Moka

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the marketing manager at Tomplay, an interactive sheet music app. We also have a website, but our main thing is the app.

What challenge were you trying to address with Moka?

We needed help with our app design and all of our visuals.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Moka has done several things for us, including UX design and a complete app redesign. We regularly work with them. For example, we usually have 4–5 promotional campaigns every year. They provide the designs for them. Also, we’re constantly updating our app, so we have ongoing work for them.

In general, we know what we want very well. We usually give them a brief, and they present us with some options. Then, they offer some options based on that, and we give them feedback and go back and forth until we’re happy. Moka is mainly responsible for the design portion since we have on-site developers. Additionally, they’ve redesigned the website, created graphics for our marketing campaigns, and worked on performance optimization. Our development team is regularly in contact with them.

Last year, we had a massive Christmas campaign, and Moka created a new website for it. We basically created a document with all the text, and they designed the page for us.

What is the team composition?

We work with 3–4 people.

How did you come to work with Moka?

I don't have this information; I came to the company after they were hired. However, they know our company very well. We continue to work with them because they understand the products we offer. We give them feedback sometimes, but we only have to do it once or twice to make some tweaks. They pretty much know what we look for.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since July 2015. It’s a long, ongoing partnership.

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

The Christmas campaign is a good example. We had to create a new webpage in six different languages, and they were great at it. Our CEO was particular about the designs, and Moka was open to feedback. Anytime they gave us a rough draft, we gave them feedback. In the end, the campaign was a great success, mainly because it was an enormous undertaking that took a lot of time. It was probably one of the best successes we’ve had with Moka.

On the application side, we’re at 4.6 stars on the App Store, and our users say it’s convenient and easy to use. It’s also available for Android, iPads, laptops, PCs, and Mac. Users love that they can access our product anywhere, but they mostly use the app.

How did Moka perform from a project management standpoint?

They usually have a lot of tasks to do, but they’re great at prioritizing tasks. Also, they’re straightforward. When there’s a lot of work, they’re upfront in asking what needs to be done first.

We use Trello as a project management tool; we have access to several boards and do everything there.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The communication within their team is outstanding. We have several projects, and they often manage many things at once. However, we only have to be in contact with one person. When team members switch around, they communicate with each other. We don’t have to re-explain anything to anyone.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could take into account all the feedback we send them. Sometimes a layout isn’t the best, so we have to push them a bit. Eventually, they end up doing what we’re looking for, so it’s just a minor detail. They’re pretty good at their job.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a call with Joel (Co-Founder & Director); he’s fantastic. Be very clear about what you’re looking for and open about feedback. They appreciate direction. Also, take the time to meet the team members, especially if you’re working together remotely. It helps to understand everything and ensure everyone is on the same page.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Our company is the leader in providing spatial biology solutions to biopharma, academia, contract research organizations and other companies that are active in life sciences.

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

Our website was created in 2015 and our company has grown immensely since. We need our website to reflect our new positioning, offerings and tone of voice and integrating it with our core marketing technologies.

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

We have been working with Moka since the inception of the company and have gathered only very positive experiences so it was a no-brainer to take our company to the next level with an agency that already knew us and we also knew. Over the course of the multi-year collaboration with Moka we have only experienced outstanding subject matter expertise, clear communications and expectation management and world-class UX/UI solutions.

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

We have a Wordpress site and we needed to do a deep revamp in terms of look and functionality. Since the project was immense, it was separated into chunks where the first major mile stone was in July 2021. The scope covered the overall look and feel revamping, development of custom page-builder elements and specific page of medium complexity. In phase 2 of the project we needed to focus on integrations with our CRM and other key marketing platforms.

These tasks were of medium to high complexity as they involved not only integration of different platforms but also heavy coordination with multiple stakeholders within the company and involving the wider team of the Moka roaster (UX/UI, backend, front end, system architect, integrators). Needless to say, the project was successfully implemented and we are now in the 3rd phase of our website development projects.

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

A project manager was a main point of contact, an account manager/owner was the point of escalation and anything finance-related, a front end developer, a backend developer and 2 UX/UI designers and one system integrator/architect was also involved.

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

We have reduced the bounce rate by 80%, increased traffic to the website by an average of 60% and overall feedback related to the new look and feel of the website has been overwhelmingly positive both from internal stakeholders and external clients.

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

Projects were managed via a Trello board and communication was also maintained via Slack. Weekly status meetings and adhoc meetings were also part and parcel of the project.

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

Their agility, subject-matter expertise, communication and clean quality of work.

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

Everything met or exceeded our expectations.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a company called CodeDepot,  a small AI development startup with seven people building a fairly complex development tool.

What challenge were you trying to address with MOKA?

We were looking for a company to supplement our efforts in developing and designing this complex tool we have while remaining cost-efficient.

What was the scope of their involvement?

MOKA was able to take the responsibility of building our web-based tool from our previous service provider and completely take over the daily management of the project.

We started the partnership by providing them with documentation containing all the specifications and requirements we need for the web app. From there, we adjusted the process to minimize the back and forth to make sure they fully understood what we needed.

We then started utilizing Trello as a means of providing and receiving feedback and so far, they’ve been very responsive to our requests. They also break down each task into tickets so we can have visibility of their process.

Once they’re done with a certain task, they send it over to us for reviewing and whenever we feel that something needs to be worked on, we bring it up in our meetings so we have a clearer way of communicating our expectations

What is the team composition?

We’re currently working directly with a product manager, the head of design, and the CTO.

How did you come to work with MOKA?

We came across MOKA and their Clutch profile while doing thorough research on Google. After narrowing down our search to about 10 agencies, we ended up choosing MOKA thanks to their good interview performance.

How much have you invested with them?

So far, we’ve spent around $17,000, but I expect to spend double that amount.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in August 2021, but we’re still working with them for ongoing maintenance and support.

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

MOKA professionally manages the complexities of our requests, and they continue to make important contributions to the product.

How did MOKA perform from a project management standpoint?

The quality of their work is very good because we’re able to collaborate closely, so our feedback is consistently implemented into the ongoing build of the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re very impressed with their ability to communicate.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t have any constructive feedback about their work as they’re very receptive to resolving our issues.

Please describe your company and your position there.

Basepaws is a pet health company. I run overall operations at Basepaws.

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

Moka was tasked to re-design and re-organize our user account front-end. The goal is to improve user experience and also decrease operational overhead due to user input mistakes.

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

We were referred to Moka and decided on them after checking out their past work and communicating with their leadership.

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

The project involved designing the account system from scratch using a new framework. They were able to jump into using the ionic framework and organized the front-end into components.

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

We had a dedicate project manager and several designers/developers that rotated in and out as needed.

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

The initial update to our account system went smooth. The event workflows worked and users were able to accomplish what they needed.

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

I personally found communications with external teams to be the most important quality when looking to hire. Moka exceeded my expectations. They were very responsive on the variety of communication tools we used (slack, trello, email).

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

Most agencies will primarily rely on you to layout all the details of the project. Moka has strong team members who are dedicated to your company's goals. They think through the product and will give you their opinion on every little detail. This is greatly appreciate for busy executives or managers.

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

No.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO  and co-founder of PB&B Ltd, a biotech startup focused on medical aesthetics and new technology for plastic surgeons and dermatologists.

What challenge were you trying to address with Moka?

We’re a new company and our product won’t be released for a few more years. In the meantime, we needed to attract private investors. I turned to Moka to freshen up our website and target investors.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I asked them to completely redesign our WordPress website to make it look more high-tech. To give them a better understanding of our business and who we were targeting, I shared our investor slide deck.

From there, they lightened up the site’s color scheme, simplified the design, introduced some images, and removed some text.

Then they did some development work and implemented the design.

What is the team composition?

I worked with four people on their team.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $4,500.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August 2020 and the website was completed in October 2020.

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

My advisory board and investors have been impressed with our website. The design is professional and is comparable to other companies in our industry. I also think that the site will be easy to update when we begin targeting doctors.

How did Moka perform from a project management standpoint?

They communicated well throughout the engagement. We used WhatsApp to communicate with them because there was a lot of back and forth between our team and theirs.

They also delivered everything within our timeframe and budget.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Unlike other companies I’ve worked with in the past, Moka listened to what we wanted and took the time to understand what makes us unique in the industry. We’re in a niche market and we have to communicate very complex ideas in the simplest fashion possible. So, having a partner like Moka, who created an open dialog with us is very valuable.  

Are there any areas they could improve?

There were a few times when we disagreed on the direction to go in, but ultimately that was a good thing because we got different perspectives and were able to come up with the best course of action.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communicate as much as you can with them. They will be there to listen and get the job done.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former CEO of a research innovation forum.

What challenge were you trying to address with Moka?

We needed help with development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They completed two websites for us. The first was our main site. The second site was for a large conference.

How did you come to work with Moka?

They were introduced to me by a colleague.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent £15,000 (approximately $20,500 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2019, and we wrapped up in June 2019.

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

The main outcome was that we had a nice, visually appealing site. All the specifications were completed to our liking.

How did Moka perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very good. We had regular check-ins and they were flexible enough to make changes we needed. They’re always quite accommodating in finding solutions.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very creative and on the cutting edge of what’s happening in the industry.

Are there any areas they could improve?

With the first project, their project management style wasn’t fully developed. Over time, they’ve become quite efficient with a system that worked for us.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the founder and CEO of a medical device startup in Switzerland.

What challenge were you trying to address with Moka?

We needed a partner to help us redesign the structure and appearance of our website.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Originally, their team developed our website from the ground up using WordPress, and then after a few years, we worked with them to overhaul the site and refresh it to reflect the changes we had made over the years.

They started by conducting a full UX analysis of the site, documenting what users were expecting and then designing and incorporating content for the pages and their organization to match those expectations.

From there, they helped us implement proper cookie policies and privacy policies to comply with the laws in Europe, especially GDPR. After that, they conducted keyword research and structured the pages on our site to optimize for SEO.

What is the team composition?

We worked with two people on the frontend and three for the backend, including the founder and their product owner focused on medical devices.

How did you come to work with Moka?

I found them through the websites of other tech startups in Switzerland because they had designed quite a few websites that I really liked. They made a competitive offering when we put out an RFP, so we decided to move forward with them.

How much have you invested with them?

Altogether, the project came to around $50,000–$60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our initial development project with them ran from around November 2017–April 2018, and our current project started in January 2020 and wrapped up in April.

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

We work with a variety of stakeholders, so we have investors on one side, and we have other startups, news outlets, healthcare professionals, and our actual customers on the other. All of those groups are sources of really good feedback, and our UX analyses have produced really positive reactions from everyone so far.

Google Analytics trends have also been trending upwards since we implemented the structural improvements for our SEO, and we have been very pleased with the increases in traffic that we’ve seen as a result of that.

How did Moka perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team has been really flexible in working with us. We always have weekly check-ins over email, WhatsApp, and Zoom to make sure that we are making progress toward our end goals. They are adaptable both in scheduling those and in shifting their workflow if we ever have delays on our end.

In terms of pricing structure, they have always been totally transparent, and we get a slightly lower rate because we are continued customers with then. They are very easy to talk to about what we need and how they can best meet those needs without trying to upsell you on their services.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to deliver high-quality work at a rapid pace lends an absolutely invaluable level of efficiency and profitability to our development. The whole team is young, energetic, and motivated to bring something really exciting to the web.

Are there any areas they could improve?

To be honest, I am totally satisfied with what they are doing for us and would definitely hire them again. I really don’t have any complaints.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Check out the websites that they have already developed, and write down all of the elements that you like. Then sit down with them and have an open discussion about what they would recommend, because they bring a lot of in-house knowledge and motivation to deliver the best possible product for you.

Please describe your company and your position there.

CEO of consulting company.

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

We hired Moka for a website redesign.

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

On previous experience and recommendation of a partner.

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

Relaunch of existing website, including setup on content management system, integration of page builder (per our demand), page design, graphical design (logos, graphs).

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

Primary interaction with executive director.

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

Website was very well received and universally praised regarding its graphics.

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

We had an excellent experience, quick response times, will to drive the project.

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

This company delivers high quality at high value. We were please with the responsiveness, easy interactions and the state-of-the art platforms used in the content creation process.

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

We were highly satisfied with the process and results. Particularly, this design project had to be delivered in a relatively fluid situation, with different stakeholders from different organizations involved, i.e. not a simple 1:1 project management situation. This complexity was dealt with in a very constructive and efficient fashion.