Stellar Elements

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the assistant director of digital strategy and technology at the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. We’re a nonprofit with about 30 full-time staff members.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fresh Tilled Soil?

We first sent out an RFP [request for proposal] to different web design and UX [user experience] firms in the Boston area as we were looking to do a complete redesign of our center’s website. Our mission had shifted, and we had recently reorganized ourselves, so we were looking to reflect that on the new website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The beginning of the process was what they call a deep dive workshop, which was led by Fresh Tilled Soil. It was designed for them to get familiar with us, our mission, and our target audiences. I thought it was impressive that Fresh Tilled Soil took the time to do that. I know that the discovery phase in this type of project is common, but I think Fresh Tilled Soil stands apart regarding the level of thought and care that they put into those sessions. We then established the scope and goals of the project and identified some of what we considered to be our primary target audiences. We had done some work internally to create personas of each audience, but Fresh Tilled Soil took it one step further and conducted user interviews with a couple of representatives in each of those audiences.

Fresh Tilled Soil then took all of their findings and the work we had done in the deep dive workshop and created the initial information architecture. We did some remote usability testing on that as well, and then slowly moved forward into wireframes and the visual design. We had weekly meetings with the design leads and a project manager, which we took all the way through. Then Fresh Tilled Soil built the entire framework of the site for us, and we populated it with content. Fresh Tilled Soil did play a part in the development of the site, which is built on WordPress.

How did you come to work with Fresh Tilled Soil?

I had been doing a bunch of research into different design agencies and UX firms in the Boston area, and Fresh Tilled Soil was one of the ones I sent our RFP to. Their proposal stood out to me because they had built user research and usability testing into their entire process. A lot of the other design firms that we spoke with considered that to be an add-on service. That really stood out to me. Also, I was impressed with the examples of the work that Fresh Tilled Soil had shared with us. Their employees also seemed curious and genuinely interested in understanding our center and our mission and what it is we are trying to achieve. It felt like Fresh Tilled Soil were invested in creating a strong final product. We were reorienting ourselves around our mission and thinking carefully about who our target audiences are and what their needs were in terms of coming to our website. We thought Fresh Tilled Soil could help us with that.

How much have you invested with Fresh Tilled Soil?

I honestly can't remember the exact number off the top of my head. We spent somewhere between $50,000 and $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

I think we first engaged with them in October 2014, then we kicked off the project in January 2015, and we launched the site in September 2015. That’s a pretty long process, but that’s not Fresh Tilled Soil's fault. The contract process takes a while to get up and running at Harvard. We haven't worked with Fresh Tilled Soil at all since the site was launched, and that was what we were hoping for — that we would have the capacity to do all the maintenance ourselves. I feel like they set us up with a framework and a system that can grow with us and that we can customize over time. It has been great because we have done some enhancements since the initial launch. I feel like Fresh Tilled Soil built a strong foundation for us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We received positive responses from a user survey we conducted after the launch of the site. We asked the users to rate the overall site experience and to cite design and ease of navigation. In all cases, close to 90% of the users said they were either extremely satisfied or very satisfied by each of those three factors. We asked if they encountered any technical issues, and close to 95% said they did not have any issues. The ones that were reported were actually mostly things that we would not be able to troubleshoot, meaning they did not seem to be related to the actual design of the site. We also asked, “Were you able to find what you were looking for?” and over 80% said yes.

In general, we’ve seen continued growth of traffic to our site including web traffic, increased downloads of publications, and video views on our site. A big piece of what we do as a center is we create different resources that translate the science of child development in a way that can be applied to policy and practice in the early childhood field. Therefore, a big piece of the project with Fresh Tilled Soil was creating a resource library that can be filtered and sorted by different categories, such as media type and topic. That was a big improvement for us over our previous site. It allows a lot more flexibility for the users to find what they’re looking for and to view different ways that resources are aggregated for them, depending on what they’re looking for. That’s been a huge improvement for us as well.

How did Fresh Tilled Soil perform from a project management standpoint?

From a project management standpoint, Fresh Tilled Soil was fantastic. I think the one piece of feedback that I had for them, and I shared this with them at the time, was the following: we had weekly meetings with them during the entire initial discovery and design phases, working on the wireframes, everything, up until the development. We signed off on everything and then handed it over to the developers. At that point, we stopped having those weekly meetings, and we were communicating mostly on Basecamp. For me, as the project lead on our end, at that point, it became a challenge to feel like I had regular status updates on where the developers were. I shared that feedback with Fresh Tilled Soil, they adjusted, and we started using the to-do list functionality in Basecamp, which I really appreciated. The developers had a list that they updated as they progressed through the project, and I was able to view it, which made me feel a lot better about knowing where we were on a day-to-day basis. That was important because we were developing the content for the website at the same time. For me, it was vital to be able to communicate with the rest of our team about how things were progressing with development, and when we were going to be ready to enter content into the website, etc. That was a piece of feedback that I shared with them, and I appreciated how quickly they responded to it.

Also, Fresh Tilled Soil was extremely flexible regarding scheduling from a project management side and also in allowing a member of our senior management team to be involved. She was interested in being involved in the process, but she didn't necessarily have the time to come every week. Fresh Tilled Soil was thoughtful enough to determine, according to her availability, what was the most effective use of the time that we had with her.

What did you find most impressive about Fresh Tilled Soil?

What I found most impressive about Fresh Tilled Soil was their approach to those deep dive workshops and taking the time to understand the goals of our project and our organization. The way they built usability testing and user research into their process was also remarkable. Fresh Tilled Soil came back to that throughout the entire process. I also appreciated Fresh Tilled Soil's flexibility in the final stages of the development piece, because we identified several things that we wanted to tweak near the end, and they were flexible with us about doing those and not being nitpicky around, “Is this beyond the scope of what we had agreed to?” I appreciated that flexibility.

Are there any areas Fresh Tilled Soil could improve?

I think the frequency of status updates during the development phase was the only thing they could have improved, but as I said they were very responsive to the feedback at the time. I prefer having the same level of communication and status updates that they have throughout the rest of the process and during the development phase as well.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a company which helps R&D [research and development] departments of Fortune 500 companies bring products to market more effectively and efficiently by allowing them to investigate large amounts of data.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fresh Tilled Soil?

When I started with the company six months ago, it was evident to me that, although we already had a very powerful product, the user interface was difficult to navigate. I also had decided to expand the business into all business disciplines, rather than just R&D. We essentially needed to develop a new product to help us achieve these goals. We decided to use the product we had as a baseline to dramatically change the user interface and expand into other markets.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I determined what we needed the product to do from a functionality perspective, then sat down with Fresh Tilled Soil to ensure they understood the major functions and use cases. From there, they developed the wireframes. They spent time querying my clients, as well as people in the verticals we were expanding into, to get feedback. They used that knowledge to build out the product. It was a very collaborative process with myself and my CIO. Their deliverable was an extensive prototype that I could show as a demo.

We wanted to have a platform that allows users to investigate large amounts of data by applying cognitive analytics. We wanted our users to be able to see clusters of concepts or see positive and negative concepts, allowing for data mining and curating of the data in an efficient manner. An example use case is providing news content, financial content, and patent data to help sales people efficiently prepare for a sales call.

How did you come to work with Fresh Tilled Soil?

It was a pretty simple process. I did a Google search for an agency that focused on providing user interfaces for software companies. I interviewed three of them and decided on Fresh Tilled Soil because I liked their collaborative approach.

How much have you invested with Fresh Tilled Soil?

We spent around $100,000 on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from August through November of 2016 and is complete. They delivered the wireframe and we’re now building the program internally.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I started showing the demo to new clients in December, and we’ve increased our client base by 40% as a direct result. Our new prospects seem to be very excited about the new user interface.

How did Fresh Tilled Soil perform from a project management standpoint?

They were terrific. They’re very collaborative. They have a software platform on which they posted all their changes, allowing us to comment on those changes. We met with them on a weekly basis to go through the project status and any issues.

What did you find most impressive about Fresh Tilled Soil?

They listened to what I wanted to do, and they were very engaged and flexible. I’m very happy with the results.

Are there any areas Fresh Tilled Soil could improve?

We were running out of time at the end of the project, and there were a few things that could have been done better. When you collaborate, it’s a two-way street, so I also take responsibility for that. Both parties need to be engaged and take responsibility, and the agency can only do what they’re directed to do.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the SVP of marketing and brand strategy for a pet insurance and technology company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire ORA?

We had an existing app but needed to increase user engagement. We hired ORA to create a new dashboard and to gamify the app.

What were your goals for this project?

We mainly wanted to create a more robust experience for the app's users.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

ORA was recommended to us, though we also did some online research.

Describe the project in detail.

They pulled all the elements from the existing app and created a dashboard that was much more dynamic. Additionally, since the app has many features, they created a badging system to move them around the app and get users to engage with all the different areas.

What was the team composition?

They assigned a project manager and multiple designers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We haven't gone live yet with the new version, but are confident that the new designs and ideas will increase the usage rate.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Communication was great from the start. They've been very accommodating with our requests.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their knowledge, UI/UX expertise, and ability to move in another direction based on feedback are significant.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

GID is a real estate investment company based in Boston. I am the CIO.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Fresh Tilled Soil?

We wanted to update our website, and it needed a responsive design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We did research ahead of time and were able to give them a good idea of what we needed. We had some sessions with stakeholders along with Fresh Tilled Soil. They helped us update our website.

How did you come to work with Fresh Tilled Soil?

We knew someone who worked at Fresh Tilled Soil, and we liked working with her.

How much have you invested with Fresh Tilled Soil?

We’ve spent between $10,000 and $50,000 with them so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project was completed in September 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

People like the site and find that it’s easy to navigate. They like that it’s responsive on a phone.

How did Fresh Tilled Soil perform from a project management standpoint?

They are very organized and were able to meet deadlines. We had weekly design meetings and used Basecamp to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about Fresh Tilled Soil?

They’re very professional, and I love the fact that they’re very organized.

Are there any areas Fresh Tilled Soil could improve?

They rely on tools to communicate, but I think they should be available more for phone calls.