In an oversaturated creative market it is vital to stand out from the competition. While there are very few agencies that offer web design, development and branding services, there are even fewer that do all under one roof. For us making the transition from two freelancers to an agency with a team was a natural progression. From the very beginning we felt like we were a unique team with expertise and skill in both design and technology. When we decided to grow our team we wanted to maintain this constellation.

Before going into how we made this our USP, let's first understand why we chose this path in the first place. Doing everything in-house means handling all aspects of our business, from product development to customer service, internally, without relying on external vendors or outsourcing. Here are some of the main reasons behind our decision:

Quality Control: By keeping all processes in-house, we can maintain strict quality control standards. We have the ability to oversee every step of the production or service delivery, ensuring that the final result meets or even exceeds our standards.

: In-house operations allow us to be more agile. We can respond to customer demands quickly, implement changes swiftly, and reduce lead times since we are only dependent on our own workload and timeline management.

: While competitors may only be able to offer standardiezed solutions, we are able to tailor our services to meet specific customer needs, since we are directly involved in building products that tackle the client’s challenges and pain points.

: Contrary to common belief, in-house operations can sometimes be more cost-effective. By eliminating third-party fees and optimizing our processes, we can keep costs in check and offer complete transparency.

: By keeping everything in-house, we can safeguard our intellectual property and trade secrets more effectively, preventing leaks or breaches that might occur with external partners.

We make it a point to communicate our in-house approach to our customers clearly. This transparency helps build trust, as customers appreciate knowing that we have full control over every aspect of their experience with us. We emphasize the advantages of our in-house operations in our marketing materials. Whether it's the quality of our products, the speed of our services, or our ability to customize, we let potential customers know why choosing us is the best decision. Sharing case studies and success stories that highlight the benefits of our in-house approach shows value to prospective clients. We continually invest in training and technology to improve our in-house capabilities. This ensures that we maintain a competitive edge and keep evolving to meet customer expectations.

The most common feedback we hear from clients is that they really value that we do not outsource the core work. They value that we are able to communicate quickly and efficiently as opposed to having to wait for third parties who are involved to reply. It became clear to us pretty quickly that they were not used to this experience which is why they felt strongly about mentioning it to us and why they continue to contact us for additional work. Working in-house not only improves the experience for our clients it also allows for transparency which builds trust and loyalty.

Why We Choose to Do Everything We Can In-House & How We Made it Our Strongest USP

Ever started a DIY project at home without a clear plan? Maybe you thought you could just figure it out as you go. If so, you've probably seen how quickly things can go awry. What should have been a simple task taking a few hours turns into days of work.

A similar approach in project management can lead to misunderstandings and something called "scope creep." To avoid these issues, requirements step in as a crucial component for project success. They serve as a shared understanding, project blueprint, and roadmap agreed upon by all parties involved.

In project management, requirements are detailed descriptions of what a project must achieve, deliver, or produce. They provide the foundation and guidance for the entire project, outlining the essential elements to meet its goals. Requirements ensure everyone understands what's expected and serve as a reference point for all stakeholders.

 Specify what the project's deliverable should do, like enabling user profile creation in a mobile app.

 Address quality aspects like performance and security, setting criteria such as page load times.

 Capture user needs through scenarios and interactions with the project.

 Detail hardware, software, and compatibility specifications.

 Link the project to broader organizational goals, including financial considerations.

Ensure project compliance with industry standards.

Describe user journeys and system interactions.

 Visualize the project's design and layout.

 Outline conditions for validating project functionality.

 Define conditions for project completion and stakeholder acceptance.

Scope creep happens when you start a project with a clear plan but then add extra features that weren't part of the original scope. This uncontrolled expansion leads to increased complexity, delays, and extra costs. To prevent scope creep, stick to your initial project scope and evaluate changes carefully to align with project goals and budget.

To prevent scope creep effectively, well-defined requirements play a crucial role. Here's why:

 Requirements set distinct project boundaries; anything beyond requires evaluation and approval.

 Requirements offer a framework for evaluating changes. Are they vital for project success, or just "nice-to-haves"?

When we kick off a project, we start by figuring out what the project aims to achieve and how it aligns with the client's budget.

For each client, we set up a dedicated workspace in Notion, our project management tool. This space becomes our central hub for storing all essential project details before we dive in.

Inside this workspace, we create a visual board with individual "tickets" for each part or page we plan to build. The more complex the project, the more info we put into these tickets. They include the goals, the functionalities we plan for that component and the criteria it must meet (the acceptance criteria).

Once we've organized everything, we share this board with the client. They get to review the requirements, suggest changes, or give feedback. Once everyone's on the same page and the requirements are approved, we have a clear roadmap for what we'll build. This process helps us steer clear of scope creep and keeps everyone on the same page.

In summary, requirements are the cornerstone of successful project management. They provide structure, clarity, and direction, enabling project managers and teams to achieve goals efficiently while reducing risks and challenges. Without clear requirements, projects are more likely to face delays and unexpected issues that hinder their success.

The Vital Role of Requirements in Project Success

Value-based pricing isn't a one-size-fits-all solution; it's a dynamic strategy that depends on understanding your clients’ goals and requirements and aligning your prices with the unique benefits your products or services offer. We believe there are three main factors that add up to a value based price, the value for the client, your value and the value for yourself and your business. In this blogpost we are going to look at these in details and how to come up with a price.

In recent years, the value-based pricing strategy has gained significant attention and what you will likely have heard of is basing this pricing model on the value that your work generates for the client. It is highly based on not only the client’s priorities and perceptions of value but also real numbers like expected revenue. Figuring this out comes with experience. For example your work is likely going to be worth more to a bigger company just based on the fact that they expect you to take on more risk as there is more riding on a successful outcome. Larger companies are also used to higher budgets so their perception of cost is different to a smaller company’s. Your creative work is essential in generating profits so it is important that any client views it as an investment with expected return.

The value your work adds to a client’s company has a lot to do with your unique point of view. The reason why creative work is so valuable is that not everyone has the same ideas. What you do differently and better than others doing similar work to you is what makes you more valuable than them. The price for your services should be based on what you think this value is. To figure this out think about the feedback you get from clients. What do they point out that you have done well? If they feel like they need to mention it it means it is something that is out of the ordinary for them. These things become your unique selling points and it is important that you communicate them in your positioning so that when I client hears your prices they feel like you are worth that money. Your value can also be based in your experience and expertise which ties back into the risk the client is taking when they book you. The lower risk they perceive you to be the higher price they are willing to pay.

Sometimes projects can be beneficial to you or your business in ways unrelated to the actual money. Of course you should always be paid for your work and you should never do work for free merchandise or whatever clients try to pay you with that isn’t money. You need to cover your fixed costs and be able to pay yourself as a bare minimum, but not all projects have to be a cash cow for them to pay off. Sometimes it makes sense to invest your time in something where you expect a different kind of return. An example of this could be doing creative work for a charitable agency that will bring you good PR. It could be a project where you have to venture into a new type of technology or work that you maybe are not an expert in yet, and it will give you a foot in the door of something you want to do more of in the future. In other words sometimes portfolio projects exist and it makes sense to do them for less than you might otherwise do the same work for. To reiterate this doesn’t mean doing it for free, but the value in this case is not a line item you added to your pricing it is the expected return. The value for yourself could also simply be what you feel like the project is worth to you and the level of effort you expect to put into it.

Think about the expected return on investment from the client’s perspective

Company size is important: the bigger the company, the higher the risk, the bigger the responsibility and the higher the price

What do you do better than others and how is that valuable to the project?

How does your expertise and experience make the client’s life easier?

Understand the goals, challenges, pain points of your client and ask questions to show you are thinking of these things and can provide solutions

Think about the expected return from your perspective

Value-Based Pricing: How to Put a Price on Value

As a freelancer or a service provider, one of the most challenging decisions is deciding which pricing model to use. Among the various options available, project-based pricing is a popular choice, and also our personal favorite. This method involves charging clients a fixed fee for a specific project, based usually on the complexity of the deliverables and the time frame that you will be working on it. While project-based pricing can offer several advantages, it also comes with some obstacles.

Predictable Income: One of the most significant advantages of project-based pricing is that it offers predictability in your income. You and your client agree on a fixed fee upfront, allowing you to plan your finances and budget accordingly. This means you have more control and a better overview of your yearly income.

 With a well-defined scope for each project, you can avoid scope creep and ensure that both you and your client have a clear understanding of the project's objectives and deliverables. It is essential when doing project based pricing to create clear requirements with zero room for interpretation.

 Project-based pricing can motivate you to work efficiently and complete tasks promptly, as you're focused on delivering a specific outcome within a set timeframe. You are more likely to keep deadlines if you work with project based scopes because you won’t want to end up making a loss since your work has already been sold at a set price.

 Clients appreciate knowing the cost of a project upfront. It builds trust and transparency, which can lead to better client relationships and referrals.

 If you're highly skilled and an expert in what your do, you can earn more with project-based pricing than with hourly rates. Since the prices are based on the deliverables and not the hours you work you have more control over the profit margin.

 Estimating the time and effort required for a project accurately can be challenging. If you underestimate, you may end up working more for less pay. Overestimating can make you less competitive and deter potential clients. Doing this well comes with experience, which means start now and it’s ok if you make mistakes! You can always adjust next time you make a proposal.

 Projects are rarely static; they often evolve as clients change their minds or new requirements emerge. Handling scope changes can be tricky under a project-based pricing model, potentially leading to disputes. This is why creating clear cut requirements is essential to avoid these discussions. Extra scope can always be billed hourly or within a new project scope.

 While project-based pricing can provide predictable income, it can also result in income fluctuations if you don't have a steady stream of projects lined up. Gaps between projects can affect your financial stability. This is why it is important to take in profit with each project to account for gaps in your workload.

 The fixed fee may put pressure on you to complete the project as quickly as possible, potentially compromising the quality of your work or leading to burnout. Create realistic timelines and adjust your pricing accordingly to avoid this. You don’t have to be fast just because the price is higher. Client value attention to detail and less revisions.

 Invest time upfront to define project scope, objectives, and potential risks. Communicate with your client to ensure a shared understanding.

 Build some flexibility into your pricing to account for unexpected changes or scope expansions. Add an extra scope retainer based on hours, or add hours specifically to accommodate meetings and consulting. It is ok to combine hourly rates with your project based scope.

 While you're not billing by the hour, tracking your time can help you improve your estimating accuracy and avoid underestimating project timelines in the future.

 Don't rely solely on project-based work. Maintain a mix of pricing models, including retainer agreements or hourly rates, to mitigate income fluctuations.

 As you gain experience and build your portfolio, periodically review and adjust your pricing to reflect your growing expertise.

Pros and Cons of Project-Based Pricing: How to Navigate Our Favorite Pricing Model

Being self-employed often means doing multiple jobs at once. Especially when starting off you might lack the budget to delegate. This means you are never just a freelancer you are also managing a business, doing bookkeeping, creating social media content, project managing, client managing etc.. Doing it all makes sense at the beginning, you need to learn the ins and outs of all the tasks needed to run a functioning business. People think freelancing means getting to chose when you work, but in reality it usually means working all the time because there is so much to do and it is never done. This leads to stress and in some cases burnout. The mental load is very heavy to carry alone and one of the quickest ways to fix this is to delegate. 

Doing it all alone can establish a foundation of feeling like you are the only person who can do it and knows how to. Some might feel like delegating will add to their workload and take more time than doing it themselves. These thoughts make transitioning to delegation hard when you finally do have the budget to do so.

At first glance, the idea of relinquishing control over tasks might evoke feelings of unease. You might not want to admit you need help, you might feel like you are the only one who can do it, you might feel scared about having to manage someone and worried about the time that will take. Delegating means letting go of control and also usually doing something that you have never done before, which may seem overwhelming at first. In the long run delegating will free up your time and mind to embrace creativity at work and in your personal life again. It will make the mental load you carry a little lighter and cure some of the anxieties that come with being self-employed.

We're going to unpack some of the most common things you are probably thinking which might be stopping you from delegating work:

“It’s faster if I just do it myself, than if I show someone else how to”

While this may be true initially, because you have to teach someone how to do something and they might need your help at the beginning, in the long run you will never have to deal with these tasks again. Anything you delegate should be something you don’t feel like you need to be doing. It should be tasks that are low risk, that do not require your expertise to execute. Giving direction and feedback to someone who can handle the bulk of the work will save you time longterm. The initial time spent showing them how to do something will be worth it.

“No one will be able to do it as good as I would”

Yes it’s very unlikely for two people to do something the exact same way, so anyone you delegate work to will do it the way they think is best and the way they learned how to. This is actually a positive thing, because it means getting a new perspective on the matter rather than doing something the same way every time. Again this might take time initially for the person you delegate work to to understand what your requirements are but in the long run it will free you up to do other things. Who knows they might even end up doing it better than you someday because they are more familiar with the tasks than you are. This is also ok! Don't feel like you need to be doing everything yourself, or that you need to do it best because you are the boss. You have other higher risk responsibilities that really only you can do.

“It’s too expensive to hire external people”

It will be a running cost to hire someone to delegate tasks to. Not only is this something that you can easily factor into your pricing, it's also an expense that is very much worth it. By delegating work you free up your time to focus on other things. This can increase the quality and quantity of your output. You will have more time not only to do the things you really enjoy doing, but also have more opportunity to establish a healthy work/life balance. Being in a healthy mental state and doing creative work can lead to more income despite the extra costs of hiring someone. It also sets you up for growth and scaling up if desired meaning the sky's the limit on your income.

“I don’t have time to manage people”

While managing people adds to your workload it is a different type of work. Initially it may seem to take up a lot of time but the longer someone works for you the less involved you will have to be over time. They will learn what you value and be able to implement it with little input from you. If you don’t like managing people try delegating smaller tasks that don’t need input from you like bookkeeping or someone to post on Instagram for you. Also be sure to hire people that are very independent and proactive if that is something you are worried about.

Remember, embracing delegation doesn't mean relinquishing control entirely; rather, it's about making conscious choices that align with your goals and priorities. By strategically delegating tasks, you empower yourself and those around you to thrive, fostering an environment of collaboration, growth, and, above all, mental well-being. Delegating means prioritising what you want to do and what you find really interesting and rewarding over what you think you should be doing or 

Unpacking 4 Myths About Delegating Work

It is common to be asked what you think your strengths and weaknesses are in a job interview. A lot of people will name perfectionism as a weakness to make their weaknesses seem more positive. By doing this they, very politically, avoid actually naming a weakness. But what if perfectionism is a weakness and not a pseudo-weakness like people try to make it out to be?

I would argue no, but perfectionists can have beneficial traits. For example a perfectionist will likely pay more attention to detail than someone who’s not bothered about making something perfect. In addition they will probably not be happy with their first attempt at something and continue to work on it, creating variations and new ideas, often leading to a more optimal result. These things will set generic creative work apart, from exceptional creative work, so why is perfectionism bad?

The fact of the matter is that perfection is in the eye of the beholder. This means everyone’s idea of perfection is different. People viewing your work will likely have a different eye than you. Let’s take the creative industry as an example: the majority of the people consuming a finished creative product (i.e. a branding) will not be graphic designers or people in the creative industry, this means the standard for them for a product to appear perfect is much lower. Consumer priorities are not: does this look perfect?, they are: does this thing work the way I want it to and does it fulfil the promised purpose?

How perfectionism is making your work worse

If someone is caught up in making something perfect they will very likely be distracted from the actual goals and requirements of the product. At the end of the day it does not matter what the product looks like if it doesn’t even succeed in its purpose to begin with. What is the goal? Does what you have done achieve this goal? If so stop.

It is important to entertain multiple solutions when creating something, because your first idea might not always be the best one, but you cannot get caught up in trying to make things perfect. Perfectionists will not stop until they feel like something is perfect, this means they will likely work slower and less efficient than someone who is not a perfectionist, they might not even get anything done. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time you do something. If you have solved a similar problem in the past, it is ok to use the same solution again. Function should always be more important than how it looks.

If someone came for an interview and said their weakness is being a perfectionist that would be a red flag for me, not because they named a pseduo-strength, but because I actually believe that is a huge weakness. It tells me this person is going to question every decision they make and work really slow and might not even finish things on time. It will take a lot of effort to train that out of them and not everyone wants to take that task on.

Does what you have done fulfil it’s purpose? Good, stop.

Decide on a max. number of variations you will create and then stop.

Have you solved this problem before? Try the same solution again.

Are the details you are focusing on noticeable to everyone or only you? If it is only you, stop.

Ask someone who is part of the target group to take a look, if they see no problems with it. Stop.

Be confident in your past successes and don’t question every creative decision.

Why Perfectionism is a Flaw and Not a Pseudo-Weakness

Presenting your work online for the whole world to see can be daunting. It is common for your inner voice to be wondering “is it good enough?”, “what if people hate it?”, “what if people make fun of it?”. That inner voice may never completely disappear, but if you let that voice take over and never take that first step of presenting your work then you never give yourself the opportunity to learn and grow. Fear of what might happen can only exist if you never gain the experience through actually doing the thing that scares you. Every time you do it for a second or third time you gain confidence through learning from what went wrong and also what went right. If you master confidence then that voice worrying about the bad things that could potentially happen will start to become quieter, and you open yourself up to embracing the unknown.

The first and probably most important step towards not caring what other people think and gaining confidence in your abilities and achievements is viewing your work through a logical lens rather than an emotional one. This means that how you feel about your work should be based on factors like: does it fulfil the purpose that it was supposed to? Does your work meet the goals and requirements you or your client set out? If the answer to these two questions is yes then it does not matter if someone “likes” it or thinks it is “pretty”, “good”, “nice to look at” because at the end of the day these emotionally driven opinions do not matter when it comes down to whether or not it is functional.

Data and experience are your strongest tools

If possible always try to back up your decisions by data. Use user research to argue why you chose to do things a certain way. Clients want to know that what you created for them is going to generate positive results for them. You need to show them that it has or that it will based on real numbers. This turns the conversation into a data driven, rather than an opinion driven, one. If you do not have the capacity for user research then speak to your experience. Clients come to you because they are looking for someone to take things off their plate. They want an expert to do the thinking for them. Talk about other experiences and what the results were and why the decisions you made will generate similar results. 

Concept is important and can be emotionally driven but what the results will be need to be tangible. If a client is hung up on a decision about color, unless you have data to back up why your color choice is better than theirs, then you can only give your recommendation. If a client decides to ignore your recommendation be ok with that. It is not a battle worth fighting. You can always offer to come back to it if testing finds that the decision made does not perform well.

When you present your work don’t be scared to brag about your achievements. Show people if you won an award, talk about the sales increase your clients experienced thanks to what you created for them. Talk about numbers and data if you have it, and if you don’t ask your clients if they can share it with you. Even if you don’t want to share this online ask for it anyway, so that you have that for yourself as a reminder that what you did fulfilled the goals.

You can’t please everyone so stop trying

It does not matter how perfect something is or how big of a client you have in your portfolio, it doesn’t even matter if what you did fulfilled its purpose or not or if you have data to back it up. There will always be someone who doesn’t like what you do. They will pick it apart and tear it down and they will probably let you know all of the ways it could be better or why it isn’t worth whatever the client paid for it. This does not matter. These opinions are not based on reality. Do not give these kinds of opinions attention and do not engage with them it is not worth your time. Focus on the positive comments and the fact that your work fulfils the purpose and that you did something that other people have not done.

Don’t let your inner voice make decisions

If you hear that inner voice popping up during your creative process it is important to not let it take over the decision making. Trust your experience and your skillset to know that what you have done makes sense and is a good solution to the problem that was presented to you. Design, and any creative career, is always going to be about problem solving. If you find yourself wanting to to 10 different iterations of something just to make sure you have entertained every possible solution, try to cut that in half. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time you have a similar problem. It is ok to use the same solution more than once, and it is often even recommended.

Humans are driven by routine and familiarity, so when we create something that humans will be consuming we want them to recognize it. Two designs can be completely opposite on the surface but can follow the same system. When you are making decisions think about the problem you are trying to solve and the system behind it. Have you solved this exact problem before and can you reuse the system you already created, rather than focusing on surface level decisions like does this look better on the left or right? Make decisions based on your experience and data if you have it.

Fake it until you make it but only if you know you can make it

We have all heard this phrase and while it may sound shallow it can actually be very helpful especially for people who may feel confident but have a hard time expressing it. The best advice I have is from my personal experience which is that I observe how people that I perceive as confident act and I try to mimic them. It is something like anything else in life, that the more you do it, the easier it gets and eventually you no longer feel like you are acting rather it just becomes normal. It is important to express confidence even if you do not feel it deep down, because people can sense insecurity and clients especially will not feel confident in your ability to deliver even if you know you can. So if you know you can make it then just show that even if you don’t feel like you are there yet. The more you fake it and make it the more experience you will gain actually doing whatever it is that you are faking and someday it will no longer be a mask it will just be who you are.

The art of not caring what other people think is a journey of self-discovery, self-acceptance, and personal growth. It requires a shift in perspective, an unwavering belief in your worth, and a commitment to stepping out of your comfort zone. The more you step out of your comfort zone the more that will expand and it will become easier to do things that previously seemed impossible. Don’t be paralysed by other peoples opinions or the potential for criticism. Showing the world your work will almost definitely open the door to criticism but it will also generate praise and ultimately lead to confidence.

The Art of Not Caring What Other People Think

We’ve all been there. A client comes to you, they haven’t told you how much they are willing to spend, but they want to know your hourly rate. You’re probably thinking, ok what if my hourly is too high for them? What if my rate is too low? You should always ask what they are willing to spend if they haven’t told you already, but before you start that conversation you need to be 100% confident in what you are charging. It may sound simple and ridiculous, but you need to start at the very beginning and master the basics of fixed costs before moving on to more complex pricing models like project based or value based. To calculate your hourly follow the following steps.

In simple terms you want to establish what your monthly fixed costs are, and calculate how much your hourly rate needs to be based on what will cover those costs. To do this it is important to use the yearly amount as your starting point. Not everything is monthly, you might be paying for things quarterly or yearly so start with what your fixed costs are per year. Once you have that amount you can get the monthly amount. To calculate your hourly rate you need to think about how many hours a month you will spend working. This can be flexible if you are self-employed, some weeks you might work more than others so think of an average number. Divide the monthly fixed costs by the number of hours you will spend working on client work specifically a month and that gives you a starting point for your hourly rate. It is important to remember that you will not be spending all of your working hours doing client work, so your hourly rate needs to cover the time you spend doing admin work as well. To calculate an appropriate amount divide your fixed costs by the number of hours you will spend on clients only. This will increase your hourly meaning it covers the hours where you would otherwise not be paid.

If you do the calculation above you have only accounted for your fixed costs, which means you are essentially at 0 after each month and can't pay yourself. To actually make money doing the work you need to add to what you have calculated above. It is up to you what you think is fair for yourself but a good rule of thumb is to double the amount. You should not be spending more than 50% of your income on your fixed costs. Optionally you can add your desired salary to the fixed costs per month. If you count it as a cost don't forget to also add the income tax, because depending on the legal form of your business your salary may not count as a deductable, which means it counts as profit and will be taxed!

So you accounted for your fixed costs and you made sure you are being paid for the work you are doing and what is left after that? The fact that you were paid for the work that you did is not profit. Profit is what is left over after all costs have been covered and all people have been paid for their work. You need to add profit to your hourly rate so that you are also investing in your company. This money is important to sustain you in times when the workload may drop, or when the fixed costs could unexpectedly increase. To add profit calculate 30% of the amount you calculated in the step above and add it to get a final hourly rate. This gives you your final hourly rate that you should be charging, and gives you the confidence to be able to communicate your rates with clients.

We created a really simple template that allows you to play around with your fixed costs to calculate your hourly rate.

Follow the instructions provided in the template

How to Calculate Your Hourly Rate With the Help of Notion

Anyone who has worked full time knows the struggle. When can I do my food shopping? When can I do my laundry? When can I take my cat to the vet? When will I have time to spend with my kids? Working 40 hours a week means that these things either fall on the weekend or after work meaning the time left to actually relax and recharge is drastically decreased by running errands, social commitments, care work and doing household chores. A healthy work life balance is almost impossible to maintain with a five day, 9 to 5, work week.

One of the motivating factors for us when we founded Same Same Studio in 2021 was creating a work environment that we personally had never experienced. We believe in trust rather than control which is why our philosophy is giving employees the freedom of flexible hours and a four day work week. What does this look like in reality? It means we value work getting done on time to a high standard and if someone can do that in 4 hours instead of 8 then that's great. Time tracking means people who are fast and good at their job are essentially punished by given more work so that they have something to do to complete the expected 8 hours. Efficiency should not be discouraged it should be rewarded. It has been proven time and time again that the 9 to 5 system does not work. 

People are not productive for a full eight hours a day

, so why should they be forced to wait out their hours when they could use that time to recharge and come back the next day with new energy and creativity.

At Same Same we mostly do project-based work. This means projects are split up into milestones with deadlines. It is more important to us that the work gets done and is done well, than counting hours and keeping employees chained to their desk until 5pm. The work we do is highly creative meaning that sometimes things flow and deadlines can be met sooner than expected and sometimes the process is slower and we need to catch up time lost further down the line. Creative process can’t be forced and it can’t be contained to 9 to 5. Creativity also cannot thrive if there is no time to recharge. We are not a call center so why would we schedule our day like we are one?

 conducted in the UK in 2022 that included 61 companies, “39% of employees were less stressed, and 71% had reduced levels of burnout at the end of the [6-month] trial”. At Same Same I am constantly telling everyone to go home at 5pm to which they reply they want to finish that “one last thing” first. Having a three day weekend means that you have more energy for those four days you are at work. It means you can get more done in a condensed amount of time rather than being on 60% everyday just to get through the week at all. Friday is free to run errands, get all your household chores done, and you still have a full two days to do whatever you want instead. After work becomes real downtime rather than the only opportunity to get anything non-work related done.

Why you should move towards a 4-day work week

There are no design, branding or development emergencies and most things can wait a day or two. There is no reason for a five day, 9 to 5, work week for agencies in the creative industry. It is time we value the well-being and motivation of the people doing the actual work, over trying to maximize profit. If an agency thinks they cannot afford to lose a day of work then they are probably stretching themselves too thin to begin with. To make a four day work week work you either need to cut back on the number of projects which means rethinking your pricing, or you need to hire more people to get the work done in four days rather than five. 

 show there is not much difference in productivity between a four day and a five day week anyway, so what's still holding you back?

Why We Have Always Had a 4-Day Work Week

The influence of design in our interactions and decision-making is significant, whether we're dealing with physical or digital products. Thats why understanding the crucial role that design plays in the success of your business is essential. If you don't, you will most likely end up making poor design choices. Bad design can lead to significant financial and brand damage risks, therefore it is vital to acknowledge the true impact of design for your business and avoid the pitfalls of making bad design decisions. 

Design serves a variety of purposes, all focused on solving problems. When it comes to user interfaces, the visual elements and layout should be driven by their intended purpose and functionality. In digital design, aesthetics are important but they work hand in hand with a solid design system. By following a design system, which establishes consistency and standardized components, design achieves a seamless blend of usability and aesthetics.

In simpler terms, a design may look nice, but if the underlying system is flawed, using the product or website can be difficult and frustrating.

Consider software development or architecture, where a well-planned system is vital before building begins. The same principle applies to user-centric design.

Design is often underestimated, with personal opinions taking priority. However, design is not solely subjective. Usability and navigation are crucial, regardless of personal design preferences. The most visually stunning design can fall short if it fails to achieve its intention.


We believe that design is directly tied to your business's success. This extends beyond just user interface design and includes other areas of design such as branding as well. Brand design requires guidelines and a systematic approach to ensure consistency and effectiveness, just like user interface design.

A poorly designed system or a lack thereof can lead to significant challenges.

Issues may already arise during the development process, where poor design choices can lead to inefficiencies, delays, and additional expenses. Once your product is launched, its design directly influences how users perceive and interact with it. If the design falls short, it can result in a negative user experience, leading to lower conversion rates, decreased customer satisfaction, and ultimately, lost revenue.

Many of our clients come to us seeking our services because they realize they don't have a good design in place. We often find ourselves reworking their existing designs and adding a system to improve functionality and usability. Design starts with analysing the user journey and optimizing user flows, it does not start with colors and typography. In some cases, clients have already developed a finished product, but due to its lack of usability, they had no choice but to start from scratch with us.

Even though a website can seem to be working fine from a technical standpoint, it is not always usable for the target group. Bad design in these cases wastes resources and can require a complete redo. 

We believe that design should be viewed as an investment rather than an expense. When executed effectively, it can create a measurable return on investment. Instead of cutting corners, it's important to prioritize good design that aligns with your target audience's needs, expectations and your business requirements. By investing in good design your product will be able to scale up and down as needed and will be able to adapt to new conditions, making it not only usable, but also sustainable.

To avoid common pitfalls of bad design as a business, follow these steps (or just hire us 😉):

Allocate sufficient time and budget for design, consider pre-developed themes for cost-effective solutions.

Involve the design team early on to identify and solve problems effectively.

Clearly communicate goals by collaborating closely with the design team so they have a deep understanding of the requirements and are able to suggest appropriate solutions.

Prioritize user experience by creating user flows and wireframes before beginning with the page design.

Test designs before implementation to ensure usability and effectiveness.

Focus on consistency in design elements rather than pixel perfect implementation.

If you need assistance in improving your existing design or creating a new one, don't hesitate to reach out to our team. We're here to help.

The Cost of Bad Design: Going Beyond Aesthetics in Business

What makes a good designer and could you be one? Design is a relatively new field and it's all about shaping the world and solving problems. Here we break down a brief history of design and the 3 traits you probably need to be a good designer today. And no, being "good at drawing" isn't one of them.
When you think of design, you may think of websites and graphics. You may think about interiors or maybe clothes, as ex-Facebook head of design and author Julie Zhuo once did. Me too. When I told my parents I wanted to go to fashion school, they eventually agreed with the rationalization that everyone minus the nudists of the world wears clothes, so it was probably a very stable industry.
That’s design, but it’s also just a small portion of it.
Design is everywhere around you. Designers now work in every industry, and work on everything from the tangibly touchable and functional—from the desk you’re working on to the chair you’re sitting on, from to the notebook you write on to the device you’re reading this on—to the more abstract and psychological: a lesson plan for teaching or a project plan to construct a building.
Everything humans have made can be broadly categorized into something that was made by design or made by accident. And, when it comes to accidents, some of us even like to think that it was somehow by design.
You could be wearing design, or living in it. You could be reading it or using it.
Over the past several hundred years, as we’ve gained more autonomy, control and choice over our days and lives, we’ve invited more opportunities for design to be a part of how we live, both on a professional level and in our day-to-day.
But “design” didn’t come out of nowhere.
Our concept of what design is, while ever-evolving, is in large part influenced by a German school that existed between the First and Second World Wars: The Bauhaus.
Driven by the rise of the machine, people were starting to live in a world where consumer goods could be mass produced and communication was on its way to democratization by way of mass media. A new language and way of thinking could now be applied systemically, and Bauhaus defined it, elevating and combining the practice of art and industry together through design education.


Can Anyone be a Good Designer?

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