At Slide UX, we pride ourselves on building a culture centered on respectfulness, helpfulness, playfulness, camaraderie, and growth. So it’s no surprise that our creative, fun, and driven Sliders continue to grow and challenge themselves outside of work too.
Two of our Sliders, Cat and Jeff Battson, recently shared their latest free-time adventure with the Slide UX team during one of our scheduled “lunch and learns.” They built an app called “Bee Ready,” a remote learning school bell alarm and scheduling tool.
In part one of our two part webinar, they take us through the process from idea to launch. (Be sure to check out part 2 next: lessons learned.)
9 highlights from the App-making process:
“It’s really funny.”
Brainstorm: Cat and Jeff, along with their iOS developer and friend Erik, wanted to build an app that solved a problem unique to pandemic life. Together, they brainstormed ideas. One idea stuck out because it was a problem they needed to solve for themselves. Like many parents, Cat and Jeff were juggling at-home learning with their day-to-day workloads. They needed a solution that helped their son stay organized and on schedule.
Research: They evaluated the market to see if any existing apps were already solving the same problem. While they did find some related apps, they did not become discouraged since that proved there was a market for their idea. They also found that most of those existing apps fell short on ease of use.
Design: Cat and Jeff worked with Erik to define requirements. Their goal was to offer a simple and useful app that presented a better experience than other apps found in their research. They built a prototype and user tested it themselves (since it was their own needs they were trying to solve).
Develop: The approaching back-to-school season presented an obvious launch deadline. The team needed a minimum viable product (MVP) ready and available for students when school started. This meant their timeline was tight and they needed to streamline their process. Collaboration, effective communication, and efficient tools would become essential to stay on schedule.
Branding: Cat, Jeff, and Erik explored school-related names for their new app: something descriptive and memorable. Once they landed on “Bee Ready,” the bee themed design followed naturally.
Launch: Cat, Jeff, and Erik were eager to get their app in people’s hands to test it and collect feedback. Immediately after releasing the app to Apple’s App Store, they pushed two updates to address bugs and user feedback.
Marketing: To drum up awareness, the team designed and built a new web site, created a media kit, pushed social media posts, and launched Facebook and App store ads as well as cross promotional banners.
Analytics: The team reviewed Facebook and App Store data to watch daily movement and trends. They also identified peak days for their app sales.
Updates: The ideas continue to flow for the team. New updates, improvements, and upgrades are on the horizon.
The Bee Ready app is now available in the Apple App Store, and coming to Android soon.
The Bee Ready app was a labor of love, fun, and design thinking. Jeff and Cat expressed that it was a rewarding and refreshing experience to wear the client hat for a change. They gained valuable insights into the decision-making process that they can apply at Slide UX.
Sliders’ happiness and growth outside of work benefit our clients. New experiences and learning add more knowledge and insight to client conversations. We are so proud of our Sliders Cat and Jeff! Don’t forget to check out the Bee Ready app! If you like it, help them out with a rating and a review too. It’s a great solution for students, and it can help parents stay organized!