Twist Open UX

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Silicon Institute of Technology is a leading engineering college in Odisha, I work with them as an Education services consultant. I was tasked with reimagining the digital image of Silicon Institute - The website design for both campuses was my responsibility.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Twist Open UX?

We hired Twist Open for UX/UI design of three websites, the main university website and two child websites for both campuses.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We liked the Gram Vikas website which was designed by Twist Open. The Gram Vikas team had a prior experience of working with Twist Open and spoke of them highly. Also, the Chairman of Silicon happens to be the Founder Chairman of Gram Vikas. However, as part of internal process, we reached out to multiple design agencies and asked for project proposals from all of them.

Twist Open’s project approach stood out as the most meticulous and well thought out, after a few calls with Karishma, their founder, we understood their design process and were impressed by their professionalism and technical know-how. We chose Twist Open for their honesty, creativity, and the fact that they asked questions that challenged us.

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

Silicon Institute is a highly respected engineering college in eastern India. However our website was really outdated with several sections being added to it over the years by different teams, with little cohesiveness. Prospective students were finding it hard to find relevant information on the courses they were interested in. We hired Twist Open UX to develop an improved UX to address this opportunity and increase returns on acquisition spend.

All three websites together had more than 100 pages to be developed. Twist Open devised an ingenious system of components that made the design cycles faster and easy to replicate. This allowed the website to be ready in time for the admissions season; and it was very well optimised for mobile browsing - because our user research showed that 95% of of prospective student population accessed the website on their phones.

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

We worked with the Design Director - Karishma; along with one senior Visual designer during the engagement. They have deep experience in this area so the project felt like it was in safe hands from start to finish.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve launched the website and it has received a tremendous response from prospective students, current students, parents and faculty. The most impressive aspect was the rhythm and cadence in the project. The fact that Twist Open UX was able to launch a website as big and with as much functionality as ours without compromising its speed was amazing.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Twist Open UX was great to work with. They made us feel like we were working with an enterprise-level vendor from a skillset standpoint while providing the one-on-one support of a small company. They conducted meetings with our personnel to clearly lay out a timeline and discuss the look and feel of the website right at the outset.

They were very particular about meeting project milestones, they were diligent in letting us know beforehand what content was required from us, and what expectations to set with the programmer. We connected over calls and exchanged daily emails.

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

Twist Open UX listened really well to our needs and what we wanted. They were easy to work with and accommodating to our requests. Overall, they were very professional and on time.

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

Nothing comes to mind. They’ve given us exactly what we hoped for, so I have no complaints.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Avanara is a consulting firm based in New York. We provide creative and technological solutions to organizations through experience design and creating interfaces that are accessible and user-friendly.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Twist Open UX?

Experience Design, Digital Collaterals, Styleguide

SOLUTION

How did you select Twist Open UX?

Twist Open UX was recommended to us by a friend who had worked with them earlier. We then connected with them and went through the vetting process of checking their designers profiles and work experience. The design director Karishma showed us some of their past projects, and we decided to work with them.

We chose Twist Open UX over other large firms because we liked the small, dedicated team.

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

First, they did an evaluation of the existing websites. The team worked with us to understand all the user types and how they use the platform. Worked through the major pages and workflows; created a comprehensive set of annotated wireframes and then made pixel-perfect visual compositions for the next-generation design of the websites.

How many resources from the Twist Open UX team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with one senior UX strategist and one senior Visual designer for both projects. The team always met their deadlines, irrespective of the timezone differences. They were always clear when there would be changes. It was really easy to work with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It's a huge undertaking to roll out large corporate websites and manage expectations for so many top-level executives. But seeing both the websites come alive and be well received by the clients is a big boost. Twist Open's team kept the momentum, hit delivery targets, and ensured the project was on track. Even our developers were impressed by how well the components were designed.

They found the design handover very thorough, straightforward, and well packaged.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The working relationship between Avanara's leadership and Twist Open's design team was smooth. We connected over calls and exchanged daily emails and validations. Twist Open was very accommodating in terms of scheduling time and being available for us despite the difference in time zones.

I’ve worked with a lot of outsourced companies and third parties over the years and my experience with Twist Open has been superior.

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

The Twist Open team has been meticulous as well as creative throughout the workflow. They were updated with the latest UI trends. They are a talented team with a variety of personalities. They provided fast turnarounds of high quality.

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

No. We loved our experience with Twist Open UX and would recommend them any day.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the Managing Director at IZiel Healthcare. We provide engineering & regulatory services to global medical device manufacturers from our offices in USA & India.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Twist Open UX?

IZiel is in the business of designing, manufacturing and distributing medical / healthcare devices. One of the products we were developing was a fertility test kit which would indicate if a woman was ovulating. This testing device would send its readings via bluetooth to a mobile application. We hired Twist Open UX to design and detail out this mobile application which would be used by couples who are trying to conceive a baby.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We heard of Twist Open UX through a friend who had worked with them before. We wanted someone with not only the right experience but also the right team to be able to brainstorm with us on this brand new app. They had an appealing process and their team seemed great.

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

The idea was to build an ovulation tracker as a mobile app, which would help couples keep the relationship fun and light while trying to make a baby, and not get burdened with performance pressure. The app would be integrated with a hand-held medical device into which the woman would insert test strips.

The app had to be rooted in user empathy. We definitely didn't want it to feel instructional or monotonous even though the app needed the woman to input her body temperature and Luteinizing hormone readings everyday. The Twist Open team did in-depth user research with couples trying for a baby, as well as gynaecologists and came back with eye opening insights which they translated into the app design.

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

We worked with the design director, Karishma; and two other team members - a UX designer and a Visual designer along with intermittent support from a Motion graphics animator from the Twist Open team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They were a good fit and they were able to understand our use cases and where our customers would be coming from. Twist Open brought several suggestions to the table that we wouldn’t have arrived at on our own, such as using animations to help improve conversion. However we faced some medical engineering challenges while manufacturing the fertility test device, and had to shelve the product. Hence the mobile app could not get launched.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Twist Open's independence helped in getting the job done without a lot of handholding. Their self-reliance was one of the key reasons we decided to let them design the product entirely from scratch. Their final handover was neatly packaged and provided a clear set of directions regarding the implementation.

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

The Twist Open team was always listening and have strong communication skills. They have a healthy balance between UX expertise and Visual design prowess. They were able to think deeply about the problem and provide an effective solution.

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

I didn't have any issues with them. When we did this project in October 2017, they had a small but agile team that thought creatively.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Wishwa is an integrated platform used by changemakers, volunteers, contributors, experts, institutions and beneficiaries; to impact real change and create a better society. Wishwa empowers users to provide and receive aid through fundraising, volunteering campaigns, donation of materials and discussion of game-changing ideas that develop communities. I am the Project Manager at Wishwa.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Twist Open UX?

We sought out Twist Open’s expertise for UX design our web platform and mobile app.  As the project scope expanded, Twist Open UX provided organisational design solutions that culminated in the strategy and design of back-end operations software as well.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

Twist Open UX was recommended to us by an engineering team who had worked with them earlier. We asked to see their past work, understood their design process, met with the design team and were very impressed by warmth, professionalism and technical know-how. We immediately hired them for the project.

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

Twist Open implemented a strong communication strategy at various levels of the web platform and app. They handled complex business flows to illustrate how every campaign and entity created on the platform could be verified, tracked and guided towards completion.

Dashboards were designed to convert raw data into visibly pleasing insights to help Wishwa admins and users analyse the performance of their initiative on the platform. The visual design was vibrant and induced feelings of energy and positivity; much like the ethos of the initiative.

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

We worked with the Design Director - Rahul; one senior UX strategist and one senior Visual designer during the engagement. The team was organised, focussed, talented and professional.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve launched a beta version of the website, the mobile app is still to be developed. Twist Open UX took our somewhat ambiguous vision and translated it into real screen flows that were meticulously designed. They were churning out screens faster than we could respond. Rahul brought a lot of experience to the table and his leadership skills have been very valuable to support project planning.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow between our team and Twist Open UX was smooth. They didn’t need a lot of my time to get going, and they were able to get up and running very quickly to produce high-quality output. We connected over calls and exchanged daily emails.

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

The most impressive aspect was the level of rigor we were able to go through together. Twist Open’s team was hard working and they paid attention to minute details.

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

No. We are impressed with Twist Open UX and I’d definitely work with them again.