Creative Nights

With offices in California and the UK, Creative Nights works as a design and technology consultancy. It plans, designs and builds websites, web applications and digital interfaces, with accessibility and performance at the center. The team has worked together since 2004, formed the firm in 2009, and puts the collective experience of its members at about 45 years. It names Deutsche Telekom, Nissan, SGS and Vodafone among the global brands it has worked with.

Regulated sectors and varied clients

Much of the work is for organizations in highly regulated areas. Clients range from a global inspection group running more than 60 localized websites to start-ups with a single campaign landing page. Industries it names range from universities and utilities to hospitals, phone networks, public bodies, charities, online marketplaces, shops, trade associations and business services.

Research, design and build

User experience work covers mixed-method research and business analysis, information architecture, user interface design and product design. Development covers websites, web and mobile applications and business applications, as well as responsive design systems built with HTML, CSS and JavaScript that can be dropped into a client's existing digital system. Accessibility testing, optimization and validation checks work against WCAG 2 and later, Section 508, California's AB 434 and the European Accessibility Act. The firm also designs and sets up server infrastructure and tests applications for security.

Management and quality

The service also takes in stakeholder discovery and engagement, planning of the project, control of quality and compliance, and management of IT risk. The firm names critical path and critical chain methods, and a five-stage process of discovery, definition, design, development and delivery.

How an engagement runs

It starts by learning about the client's organization, audience, technology and industry. The team says it focuses on key priorities and develops tailored strategies rather than pushing ready-made packages, explores several solution concepts through rapid sprints with stakeholders and users, and reports in written strategic and tactical documents. UX training and coaching is offered for in-house teams.