Uitop

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the COO of DropCap, a book publishing technology company focused on building solutions for independent publishers and authors to achieve global success with their books.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Uitop?

We hired Uitop to design a SaaS product for authors to keep track of their book data. We knew what we wanted the product to do, but needed outside help to work through the user experience and make the design beautiful and intuitive for the users.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We posted a proposal for the project and received an overwhelming response. We narrowed our list of candidates based on the design portfolios we liked best and felt were in line with our project. We scheduled video calls with our top candidates and ultimately chose Uitop because they were prompt, friendly, and provided us with a detailed overview of the design process they would take us through.

There are many great designers out there to choose from, but Uitop ultimately won out because they best communicated what to expect and gave us the confidence they would finish on time and within budget. They also provided a detailed quote with "best case", "worst case", and "expected" scenarios for the number of hours required for each piece of the project. It was very realistic, and I appreciated the transparency—and it turned out their "expected" estimates were spot on.

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

Our designer did a thorough competitive analysis for us and researched the pros and cons of the designs of similar products. She gave us daily updates on her progress with links in Figma to review and give feedback on her work as she went along. We also spoke weekly via video call to work through some of the more complicated aspects of the user flow and design.

Once her research was done, she built a detailed workflow, and once we signed off on that, she built the wireframes. She then built a working prototype and conducted usability testing, tweaking the wireframes based on user feedback. Finally, she implemented the full design with colors, fonts, etc., and finalized the UI kit.

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

We worked directly with our designer and the owner of the company.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Internally, we were very happy with the design, as it perfectly reflected what we had in mind for the product. We've now built the product and are in closed beta testing. Our user feedback is positive many compliments on the ease-of-use and the aesthetic.

Shortly before launching the closed beta, internal testing revealed that one of the features we planned on did not provide the value we were hoping for. We came up with another concept for how that feature should work, and Uitop was able to quickly redesign that particular feature for us, which we really appreciated!

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow between us and their team was very smooth. We have a Slack channel that both our designer and the owner are in, and they are very quick to answer any questions we have. We received daily updates from the designer and used the comments in Figma to ask questions and get clarifications on the wireframes, designs, etc. The short weekly meeting was helpful to keep things on track and give feedback on more complicated issues and explain minutiae particular to our industry.

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

Above all, their communication was quite impressive. We very much appreciated seeing the progress on a daily basis, and loved that they were able and willing to communicate within our Slack. Our designer was also whip smart and able to grasp what we were trying to do and provide us with excellent design solutions all in a short turnaround. We were very impressed with her skills, and couldn't be happier with the outcome. Based on this project, we have engaged them on an ongoing basis for other UI/UX work we have.

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

There's really nothing I'd recommend they do differently. We were really happy with the whole process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am an executive for Deployr AB, a tech company that builds software for publishing websites.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Uitop?

We wanted to improve our interface so internal users could accomplish their tasks faster and more efficiently.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

There were several scopes, but all of them have been focused on UI/UX design. Some scopes have included: improving the interface for the CMS when users are publishing content, managing taxonomies in relation to the website structure, and connecting a translation management system (TMS). 

Regarding the CMS, they had a lot of personas, and in the beginning, it was a lot of assumptions from our side because the personas were from the perspective of roles that would use the CMS inside. We don’t have a ton of internal users, so it was geared toward helping gather the workflow of a task.

It’s hard to pinpoint a specific solution for the CMS because they’ve taken the high-level strategy and broken it down into more workable workflows on the CMS. The TMS, on the other hand, is more nitty gritty and back and forth in trying to figure out different workflows for different roles. Another goal of ours was to see how we could cut time and remove all the repeatable tasks that we have; everything was done in Figma.

Currently, they’re working on frontend design, but they have worked on the CMS and backend design. They’re also helping break things down into clusters and ensuring all the components and concepts are more coherent. Before working with Uitop, we added components when necessary that were very customized. Now the process is more streamlined, and they make sure that all the components are grouped in a way that makes sense to deploy them across the web app.

What is the team composition?

I work with two UI/UX designers.

How did you come to work with Uitop?

They were a referral from a former executive. We selected them because they were very good at design and research, and had a strategy we hadn’t seen before. They had a very clear process that made them stand out.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent roughly $70,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in July 2022, and it is still ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Since this is more of an internal tool, we measure their success by the effectiveness output. This includes tracking how much more we can publish with improved workflows and a better UX design. It’s hard to tell quantitatively because we are still working on it, but the number of outputs per person, which can be any type of content such as images, text, graphics, or anything else put into the CMS, goes out faster. We’ve also had a very positive response on what they've built for us.

How did Uitop perform from a project management standpoint?

They're very flexible; our needs have changed, and we’ve had to pivot in different directions, but they’ve been very accommodating. They’ve been able to change communication styles and deliverables within the same day. They've had strong communication skills even under difficult circumstances during the Russain Invasion of Ukraine. They were able to get their own internet connection and made sure they were available at all times. 

We primarily use Slack and email for communication, but we use Google Meet when we need to go over the screens in Figma. We use ClickUp for project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve performed thorough research on competitors and have looked into other systems in great detail. They’ve also given us a comprehensive competitor analysis of an existing system. 

Uitop focuses on the whole picture very early into the engagement, and they don’t skip steps of research. Our organization missed a few assumptions at the beginning of our engagement, which Uitop caught. Overall, we’ve been impressed with their work ethic. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing we can come up with. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be very clear, but also be open to things; don’t skip steps in the initial research. The research takes more time, but it’s important to lay the foundation. This is part of their unique process, and you have to go through that.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of a data management startup based in NYC.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Uitop?

Uitop built wireframes for our data management platform from scratch.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

UiTop came highly recommended from a connection (a CEO of a software company) that had previously worked with the UiTop team.

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

Their team conducted research into our market to understand what type of tools our target user base was accustomed to. After a couple calls conveying our vision for the tool, Uitop started work on the wireframes themselves. We had weekly check in calls to iterate on the wireframes, section by section.

The UI/UX person that was assigned to us from Uitop was so patient with us as we changed our mind and was amazing at bringing our vision to life! We plan to use them again for the UI and design phase.

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

My team worked directly with a UI/UX designer that was assigned to our team, as well as the CEO of Uitop, who was very hands on and available to us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are VERY pleased with the deliverables. Uitop was able to translate our vision into elegant wireframes that are intuitive to navigate, elegant, and straightforward. The designer we worked with had a great understanding of best practices and offered valuable opinions about the direction of the wireframes.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was seamless. We collaborated on figma and slack and had weekly check in calls with the designer and the CEO.

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

I was extremely impressed by their ability to translate an abstract vision into wireframes. They know their stuff very well and understand the best practice implementation. I also appreciated the time they spent doing research on our customer base, which I think helped in making the wireframes so intuitive for our users. Also, they took extra time to ensure that our frontend developer could easily implement the wireframes by providing notes on each frame.

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

None that I can think of. We plan to use Uitop in the future!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO and founder of a software company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Uitop?

We needed their help with designing our new product.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Uitop helped us design the UI/UX of our React-based web application. They did a full analysis of our product, as well as our workflows, target market, and initial wireframes. Additionally, they conducted a competitive analysis. After that, they proceeded with the work, creating designs based on the information they gathered and the research we provided. Their team created the designs using Figma.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two people from their side: Ivan (Founder) and a designer.

How did you come to work with Uitop?

We found Uitop through online research. We saw that they worked together with another company, and they did a good job in that collaboration. Hence, we decided to reach out to them based on that reason.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $15,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together on this project from June–November 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We actually just completed the app this week, and the quality of Uitop’s work was really outstanding. We also received some positive feedback from our target audience; they said they really love its user-friendly design.

How did Uitop perform from a project management standpoint?

They did a great job from a project management standpoint; everything was delivered earlier than expected. We mainly communicated with them through Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were impressed with how quickly they attended to our needs. For instance, whenever we requested changes to the app, they addressed them immediately and finished everything in a matter of days, not weeks.

Are there any areas they could improve on?

I honestly can’t think of anything that they could’ve improved on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to clearly define your goals and requirements.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a real estate software startup that builds software primarily using artificial intelligence. Our technology helps real estate owners and operators optimize asset performance and asset operation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Uitop?

We needed a company that could provide us with web and UI/UX design services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired Uitop to help us improve the workflow of a new software product. They are also tasked with designing and implementing the UI/UX of the same product. A lot of the work revolved, at least on the client-facing side, on Figma. We've worked together on the flow of products and done UI/UX phases. They’re currently designing our website as well.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked directly with Ivan (CEO & Founder) and Katarina (Head of Design).

How did you come to work with Uitop?

We found Uitop through a freelancing marketplace. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent somewhere between $8,000–$10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2022, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Uitop’s support provides us with the ability to engage with potential customers. My team and I are also highly satisfied with the work that they’ve done so far.

How did Uitop perform from a project management standpoint?

Uitop has performed well in terms of project management. They’ve stayed roughly within budget and timeline despite some specific, last-minute requests and changes from us.

We typically communicate with them through Google Chat and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re most impressed with Uitop’s ability to come up with a system to be able to bring design solutions. They're not just designing for the sake of designing — they have a system in place that enables them, step-by-step, to understand what the problem of the users are and design a solution that answers those problems. They go through the checks-to-be-done framework, and they have a very solid marketplace. 

We’re also impressed with the value they provide for our money. They have a very reasonable cost for a team that can solve our problem and provide quality work. Lastly, their team is very nice, and the founder himself is very flexible and pleasant to communicate with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

A little bit more follow-ups and summaries will be appreciated. It would be great if they provided follow-ups or short notes on progress or steps taken.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to give them flexibility. Let them think of the problem, apply their framework to the issue, come up with an original solution, and then compare what they come up with with what you come up with. They have an interesting way of looking at things, which I think can definitely enrich resolution or conversation.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CTO of ResHub, a resident experience platform for aged care operators.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire uitop?

UI design and help with user experience.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We shortlisted a number of designers we found online on various platforms, and landed with Kate from UITop.

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

Initial workshops to kick off project, Kate went away and done sigificant research into both competitors and data on designing experiences for older adults. Kate then worked with our engineering team and leadership to turn this into backlog items and with our engineering team, she helped deliver this to production users.

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

One, Kate. She lead up design and user experience. She also managed another junior UX designer we had onboarded.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I can't say a single bad word about the experience, i would highly recommend both Kate and Ivan to anyone looking for a deep understanding of UX and UI design. Pair this with a very easy to work with attitude and flexibility needed with our young startup, it was genuinely great.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

It worked great, Kate was delivering value within the first day of her joining. They took way more responsibility than we asked and we were so happy with the results of all their work.

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

Flexibility to deal with the way we worked, and the deep understanding that was developed into our complex user needs.

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

There is always room for improvement in every area.. in the context of this review, I've nothing to say. In general, any feedback I gave to Kate, she adapted quickly and was always open to any feedback or criticism on designs or ways of working... this is rare.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am marketing ad manager in IT outstaffing company Academy Smart (academysmart.com)

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire uitop?

We wanted to get a catchy design for our HR portal. We are an IT company, so we aimed to make our HR brand memorable and positively persuaded by candidates.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We conducted almost two dozen interviews with potential contractors and settled on UITop.studio for several reasons. Firstly, the guys proved their experience in designing large sites with complex structures. Secondly, right at the setup call, they proposed some elegant solutions that formed the basis of the future interface.

Also, we asked the guys to design a vacancy page that we tested on real visitors afterward to 100% ensure we hire professionals. The conversion rate increased two times, so we signed a contract to develop the HR portal interface.

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

The uitop team did significant competitor research and came up with a specification we approved almost with the first attempt. After that, they produced interactive prototypes of all the pages so we could flow future users' paths. Then they offered several style options, and after choosing one, uitop provided us with a great UI. We also got a complete UI kit and all the sources we ask for.

In addition, uitop is still in touch and supervises our devs.

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

The design was delivered by two designers (successively)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Site programming is in progress now, but preliminary user interviews and successful vacancy page conversion test (CR increased 2x!!!) convince us that the overall result will be great.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We did not find a common language immediately. But thanks to Ivan's managerial talent and after the replacement of the designer, we got what we needed.

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

UITop team has a rare "soft power" skill. They attentively listened to the client's opinion and turned it into working solutions that would bring profit.

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

It would be significant to get responses from the team faster, but in fairness, everything was delivered on time. Also, the price wasn't the lowest

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Senior Product Manager for an HR SaaS platform

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire uitop?

Our goal was to develop a new feature for our existing mobile app for users to plan attendance for employees. We needed a reliable UI/UX design team

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We searched via Upwork by posting a profile

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

Ivan team first understood our requirements, then conducted competitive research and an inspiration board. Then they designed a basic design system after which they proposed the first designs in black and white format. After these wireframes their agreed upon, their team created high fidelity designs. We reviewed these designs, and decided together on iterations and changed which were made quickly and proactively.

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

We had one UX expert and one UI expert from the team

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are satisfied with the team's work as they helped us achieve our timeline based goals. They helped us to move forward with our project in time and gave us the first ideas within 3-4 days. The screens they designed have got good feedback from our internal teams and are currently under production and development. They were quite robust and were helping our development team quite a lot.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The team was very proactive and responsive. We were able to setup regular check-in calls and the changes asked were made.

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

They were very easy to communicate with and Ivan has really good knowledge of mobile app experiences. So I could rely on them.

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

Not really.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder and president of an NFT marketplace.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with uitop?

We hired them to create the UI/UX design of our platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I shared my idea to uitop through a video conference, and I prepared a two-page document containing the main use case, brief, and other explanations related to the project. The team then designed the web-based NFT marketplace focused on books. They developed the UI/UX design from scratch. They also recently started a new contract where they’ll be in charge of implementing improvements on the platform.

What is the team composition?

I only work with two people, but I’m not sure if there are more people working on their side.

How did you come to work with uitop?

I found uitop on Upwork, and I chose them because of their fair pricing. They also seemed like an agency that would produce top-notch work and would do whatever it takes to deliver on time.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $4,000–$5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2021, and we continue to collaborate.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

uitop has been able to produce quality work. They’re pretty good, as evident in our decision to continue working with them. Above all, compared to other agencies, we’re extremely satisfied with their work.

How did uitop perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a good project management process. We use Slack and Zoom to communicate, and we use Figma to see their design outputs. We’ve also used Jira in the past, but we’ve recently changed that to Trello.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed by their ability to provide exceptional work despite tight timelines.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They already have great UI/UX design skills, but they should strive to keep improving.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I highly recommend uitop if you need design services. In addition, once you work with them, they can deliver good results if you give them a clear brief.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m a CEO of an edTech mobile app headquartered in London

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire uitop?

We were providing services to public schools, and decided to expand our services to B2C/B2B market for parents, students and tutors. This required us to re-develop the UI/UX and create a top-notch user flow that would be modern, utilitarian and gasified at the same time

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We selected several vendors at first. We made an interview with each one, and gave them the same 1-week trial task. KinDesign was a cutting edge selection, based on their holistic problem approach. They managed to make a small research of our user pains and need, gave top market references and modern trends. Also, they provided an outstanding solution of our trial task, that none of other vendors could provide.

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

First of all, their team conducted a deep market research collecting best practices, reviews and mistakes other similar products did in the past that we should avoid. Second, they proposed a user experience first in black and white, without any particular design elements in order to stay focused on the experience first and not being distracted on colors or other design elements. Third, once the user flow was confirmed, they began developing user interface in 3 phases, dispatching deliverables in an order of importance, first being elements that was blocking the back end part.

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

Our team worked directly with their UX/UI designer and a project manager

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are very happy with the project outcomes and their recommendations towards the project in general. We’ve launched the app and the feedback has been positive.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

All communication and deliverables was professional and timely, and they have a very efficient approach to problem solving.

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

The team was extremely easy to communicate with, with timely responses and deliverables. In general, their team is very competent and professional in what they do, and they're a pleasure to work with.

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

Nothing. Everything was perfect