Powering revenue growth at Yubl by connecting brands to customersSocial messaging startup Yubl had ambitions to invite brands to join its user community. With this in mind, they turned to Fluxus for support in developing the Web Tool, an online content creation platform the brands could use to edit and share their messages. The challenge? To quickly develop a working version of the Web Tool, then hone it in time for the app’s launch – as well as meeting the demands of today’s content creators.

Delivered a minimum releasable version of the Web Tool in

one month, eliminating risk around launch and allowing Yubl

to demo and recruit sponsors in advance

Refined this version to launch with a highly polished product

Quickly adopted by brands such as Red Bull, Oxfam, Time Inc.

Features and UX praised by content creators

Yubl: in profileYubl is a social messaging platform for 18 to 24 year olds. Launched in February 2016, its iOS and Android apps combine the fun of social media, mobile messaging and emoji but with richer, more expressive features. The startup is well funded and led by Chairman Jonathan Ellis, who founded computer game developer Psygnosis in 1984 and was instrumental in the launch and worldwide success of the Sony PlayStation.

Inviting brands to the Yubl conversation

Yubl is a social messaging platform for 18 to 24 year olds. Launched in February 2016, its iOS and Android apps combine the fun of social media, mobile messaging and emoji but with richer, more expressive features. The startup is well funded and led by Chairman Jonathan Ellis, who founded computer game developer Psygnosis in 1984 and was instrumental in the launch and worldwide success of the Sony PlayStation.

Competing with the giants of social media

However, this also meant Yubl pitching themselves against the world’s biggest social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp. To show their commitment to brands and drive early uptake, Yubl needed to create a separate Web Tool, an online composer with richer content creation features than the mobile app as well as the ability to provide enterprise-grade publishing workflows and reporting. It would have to be quick, easy to use and, crucially, ready for launch in February 2016.

“The Web Tool would open Yubl to content creators who already use a number of platforms.” Nick Astor, Head of Content, Yubl

CMO’s August 2015 survey estimates that social marketing spend will increase from 10.7% to 23.8% of marketing budgets in five years

eMarketer predicts global social marketing spend will hit $35.98bn by 2017

Choosing a platform and a partnerKnowing they needed a CMS that would allow them to add custom features, Yubl chose Drupal as their platform. They then selected Fluxus as their development partner, impressed by the consultancy’s enterprise Drupal expertise and experience with similar content management and publishing systems.

Yubl were also drawn to Fluxus’s approach, which they had been briefed on before the project. This is a Lean delivery workflow known as Focus and available to view online at focus.pm, which involves a deep understanding of business goals – not just what a client is building, but why – and a focus on delivering value quickly to reduce risk around deadlines. Having a defined set of roles and practices that can be applied consistently to every project helps Fluxus ensure success.

The project began in October 2015 with a workshop attended by Fluxus and Yubl’s Technology and Product teams. The aim here was for Fluxus to explore Yubl’s existing designs, their goals and priorities: the better the developers understand these, the faster and better they can build their solutions.

Delivering success, feature by featureAt this point the teams outlined a list of functions the Web Tool would need to deliver and their priority order. This list is integral to the Focus methodology, which is based on breaking a project down into distinct features, then delivering them to production one by one in a process of continuous delivery. The benefits of this approach are twofold: first, clients can quickly see working software; second, it minimises risk, since you always have functionality that is ready to deploy.

So Fluxus had a brief – develop a CMS with a full suite of professional content creation features, including permissions controls, approval processes, scheduling, multimedia uploads and rich composition tools. This entailed several major technical challenges. Fluxus first had to define how the Web Tool would function as it was an entirely new platform. Yet they were still working within the parameters of the iOS and Android apps: whatever they developed had to integrate with what already existed. They also had to be certain that any message created on the Web Tool would appear exactly the same to mobile users, regardless of content and context.

Screenshot of cms

Close collaboration speeds developmentThroughout the project Fluxus’s self-managing team worked in-house, embedded within Yubl’s Technology and Product teams. Not only did this allow the development team to fully absorb Yubl’s vision for the tool, it also made them more responsive to shifting priorities and new challenges. Rather than regular, scheduled meetings, the developers and Yubl teams could simply collaborate and talk through issues as they arose.

“It’s been great working with Fluxus. Yubl and Fluxus have been integrated to the point that I consider the developers part of the Yubl team. Being so close to our Product team has greatly contributed to the success of the project.” Jean Cambruzzi, Head of Product & UX, Yubl

Working this way, Fluxus delivered a first version of the Web Tool, with all core functionality in place, in just one month. Critically, this eliminated any risk around the app’s February 2016 launch date. Confident they had a working product for release, the team could then shift their focus to fine-tuning the user experience to arrive at the highly refined product Yubl envisioned – and brands demand.

“Fluxus helped get the Web Tool to market in time for launch by being very proactive and agile, as well as supporting our vision.” Jean Cambruzzi, Head of Product & UX, Yubl

Yubl for brands is a hit with content creatorsTogether Yubl and Fluxus hit the February 2016 deadline. Moreover, they launched the Web Tool as a strong, polished product that encouraged marketers to adopt Yubl from the start.

Mobile app download numbers have been impressive since, and after being featured as one of the App Store’s ‘New Apps We Love’, Yubl climbed above Snapchat and Instagram in the most downloaded chart on 4th May 2016. International brands including Red Bull, Oxfam and Time Inc. now use the Web Tool to share their content with the app’s users. Many of these brands have praised Yubl for having the tool ready for launch, as well as for its scheduling, video upload and rich composition features.

“Many brands think we have delivered a remarkable tool for a platform that is so fresh out of the box.” Nick Astor, Head of Content, Yubl

Yubl now has a successful platform to build on as they expand into new territories and connect with new brands. They also continue to work with Fluxus, both on new projects and on keeping the Web Tool tuned to the needs of content creators.