quickly which of the four groupings they should head towards. That’s where he was really instrumental in keeping things simple, while knowing when to push and pull, and when to back off.

We still have a good working relationship. It’s still evolving. One of the things we felt at the beginning is that we didn’t have enough pictures of kids playing, successes of teams, or bragging rights. Parents coming to look for an organization are looking for a reasonably successful organization that is proud of their achievements. We had to put different types of pictures. I sourced the pictures, and he put in collages and a mounted championship table.

How did you come to work with The Story Web Design?

I had a quote from an organization, and I wasn’t too happy. Then the GTHL found Trevor and I got the project started.

How much have you invested with The Story Web Design?

Over five years, it’s been $50,000, which for a volunteer non-profit organization is a lot. At the beginning, it was a little more because we were designing and he was spending the hours but gave us a good incentive. Because he gets his name on the website, it’s good marketing for him.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in 2012. The work is ongoing because I use it for information, marketing, and registration, and for advance notice for important events, scheduling, and standings. It’s used a lot in terms of information flow.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

We’ve had no issues. We’ve always had a dry run before registration, and that’s critical. We open it up on April 14th, and we’re filled up two weeks later. Our participation has gone up over the years. It’s a massive input. We’ve never had any complaints. One of the things Trevor has done is send out confirmation emails, and we never had any problems with that.

Our registrar and some conveners used to send out emails constantly to parents. But then, of course, there’s always a whole bunch of parents with thousands of questions. We stopped all of that. Now we just say, “All information on the Toronto Maple Leaf’s day with our organization, which is on November 15th, will be on the website by October 15th.” That’s it. The conveners no longer have to work their ass off trying to answer questions from thousands of parents. That’s a soft one, but it’s an important one. We’re funneling the eyeballs to that site.

We won a bronze award from a website competition. Whether it’s a small or big organization that gave us the award, someone recognized that we have really good pages. I think that’s kudos to him.

GTHL said it looks great, but it’s not a big thing for them since they don’t need to market, register their kids, or send information. It’s a very passive page for them. It changes once a year when they change their coaches. What uber-competitive parents need to know is the name of the coach and the organization, so it’s quite different. They’re easily attracted to that website and need minimum information. But mine is way different.

How did The Story Web Design perform from a project management standpoint?

We would communicate through email. He’d show me dry runs. We’d go into his model, and I’d look at it and adjust. We’d be talking regularly on the phone. When we were designing it, we had calls nearly daily. He’d show me various methods and I’d dial into a certain website viewer that I could go through with hime. It was very interactive.

What did you find most impressive about The Story Web Design?

Timeliness, for one. Once I’ve submitted to him, as the webmaster, I have an expectation that I want that up in 24 hours generally. If it’s urgent, then within the hour. Sometimes, we’ve had a problem with the website, and he was very responsive that way. What impressed me with working with him is getting rid of clutter. He had the ability to see a clean look. He streamlined the design to just what matters. For a designer, that’s got to be critical to your success—what’s extraneous and what’s not, and to be able to convince me, the content provider, that it’s not necessary. He does it very smoothly and encouragingly, but also in a very thoughtful and well-reasoned way where I can’t say no. He’s just good at that, and that’s a real skill for him.

Are there any areas The Story Web Design could improve?

Because he knows nothing about hockey, sometimes I have to be super clear. For example, when I make a change that affects both Learn to Play and House League, I will not say in the text, “This should go in both the page of the House League and Learn To Play.” That’s not going to work. What I do, and we’ve learned through trial and error, is I’ll put the exact page. I’ll post and hyperlink the page, saying this is this and that is that. Since then, we’ve had no problems whatsoever.

What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with The Story Web Design?

Direct Trevor. He’s inquisitive and asks the right questions. He’s very flexible which is a strength and a weakness. He can go off in a way that he thinks is good, but that’s not quite your vision. The communication at the beginning has to be clear and upfront: this is what I’m thinking, and this is how I want to look. Sketch it out and come back to me with your ideas.

Have a good timeline. I want that constant feedback, and that’s the way we worked together. He was very good with that.

He’s not a hands-off person who will come back and wow you. I think that’s not quite Trevor’s skill—implementation and visuals are surely his skills. You have to be driving the bus with him in terms of vision; don’t just let Trevor drive the bus and come back a month later. That’s not going to work.