CASE STUDY:
CANDELA
Location: Wayland, MA
Product: Medical Aesthetic Devices
As a leading United States-based global medical aesthetic device company, Candela understood the tremendous benefits of improving and modernizing its website, eCommerce platform, and unified authentication system.
The company’s technologies enable physicians to provide advanced energy-based solutions for a broad range of medical-aesthetic applications including wrinkle reduction, body shaping, tattoo and hair removal, and facial resurfacing.
The Problem
Candela delivers what today’s practitioners value most—science, results, and trust—core pillars for users of energy-based devices to ensure the health of their practices and patients. Candela’s promise to their customers and their patients is to ensure the highest level of efficacy, safety, and reliability. But they found that their digital platforms were not as satisfying as they desired.
Recognizing the need for a holistic integrated digital experience, the Candela team sought Augusto’s help to create an exceptional, memorable, and authentic journey across all digital touchpoints. Augusto was able to pinpoint Candela’s digital experience issues, and focused on the following:
1. Outdated Website with Poor UX
As a global company, Candela’s website needed to not only offer a high-class user-friendly experience but also support multiple regions and languages.
2. Internally-developed and Difficult-to-use eCommerce Platform
Candela needed a data integration tool to appropriately connect eCommerce data between Shopify and Salesforce for multiple regions.
3. Multiple Accounts and Credentials for Software Systems
Candela also sought to overcome a friction point where customers and internal users were required to maintain multiple accounts and credentials to access Candela’s software systems.
"For our first project, our business goals seemingly required a ‘big bang’ approach. Throughout the scoping, the Augusto team attempted several times to coach us into incremental deliverables. We stayed the course and delivered a workable solution but since launch has continued to iterate on the first solution. In retrospect, we could have gotten to this step in the process sooner had we listened to the guidance for a more iterative approach."
The Solution
A HOLISTIC INTEGRATED DIGITAL EXPERIENCE
Augusto Digital was thrilled to design solutions to each of these priority areas, so Candela can better serve physicians offering and patients seeking medical aesthetic treatment solutions.
As the website project got underway, the Candela team was also tasked with moving from an internally developed eCommerce solution to Shopify. However, they needed to maintain their data in Salesforce and create a solution for integrating the two systems. After an initial consulting period, Augusto took over the technical design and implementation of this data integration solution, improving communication between Candela and Shopify, clarifying roles, and eliminating manual processes.
Additionally, Candela customers and internal users were required to maintain multiple accounts and credentials to access Candela’s software systems. Candela identified this as a friction point for users, and engaged Augusto to create a unified authentication and Single Sign-On (SSO) experience for users.
We migrated their existing user base from Salesforce to Azure AD, making Azure AD the identity provider for internal and external users of Candela’s systems. We also initiated the ability for a self-service password reset, freeing the call support team for more pressing work.
“With the appropriate technical resources and project management to keep everything organized, Augusto is our go-to when we need a technical solution or help to figure out a business issue.”
The Challenges
1. While Augusto Digital was engaged with redesigning Candela’s website, Candela underwent a rebrand—simplifying their name and creating a sleek new look. We demonstrated our flexibility by simply merging their new creative components into our style sheet.
2. Because the eCommerce and unified authentication projects were auxiliary initiatives, Candela realized the need for a talented technical project manager to coordinate everything. We quickly provided one, making it easy for Candela to grow and expand their level of work with us without missing any deadlines.
Building Trust Through Accountability & Transparency
When we begin a new client relationship, we often ask our clients what their budget is for the software system they have in mind. This allows us to set an overall goal, then operate in manageable sprints and six-week cycles. However, when we approached the Candela team with this strategy, we were met with skepticism—and understandably so.
It takes vulnerability to lay a price on the table for a vendor, especially when previous non-collaborative relationships bubble to mind. And it can be frightening to learn that predetermined scope rarely remains the same throughout a project.
To overcome these fears, Augusto operates in six-week cycles. It’s the best way to build the right system for our clients. However, getting to a place where all parties buy in to this method of working takes time. For Candela – and for all our clients – we let them interact directly with our project management platform, so they could see their vision come to life and change direction as desired.