Roda

Implementing and tracking business strategy is hard. You want buy-in from stakeholders, you need to gather lots of data, you spend time putting together presentations and you usually wait 12 months to see any results.

Roda is a new platform that helps leaders create, track and deliver their business strategy in minutes. Whatever the goal; revenue growth, QA improvements, customer satisfaction or sustainability targets, Roda’s tools are designed to focus teams only on what is important for the objectives. 60 second weekly check-ins ensure that everyone involved stays up-to-date and accountantable. Its elegant and instant presentation modes support everything from board meetings to town hall sessions.

The people and experience behind Roda

Founders Matt & Mark are seasoned strategists and change consultants for startup, enterprise and public sector teams. Over the years they recognised the need for better implementation of strategy, which led to adopting the Flywheel method for tracking and visualising progress. Their techniques, refined over the years, also focussed on transparency and accountability for team members, which provided better buy-in and engagement throughout. 

Roda approached Gravitywell with the challenge of turning their proven methodology into a new Software as a Service platform. Right from the start, Gravitywell saw the potential and we were able to contribute to the vision and roadmap but also with investment and strategy. We also agreed it also needed to be highly usable and accessible for anyone, even without business strategy experience.
 

Close Relationship

With most startup projects, working closely and collaboratively is the key to rapid progress. Bringing the Flywheel concept to life on the screen required a shared vision and understanding that went beyond how it worked - we needed to be fully on board with why it worked as well. Roda and Gravitywell both have a similar attitude to workshops, that they’re always better in person, and these sessions were key to forming our ideas into a cohesive, approachable concept.

The Design Journey

We knew our biggest challenge was going to be bringing people onto the platform and getting them started on their Flywheels quickly and smoothly. Our UX design process focussed on techniques for educating users about the Flywheel concept and how they’d be using it as they build up their profiles and metrics to be measured. The end result was a flow that began with users entering their email addresses and ended with a complete Flywheel, ready to go.

The next step was testing - first with people familiar with the concept and then with users who had never thought about using a Flywheel before. Their feedback allowed us to revise and improve the flow of the platform, adding information and guidance at moments of uncertainty and streamlining parts of the process that felt too long or tricky. It’s crucial to include user testing during the design journey in order to check your assumptions and provide a fresh perspective on concepts that you’ve spent a lot of time developing in order to highlight blindspots in your thinking.

Brand

Designing a B2B brand can be a tricky balancing act. Roda needed to stand out without looking out of place in a corporate setting. It also needed to project an air of simplicity without appearing childish. A lot of business tools go for primary colours, bold lines, and simple shapes in an attempt to drive home how simple things are but it can often leave customers feeling patronised and drive them away. 

Our treatment of the Roda brand leant more towards a professional but still warm, through the use of neutral, meaningful colour choices, animation to evoke a sense of motion and progress throughout the platform, and custom illustrations to add a human element to the onboarding process.

Then there was the Flywheel itself, which we knew would become an iconic centrepiece for the entire brand. However, we also know that it can be an overwhelming concept for first time users and wanted to avoid the pitfall of over-designing it while the platform is still in its infancy. We kept the design simple and open for launch to allow for it to evolve and grow over time, just like Roda itself. To reinforce the brand, we repeated the circle motif throughout the platform.