Jason Knott is the founder of Framework Animation based in Lethbridge, Alberta. We asked him to share with us his experience using Cozimo in his business.

Hi Jason, why don’t you first tell us a bit about your company, Framework Animation.

I started Framework Animation back in 1992. Today we are working primarily on architectural visualization projects although we have done a fair bit of television and engineering work as well. Now we’ve got 4 of us here and we’re very busy – probably around 10 different projects going on at once.

How did you first hear about Cozimo?

I found out about Cozimo at a Design Visualization Conference last year which was incredibly good timing for me because I was just redoing my web site and I was actually considering getting a developer to build something kinda similar to what you guys decided to do. I was really quite interested as soon as I saw it because it was exactly what I was looking for.

So how are you using Cozimo now?

Right now Cozimo has made it FAR easier to communicate with our clients. We’re located in a relatively small city in southern Alberta and many of our clients are out of town so I am always dealing with remote communication. You know … the number of times I’ve had people send me faxes of printed out renderings with sharpie writing all over it that I can’t read because it’s completely black … that’s happened so many times. It becomes really complicated to try to talk to people when that’s the level of technology you have to work with. It just makes so much sense to be able to have someone online where you can actually be talking with someone, interactively discussing what you’re both seeing, being able to point at things, write notes on things. It’s perfect for what we’re doing.

We’ve got pretty much every project we’re working with set up as workgroup. Anytime we have something new and exciting to show we use the messaging system to let people know that new images are posted and to give them a direct link to that image.

Was it difficult for you to adapt to using Cozimo?

No. I found Cozimo extremely easy to start using. It was exactly what I had in my head, really. It does exactly what I think it should do.

How have your clients adjusted to using Cozimo?

Our clients have quite a wide variety of .. how shall I say it… technological ability. The ones who are not afraid of a computer have no problem at all. The ones who are afraid to press an enter button need me to help them get started. But even these people, once I’ve walk them through the process and show them how it works, they think it’s really cool and a great tool.

Do you tend to use Cozimo more for real-time discussions or to collect independent feedback?

We’ve done it both ways. It really depends on what our client’s schedules are like. If there are things I need to know right away, I post it online, call them up and we work it out right away. Then, I have other projects where I post it up there, I send them a message through the system then they go there on their own time, mark it up, send us a message back that it’s done. Then if I need to I call them back and ask for further clarifications. It is really nice to have the option to let them do it on their own time but also be able to go in there and join with them and clarify things.

Specifically, how has Cozimo improved your business?

I’ve had many clients compliment the system. I’ve had people say to me directly this is a really great tool – that they’ve done work with other companies that don’t have anything as interesting or as slick. So from the point of view of making an impression on clients and for making their workflow and process easier, it has definitely helped. It has definitely impressed our clients.

And of course, anything that helps us with efficiency ultimately helps us do more projects. Cozimo definitely helps us save time. I mean without it there’s a lot more miscommunication, there are errors in interpreting notes. It reduces the margin for error. We’re using it every day now. It’s really become an important part of our project management.

Have you been happy with Cozimo’s support?

I think the support has been fantastic. The speed of reply and dealing with any problems is great. Fantastic.

Thanks for your time and for sharing your experiences with us.

My pleasure.