Frestyle

Frestyle wanted to create a platform that gave them a strong base to enter the market as a disruptive startup. It needed to have a fantastic user experience from the start in order to have high customer retention. It also needed to have enough of the expected functionality on social platforms to make users comfortable.

The main objective was to find a balance between creating a platform that felt familiar with users of social media, while at the same time providing a fresh and unique experience through the content and the engagement of those customers.

It was also imperative that the platform was built to scale, we knew the initial project would only be the first step, so we always made sure to remember that any strategies, features, or updates were considered not just for now, but for the future.

When embarking on a startup project that is intending on disrupting a market there is always going to be an element of ‘see how we go’. This project was no different. We understood form the very beginning that the technology we used would need to allow for a constantly evolving strategy that may require quick pivoting.

Because of this, we decided to create the platform on the Laravel framework. This allowed us to create something highly customised for Frestyle, but with the fluidity to be a building block for change moving forward.

We also knew that the plan for the platform was to grow the user base as quickly as possible, and so we ensured that the technical server infrastructure was built to handle growth in traffic over time, and any large spikes in users or data.

The biggest challenge of any social based platform is attracting users, but not just one-time users. Frestyle and Butter both knew and understood that without building a base of loyal and active users from the start, the platform would struggle to grow over time.

Content is a huge part of any social and blogging platform, and for Frestyle this was even more important. By concentrating on the fashion industry and aspiring to be a go-to place for fashion inspiration and expertise, it was imperative that the platform appealed to both influencers/industry people and consumers. Finding the right balance for those two very different user types was a challenge, but in the end we feel we managed to create a platform that appealed to both.

The project resulted in a beautifully designed platform that was stable and future proofed. Allowing Frestyle to concentrate on user acquisition initiatives and a large scale media launch campaign. Butter and Frestyle continue to work on the platform to improve user experience, UI design, and functionality as the platform and the company grows.