DC's full service creative / technology agency
Established in 1996, Taoti Creative is a boutique, full-service creative agency located on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. We are privately owned and have no corporate overloads (nothing personal, WPP.) We do stuff like web development, social media management, branding, experiential marketing, video, AR/VR, etc. Our mission is to ‘move the needle’ for our clients. We compete (and cooperate) with companies like Huge, Ogilvy, ISL, Chief, ForumOne, etc. We leverage technology, creativity, and innovation to generate meaningful and measurable results for our clients—that’s what drives us. Speaking of clients, they’re about 60% non-profits, 20% commercial, and 20% federal government. Some of our customers include World Bank, USAID, DC Water, Discovery Education, American Chemical Society, Jane Goodall Foundation, and dozens of ‘National Association of _____________,’ etc. Our full time team of about 50 employees is about 65% in-house and 35% remote. We hail from over 12 countries. And for the last three years in a row, we’ve made the Inc5000 list of fastest growing companies in the United States. There’s of course plenty of additional information on our website. If you’ve not done so already, be sure to check out our culture video: https://vimeo.com/289302105. Or if you’re feeling virtual, here’s guided tour of the office in 360 video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7KkzdmSGTM (Warning: not suitable for printers.)
Focus
Portfolio
USAID, World Bank, National Democratic Institute, Fordham Institute, American University, US Figure Skating, Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots, Credit Builders Alliance, Strayer University, National Multi Housing Council, Freedom House, Democracy International, DC Water, Victory Fund, California State Senate, The Aspen Institute, National Democratic Network, Peoples of America Foundation, National Kidney Registry
CYBER.ORG (Website Redesign)
CYBER.ORG —previously known as NICERC— works in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security to empower K-12 educators to provide “technical cybersecurity knowledge and skills” to their students. Through their free and accessible coursework, they want to prepare and motivate the next generation to be part of the cybersecurity workforce. As they were already in the process of renaming and rebranding themselves, they were also looking to partner with an agency that would develop a website that was easy to navigate for educators and demonstrated what CYBER.ORG has to offer. Taoti worked with CYBER.ORG to create a modern and approachable website.
Problem
The organization’s goal with its new website was to create a great user experience for its users, especially educators. Our findings showed that all users wanted a more comprehensive search. The previous site didn’t provide easy access to the exact information each user was looking for, like a specific teaching curriculum or even the registration page. Another goal was to increase the number of teachers that signed up for courses. We found that educators didn’t know if the site was trustworthy because the curriculum and trainings are offered for free, but CYBER.ORG is certified by the government.
Solution
Through our research, we found what users wanted from the CYBER.org website, and our UX experts and developers determined the best way to increase website engagement and the number of teachers signing up for courses. We created an easy to use search feature that yields the exact information educators are looking for and found a way to motivate them to sign up. Our creative team worked with CYBER.ORG’s internal design team to polish the website’s look and feel by creating original icons and graphics to help tell the CYBER.ORG story throughout the site and build trust with users.
Creating a Robust Search Function
We created a robust, custom search functionality that allows educators to search through CYBER.ORG’s curricula. With the more comprehensive search form, a user can now search by unit, course type, and grade to seamlessly browse the curricula where they are then prompted to sign up.
Encouraging Educators to Sign Up
The new multipage signup form allows users to go through the registration process much more efficiently than the previous, long-form submission. It also lets users access the signup form from every curricula page. Thanks to this new process, in the first week after the new website launched, CYBER.ORG received over 100 organic signups, more than they had ever seen before.
Christian Music Broadcasters (Virtual Event Production)
Like many organizations, Christian Music Broadcasters (CMB) was planning a four-day conference 700 attendees, but when COVID-19 hit, we all had to self-isolate and work from home. After months of hard work preparing for the in-person event, the CMB team was looking for a way to restructure Momentum 2020 in the virtual sphere. Our team at Taoti partnered with them by providing our virtual event platform, tailoring it to their needs, and bringing the flare and community of an in-person event.
Problem
When CMB decided to turn Momentum 2020 into a digital conference, the team was concerned it would not accomplish its mission of connecting people and creating a memorable experience. Like most conferences, the in-person event consisted of large auditorium sessions, workshops, breakouts, networking, and a sponsor expo hall. Now the challenge was – how could the conference maintain a similar structure while everyone was remote? CMB had already sold attendee registrations and sponsorship opportunities, but without the usual event activities and an exhibit hall, how could they ensure the return on investment for everyone involved?
Solution
Our team custom-created the overall look and feel for the virtual conference, and all design elements perfectly aligned with Momentum 2020’s brand they had already created for their physical event. Just like an in-person conference, the platform featured a “lobby” homepage where attendees could always find real-time information on what was currently happening and how to access the content. The content consisted of a live stream broadcast, workshops, breakouts, virtual networking, and more. The lobby also included spaces allocated for sponsorship opportunities and a link to the Exhibit Hall, highlighting the sponsors who make the event possible.
UpBeat (Brand, Logo and Website Creation)
In 2019, we created a new website for the Heart Rhythm Society, the leading international nonprofit association representing cardiac rhythm disorder specialists. They loved it so much that they came back for more, asking us to partner with them to create a new, patient-centered website – and brand – entirely from scratch.
ProblemWhen building HRS’s main site, our target audience was medical, allied health, and science professionals. To make the pivot and speak directly to patients, we knew we’d need to make the new website and the brand significantly more approachable. After all, most users of the new site would be looking for more than just information – in the wake of a recent diagnosis; they’d be looking for hope. So how do you deliver complicated medical information in an easily digestible package, while providing a sense of optimism that turns users into fans of your brand?
SolutionWe put humanity and heart into every element of the project. From the name to the visual branding to the website and user experience, we kept patients at the center of our mission.
Step 1: The Name
Our initial brainstorm produced over 125 potential names for the patient resources center. After an extensive research and elimination process, we presented our client with 15 names to choose from. We then submitted their top 3 choices to rigorous testing within their current audiences to determine which resonated best. Ultimately, we emerged from the process with the name UpBeat – short, sweet, and memorable. It playfully references the heartbeat while evoking a sense of optimism and positivity.
Step 2: The Logo
A competitive audit revealed that most of the major players in the heart health landscape were using bright red as their primary brand color, with a simple heart shape in the logo. While we still wanted to include a heart in our logo, we avoided bright red and explored alternative heart shapes to ensure that our logo would stand out from the pack. The overall mark uses lots of soft shapes and gentle gradients to capture the brand’s friendly and welcoming essence.
Rare (Website Design and Development)
For over 40 years, Rare has been working in several countries around the world to change human behavior to see nature thrive. They are the “global leader in catalyzing behavior change to achieve enduring conservation results.” Our team at Taoti worked with Rare to develop their Solution Search contest platform, a “global crowdsourcing effort” to find behavioral and conservation initiatives that are working and help them grow. We also had the opportunity to work with their BE.Center Resource library, which works directly with academic institutions to connect “behavioral scientists with practitioners on the front lines of our greatest environmental challenges."
ProblemFirst, the Rare team needed to create a platform for its Solution Search contest to make it more globally accessible and streamline the entry and judging process. They also wanted the platform to drive users to the BE.Center Resource library. At the same time, the BE.Center Resource library needed to become the go-to learning hub in the environmental field, encourage users to engage and connect and build capacity for practitioners.
Ultimately, both projects had similar goals for the organization. These included continuing to position themselves as global thought leaders, grow climate-smart agriculture in Colombia and China, build US programs on climate and behavior and make Behavior Centered Design the norm in the environmental field.
SolutionOur goal was to not only help Rare build what they needed on both platforms but also to empower their team of content administrators to easily change content and create an amazing user experience (UX). So, we looked at what was most convenient for each project and built the Solution Search contest site on Drupal 8, and the BE.Center Resource Library on WordPress.
ScentAir Fragrance Solutions (Multilingual Website Redesign and Development)
ScentAir Fragrance Solutions uses scent marketing to make "on-site customers more meaningful." Their goal is to work with businesses to create unique scents for their brands like they've done for Westin Hotel & Resorts and American Airlines. We partnered with them to create a modern website that would reflect their unique selling point to potential customers and would be easy to update for their global team.
ProblemScentAir has distributors and offices across the world, but before we came in, they were lacking a consistent voice across all markets. There were six different websites. Some created on WordPress and others in proprietary platforms. Each of these sites also had its own content, including different colors and images. Another challenge was that the marketing teams in each country had to update their website and figure out how to use each content platform.
SolutionIn just six months, we took everything from the six existing ScentAir sites and put it into one website. Using Drupal, we developed a multilingual site that translates into six different languages, including French, German, Dutch, Spanish, UK English and Mandarin. It also allows eleven different countries to customize their content while at the same time, keeping it the look and feel consistent.
A unique yet consistent experience for every countryOur team started by creating a clean new look with inviting colors and images to showcase what ScentAir can do for businesses and their customers around the world. The modern feel of the website now works perfectly for all markets.
But what about content in different languages? Using Drupal, we created one easily-translatable iteration of their website. Our team developed a translation module that allows their team to create content in English and then choose to translate it. The text can be manually translated or automatically sent it to a professional translating company. Through Drupal, the company then sends back the translation to the ScentAir team to approve or deny and publish it.
Data-driven marketing at their fingertipsTo help the ScentAir create a more data-driven marketing plan we also integrated Google Tag Manager with their website. Our team then worked directly with ScentAir’s marketing team to help them translate these data points into actionable items since their website is mainly used for new business lead generation.
US Figure Skating (Website Redesign)
U.S. Figure Skating is one of the strongest and largest governing bodies within the Olympic movement, with more than 192,000 members across countries. The organization connects all its members, including member clubs, collegiate clubs, school-affiliated clubs, individual members, Friends of Figure Skating and Learn to Skate USA participants.
Problem: An outdated and hard to maintain website created almost two decades ago that lacked the mobile responsiveness necessary to engage and connect its members and users.
Solution: We developed a new website that allows both the user and the administrator to have a better experience. Focusing on U.S. Figure Skating’s goals to increase membership and reestablishing their digital footprint, we created a section exclusive for members. The site now caters to all audiences, including users outside of the figure skating community and people new to the sport.
Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots (Website Redesign)
As a global nonprofit, Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots looks to empower young people and their educators to make a positive change in their communities. Taoti Creative worked with the organization to re-do the United States website and help them connect its members and audiences across the country.
Problem: We needed to create a website that was visually appealing to all of Roots & Shoots’ users, which included young children, university students and educators at all levels. This part wasn’t a challenge for us. But how do you get people in such different phases in their lives to connect and communicate between them? How do you encourage users with diverse levels of engagement to be part of the organization and find helpful information? That’s where we really had to put our innovation hats on.
Solution: We created different sections tailored specifically for youth and educators. As we went through our research phase, we also understood that even though members want to make a change, not everyone has the same time available or the same interests. Our solution was to create a tailored experience for each user so that everyone could feel identified with the organization.
Farm Credit Council
When Farm Credit Council wanted to lead visitors quickly and simply to state-specific information for their popular, annual Fly-In Campaign, they realized a typical map-based solution wouldn’t work. We agreed. Because as everyone who’s ever tried to click an onscreen map to pick a state in New England will tell you, if you tap Connecticut, chances are you’re going to open up the page for Massachusetts – or vice versa. And don’t even think about selecting a small state if you’re using a phone!
Another route entirely was the best way to go. So that’s what we designed.
The alternate design solution needed to work on any device. It needed to be engaging and simple. Last but not least, it had to fit the unique look and feel of the design system we were already developing for Farm Credit Council. Turns out, these factors meant the solution wasn’t a map at all.
We used big, beautiful pictures of the most popular Fly-In events so users would get excited about attending. Then, with a simple drop-down menu, users could easily get a preview of what content was being offered in their respective states. It’s more engaging. It builds enthusiasm. And best of all, it works. Simply.
Ballast Research (Website Redesign and Development)
Ballast Research is the only organization in Washington, D.C. that conducts research directly with senior policymakers. We worked with Ballast to give them a new website that better serves their mission of improving conversations between legislators and advocates and helps build trust between those groups.
ProblemBallast’s previous website was built for their advocacy clientele, but growing evidence suggested that most of the users on the site weren’t potential clients – they were potential research subjects. Policymakers and Congressional staffers were coming to the website to determine whether to participate in their research. So how do you convince busy legislators that working with an organization like Ballast is a good use of their very limited time?
SolutionWe developed a new website designed specifically with policymakers in mind. On the User Experience side, we elevated published research and testimonials to show legislators how Ballast’s research could be valuable to their goals. On the visual design side, we expanded their existing brand guidelines and determined a new look and feel on the website that conveyed trustworthiness.
Designed with policymakers in mindBallast wasn’t looking for a rebrand, but they were open to expanding their existing visual identity to reflect their new priority of building trust with policymakers. We minimized the loud teal color that had previously dominated their aesthetic in favor of a more formal navy and gold palette and selected a new suite of typefaces that felt traditional without being dated. We also provided new photography guidelines so that they could move away from stock imagery of D.C. architecture, which felt impersonal and potentially alienating to state legislators; we encouraged a more personal touch by using candid images of their team.
Flexible = SustainableBeyond just delivering a beautiful design, we wanted to equip Ballast with the tools to easily manage and make changes on their site for years to come. We decided to build the entire website using flexible, modular page-builder elements that are simple to implement. It also gave Ballast the freedom to change and adapt their site as needed, whether they’re creating a new case study, adding in new testimonials, or updating their offerings to reflect the political moment.
DC Public Charter School Board (Website Redesign)
The DC Public Charter School Board had what amounted to a long page of alphabetized charter schools, which for parents trying to find charter schools by way of traits like school quality, health or even location, was challenging–to say the least. Moreover, parents couldn’t separate information about the Board from information about the schools they were looking for.
Taoti conducted user testing to better respond to user needs. What’s notable in this case is the inclusion of a D.C. parent in that process. Parents need to use the DCPCSB website to target the District’s best schools. Their experience was critical to the redesign effort.
When we conducted user testing, what we found was that the difference between finding a school and evaluating one wasn’t clear to parents. We relabeled the navigation and made a clear call-to-action indicating where parents needed to go to find a new school.
Education Watchdog, a project of the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity, took notice and acknowledged that “the new search tools could have aided [a parent] search for a language-based school for her 6-year-old daughter.” We strive for all our projects to have such an obvious impact on critical end-users.
American Foreign Service Association (Website Redesign)
AFSA.org remains a crucial touchpoint to the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) members located throughout the world.
Taoti wanted to create a seamless experience for users between member services provided by Avectra and the content provided by the website.
Taoti partnered with AFSA’s communications team to modernize the website’s visual design and implement a fully responsive site layout to optimize the user experience for users on mobile devices. We also migrated the existing DNN website to the Drupal Content Management System to make the site easier to maintain. Unique site features include FlippingBook integration for the monthly Foreign Service Journal and an events calendar.
Strayer University (Branding and Website Design)
To celebrate its 125th anniversary, Strayer Education sought to showcase the unique history of its growth and journey to becoming the most significant for-profit venture in American history. As Strayer has evolved, it has adapted to meet students’ needs and changing business demands simultaneously. We were tasked with bringing Strayer’s evolution to life.
Solution: We took the term ‘interactive timeline’ to the next level. We designed and developed a captivating digital experience, 125.strayer.edu, that highlights major advances in education and capitalizes on key moments in Strayer’s history. To maximize the impact, value and lifetime of the project, we also built a custom administrative interface so that Strayer staff can maintain and add new content and deliver it to many web properties simultaneously via an API. This same content is now presented on the celebration minisite, as well as the main university website.
Congress for the New Urbanism (Website Redesign)
Through its members’ work in communities and regions worldwide, Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) imagines, refines and implements the means for making great places.
Taoti partnered with the CNU Communications team to re-architect and re-design CNU.org to reflect the organization’s extraordinary design tradition.
The website not only serves as a platform that invites a conversation with audiences who recognize the potential of New Urbanism, but also showcases high-quality photos of CNU members’ work. It also provides users access to important resources from members and partner organizations. The CNU.org homepage is a flexible, curated homepage that seamlessly integrates multiple content types in a series of ‘blocks’. The easily updated structure includes a mix of ‘evergreen’ and dynamic content that enables CNU to feature events, articles and graphics. The result is a responsive website that enables visitors to quickly and efficiently learn what CNU is about and what it is currently working on.
America Abroad Media (Website Redesign and Branding)
America Abroad Media (AAM), especially their radio series, needed an online presence engaging both sight and sound through embedded photo galleries, videos, and audio players.
Our goal was to convey AAM's energy and refinement through a new visual identity. Clean lines, sharp shapes, and bold imagery were used to highlight each aspect of the organization's programming.
We created a fully responsive website around this multimedia experience. We also developed a new brand, color scheme, and logo, both visible on the redesigned website. Our design included a unique landing page for AAM's annual award dinner and added a sitewide presence to maximize registration.
American Chemical Society - ChemIDP (Web-Based Career Tool)
So you’ve finished your degree in chemistry and now it’s time to figure out the first step in your career. What to do? ChemIDP.org was created to provide graduate students and postdoctoral scholars with direction for understanding and achieving their career goals. This individual development plan (IDP) was designed to be used by students and postdocs to facilitate discussion with faculty, advisors, and mentors.
Taoti worked with the American Chemical Society to develop a Drupal-based, Single Sign On (SSO) integrated, flexible tool that enables users to undertake the following tasks: Self-Assessment, where users identify their existing skills and the values that are important to them; Skill Strengthening, where users get recommendations for increasing their marketability; Goal Setting, where users actively chart a path forward; Career Exploration, where users can drill down through faceted filters to scope out their career options recognizing that users might want to start this exercise from different points, the tool is built so users can start anywhere, save their assessments and accomplishments as they go, and ultimately use it as a flexible, powerful navigation device for their future.
The National Apartment Association (Branding, UX and Website Development)
The National Apartment Association, as part of its comprehensive We Are Apartments campaign, was looking for a fresh, interactive way to share its data.
Rather than developing a traditional infographic, Taoti developed a digital storytelling experience.
Users navigate through an animated graphic built entirely with HTML and CSS3 in the Drupal platform. The site also features an interactive Apartment Community Estimator (A.C.E.) to calculate the economic contribution of an apartment community in a specific state. Taoti also created an interactive map that allows users to quickly read data through a pop-up and click on a link to see a full state-level fact sheet.
In addition to building this in a way that allowed the National Apartment Association to define what it felt was important, it was also done in a manner that recognizes the power of a modern digital campaign by allowing users find information by congressional district or by state that’s of most interest to them.
Taoti Creative also created an oversized accordion fold infographic brochure for NAA and the National Multi Housing Council. Taoti helped NAA and NMHC develop a communication strategy that included both digital and print material.
Phillips & Cohen (Website and Logo Redesign )
Phillips & Cohen’s attorneys are well aware the journey a whistleblower takes is perilous enough. Its website needed to open itself up and clearly, quickly and discreetly convert visitors, and it needed to do so in a way visitors feel secure in every aspect of their decision-making process.
Phillips & Cohen relies on its website as a key means of generating new leads. Whistleblowers are a unique base of clients for a law firm because they are often only one-time clients and the firm needs a constant flow of new leads to stay on top. Our approach was to streamline the experience and reduce the number of forks on the road to secure contact.
The firm’s long record of success is best shown, not told. By calling out key statistics from big wins, highlighting attorneys, and telling individual stories of successful cases, the new design cements the brand’s notion that Phillips & Cohen, LLP is the most successful and most experienced law firm representing the US and international whistleblowers. Speaking of brand, part of our agreement with Phillips & Cohen included modernizing their logo and tagline.
The Society for Science & the Public (Website Redesign)
The Society for Science & the Public is dedicated to providing concise, accurate, and inspirational science news and opportunities to its nearly 100,000 subscribing members, the 50,000 alumni of its competitions worldwide, and millions of unique online visitors and social media followers.
ScienceNews.org includes thousands of pages of content that cover the full spectrum of science news. However, it faced significant challenges with its navigation, internal search, and its ability to be effectively shared and subscribed to by an audience eager to better connect with its content.
The society looked to Taoti to fundamentally change its digital presence to convert more visitors into members as a key part of its financial strategy. We undertook a variety of analyses and updates to multiple sites in its current Drupal-powered website environment.
Together, we developed a list of high-impact improvements. The result of this ongoing relationship is the dramatic new experience on both websites.
Alliance for Biking & Walking’s Annual Benchmarking Report
Since 2007, the Alliance for Biking and Walking’s biennial Benchmarking Report has represented a comprehensive, actionable collection and analysis of data on bicycling and walking in all 50 states, the 52 largest U.S. cities, and a select number of midsized cities. Over the years, the report has become a vital tool for public officials, advocates, decision-makers, city planners, transportation professionals, public health professionals, and researchers interested in improving mobility options for healthy, vibrant communities.
Taoti worked to simplify the story through compelling, engaging interfaces, paired with a range of back-end and front-end tools to help point people to most relevant datasets. We enabled audiences with a specific topic interest (environment, health, a specific location etc.) to quickly find and share content of interest to them, as well as providing pathways to make all data available for super-users.
It was also clear that the information in the Benchmarking report is working for core audiences. Taoti saw an opportunity for additional audiences to advocate for healthy, vibrant communities through social media with a portal that was built with sharing in mind. But we did not discount how this information is often shared with decision-makers. More often than not, reports are delivered to panels of community leaders in open forums. So, we made each and every report generated able to print to an attractive PDF. Score one for enabling civic action.
DC Water (Website Redesign)
“We want to have a website that makes it easier for us to connect with our customers and matches the innovative work we’re doing at DC Water,” said DC Water CEO and General Manager George S. Hawkins. George asked, and we delivered.
Perceptions of DC Water have grown, evolved, and improved ever since its days as WASA. Everyone knew it was time for the website to take a dramatic leap that furthers the DC Water brand; creates a smarter, customer-focused experience; and makes the case for DC Water’s rates and ongoing capital improvement projects.
We built the new dcwater.com in Drupal, an open-source content management system (CMS) that makes it easy for non-technical users to update and add content to the site. The bright, modern and airy new design is fully responsive, meaning it works great on any size of device (though we may have skimped on testing the Apple Watch).
The whole website is an intuitive user experience. All customer actions are accessible from a fly-out customer center, which also looks and works great on mobile devices. For those more interested in finding out what DC Water is up to, the project and publication databases are filterable by type, ward and zip code. Other advanced functionality includes a fully Drupal-integrated ‘Report a Problem’ workflow, permit status check, and MailChimp integration that alerts newsletter recipients as content is published to the site.
American Institute of Physics Careers Toolbox
How would you guide an undergraduate physics student on how to start their career after school? The American Institute of Physics needed a fun and interesting way to present information about physics careers that had previously never been accessible online. However, AIP needed to launch the interactive Careers Toolbox quickly and with a limited budget, so we got creative. Taoti designed and built a responsive parallax scrolling site that presents the highlights of its Careers Toolbox program in a highly engaging and visually appealing manner. Through intuitive and easy to use navigation, the Careers Toolbox website encourages physics students to work through tools and exercises to get their career search organized. The site includes interactive HTML 5 graphics and unique navigation.
Arent Fox (Website Development)
Taoti adopted the Arent Fox website in the middle of a redesign, developing custom Drupal modules to improve caching and performance and creating a specialized mobile theme. We also launched a multisite configured blog that runs on the same Drupal codebase as the main site.
Loudoun Water (Website Redesign)
The vision for this website project began, "Loudoun Water is one of the most progressive and innovative water utilities in the country and as such, wants to convey this premier image through its website." Taoti partnered with Loudoun Water to achieve that premier image, producing what we believe to be the world's best water utilities site to date. First and foremost, the site serves the needs of the residential customer. The new design simplifies the user experience and focuses on key tasks like bill pay, account management, starting and stopping service, and the needs of the business and development communities. The main site integrates seamlessly with third-party vendors, so as to maintain a fluid user experience, but also includes a self-service customer portal called LW Connect, where registrants can view and pay their bills online, enroll in eBilling, see their payment history, and more!
National Associations of Counties (NACo)
Taoti partnered with the National Association of Counties (NACo) communications team to both redesign and develop a fully responsive, Drupal-based website. The result is a world-class website with a fresh new look and enhanced user experience. The new website takes a topic-centered approach to the information architecture, which makes the website much easier to navigate. Related links are also used throughout the interior pages so that users can easily find information they may be interested in. A simple 'filter bar' appears throughout the site to let users quickly identify the type and topic of information they’re looking for. Results can be toggled between list and grid views, depending on viewing preference. A persistent navigation bar always stays on the screen so users will never have to scroll back up to the top to get to other parts of the site. Every page of the website also includes a unique morphing search function, which displays a full-screen "Explore" feature that includes links to key areas of the site (as well as a sophisticated search engine that works as you'd expect it to). Under the hood, the new website is built on the Drupal content management system. While this doesn't have a lot of impact on end users, it does make it much easier for NACo staff to manage the site. This means content will be posted faster, more frequently, and with less hassle.
Reviews
the project
Migration Project & Design Update for Certifying Body
"They’re very prompt and collaborative in their troubleshooting approach."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the associate director of the International Board of Heart Rhythm Examiners (IBHRE). Our parent organization is Heart Rhythm Society. IBHRE is a global leader in heart rhythm management, and I manage our certification program.
What challenge were you trying to address with Taoti Creative?
We needed everything to be updated. Heart Rhythm Society had just gone through a site migration and update, so we needed to make corresponding updates to keep up with our parent organization.
What was the scope of their involvement?
I worked very closely with Brittany (Project Manager & Producer) in doing an audit of the current site. They did a deep dive into what functionalities we had and what we would need to modernize. After identifying the many areas that could be streamlined or eliminated, they launched into the web redesign. Their work involved a change in our content management system.
What is the team composition?
I’ve worked primarily with Brittany, who’s been my main point of contact.
How did you come to work with Taoti Creative?
They were recommended to us by the Heart Rhythm Society. My contact there was confident that we would be successful since they’d had a great relationship together themselves.
How much have you invested with them?
We spent somewhere around $30,000. We also have a maintenance contract with them.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started our engagement in December 2019 and wrapped up in August 2020.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Everything is working. In the month that we’ve gone live, we haven’t received any negative feedback. That’s a great sign, because a lot of times, no news is good news. We’ve only received positive feedback and compliments about the site’s new look and feel.
I’ve also appreciated how kind and patient they’ve been in teaching me how to use the new platform.
How did Taoti Creative perform from a project management standpoint?
They were very accommodating in leading me through all the steps. We communicated primarily through email, which I’m most comfortable with.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They’re very prompt and collaborative in their troubleshooting approach. We can just set up a call to address any issue we might run into.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, I don’t think so.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
If you’re not comfortable with something or are unfamiliar with a process, don’t be afraid to ask questions. The end product is something you’re responsible for, so make sure to clarify any areas that you’re unclear about.
the project
Complete Web Development For Cybersecurity Services Firm
“It was great to see them take our problem and come up with an innovative solution that was clearly tailored to us.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I am the digital marketing manager at Focal Point Data Risk. We provide cybersecurity services to companies of all sizes across the US. Our core services are data privacy advisory, identity and access management advisory, and implementation and cybersecurity training.
What challenge were you trying to address with Taoti Creative?
Last year I was tasked with revamping the website, which we hadn’t done in about three years, so I decided to bring on a partner agency to help us with that process.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We are a relatively small marketing team and didn’t have the skills in-house to do all of the tasks associated with a large redesign. We were switching from Drupal to WordPress and there were a lot of different heavy-lift ideas that we wanted to implement on the back- and frontend of the site, so Taoti Creative helped us to implement those changes.
From there, they completely redesigned the site as well. We utilized a custom modular backend with WordPress so that we could mix and match how we presented our different service lines. They built out new services layouts, contact forms, menus, calls to action, and anything else we needed, as well as implementing HubSpot integrations.
What is the team composition?
Christine (Project Manager) was our main point of contact, and we worked with a few other individuals including Katie (design lead) and James (technical lead).
How did you come to work with Taoti Creative?
We had originally reached out to a couple of vendors that specialized in Drupal and realized that it would be incredibly expensive to get as detailed as we wanted to on the backend of a Drupal site. Taoti had capabilities in both Drupal and WordPress, so they were able to help us weigh the pros and cons given our budget and decide what the best way forward would be.
How much have you invested with them?
Our cap for the project was $40,000, and they were able to help us finish the site for a little bit less than that.
What is the status of this engagement?
The work on the site lasted from April–September 2019, but we are continuing to work with them on basic maintenance and updates on an ongoing basis.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
There were three particular results that we were looking for out of the project. The first was that we had made changes to our branding over the three years since we had last rolled out a new site, so being able to implement those and be better aligned in that regard was really rewarding. We are also now able to make changes far more easily than ever before, so it’s much easier to use on our end and we’re excited about our increased ability to keep all of our content really fresh.
The process of working on the design of the site was amazing, and everyone on our side loves the final product that we ended up at. We get a lot of positive feedback from customers about how easy it is to navigate, and we are now working with their team to roll out some of those design elements to our other marketing collateral, which we are very excited about.
Beyond the design, the integrations and features provided by the new site have helped our business significantly. We’ve seen increased traffic to our HubSpot assets thanks to those implementations, and in general, we’ve seen an increase in site traffic and met all of our goals. Nothing went over budget or was added to the scope after we agreed on everything, which we really appreciated.
How did Taoti Creative perform from a project management standpoint?
I was really impressed with their project management throughout the whole thing. Our deadline was extremely tight, and they stayed on task the entire time. We had weekly staff meetings, and toward the end met even more frequently, and their team was constantly available for calls in between those. They used internal tools to track progress and leave comments as well.
Christine was constantly on top of following up with me and seeing if I needed anything from her or making sure that she got the information that her team needed from me. It was always clear that we were on the same page, which gave us incredible confidence throughout the process in the eventual success that we would have.
What did you find most impressive about them?
Project management was a huge strength for them, but on top of that, their flexibility really became a huge asset to our work together. Since we’re both smaller firms, it was great to see them take our problem and come up with an innovative solution that was clearly tailored to us.
Are there any areas they could improve?
There wasn’t anything significant that I think they could have done better. A couple of small elements of the project ended up getting left by the wayside rather than included in the initial budget for the scope which would have been nice to know about in advance, but none of them were in any way critical to the product so that was a very small issue on the whole.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
Lay out your 3–5 main goals for the project very clearly to their team at the beginning of the project and then build out your plan off of those things. Taoti Creative is very goal-oriented, so structuring your solution around those is a really effective way of making sure you get what you want in the end.
the project
Web Dev for Media Research Firm
"It’s a relatively small firm, so we had access to stakeholders throughout the team and felt well taken care of."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the head of outreach of a research subsidiary of a major media company. We survey policymakers.
What challenge were you trying to address with Taoti Creative?
We have three audiences for our website: policymakers, potential clients, and potential job candidates. Our website previously only addressed one of those audiences — our clients. Other audiences would have a hard time navigating our website, learning about us, and getting interested in what we do.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Taoti Creative created a website that was tailored for each audience we serve. They started with creating the wireframe and then built out the actual website. We wrote the copy ourselves, but Taoti Creative provided some low-level suggestions.
They used WordPress with a custom template. Our scope was limited because we didn’t have a huge budget, so we didn’t ask for a lot of functionality. We wanted it to be clean, compelling, and useful for all three audiences. Taoti Creative was able to take our budget and work within it. The way they thought through the pathing and UX was really sophisticated for the budget we had available.
What is the team composition?
Charlotte (Project Manager) has been our point of contact throughout the relationship.
How did you come to work with Taoti Creative?
We did a lot of research into potential partners. A couple of members of my staff and I looked at websites we found compelling and a few were designed by Taoti Creative. That’s what really drew us to their team.
How much have you invested with them?
We’ve spent about $55,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
The project started in October 2019. The website launched in mid-February 2020 with little to no issues to meet our deadline. It was a tight turnaround, but Taoti Creative was amenable to that. We’re now going back and forth on final edits and finishing up the QA process.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
It’s still very early, and we didn’t do a good job of tracking our engagement metrics. However, it’s been a huge help to direct people to our website when they have questions. We know our website is a user-friendly and comprehensive resource with consistent messaging. It’s a powerful tool for sales and engagement with our audiences, especially policymakers.
How did Taoti Creative perform from a project management standpoint?
They’re excellent. I have no constructive feedback. Our deliverables arrive on time and are of high quality. Taoti Creative is always specific about what they need from us, such as feedback on a deliverable within 48 hours. Because of their quality of work, that short turnaround was never a problem.
What did you find most impressive about them?
It’s a relatively small firm, so we had access to stakeholders throughout the team and felt well taken care of even though we’re a small-dollar client. We have a talented team and can make all sorts of asks and get thoughtful responses and inputs from a lot of people. Plus, the deliverables felt like they came from a larger firm. However, if we worked with a larger firm, I feel we wouldn’t have been able to get such a top-notch team at the same price.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, the experience has been very positive for us.
Any advice for potential customers?
Be direct about your needs and limitations. Taoti Creative is very amenable within a lot of different constraints, but the more they know ahead of time, the better they plan for your project.
the project
Branding & Marketing Strategy for Nonprofit Support Firm
"Their determination to understand our brand before beginning the process was highly valuable to us."
the reviewer
the review
The client submitted this review online.
Please describe your company and your position there.
I’m the interim CEO for Transition Leadership International, LLC. We help nonprofits facing major changes, including turnaround, restructuring, startups, mergers, etc.
For what projects/services did your company hire Taoti Creative?
I hired Taoti Creative to handle my branding and marketing efforts.
What were your goals for this project?
Ultimately, I wanted to improve the effectiveness of my marketing efforts to result in more opportunities and higher conversions.
How did you select this vendor?
A mutual connection introduced me to Brent (Founder & CEO, Taoti Creative). It was their clear approach that led me to choose them for the project.
Describe the scope of their work in detail.
Brent assessed my branding and marketing strategies. I conducted a few interviews with clients and discovered that they had different expectations for my online presence than I’d thought. From there, Taoti Creative helped us build our brand, marketing plan, and overall design based on the research we conducted. For example, now, we emphasize protecting beloved organizations, and it’s apparent within our marketing strategy.
What was the team composition?
Brent and I worked together directly, and he communicated with the design team.
Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?
Since working with Taoti Creative, our conversion rate and sales cycle have been remarkably high. We’ve seen a drastic increase in clients. Years later, I still receive compliments and positive feedback from people about our marketing materials.
How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?
The workflow between our teams was seamless.
What did you find most impressive about this company?
Their determination to understand our brand before beginning the process was highly valuable to us. We received a great amount of clarity from their team because of the well-structured research efforts.
Are there any areas for improvement?
There was nothing they could have done differently.
the project
Marketing Collateral for Nonprofit
"Taoti Creative completed a ten-month project in two months."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I am the marketing and communications manager at the Trust for the National Mall, a nonprofit organization. We manage and maintain the National Mall for the National Park Service.
What challenge were you trying to address with Taoti Creative?
We engaged Taoti Creative to create marketing collateral for our annual gala benefit, the BALL for THE MALL. Our partnership with a previous vendor fell through, so we needed someone to complete these materials rapidly.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Taoti Creative created our save-the-date cards, invitations, evening program book, and a marketing report for the 2018 BALL for THE MALL. Each piece had its own timeline and multiple rounds of edits. The designs also had to abide by our strict brand guidelines. Their team provided graphic design and marketing expertise in creating this full suite of collateral.
What is the team composition?
We worked with a team of 5–6 people, including Christine (Project Manager and Producer, Taoti Creative), Callie (Production Designer, Taoti Creative), and Mason (Associate Creative Director, Taoti Creative).
How did you come to work with Taoti Creative?
After we cut ties with our previous vendor, a colleague recommended Taoti Creative to us. In our initial conversations, the team came across as experienced and able to deliver within our high-pressure deadlines. We decided to take a chance on them.
How much have you invested with them?
We spend about $10,000 per year. Taoti Creative is now a sponsor of our annual gala, so part of the cost is a donation in kind to our organization.
What is the status of this engagement?
We worked together on last year’s event from February–April 2018. Our partnership, however, is ongoing.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
Taoti Creative completed a ten-month project in two months. Their materials received positive feedback from our board and our attendees. The success of our engagement proved to us that higher-quality materials are worth the additional costs.
We’ve now brought in Taoti Creative to help us plan and create collateral for this year’s benefit. We’re also considering working with their team for a brand redesign—we’ve already completed initial exploratory phases with them.
How did Taoti Creative perform from a project management standpoint?
The team is highly flexible and adaptive to our workflow. We prefer to use timelines for individual pieces rather than the whole project. We also will keep in touch as often as 3–5 times a week at specific points in the project.
After using email as a primary form of communication, Taoti Creative adopted a software called Teamwork that we find extremely helpful. We can collaborate and keep track of tasks much more efficiently, which has made our collaboration for this year’s gala benefit even more successful so far.
What did you find most impressive about them?
They are highly attentive and willing to accept criticism. When one of their designs departs from our strict brand guidelines, Taoti Creative listens to our feedback and incorporates it into a revised version that fits our vision. Now that we’re no longer pressed for time, the team has an excellent understanding of our brand.
Are there any areas they could improve?
No, they’ve done outstanding work so far.
Any advice for potential customers?
Trust their expertise and give them the freedom to provide you with a few options for a design or product choice. Taoti Creative’s recommendations have inspired us to take new directions with how we communicate with our donor database.
the project
WordPress Web Design for Nonprofit Organization
“Their knowledge base was impressive.”
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
Respondent 1: Our business is Kids Comprehensive Services LLC. The contract that we worked on is Childcare Connection, which is a childcare resource and referral for the District of Columbia.
What challenge were you trying to address with Taoti?
R1: We needed someone to build our website.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Respondent 2: The goal was for the website to be user-friendly, easy to read, and easy to navigate. It’s a WordPress website. We had some ideas about what we wanted and didn’t want. As part of this process, we did an exercise where we looked at different websites and colors and had to answer questions of what we like, what was strong about the website, and what we didn’t like. That was a part of their information gathering process.
After the project began, we met as a team for a brainstorming session. One of the challenges was that the website is a program inside of an agency that we administrate. We were concerned about branding being consistent across our agency and this program. For the second phase, they interviewed our staff and some of our external customers. They provided a summary based on the information gathered from the staff, as well as our external customers. Based upon that, they developed a sitemap and began to work.
They gave us the wireframes. Then we did the whole page design and mockups. They did the visuals, the branding, and the graphics. We did the writing and picked our own pictures. We worked together; their job was to make everything look really pretty and functional, which they did. They did it very quickly. We had a staging in the last part of September and we went live at the beginning of October. It was a very short, efficient turnaround.
What is the team composition?
R1: We have around 12 consultants on staff.
R2: We had a project manager. We had somebody who works in the fiscal office, but we work very closely with the project manager, Susan [Director of Production, Taoti Creative]. It was a match made in heaven. She worked at the Childcare Bureau and so she understood our content. She also understands federal and state regulations because of a prior job, which is very helpful.
We also had a graphics person, Amy [Art Director, Taoti Creative]. We’re clearly on the same page. She understands what we want visually. There is a web person that does backend work based in Seattle. We have an IT person on our side and their person was brought on to build the functionality part after we had the design. The team size stayed consistent.
How did you come to work with Taoti?
R2: I asked a staff member who had experience with building a website. I asked them to look at companies and bring me 3. They all wrote proposals. When we looked at Taoti’s work, we chose them because of the visual graphics of their site. A lot of the other sites had the same functions, but the appeal and visual response wasn’t there.
How much have you invested with them?
R2: $50,000.
What is the status of this engagement?
R2: We started working together in July 2017 until October 2017.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
R2: The website is very visually appealing. Everybody that goes on the website is very pleased. It’s easy to navigate, which is one of the main things that was important to me.
We’re in the DMV [District Maryland Virginia] area. When you look at other websites, our is more visually appealing. We do analytics and notice that we have gotten a lot of visits. The website has everything we requested.
How did Taoti perform from a project management standpoint?
R2: We communicated once every two weeks. They’re very responsive. Our requests were met in a timely fashion. They were efficient and got the job done, but were relational too, which is important to me. Common knowledge of childcare and our goals made it a strong team from the beginning to the end of the process. It was almost like they knew exactly what our goals were and understood them. It was a good match.
What did you find most impressive about them?
R2: Their knowledge base was impressive. They had knowledge in content about early childhood, but also on graphics. It was helpful they understood the program people and the backend people.
Are there any areas they could improve?
R2: Absolutely not. They’re on the right path.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
R1: Check who has knowledge about your content areas, even though it’s important you have your own experts. That naturally seemed to make the process go smoothly.
the project
Website Dev & Design for Utilities Services Company
"They all have the success of our site at heart."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
We are a water utility company. We have a customer base of over 200,000. Basically, we provide water and wastewater services to these customers. I’m the director of communications.
What challenge were you trying to address with Taoti Creative?
We had an outdated, clunky, ugly website that was running on a CMS [content management system] that was also pretty archaic. It wasn’t working for us. It wasn’t flexible, and it wasn’t portraying us in the best light for our customers. We knew that we needed a change. Our customer base is pretty tech-savvy in our county, so we wanted to make sure that we redesigned a site that would meet their expectations and promote us, our brand, and our position in the community.
We also wanted to make the site a little bit more interactive and easier for people to find information, and we also wanted to integrate our customer portal on the website.
What was the scope of their involvement?
It wasn’t part of the scope of the project, but there was an integration point with another company so that customers can go online, view their balances, and pay their bills. We do have a significant number of web forms where customers can ask questions, report problems, and start service and stop service. Taoti Creative helped us create those web forms. We used Drupal for project management.
Aside from the overall look and feel of the website, they also helped us create a robust search feature. They integrated some social widgets for us as well.
How did you come to work with Taoti Creative?
As a public agency, we have to go through a formal procurement process. We issued the RFP [request for proposals] in February of 2015. We wanted to stay local, so we researched some companies in our area and sent proposals to those companies. Aside from their great interviewing skills, patience, and ability answer all of our sometimes-annoying questions, Taoti Creative knows how to build a website from the start. By that I mean they were going to dedicate a significant amount of time to audience development, which is a huge priority for us, just to learn about some of our stakeholders and their needs. Their team, both technical and non-technical, had a great understanding of Drupal. They really took their time to learn about our company and what we wanted, and I think they gave us all the information that we asked for. They were very committed to the whole interview process. There was not a question that we asked that they couldn’t provide an answer to or even some support or guidance.
How much have you invested with Taoti Creative?
Unfortunately, I can’t share any of that information. What I can say is that they exceeded our budget expectation.
What is the status of this engagement?
We issued the RFP in February of 2015 and did the actual selection in June of 2015. The procurement process took about five months because we had a pretty significant response and had to go through two interview processes with some of the companies. We chose Taoti Creative in May, kicked off in June of 2015, and launched in February of 2016.
Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or impact of the engagement?
Our bounce rate went down significantly after the launch. I think our bounce rate from our old site was about 75%; it was ridiculous. The bounce rate went down right at the start. We had customers calling just to say the site looks so much better and is much more user-friendly. We have emails from the Contact Us forms on the website from customers who just really appreciated the new site design.
We’re a utility, so we’re not selling anything, and that makes it hard to have real stats. There are no purchases made on the site; it’s more for informational purposes. We don’t have any conversion rates or anything.
How did Taoti Creative perform from a project management standpoint?
Taoti Creative has a very good project management philosophy in place. Teamwork was the tool that they used. We had a dedicated project manager, Lisa Collins, who was the coordinator for the whole project. She worked with the developers. I don’t know exactly how many developers there were, but there was a significant amount of development that went into the project. I would say there were no fewer than four developers working on it at any given time. Taoti handled everything. They matched their best developers with our needs, and Lisa coordinated the workflow for them through Teamwork. It was a very transparent process. Through Teamwork, we were able to see the tasks that she assigned, deadlines, milestones, and conversations between the developers and Lisa. This helped us make sure that we all had the same set of goals and were all looking at the same sheet of music for the whole project.
They were excellent across the board and hit every single deadline. We built in time on our end where we’d need more time to reevaluate things; they were very flexible in their schedule. We never felt rushed, but they kept us moving along as well.
What did you find most impressive about Taoti Creative?
Company-wide, there’s nobody at Taoti Creative that I don’t feel comfortable calling, from the CEO to the project managers. They’re all really responsive and very helpful. They all have the success of our site at heart. I just think they are very good about responding. If anything happens with the site, they have an urgent email that they respond to within minutes.
Are there any areas Taoti Creative could improve?
We had such a positive experience with them. There’s really nothing I could point out for improvement.
the project
Redesign for Science Nonprofit
"They were creative and really cared about our project."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the chief marketing officer of the Society for Science & the Public, a nonprofit with several different functions.
What challenge were you trying to address with Taoti Creative?
We have a website for each function, but none clearly conveyed the overall picture of what the Society does—our brand and our impact. We worked with Taoti to create a central society site that did that.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Taoti first performed key stakeholder interviews internally. They worked with a content strategist that we already had on board who had done some user research. We did card sorting and some other site organization exercises together. They came up with a really good design and wireframe, then used a product called Envision to show us wireframes and mockups. The entire site was built on Drupal. We didn’t have any custom functionalities on the site. We worked with them to ensure we had the correct coding and the ability to do analytics to be able to track various elements of what we were doing. We create our own content.
How did you come to work with Taoti Creative?
We did a request for proposal and looked at the 10 organizations who responded. We had face-to-face or phone interviews with six of them. Taoti sat down with us and walked us through several projects they had done. They had done a wide range of projects, and some of them resonated with what we were doing. Also, I like to work with people who are local so I can sit down with them. People who were remote were going to add another hurdle to the project, so the fact that they were local was really important to me. They had a great vibe and we liked them. We’re a Drupal organization, and they had deep experience in Drupal. They connected well with our developers and acted as an extension of our own team. The project was a joint effort.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working with them in September of 2016. They did a site audit, and we spec’d out the specific website they built for us. The site was launched in February of 2017. Right now, our relationship with them is working well.
Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?
We have seen more traffic to the joint page, which is the key page we want people to go to when they consider our organization. More importantly, the traffic that we’re driving to the Society’s home page is now pushing significantly more traffic through to the transactions pages. It’s a straightforward Drupal site, and we’re all used to working with it. The difference is night and day in terms of the way it feels to people experiencing the website.
How did Taoti Creative perform from a project management standpoint?
They delivered everything on time and within budget. A project like this always has moments of frustration, and when we had those moments, they were responsive. She was friendly and willing to work with us to get things where we wanted them to be. I communicated with them through Google Docs and phone calls. The rest of the team used Teamwork and Slack.
What did you find most impressive about Taoti Creative?
They were creative and really cared about our project. We didn’t feel like we did with other vendors, where they did the work and moved on. They continue to stay emotionally and intellectually engaged in it as we continue to make changes.
Are there any areas Taoti Creative could improve?
We had a great meeting after the site launched to discuss what worked and what didn’t. The key learning was to never make assumptions about our budget and timeline or that you know which way we’d go on a particular decision.
What tips or recommendations could you share that might increase the likelihood of success with Taoti Creative?
It’s kind of a mixed blessing for an organization like Taoti to work with an organization like ours, which has a lot of in-house talent. There are more resources to deploy to get a project done, but at the same time, there are more points of view. I would say that they would work really well for an organization that needs soup to nuts, but they’ve also been adept at working with us when it was more of a collaborative effort.
the project
Drupal Design & Development for Educational Nonprofit
"It’s a very nice design. No one seems to notice that it’s a site built for a low bandwidth audience."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
We are a nonprofit organization working in international education. We believe that education transcends borders, opens minds, and enables people to go beyond. We’re building connections in their university or workspace, and promoting a peaceful vision of the world. I’m a senior program officer for the program. It is basically a platform where we catalog opportunities. It’s an online clearinghouse where we catalog educational opportunities for displaced and refugee students, to offer them an opportunity to reconnect with educational opportunities, specifically in higher education.
We’re currently focusing on Syrian students, due to the devastating impact of the Syria crisis, also the unprecedented number of Syrian youth who are now not attending higher education but were enrolled before the conflict erupted. We do a lot of scholarship management, management of international leadership programs, and really focus on education emergencies, but also empowering women, all in the sphere of international education.
What challenge were you trying to address with Taoti Creative?
We were looking for a 3rd-party website developer who was able to develop our site and also the database for students to access and learn about opportunities.
What was the scope of their involvement?
We have one main point of contact, and additional people were added depending on the stage of our website development. All of Taoti’s team were available to provide their expertise, to ensure that they delivered what we had in mind. That said, I think it was great to know that we have one central contact person, who then pulled the people we needed into the project. We spoke to designers and developers as necessary. We had one designer pulled into the project, who we mainly worked with, and the same for developers. They made sure we had direct access to developers and designers, as well as their business team, so that our various questions could be addressed efficiently.
The audience we’re targeting is Syrian students, and many of them live in areas without high-speed internet access. The majority of our target audience is accessing the website through mobile devices. We wanted to build a website that is accessible for low bandwidth and for mobile devices. We recently had a meeting with Taoti during which we looked at Google analytics on loading times, who’s accessing the website, and with what type of device. They were very successful in building a site that is easily accessible for students on cellphones, as well as low bandwidth. They provided us with guidance on how to come up with a site that still has an appealing design, while not compromising on the loading times.
We’re still working on website enhancements, adding new features and pages. We knew the three months was a very short timeline for the end product we had in mind. It’s a constantly developing initiative on our end, so the needs of the website also constantly change. We will continue working with them on maintenance as well as building out new features.
How did you come to work with Taoti Creative?
We had a very competitive RFP process, and several developers submitted proposals. Taoti’s proposal really stuck out. We felt that they obviously had a lot of technical and development experience, and we also saw that they had worked with agencies similar to ours. In their proposal, they already understood the goals of our program. We didn’t expect that, as we’re in two very different fields of work. They really got what we wanted to achieve, and they had great experience and expertise. Taoti is in Washington, D.C., and we’re in New York City.
How much have you invested with Taoti Creative?
We’ve spent about $150,000 so far.
What is the status of this engagement?
We started working in December of 2016, and the work is ongoing.
Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?
I don’t have the stats in front of me. We had a somewhat similar website that generated traffic of 10,000 per year. Within the first two weeks, the new site we built with Taoti had more than 20,000 users. We’re now able to track where our users are coming from, and we’re specifically targeting Syrians. Our top ten countries are mainly in the region, as well as top hosting countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany. We see that we are reaching the target audience. We now know that the majority of our users access the site via their cell phones, and we have the numbers to prove that. The new site has a much lower bounce rate for mobile users, which is exactly what we expected to see.
The website has only been online for six or seven weeks, so we’re still in the initial phase. We work with partner organizations that are supporting our initiative, and we do a lot of outreach to promote the website. So far, we’ve had very positive responses regarding the structure and design of the site. On the whole site, we only have three images, which is very unusual but goes back to making it user-friendly for our target audience. At the same time, I think it’s a very nice design. No one ever even seems to notice that it’s a website really built for a low bandwidth audience.
How did Taoti Creative perform from a project management standpoint?
We were on an extremely tight, three-month timeline. They really over-delivered on that compressed timeline. We had weekly check-in calls to follow up on the timeline and technical requirements. They introduced us to the Teamwork platform, which was really easy. We were able to communicate as easily as email, but also upload documents and files. They involved everyone on the team who needed to receive certain information or documents. For the post-launch process, we were able to submit tickets through Teamwork for anything we wanted to be changed. We’re still using it for all the communication with Taoti that’s not over the phone.
What did you find most impressive about Taoti Creative?
It was my first time working with website developers. I think Taoti was very helpful in walking us through the whole process from A–Z. They really tried to ensure that we understood every single step along the way. I feel they delivered on the design and development part, and they really understood our goals. Along the way, they made sure we were always included. We’ve been extremely pleased with Taoti’s work.
Are there any areas Taoti Creative could improve?
I can’t think of anything. We’ve had an extremely positive experience with everyone at Taoti. A lot of the people on our side didn’t know much about website development, and they were available whenever we wanted to talk, either via phone or online. They made sure to explain their work to us.
the project
Web Design for Nonprofit Advocacy Organization
"[T]hey were able to "get in our heads" and provide the best solutions."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Please describe your organization.
We are a national, membership-based, nonprofit advocacy, research, and program initiative organization representing 3,069 counties. We're located in Washington, D.C.
What is your role at the company?
I am the social media manager.
What business challenge were you trying to address with Taoti Creative?
Our website did not adequately address the needs of our audiences and staff from a design, functionality, and maintenance standpoint. A complete restructuring of informational hierarchy was necessary after several years of patchwork backend maintenance with no defined management structure.
We were looking for streamline content creation, publishing, and curation. We wanted to enhance website functionality across all devices and minimize staff time in site management and administration. Our organization also wanted to provide a more dynamic, engaging experience for users.
Please describe the scope of their involvement in detail.
They were tasked with designing a website with a completely new navigational, tagging hierarchy to facilitate ease of access to resources and promote further engagement with site content. The design needs to reflect the latest trends in web design and provide a more robust site architecture to facilitate back-end maintenance and content publishing. We needed to maximize site performance across all devices, operating systems, and browsers.
How did you come to work with Taoti Creative?
We did some internal research and comparison and got the recommendation from a friend.
Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?
That is confidential.
When was the project completed?
July 2015 was the website launch.
Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?
The feedback was overwhelmingly positive from all stakeholders and audiences. We are achieving a new level of relevance in DC. Taoti Creative delivered an on-time project within the scope of the budget and executed well.
How did Taoti Creative perform from a project management standpoint?
More than other companies, they were able to "get in our heads" and provide the best solutions.
In hindsight, are there areas in which they could improve, or things you might do differently?
Not from their side of things.
Taoti Creative delivered a website that’s only gotten positive feedback. They also taught the client in how to utilize the new platform’s functionalities. The team lead was exceptionally patient and kind in leading the client through unfamiliar processes. They’ve secured a maintenance contract.