Method

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm a Senior Software Engineer at an insurance company. We specialize in solving the complex insurance needs of homeowners and small businesses in challenged markets. Much like a managing general underwriter, our partners with many highly rated insurance carriers to serve the various needs of our markets. Unlike a traditional managing general underwriter, the company actually designs, develops and files our proprietary homeowners and commercial BOP products ourselves.

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

We were developing a company wide Style Guide and Design System and needed design and engineering support to handle the production of it. A designer and an engineer from Method were hired to work alongside myself and other employees to develop and implement a Design System that would allow us to keep a consistent brand style across all of our software entities.

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

We have worked with Method on various projects in the past and they are a trusted partner we go to for supplemental work and support.

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

The Design System consists of custom designed web components that adhere to our companies newly developed Style Guide. These web components are then programmed into reusable React Components that are hosted as node packages in our private repository. Method's designer helped us create mockups of branded web components in Figma as well as reusable templates and symbols in Figma so that our in house designers could adhere to our company brand Style Guide. Method's engineer then took those designs and worked with our in-house engineers (myself) to develop those web components as reusable React components. In order to do so, they needed to understand how our software entities work and what needs we had in terms of flexibility with these reusable components. They engineered them, wrote tests for them and create Storybook stories for each web component.

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

There were 2 team members from Method. Matt Qualley is a designer who worked in Figma to create reusable figma components that our designers could use as a part of the design system. Daron Adkins is a front-end engineer who worked to finish bootstrapping the design system, develop React components for each of our reusable components, and deploy them to our internal systems.

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

We have been able to begin use of the Design System by all three of our major applications and application engineering teams. We have built the majority of the most important components that needed to be built, and even more important than that, have constructed a foundation that is stable and easy to build on top of. Which is exactly what we were going for.

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

For this project, there was very little (if any) project management outside of the engineering contractor and designer contractor. They were their own PMs, for the most part, or I served as the PM. The tools we used were out own, and they adapted well to using our systems.

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

Their ability to communicate and their investment in the project is impressive. (given they are contractors and not employees). It was very easy to communicate with the contractors and feel like they cared about the project, were giving it adequate space in their schedule, and thought put into it.

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

Expertise and Efficiency. But we could all be better at that. I really have no complaints.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We are a massive bank that primarily works around the credit card industry and we are working with big retailers. We also have another branch that offers payment solutions for smaller brands. Then there’s the health care side, which is our care credit. 

I am the VP of product and innovation. I work mainly in the mobile realm, building native apps for iOS and Android. Over the last year, we did a lot of innovation, pre-pandemic, and now we transitioned to working on a digital collections platform to offer users a different payment plan.

What challenge were you trying to address with Skookum?

We hired Skookum to help us with our mobile app development, custom app development, and custom software development.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They help us with the development of both our web applications and mobile applications which we usually build for both iOS and Android platforms. We use React for the frontend while using Java for the backend. They also help with prototyping.

What is the team composition?

We work with three different people. The first one is Tiffany (Marketing & Technical Product Owner). We also worked with Danny (Designer). He is fantastic, had a good eye for design, and is really easy to work with. He helped us build our native app product prototypes, designs, and renderings.

Lastly, we also work with Paul (Engineering Manager). He also helps us with the innovation of our products as well.

How did you come to work with Skookum?

They already have a contract with us before I started working for the company.

What is the status of this engagement?

I believe we started working with them a year before I started, so our engagement has been ongoing since 2017.

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

My experience with the team has been top-notch. Tiffany is a rock star. I would work with her on every project if I could. She is motivated, easy to work with, super smart, and she compliments a lot of the skills that I don’t have. Everyone else has been great, too. They are all nice people — everyone is honest, readily available, and easy to work with.

How did Skookum perform from a project management standpoint?

They are involved in our day-to-day. We allocate tasks through Jira, and we run daily standups. We also do weekly ceremonies where we all talk about the different tasks and things that are needed from the products team and the development team’s sides.

They’ve done a great job. We work in technology, nothing is really black and white. There are always potential problems, but I can’t really remember any time that we had any issues.

What did you find most impressive about them?

In my experience, I’ve worked with offshore agencies and I used to work for an agency myself. I think the one thing that stands out is Tiffany, Danny, and Paul, they are regular people who are into technology, and that makes it easy to work with them.

We work toward common goals without feeling uninterested or bored. We work with passionate people who are excited about doing cool work in technology, and it makes the job that much easier.

Are there any areas they could improve?

The only problem I see is that Tiffany has a sort of two jobs. So she works full-time and she also has her own kind of team reporting to her. So I sometimes worry about how much time she’s actually working. She might be always busy and just gets burnt out.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I think it is really important to build a relationship with them, not like another day-to-day worker. Because partnering with someone that you have a good relationship with can open up the possibility of telling them what you need and then they can potentially deliver that for you.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the former president of an overhead door loading dock equipment installer, distributor, and service company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Skookum?

We were trying to increase our mobile footprint and maximize our SEO, and we were redesigning our website as well. Specifically, we wanted to drive homeowners to our website and offices.

One of our challenges was that consumers were getting different messaging based on their location, but we wanted to have consistent messaging.

What was the scope of their involvement?

In the beginning, I sat with Skookum and outlined our challenges. They did geographic SEO and did our website.

What is the team composition?

I initially worked with James (Co-Founder & CEO) and Bryan (Co-Founder. They then assigned a developer to the project.

How did you come to work with Skookum?

I was acquainted with James at the time. They had established themselves as the leader in the Charlotte tech marketplace, so I sat down with them. It was clear that they had the talent on the team to help us accomplish the objective.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $50,000–$75,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them from January–June 2016.

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

We saw a substantial increase in traffic. They were able to achieve what we were looking for quickly and professionally. Their work helped us integrate all of our locations seamlessly. Skookum was fantastic.

How did Skookum perform from a project management standpoint?

They were outstanding. We weren’t tech-savvy, so once Skookum understood the objective, they provided the right talent. They did their work on time and within the budget.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team was very innovative and talented. The strength of their team set them apart from both the technical and creative perspectives. It was all solutions-based. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I have no suggestions.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

It’s important that your team defines your objectives ahead of time so that when you sit down with them, you can provide them with a clear objective. You don’t need to know how but you need to know what you want, and Skookum will take it from there.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of Star Leasing Company. Out over the road support program facilitates a fleet of 20,000 trailers. Additionally, we support our customers fleets totaling up to a little over one hundred thousand trailers. We do this 24/7, 365 days a year. We span across the US and Canada providing breakdown and maintenance support for our fleet and our customers fleets.

What challenge were you trying to address with Skookum?

They addressed some support issues we had. We developed an app and our developer dropped us at the completion of the development sprints. As a result, we needed a partner that would support us through the end of the project.

What was the scope of their involvement?

The app is on iOS and Android. Skookum to support the app through testing and the launch period. They assessed the code from the previous developer and were able to set up a testing environment quickly. They also resolved issues as they arrived.

What is the team composition?

I worked with a project manager and a couple of developers.

How did you come to work with Skookum?

I was aware of the company and reached out to a few people in their organization. We were in a very precarious position and needed a reliable partner. We had a few phone calls and looked at our application. Ultimately, we came to an agreement and they were confident that they could support our needs.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in June 2019 and they supported us through December 2019.

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

Our engagement with Skookum was very professional, poignant, and thorough. They did their due diligence, researching us as much as we researched them. They were very open with us through the process.

How did Skookum perform from a project management standpoint?

Fantastic. They had great communication, they were very clear about future dates and timelines. It was fantastic. We never felt like we were left out in the dark.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They did everything well. That’s what differentiates them. Their engagement was all-encompassing. Across the board, they were just ready to go.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not that comes to top of mind.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open and transparent to what your needs and expectations are so they know where you’re trying to go and they can meet that.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a software product manager for SageSure. We do property and casualty insurance.

What challenge were you trying to address with Skookum?

We wanted to replace a 7–8 years old legacy system with a new servicing platform for internal users. We were fairly resource-constrained, so we engaged Skookum to ramp up our capabilities and get the platform up to par.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Skookum helped us to establish a baseline architecture and then helped us to build from there. They enabled us to create features.

We’ve had two types of deliverables from Skookum. Their team delivered feature parity from the legacy platform, which involved gathering requirements as well as user interviews and feedback.

We also did new features with Skookum that weren’t previously available. That involved the same design and user feedback process. They established various processes including workflows and requirements gathering. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with a product manager and a designer. At any given time, we’ve worked with two developers.

How did you come to work with Skookum?

One of our senior team members attended talks held by Skookum. He liked their culture and services. As we needed to ramp up resources, he brought them to the table. Senior leadership took it from there as far as the engagement was concerned.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our conversations around December 2018, and our partnership’s ongoing.

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

We have a great partnership. Their team developed processes and formalized our workflows. Skookum now directly engages with our customers who provide good feedback all of the time. Everything’s been positive.

How did Skookum perform from a project management standpoint?

Communication’s top-notch. For the most part, Skookum delivers on time. As with any software project, deadlines may not always be met. It’s not through any fault of their own.

When we faced challenges, they’re receptive. Problems quickly become non-problems.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to integrate into our culture and team was impressive. I don’t ever feel that they’re an outside contractor. I feel that we’re all together. Their team has the same level of concern for our users and the quality of their work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It’s not a huge challenge, but we’ve had people roll on and off the project. When people roll on and off projects midstream, it causes minor disruptions. That’s a nit-picky point.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Value their expertise and be open to their ideas. At times, we’ve had internal management want to steer them one way. That wasn’t all bad. However, at the same time, Skookum brings great ideas to the table.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of interaction design for a financial services company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Skookum?

We had a demand that outstripped my team’s capacity to deliver. We didn’t have the resources to staff strategic initiatives on our app development team.

What was the scope of their involvement?

For all intents and purposes, they were a part of our team. They used Axure, Sketch, Zeplin, and InVision.

We had an overarching project goal, and we bit it off in an agile manner. They helped us size up the work and plan on how to deliver in order to support the velocity the development team had. They responded to our business needs to ensure timely delivery.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with one resource end to end. At the beginning of the project, we worked with two of their team members, but we were able to scale down to one. Then we were able to scale up and add another resource.

How did you come to work with Skookum?

They were an approved vendor. Our sourcing team approved them. They have the best reputation internally for the quality of their design deliverables. We selected them because we’re had good luck with them in the past.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in January 2018 and it’s ongoing.

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

They’ve delivered thousands of screens. It’s a prolific amount of work. They’ve done an especially good job embedding themselves with our agile team. They’re very much an extension of our team. They’ve gotten to know the domain and have built a good rapport with our internal resources.

How did Skookum perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve done a good job of keeping us apprised of progress and any roadblocks. They work with us to resolve any roadblocks we come across. As time has gone on, they’ve required less intervention and oversight from me. They function almost independently now.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve functioned as an extension of my team. I trust the resources that I work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

From my side, I’m very happy with their work.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Do the work at the beginning to set how the working relationship will go. Set a cadence for how often you communicate and what your expectations are.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a manager in the digital innovation area for a Fortune 100 energy company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Skookum?

The biggest challenge we’re tackling in the area of digital innovation is business transformation. This means not only introducing digital tools but also transforming the way we run our 100-year-old business. 

We hired Skookum because we were scaling our program and needed to augment our staff. We also partnered with them because they had a demonstrative proficiency in creating competencies — not dependencies — on a consulting firm, and that’s something that we needed.

What was the scope of their involvement?

When Skookum came in, we were increasing our program of 200¬–250 people by another 150 people, and we were bringing in additional teams from multiple business units. We had some concepts that each of the business units were working through, top-of-the-funnel. They worked on our value stream mapping, running through a methodical process of incubating concepts and then driving into discovery, which is moving them further down the funnel, to come out on the backside of discovery with an increment of work. We do work in 8-week increments to refine testing of a given concept. 

Skookum partnered with us on product strategy. They brought in product strategists as well as UX/UI talent to help bring these concepts to life. They ran through iterative testing and some light prototyping before we got into a full product build. They have some developers who work side-by-side with the product team. My work with them has mostly been in the strategy area.

What is the team composition?

In the beginning, there were three different teams. We had a product strategist, a UX/UI person, and a product analyst, depending on the concept that was being incubated. Those folks were aligned with the three different teams. One person was our main point of contact, and they were responsible for keeping a pulse on each of the teams. They got in front of any issues and presented them to us. They later brought in a development team that we’re still working with on a weekly basis. We have worked with 15 people in total.

How did you come to work with Skookum?

My company went through an RFP process, and we were intentional about who we opened that up to. We reached out to a handful of innovation strategy firms in our city, some of which we had existing relationships with.

One of the common themes we hear is that for innovation or transformation to work, it has to be led from the inside. That was something we were looking for very intentionally. We wanted to make sure that we partnered with somebody with a personality similar to our small startup within this major company. We wanted to see that personality match, but we also wanted to see and hear demonstrable evidence that they have created competencies. We pride ourselves in our commitment to the communities that we serve. We saw and continue to see that Skookum is invested in that as well, whether it’s taking on philanthropic endeavors or growing the UI/UX design community through think tanks or meetups.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2019, and the work is ongoing.

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

They have brought a wealth of product knowledge and a skillset in coaching. The quality of their work, their people, and the engagement is outstanding. They put a lot of emphasis on human-centered design. From a product strategy perspective, you can develop a product, but it’s only good if people use it. Really being intentional about who the customer is, understanding what they want, and then building the said product with intention is important.

As the relationship goes on, they continue to listen and shape, mold, and change depending upon the type of problem we’re presenting. When we first got started, we were talking about very discreet problems, and now I’m working with them on business canvas and model problems. This can get into gray areas really quickly, but that’s something that I adore about this engagement: they’re very proactive about adapting.

How did Skookum perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is solid. They integrated into existing tools that we have here. We sit down and run through status on a weekly basis. There are some measures of successes that they gauge as well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re very satisfied with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing I’d have them improve. At the beginning, there was a learning curve, but that was one of the most seamless transitions, as we were learning the skills of the people that were there. We were able to coach and do some matchmaking.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Map out what your goals are. Any contract is going to have that. We’ve seen success by giving them goals, milestones, or objectives within a given timeline. Then, build in frequent checkpoints so that you can iterate and refine along the way. Not all firms are able to do that.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior manager of digital product design at Sunbelt Rentals Inc., a construction equipment rental company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Skookum?

We hired them to work on a digital app.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Skookum delivered a design concept for an iOS app. They did sketch files, designs, illustrations, visual design, and user flows. We’ve done other projects with them, and there’s one that is currently ongoing which they took over from another company.

What is the team composition?

I've worked primarily with Rob (Director of Design) and Jake (Product Designer) on this project.

How did you come to work with Skookum?

They were already working on projects with the company. I initially didn’t want to work with them because, prior to Rob’s arrival, they didn’t have much of a design team. Once they made key hires, I realized their abilities and depth of knowledge. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $500,000–$1 million.

What is the status of this engagement?

This project began in June 2020, and it was completed in 6 weeks. In general, the partnership began in about January 2019, and it’s ongoing.

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

Skookum was able to very quickly identify the current state of things. They came in and did an evaluation to tell us where we were. 

They were able to understand the opportunities that were provided by the third-party we were going to work with. The team executed everything in a very short amount of time. 

How did Skookum perform from a project management standpoint?

What I like about them is that their communication is fantastic. I prefer to have a relationship with the customer where we constantly communicate, as opposed to us being on two separate sides.

We gave them access to our tools, and they used them. They became a part of the time and were willing to try something different. It went very well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I was impressed with Skookum’s ability to adapt to a different situation and a different way of working, embrace it, and do great work. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

As I mentioned earlier, they weren’t strong in design initially, in my opinion, which was a big weakness. However, in less than 12 months, they were able to make the right hires and fill that gap in capabilities that I thought they had. With the right people, they’ve managed to turn everything around. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Just listen to the team. Skookum knows how to work an organization that is very rigid and process-oriented and moves it towards better outcomes. So, I would advise customers to just let them do their work. 

Please describe your company and your position there.

CAPTRUST provides investment advisory services to retirement plan fiduciaries, endowments and foundations and wealth planning services to executives, business owners, and families. I am Senior Manager of brand marketing.

For what projects/services did your company hire Skookum?

Skookum was hired to redesign and develop a new corporate website for CAPTRUST

What were your goals for this project?

updated UI, better mobile responsiveness, better search features

How did you select this vendor?

RFP

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

CAPTRUST partnered with Skookum to complete an Engineering and Design Phase that created the creative and technical artifacts necessary to begin development of a new website experience that aims to drive increased site traffic and improve customer digital engagement.

What was the team composition?

Product Strategist, quality analyst, software engineer (2), designer, and delivery manager.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The result is a simple and beautiful way for clients and prospects to access information about CAPTRUST and our people and get at all of our great content—with sleek, modern imagery and clear, concise messaging.

The new CAPTRUST.com boasts enhanced navigation, sitewide search capabilities, enhanced bio pages, regional office landing pages, branded and compliance-approved article reprints, better security, and a stylish hub for VESTED articles and videos. Importantly, the new website will also provide better lead-generation capabilities, with web traffic, video hits, and visitor information captured in CRM for Telemarketing follow-up.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Basecamp was used to help communicate and share files and progress. Very effective!

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their people and expertise set them apart!

Are there any areas for improvement?

better QA and QC.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the senior director of merchandising at American Tire Distributors. We’re the nation’s largest wholesale tire distribution company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Skookum?

Most recently, we worked with Skookum to build a national website for our group of franchise dealers. The legacy website of our franchise program was one dimensional. Basically, it was purely informational. We wanted a website that was modern and had full e-commerce capabilities.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Skookum ideated, designed and helped to develop our franchise website. They helped us to create the overall scope of the project, providing ideas for the website’s features and UI/UX. Their team guided us to establish the platform’s look and feel. Then, their team created digital mockups.

Having a long-running partnership with Skookum, we developed the need for a lead person to be full time on this project to help drive it forward and direct an Agile approach. Historically, we worked in a waterfall environment but our timeframe for the project was short. Skookum dedicated a full-time resource who worked in our building for the entire duration of the project. That resource coached us and pushed us forward to get the product out the door.

Skookum also helped to develop information and materials for our meetings when we explained the website to our franchises. Their team aided us in creating the PowerPoints for those communications.

What is the team composition?

We had a main point person—Patrick (Product Strategist, Skookum) who worked on the project full time. We had a corporate contact and I was in touch with Chris (Software Engineer, Skookum).

How did you come to work with Skookum?

Years ago, their team completed a small project with our former e-commerce team. When I needed someone to ideate for an application project, I reached out to our e-commerce team for a recommendation. That’s when I got in touch with Chris. I’ve kept their name at the top of the list here.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $150,000 on this particular project. Their prices are reasonable.

What is the status of this engagement?

This project started in February 2019 and it ended in October 2019. The website launched two weeks previously to the end of the engagement.

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

In every engagement, their work is amazing. They’ve been a key partner over the past number of years. We have presented this to our franchise locations and all locations adopted it. They’re extremely excited about the platform’s look and feel. Each dealer gets their own page to customize. Skookum’s designed are what created the excitement. At peak campaign, we average 100–115 sessions per week. Overall, the website’s successful.

How did Skookum perform from a project management standpoint?

Skookum used our tools, which was amazing. Patrick worked in our environment because our team developed the product. He learned all of our different applications that we use such as JIRA and Confluence. Greg was on site once a week to help drive the project. Their communication was outstanding too.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their skilled team separates Skookum from other providers. They have a unique culture where everyone feels welcome. Their team includes amazing people. In comparison to other consultants, Skookum’s a breath of fresh air.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of an area. We’re not as technologically advanced as them, which has been the only challenge. Our industry’s catching up whereas Skookum’s the frontrunner in advanced analytics. However, they’re teaching us constantly.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

There’s nothing I can say but to give them a shot. The partnership comes effortlessly. We’re in different locations, but they’re more than willing to come to us.