Urban Insight

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief marketing officer of a hiring company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Urban Insight?

We were looking for a web development partner who could help maintain our website and add functionality to it over time.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially hired Urban Insight to help maintain and expand the functionality of our WordPress site, which was built and launched in 2020. That was our first time having a WordPress site, and we didn’t have any in-house developers at that time.

More recently, and as part of our ongoing relationship with Urban Insight, we engaged Urban Insight again to help us rebuild the same website on headless architecture. We recognized that the site was not performing well in terms of its speed. We’re also heavily focused on driving leads through SEO and, given some of the changes in Google's algorithm, it was important for us to have a website that was very performant. So, Urban Insight helped us rebuild and re-platform that website from WordPress to Gatsby.

Now, Urban Insight is in charge of maintaining our client-facing marketing website. This involves implementing improvements and providing technical support for our website.

What is the team composition?

We primarily interact with Ben (Senior Technical Project Manager), who’s in charge of managing our relationship with Urban Insight. There’s an entire engineering team working on our project as well, but I don’t have direct interaction with them.

How did you come to work with Urban Insight?

I was referred to Urban Insight by someone I trust.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent somewhere around $365,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2020, and the engagement is ongoing.

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

We saw a significant improvement in our site speed performance. Overall, Urban Insight’s performance has exceeded our expectations.

How did Urban Insight perform from a project management standpoint?

Urban Insight has performed really well in terms of project management. They’re very transparent, and they’re really consistent at providing us updates on how we’re pacing relative to our monthly budget. They also provide accurate estimates upfront in terms of what the scope of their work would be and what we can expect in terms of hours and fees.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m very impressed with Urban Insight’s technical capabilities and acumen. Our CTO, who has been deeply involved with our partnership with Urban Insight, has given them very strong marks in terms of their performance.

I also appreciate their commitment to making us happy. I have no idea how many clients they have, but I do feel like we get special attention. I don’t know whether that's true or not, but it certainly feels that way. They always make an effort to put themselves in our shoes to provide recommendations and insights that make sense for our business.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Our project manager tends to under-commit and over-deliver. I get why he does it, and it might seem like a good thing, but I would appreciate it if they could find a way to manage our expectations better.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to be transparent about what your objectives, timelines, and expectations are. Make sure to give them actionable feedback, provide clear objectives, let them know how you’re going to measure success.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of marketing for Motion Recruitment, an IT staffing firm that caters to North America.

What challenge were you trying to address with Urban Insight?

For this engagement, we worked on Tech in Motion, a tech event series targeted towards the large tech community in North America. Tech in Motion’s brand and website were outdated, seeing as we hadn’t touched it since its inception 10 years ago. With the advent of COVID-19, we needed to modernize our brand to reflect how exciting the community actually is and what tech is going to look like in the next 10 years. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

We intend to do the website development in-house, so Urban Insight helped us revamp the visual brand of Tech in Motion. We provided them with a lot of information related to our brand persona. We detailed what we wanted to accomplish and participated in a brand workshop with their team. 

Urban Insight then went on to design a new logo for us as well as create full designs for every page of our website. They relayed those wireframes to our development team, who are now in the process of implementing them. 

What is the team composition?

We predominantly worked with Jose (Creative Director), while Sara (Designer) joined in every now. We also interacted a lot with Tom (Technical Project Manager).

How did you come to work with Urban Insight?

I asked for referrals from the marketing executive network that I’m part of. Some of the agencies that I had initial discovery conversations with were out of our budget range, so we ultimately decided to work with Urban Insight. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested around $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project ran from August 2021–January 2022.

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

Our website isn’t live yet so I don’t have any metrics to share, but we’re really eager and excited to see it up and running next month. The design Urban Insight created is awesome and very modern. It balances and harmonizes the brands of Tech in Motion and Motion Recruitment.

We received amazing feedback from everyone in the company, including our CEO and VP of development. They think the design is very cool and will do a great job of attracting audiences. Overall, Urban Insight achieved the visual modernization that we were looking to do. We will likely be using their services again because we’re pretty satisfied. 

How did Urban Insight perform from a project management standpoint?

It went really well. They used Basecamp and kept everything up to date. They also used another tool where we could edit documents and provide feedback directly online. 

We met weekly to review our progress and all of the deliverables. We just kept moving, so I was very pleased. I’ve worked with other agencies before and have gotten kind of a mixed bag when it comes to project management, but Urban Insight did a really nice job.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I can’t speak highly enough about their creativity. We’re really pleased with what we received. They put a high level of attention to detail, especially with the wireframes, and made sure that we understood what things would look like. They went through every nook and cranny with us.

I also like that, whereas other agencies only allowed a specific number of feedback rounds or charged for extra hours, Urban Insight treated the project as a true partnership. They continuously evolved our brand without ever saying that something is beyond the scope. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t think so. We really enjoyed working with them. The timeline went a little further than anticipated, but that was more due to our side since we had a huge workload. Urban Insight was a very flexible and understanding partner throughout. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be an active participant in the branding process. What’s great about Urban Insight is that they can work with you to evolve your brand such that you don’t have to stick with one design option but can actually request a way to blend your choices together. Don’t be afraid to speak up and push boundaries because they’ll be sure to deliver on it. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing communications at the Japanese American National Museum. I’m in charge of our marketing efforts and collateral for the museum. That includes everything from front-facing campaigns and PR efforts to website and social media marketing. Our mission is to educate the public on the importance of the Japanese-American immigrant experience. 

What challenge were you trying to address with Urban Insight?

Our website was outdated; it hadn’t been updated since we opened it almost 30 years ago. As a result, we needed a new site to engage a newer audience and help us get the word out about our organization. 

What was the scope of their involvement?

Urban Insight built the site from scratch. While we were lucky to have plenty of content available, it was sometimes a detriment to the project — our teams had to decipher what content types were going to work for the site. Given that, the Urban Insight team helped us edit the content and make it more digestible for our target audience. 

They also did plenty of market research for us to better understand our audience. Based on their findings, they developed the look and feel of the website. We wanted the website to be highly shareable on various channels; end users should be able to connect the site to their social media or to print out something from it. Beyond that, we needed Urban Insight to craft our messaging in a presentable and marketable manner.  

The website has been finished, but we’ve retained Urban Insight’s services for phase two of the development process. We’re constantly looking for ways to improve the website. We’ll also work with them on another project in January 2022 to develop a mobile app connected to the website; this one’s an entirely new project. 

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with 3–4 people at any given time. A project manager oversees the project, and 1–2 graphic and website designers help us with the deliverables. 

How did you come to work with Urban Insight?

We did a comprehensive search to find the right agency. Our members put together a search committee that identified and whittled our choices down to the top three organizations we could hire — Urban Insight was one of them. 

They were the most expensive team out of the three, but we were highly impressed with their presentation. On top of that, they did plenty of research to know who we were, and that was why we ended up choosing them. 

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $100,000 on the first phase of the project. Our team has invested an additional $50,000 for the second phase of the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started around August 2019, and the website was completed in March 2021. However, the partnership is ongoing. 

For context, the project was already underway when I came on board in December 2019 — I was there early in the process but not at the beginning of the project. 

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

The website has been well-received not only by our staff but also by our audience. In fact, we’ve seen a 20% spike in the number of site visitors, views, and clicks. That’s what we’ve wanted all along, and it continues to grow as we populate the site with more content. Overall, we’ve been so delighted and pleased with these results. This is why we’ve decided to retain Urban Insight’s services. 

How did Urban Insight perform from a project management standpoint?

Urban Insight has spent much time listening to us and understanding what we’re trying to do as an institution and museum. Their project manager is always there to oversee the project’s direction, and he always chimes in with ideas based on their work with other clients, helping us craft our own vision to make our website great. 

Moreover, they’ve kept us going in the right direction and completed the website within the timeframe we want. For a big project like this, some delays are expected, but we’re happy with their management and the progress we’ve made. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Working with Urban Insight is like working with somebody within the museum; they serve as a true part of our staff. Their resources have integrated well with us and truly understand our needs, so we’re pleased with their work. 

For comparison, I’ve worked with a lot of contractors in my career, and we’ve always felt that those contractors are outsiders. In fact, I’ve spent a lot of time reminding them of who we are, what the museum stands for, and what our mission is. This isn’t the case for Urban Insight. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there aren’t any. They’ve gone through some changes, but I can’t find any glaring mistakes or anything they could’ve handled differently; everything has gone exactly as or better than what we’ve expected. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Communication is important, so communicate with Urban Insight. Be transparent and comfortable with sharing your ideas to them. That way, they can be a part of your team and your work will be a truly collaborative effort.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the communications manager of Legal Services of North Florida We’re a private nonprofit law firm that serves clients across 16 counties in North Florida with free civil legal help.

In my role, I run all communications, external relationships, as well as anything that comes with design, marketing, and PR. Specifically, I work on SEO and developing our website so it’s more accessible to clients.

What challenge were you trying to address with Urban Insight?

Urban Insight is a part of a larger technology grant that I’m the project manager for. It’s a collaboration between several legal service organizations. We’re working together to build out a model for schema specifically so legal aid organizations have better success on Google searches and voice search. We’re working directly with Google to identify ways to reduce fraud and fraudulent searches as well as to increase the credibility of legal aid organizations and searches.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We have three websites that we’re implementing different stages of the schema code. Urban Insight is utilizing one of the legal aid websites they operate and are applying that markup. Their team is a part of the evaluative process. Chris (CEO) and the team have been doing evaluations of the code itself.

Every time we’ve created a new markup, they’ve provided a full-on write-up and memo on the success and efficacy. They’ve also suggested changes on any of the codes that we’ve written on each markup. Their team provides that to the person who’s generating it and has participated in ongoing discussions.

What is the team composition?

We’ve worked with 2–3 people, and my main point of contact is Chris.

How did you come to work with Urban Insight?

Urban Insight had situated themselves well within the legal aid community by supporting statewide legal service sites. Their credibility precedes them and is well-known within the legal aid community. That was one of the reasons why we selected them.

Additionally, they’ve participated in other projects with other legal aid organizations and the granting agency. Urban Insight was a credible source we knew could provide not only support but also has access to a website that we could implement these changes to and evaluate the industry.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested about $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started around June 2019.

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

Urban Insight has provided evaluative memos, which is the documentation of the very detailed analysis of suggested changes, concerns, and other parts of the work we’ve been doing. Their team has provided concrete documents, which is something we haven’t necessarily gotten from everyone. It’s been super helpful and will be part of the final report.

We’ve done one iteration of the schema markup and have seen really interesting results. Chris’s ability to think critically through these evaluation meetings has been very helpful. On the first markup, we realized that traffic was down but the longevity of that traffic on our website was longer. The right people were on our site, we weren’t getting superfluous traffic. We had longer clickthroughs and visitation time.

How did Urban Insight perform from a project management standpoint?

Communicating with Urban Insight has been very easy. They’re responsive, and we utilize email and Slack. I organize all of the documentation on the backend, write all the reports, and manage all the meetings. I have my own management system. Urban Insight is very collaborative. If there’s an ongoing conversation on Slack, they pipe in and are supportive. I’ve never had to follow up.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They always go above and beyond. Urban Insight sets achievable expectations that I’m excited about. They often tell us what they’re going to do, which is exactly what we’re looking for. They go above and beyond each time. Not only do they propose really great engagement to the project, but they also provide even more. Their team is organized and keeps track of their hours. Our project manager makes our life a lot easier.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’ve had a great experience. If I ever need something or there’s an issue, I’ve always been able to ask and it’s taken care of.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be transparent about your needs and upfront with your contracts. Urban Insight will go above and beyond for you. If you’re honest about your capacity and budget, they’ll be honest with what they can provide you. Lay everything out on the table. Their team is fair, organized, and very respectful. They’re not the kind of organization that’ll undermine you or tries to nickel and dime you.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work at The Broad Museum, a contemporary art museum in Los Angeles. I’m the head of marketing and communications and I oversee the website and digital platform.

What challenge were you trying to address with Urban Insight?

When we originally worked with them, it was to design our website, which was in dire need of an overhaul. From there, Urban Insight worked on creating a mobile web app for us.

What was the scope of their involvement?

 The website redesign included everything on the backend that to help us from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8. Then they worked with us on the UI/UX. In the discovery phrase, we shared what we wanted to do, how we wanted to optimize the website, and identified a few functionalities we wanted to include.

Their team went back and worked on wireframes and design comps that addressed our needs. They offered different options and spent a lot of time refining the. We have very high standards for visual presentation as an art museum and they did all of that to meet our requirements.

We have them on retainer now to help us maintain the website and mobile app. They also develop new functionalities and things like that.

What is the team composition?

My day to day contact is Mark (Director of Technology). He’s our account lead and primary contact. I also work with Jose (Creative Director) directly to explain how I want the UX to look. I appreciate that I just need to talk to them rather than the entire team because it streamlines communication.

How did you come to work with Urban Insight?

Our former director of IT found them through a referral. She had interviewed a few different companies and she felt like they were the best for this project and could meet our needs.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $230,000 with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project lasted from September 2018–March 2019.

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

I get lots of compliments and positive feedback from other folks in the industry. They comment on how the site looks and how easy it is to use and find information. We’ve been looking for a new director of IT, and some of the candidates I’ve interviewed praise it for those same things.

Of course, we approached them about an app. We were founded only a few years ago, so social media is really important to us. Now that we’ve been locked down because of COVID-19, that has become even more important, but we didn’t have the budget to create a standalone app.

Working with Urban Insight, we’ve been able to stay ahead in terms of tech. It put us in good stead to have invested in this, especially as we look to reopen and are looking to share information with visitors on their own devices, rather than picking up a brochure.

They’re also able to do anything we’ve asked for. For example, my colleague showed me a 3D tour of another museum, and when I shared it with Urban Insight, they said they were able to build a more robust version for our museum. Every time I’ve thrown them a challenge, they were more than able to meet the challenge.  

How did Urban Insight perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re amazing; Mark is amazing. The communication with them is clear and clean. When I ask for a project estimate, they’re very accurate. I’ve never had a problem with them completing projects on time either. I’ve been really impressed by their organization. We go through several rounds of revisions, and they track every single detail.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re really great at design. They can blend form and functionality really well, so it looks good and works well. They’re also super easy to work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No. I’ve loved working with them. They’re so helpful.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I set up calls with Urban Insight and other stakeholders outside of my team so they’re able to hear what other features our stakeholders want. For example, last week we had a call with a colleague in public programs because they had ideas for a page we created. Originally, we threw up a page really fast and it was very text-heavy, so we’re designing it to be more visual and easier to use. So getting that insight from stakeholders and opening communication has really helped that process.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work at a medical research institution. We run research studies for Alzheimer’s disease, and I recruit participants for those studies.

What challenge were you trying to address with Urban Insight?

Urban Insight was brought on to help us develop two nice-looking websites for two of our studies that participants could visit to get more information.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Urban Insight helped us from the beginning to the end of the launch, and everything in between. The team built the websites from the ground up and worked with our IT team to make sure that we were on track to get institutional review board (IRB) approval. 

They provided a lot of support so that we could get the websites launched. They also interfaced with our communications firm, which helped us develop messaging for the website.

What is the team composition?

We talk with Ben (Technical Project Manager) the most, and we’ve also interacted with Jose (Creative Director) and Chris (CEO).

How did you come to work with Urban Insight?

The helped us develop another website in 2019, which I wasn’t a part of. Due to that experience, we decided to bring them on for these two others. I had heard good things about them, and we wanted to keep the relationship going. We also wanted websites that were somewhat similar looking. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in March 2020, and we’re still working with them. One of the websites has launched as a full website, and we’re just working on the second version of it to better optimize the content. For the second one, we put up an interim site, and Jose is working on putting up a full website.

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

Their work is very professional. The websites are high-quality. 

How did Urban Insight perform from a project management standpoint?

Ben has really good communication. He’s great at stating deadlines, goals, and everything he needs for the project. We’ve stayed on time with a lot of the work. We’re in a special situation because of the IRB, which has been a different situation for Ben.

At first, it took a little time for each side to figure out how the other worked, but since then, everything has gone smoothly. Overall, their project management has been really good. We used Basecamp for communication between us, our communications firm, and Urban Insight. We also have weekly Zoom meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Urban Insight has shown professionalism.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not that I can think of. It’s going really well, and we’ve enjoyed working with them. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t be afraid to ask the project manager to explain something if you don’t understand it. Not everyone knows website development and technology, so don’t be afraid to ask questions. Ben and his team are very patient, and they will answer anything. Be open and keep the communication flowing. 

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of a bar review course that helps law students who are about to take the bar exam understand what the test and the materials are about and tutors them for the exam itself.

What challenge were you trying to address with Urban Insight?

There were two major challenges. Firstly, our current website and student portals weren’t functioning well. They had too many plug-ins, so they were too slow and had constant errors. When I first started, there was no real direction as far as marketing, which is why there were so many plug-ins. We wanted to upgrade the portal and resolve those issues on the marketing sites. 

Secondly, there were a lot of manual processes, so we wanted to eliminate the amount of time that we were spending on those administrative problems and issues. We wanted everything to be automated.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Before we started, Urban Insight provided insight into the best tech and methods to carry out and maximize our longterm marketing plan. They focused on SEO and analytics. 

They provided consultation, and then designed and developed the portals using Angular on Drupal. The team mimicked the marketing websites that we already had but did everything from scratch using Drupal as well. They changed the direction of how we were going to market the course. Currently, Urban Insight is working with us to create apps for the website. 

What is the team composition?

I work closely with 3–4 people, including Ben (Technical Project Manager) who is my main point of contact. There are also developers, engineers, and designers who have helped us with the project.

How did you come to work with Urban Insight?

I did research and ended up reaching out to about 15 companies, some of which were referrals. I decided to work with Urban Insight because they checked all the boxes better than anybody else. From the beginning, it was very clear that they had a good sense of direction.

They spent a lot of time understanding the project before we committed to them. It was a complex project and there was so much going on, and, unlike other companies, Urban Insight took the time to ask great questions. That, coupled with the fact that they were local and their pricing was reasonable, led to our decision to work with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $150,000–$300,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2019. We just launched the website, but we’re still working with them on other projects.

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

As I mentioned, we just launched the website a week ago. A handful of our students have told us that the website is amazing, looks beautiful, and works faster. The quality of their work at the price we paid is remarkable!

How did Urban Insight perform from a project management standpoint?

We were always on or under budget and the team was really good at showing our progress at each stage of the project. They also stuck within the timeline and their communication was phenomenal. The team has always been straightforward and doesn't try to sugarcoat anything; they tell us exactly what we’re going to do and communicate every variable.

Anytime I send an email or call, Ben always responds almost immediately, and we also have weekly meetings to go over everything. Urban Insight used Basecamp to manage the project, and it was a great tool. It was my first time using it, but the team was great at explaining how to use it and why we were using it. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

From the beginning, I was impressed with the number of questions they asked and their desire to understand our project and business. Urban Insight took time to understand our product, our students, and how we got to where we are.

The team went above and beyond to make sure that I understood Drupal, SEO, and how the project was going to be executed. Throughout the project, they’ve always thought ahead, continually providing valuable information and insights. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing I can think of. It would’ve been ideal to get the same products for a fraction of the price, but we still got incredible value. I don’t have any legitimate complaints.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Shop around for vendors and speak to as many companies as possible so that, when you get on board with Urban Insight, you can really see how different they are. If they had been the first company I had spoken to, I still would’ve chosen them, but I might not have appreciated how amazing they are. 

Having gone through a similar project with other companies and having been diligent about shopping around, I truly appreciate how Urban Insight has been able to handle this project with professionalism.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the co-founders and leading members of Hype; we do PR, marketing, and social media.

What challenge were you trying to address with Urban Insight?

We've started to focus more and more on the social media space, and a lot of our clients are asking for more production and visual effects. There’s a ton of different assets that we’re trying to review and make decisions about, and, especially with remote team members, it’s difficult to handle at times. We went to Urban Insights, asking for a more efficient way to do that—a way to figure out and solve that problem.

The traditional approval process involves email, but much of that information can get lost in translation, and most email platforms don’t handle big files well. The threads become confusing, especially if you have people working all over the place in different time zones, and it becomes a huge barrier to productivity and delivering for clients.

What was the scope of their involvement?

They proposed an intranet system to help manage our social media content and assets. It allows us to look at different items and work collaboratively, even with individuals working remote. It’s an online system that lets various users work on projects simultaneously.

We’re able to easily put in different files—visual, motion, whatever it may be—and put notes attached to them for other team members to see. You can also edit and review items in the system—it’s like a more sophisticated or robust version of Google Docs. Using the platform, we can quickly get approval from all of our team members on specific deliverables.

What is the team composition?

Their team is larger than ours, but I only speak with a few key contacts about the project. I think we had 3–4 people from Urban Insights working on our system. 

How did you come to work with Urban Insight?

We were referred to them. We knew that they did a number of things in the digital space—I had already seen some websites of theirs—but we didn’t know if they would be capable of building custom solutions. We reached out to them to see if they had any ideas for how to address our problem.

I liked that, even though they’re a boutique agency, they have a pretty robust offering of services. I feel like our company is the same. That’s part of why we decided to work with them, because of their size. 

How much have you invested with them?

Everything included, it was $28,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We launched the product in August, and I think the first conversation was six months before that. The work itself only lasted for a couple of months.

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

We ended up adding more social media people right around the time they were wrapping up the project. They hit our deadline, which made for a great onboarding process for those individuals. They’ve helped us become much more efficient.

How did Urban Insight perform from a project management standpoint?

They were on time, they were efficient, and they walked us through every phase of the project. They were also super organized and understood all of our needs. The detailed tracking and frequent updates also made our lives easier.

Whenever we had a question, they would take the time to answer it. We tried to structure the partnership around regular meetings, and they never felt like a burden. I always felt excited going into those conversations because I knew how well everything was moving along.

When we started working with them, we had a few people on our end who would weigh in with their opinions, and I handled most of the overarching management tasks. At one point, they brought in my team to talk through the nuts and bolts that they felt were needed in the new system. That approach helped because those team members are the doers; I’m more of a manager that focuses on reviewing items.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They did an excellent job of keeping us in the loop and letting us know what the benchmarks were while also making us feel heard. They were always friendly and warm; we could tell that they were used to dealing with people from different industries on similar projects. We were worried they wouldn’t know how to deal with our needs, but they’ve been tracking with us all the way.

That human touch, mixed with their genuine capability, continues to be a huge selling point for us. Urban Insights is creative but also confident in their decision making. They would come back to us with ideas and give a solid rationale for them. Even when you’re offering a technology solution, the people aspect is key.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their bid was more expensive than some of the other quotes we got, but I think it’s justified. They were always transparent about that, and we can’t fault them for being worth the money. As a small business, we’re often worried about finding out which firms will be the right fit in terms of budget, but it feels like it was worth it. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Talk with your team about the problem that you’re facing, and find out what you need, from every level. Identify your primary goal before meeting with Urban Insights and be honest during those internal discussions. That way, when you come to them, they’ll be able to focus on listening to what you have to say rather than selling you on different solutions. 

Also, make sure to think ahead about the impact of your investment will be. You want to make sure that whatever Urban Insights is building fits with your long-term vision.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the Associate Director of Computer Science Student Affairs at the University of Southern California’s Viterbi School of Engineering. We oversee a population of about 4,000 computer science students. I also work on various projects for the school, including the student engagement app we created with Urban Insight.

What challenge were you trying to address with Urban Insight?

Our goal was to encourage active participation and engagement among engineering students by designing an interactive tool that focuses on student development, events and activities, and services and resources. We modeled the app after another app Urban Insight had designed for the residential education department.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We identified four dimensions in the student experience that we wanted to unite in a central place for them: academics, career, social, and wellness. They built the app with various learning pathways that students can complete in these areas. Students are able to earn points, win prizes, and compete with each other within their academic units.

They also developed a centralized calendar within the app, so all school-sponsored events and student organization events are listed there. Students can attend to earn points. It’s created a whole new student experience.

The original scope of the mission was to build an iOS and web version that could support Android users. At this point, we have a native iOS version and a web app. After the launch in fall 2018, student feedback demanded an Android version. We looked into that with their team, and they provided an alternative solution.

They suggested a progressive web app that could more effectively support Android phones and other devices. We decided to convert our current web app into a progressive web app instead of creating an Android app from the beginning. Everything successfully launched in time for the fall 2019 student orientation, and we are continuing to work with Urban Insight on a support contract.

What is the team composition?

We have worked with Chris (CEO Urban Insight), Paris, Olga, and Vasty (Digital Project Managers, Urban Insight), a programmer, and a designer over the course of the project. So, there were at least four team members at any given time.

How did you come to work with Urban Insight?

Our university has been working with them for over a decade now. They built an undergraduate advising database over a decade ago that we use extensively. We had an ongoing relationship with them.

Before this project, they worked with the school of engineering on other efforts, including a custom website for the computer science department in 2016. I was familiar with them already when this project came around.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them on this project in December 2017. Initial launch of the iOS app and web app was in October 2018 and the progressive web app launched in July 2019, but we still have their ongoing support for the app.

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

We’ve conducted several focus groups to get feedback on the app. We’ve received pretty positive reactions and have more usage than initially expected. We found that students prefer the web version to iOS, likely because they’re on their laptops while on campus. Because of that feedback, we’re looking at moving away from mobile and sticking with a web platform that can be accessed on any device.

We really appreciate the centralized calendar that Urban Insight created. The university is pretty decentralized in terms of systems, calendars, and events. Having one place for all events has been very helpful for the school. We’re also working on a feature to add job and internship postings to the app. The students seem very excited about seeing those implemented.   

How did Urban Insight perform from a project management standpoint?

We had weekly calls from the project manager, but Chris would occasionally jump on them, too. Usually, the project manager would liaise with the designers and programmers for us. Over the course of the project, we’ve had three project managers.

Before our first project manager left, she trained a new one on our project before handing it off. At that time, it was like we had two project managers, which really streamlined our work. Having collaborated with all three of them, I think they’ve all been fantastic. For communication with Urban Insight, we use Basecamp. Internally, though, our team uses Trello.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have a great team. Chris had been involved from beginning to end, regularly checking in to make sure everything progresses smoothly. They’re consistently willing to consult us on major technical decisions. The CEO’s leadership and ability to be a part of each project is really special.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes there’s back-and-forth when we’re trying to get information on the technical feasibility of features. It might be helpful to further integrate the programmers, but I also know that they’re very busy. That’s the only thing I could recommend.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be prepared to put the effort in on your end. You can’t expect Urban Insight to handle everything. It’s important that you help them make your project a success.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the principal city planner and manager at the Los Angeles Department of City Planning. I head the office of resources.

What challenge were you trying to address with Urban Insight?

We created a new office in 2006 and created the first full-service historic preservation office for the city of Los Angeles. At the same time, we were launching a major project called Survey L.A., a citywide survey of historic resources. We needed a web presence for both the office and the survey.

What was the scope of their involvement?

Urban Insight designed and developed both websites for us. Their team used a Drupal CMS for both websites. We worked very closely with them on the overall structure of the site and provided some text content. They took the lead on the visual design of the sites. Our teams worked together on creating an outline and overall navigation structure and they built that out for us. 

Urban Insight also made sure that we were in compliance with the accessibility standards so that users of differing abilities could access the site’s information. This project was done in conjunction with the Getty Conservation Institute. They also provide periodic updates and upgrades. We did one significant upgrade back in 2012 as well as a redesign of the site.

What is the team composition?

We work with 3–4 members of the Urban Insight team, including Chris (CEO, Urban Insight), who was involved throughout. 

How did you come to work with Urban Insight?

I knew Chris professionally through some of his work with other urban planning organizations. Urban Insight had done some sites relating to urban planning and development work in Los Angeles so it seemed like they were the best fit for the substantive information that we were conveying. 

How much have you invested with them?

We have invested between $100,000–$250,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement with Urban Insight ran from March 2007–September 2019.

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

Urban Insight has the unique ability to help organizations distill complex information in a way that’s compelling and digestible to the general public. They have a strong knowledge of the field and are up to date on current techniques and web design. 

We consistently got very positive feedback on our website, from its design to its navigability. We also got an award early on from the American Planning Association for innovative use of technology. Survey L.A. got a national planning award for our overall public outreach program. The public feedback has also been positive. 

How did Urban Insight perform from a project management standpoint?

Their team is easy to work with, accessible, and responsive. Whenever we had challenges, perhaps something not working properly on the site, we found them to be consistently responsive to our needs. 

I certainly didn’t know about what it takes to deliver a large and complex website for an organization such as ours. They laid out a project management approach and schedule for the development of the site. They delivered it on time and on budget and then provided ongoing maintenance. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

They not only created a visually compelling website, but they understood the context of our work. Urban Insight could make suggestions in the development of the sites that strengthened our web presence. They had a deeper understanding of the role of our organization in shaping a city, especially one as complex as Los Angeles.

Chris brings not only knowledge and expertise on how to design a website, but also how the content we’re trying to deliver is impacting the life of our city. That gives their worth a depth and sophistication that just the general web developer would not have been able to bring.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they did a great job.