glueglue

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the co-founder and creative director of an industrial design consultancy. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire glueglue?

We wanted to refresh our website design because, as a design firm, the visual aspect of our brand is critical. We needed a responsive design and clear product categories that accurately represented our work.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to improve the usability of the website’s front- and backend, which had been slowed by the installation of many different plugins. While the plugins solved individual issues, they eventually degraded our system and made it somewhat unstable.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

They’re local, and they designed our old website. We still liked their approach when it came time to rebuild.

Describe the project in detail.

glueglue decided to preserve our current WordPress CMS to maintain our SEO positioning and some of our old content. They started by defining new use cases and user stories and then delivered a prototype within a few days, which had significant backend modifications. We offered them feedback, and then they defined our pages with a new color, font, and layout.

What was the team composition?

We worked with two UX designers, a UI designer, a frontend developer, and an SEO expert. One of the UX designers acted as a project manager and handled all the team’s tasks.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve only been using the website for a month, so it’s too early evaluate its impact on our business. However, we’ve already received comments describing our clients’ appreciation of the site’s usability and appearance.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Project deadlines and tasks were available on Asana at any time, which let us know what design or development stage we were in. We also had numerous team meetings to help accomplish challenging tasks.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I loved how we could communicate with all their team members directly even though one of their founders oversaw the entire development. They also customized our WordPress backend so we can update and add projects to it independently—even those with sophisticated layouts.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There’s precious little they could improve. If I had to name something, I'd say that we wished they offered social media management in addition to UI/UX.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

DressYouCan is a womenswear high-fashion online platform. Users from all over Italy can use our services to rent dresses and accessories from emerging designers/ateliers and well-known global brands. We take care of the entire value chain, including dress purchasing, warehousing, dry-cleaning, and delivery. Our service is completely tailor-made, offering free at-home fittings, all covered by insurance.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire glueglue?

We had to analyze and improve the UI/UX for our customers to complete the customer journey in the renting process.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to see our clients’ behavior while using our website improve.

SOLUTION

Describe the project in detail.

They analyzed our UI/UX and SEO and gave us advice on the website’s appearance. They worked with our CTO to understand each step and ensure results.

What was the team composition?

They collaborated with our entire staff, including our CTO and data entry specialist.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Unfortunately, we didn't follow all the right steps, so some things are still missing. Overall, though, their work has really helped us improve and will likely have a positive impact on our website.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

They were really effective in this regard. glueglue’s team was responsive, punctual, and very careful with their work.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They understood things correctly. They weren't just chatting with us to give the impression that they were producing results.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There are some things that we’ll need to improve, for sure. But, for now, we want to see the results of the first analysis.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the COO and the founder of beSharp, one of the very first cloud system integrators in Italy and an Amazon Web Services (AWS) advanced partner. I am in charge of implementing new business operations and managing relationships with partners.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire glueglue?

I first got in touch with glueglue during a business school workshop where we collaborated on the rebranding strategy for our company. We conceived a new logo and a visual style guide. We later decided to work together on the UI design for the Noovolari web app, an online platform for scheduling snapshot-based backup for cloud infrastructure.

What were your goals for this project?

With Noovolari, we are trying to bring order into the cloud backup solutions on the market. The idea was to create an intuitive interface that makes it easy to use for both the tech geeks and regular users. We wanted to focus on the usability of the platform to offer an outstanding UX. 

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I enjoyed the way they provided a detailed description of every phase of the project in their proposals—with a very straightforward and "no-frills" approach. They defined the costs for each step and specified the expected results. They made it very easy for me understand the value of their work compared to other proposals. 

Describe the project in detail.

After the project approval, glueglue conducted an introductory meeting at our offices. We described our goal in business and design terms and then presented them a working prototype of the application. They asked us about the technical background and the characteristics of the product to fully understand what the real benefits for the users were. Their team defined functions with us so that they could start wireframing the core layouts.

After two weeks, they shared the first interactive InVision prototype, so that it was quite easy for us to understand the concept and to precise feedback. We made our first round of feedback and they reviewed their work accordingly.

Then, they conducted a meeting about the look and feel, and helped us select the proper illustrator to come up with the visual identity designs. After a few rounds of feedback, we selected the ideal illustrated logotype followed by the user interface design. They developed the material design framework as a proper starting point and a bedrock for the product. This was particularly insightful on the app's characteristics and the common uses.

What was the team composition?

We worked with two UX/UI designers and a graphic designer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our web app is now running and anyone can visit to register a free account.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We worked with prototyping tools like InVision and Zeplin, and had conference calls. They set reasonable deadlines and asked for feedback when needed.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their straightforward approach and responsiveness impressed us—whether it was for creating a complex digital project or communicating with the company.

Are there any areas for improvement?

No, everything was fine. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the head of startups at Fashion Technology Accelerator (FTA), an accelerator for fashion technology startups based in Milan, Seoul, and Silicon Valley. FTA has an active role in the early stage investment market and offers consulting services. I am currently responsible for managing the FTA acceleration program.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire glueglue?

Startups in Italy—especially those emerging on the market—do not have UI/UX designers on their founding teams. This lack of UX awareness, inextricably linked to brand’s performance and image, may lead to poor results and considerably impede the company’s growth. For this reason, I suggested glueglue’s co-founders, Fabian and Matteo, as ongoing UX mentors for all the startups participating in our accelerator program.

What were your goals for this project?

We needed to find a scalable way to provide startups with some UI/UX background knowledge and help them develop a consistent strategy through improving their skills (especially for e-commerce platforms) and sharing industry best practices. 

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We first met glueglue at a startup event in Milan. I was impressed by their empathic and problem-solving approach. Before FTA, I had worked with them on a brand design project; after being hugely satisfied with the results of our work, I decided to start a new collaboration. I selected glueglue largely because of their flexibility and willingness to help each customer.

Describe the project in detail.

The latest project we worked on with glueglue was a website redesign for LaClassica, an Italian brand that creates and distributes top-quality cycling sportswear. We held the first meeting at the FTA headquarters, and they immediately asked for an overview of the whole business and the goals for the website.

In the second phase, they conducted a usability inspection through three UX designers. This step identified potential problems and allowed comprehensive recommendations for the website's latest version. Glueglue put together a 10-page document with around 50 ideas for improvements. They also conducted an additional SEO inspection to power the new platform with SEO best practices.

For the third phase of the project, glueglue wireframed the new website's structure and organization, considering the user funnel and main calls to action. Then, they designed the UI along with a fully interactive InVision prototype.

What was the team composition?

We worked with a senior UX designer, a project manager, and a junior UX designer. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

This specific website is still in test mode, but we expect to reduce the bounce rate consistently thanks to the restyled homepage layout and main calls to action. Overall, I believe we fully accomplished our objective with glueglue, as the five startups we worked with last rated their contribution to our accelerator program last year as 4.5 out of 5 stars.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We were able to work efficiently through remote and in-person meetings. They handled the work well and respected the initial timeline.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I appreciate their empathic approach and ability to understand the bigger picture from both design and business perspectives.

Are there any areas for improvement?

More than anything, they could expand and delegate more team members to focus on new areas of mobile development. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire glueglue, and what were your goals?

We wanted to develop a mobile app

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We looked for a competent and agile company

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

UX and UI study and internal logic

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

2/3 resources, UI e UX designer

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

App working, not yet advertised, downloads not estimated

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

Through video calls and project management software we were able to coordinate all the activity

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

The availability of the PM

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

Some minor decisions not discussed

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the Product Development Manager at Archiva Group, a group of companies specialized in electronic invoicing, digital archiving, process automation and document management.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire glueglue?

Our primary need was to find a partner company regarding all UX/UI for the development of many different web applications for our main product Requiro. We also needed to redefine our branding and created a scalable user interface design system.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We hired glueglue after finding them on the web searching for the best italian digital product design company and selected glueglue among other competitors.

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

Most projects we have assigned to glueglue have the following schedule: We provide the main use cases and user roles in text form. Glueglue provides their offer based on those same use cases and a briefing session. After the kick-off some benchmarking helps us understand who are the main competitors for the specific product we are about to create. The wireframing phase, used to define the new functional structure of the product, is usually followed by the creation of an interactive InVision prototype that helps illustrate the final user experience. We have now created a suite of products that are all available to our customers in one dashboard. Every webapp is based on the same UI components of the previous one, except new components that need to be added to the design system.

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

Our team worked with 3 UX/UI designers and 1 developer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were not used to working with a centralised design system. This new approach creates more communication between developers and designers and allows us to create better experiences for our customers.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Working with shared whiteboard tools makes remote collaboration easy and enjoyable!

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

Fast execution, good quality delivery.

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

About those activities, I don't have improvement suggestion. The work has been smooth and all the targets have pursued.