Every once in a while, we like to reach out to other companies who are doing some awesome things with mobile apps, and ask them about their journey through from idea to launch. This week we got to interview Akbar Nurlybayev, Team Lead Mobile @ RAW by 500px.
Description of app:
RAW by 500px brings a simple and powerful photo capture, editing, and licensing workflow to your phone. Take beautiful photos with the manual camera controls. Process your photos using the fast professional style editing controls. Create and manage model releases and license your photos on the Marketplace.
Screenshots:
Where did you come up with the idea for this app?
The idea for RAW by 500px came from our Growth team and our VP of Design Adam Shutsa. 500px was traditionally at the very end of the creative process — essentially, a platform to publish your best work. With the new app, the goal was to position 500px at the beginning of the creative process. But we didn’t want to build just another app. We wanted to innovate when it came to user experience and design, and we wanted to use the latest iOS10 technologies, including support for RAW images.
What problem is this app trying to solve?
Our photographers are essential to our community. Currently 500px lets them license their work through our Marketplace. We wanted to take that one step further, and within the new product, streamline the process of giving money back to photographers.
How big is your team? What are the positions/experience of each?
The team that built the RAW by 500px app consisted of two developers — and then three developers as we approached the launch date. Design was led by Adam and we had a dedicated product manager who prioritized work and made sure we stayed on course. We also had members of our “data guild” make sure the assumptions we made building certain features of the app were proven by data.
Did you develop this app in house or hire someone else?
To fully control the user experience and overall polish, and to retain intellectual property, the decision was made to build the app in-house.
How long did development take? What factors influenced the development time?
From first commit to the version 1.0 that we shipped to the AppStore, it took 64 days. Since we had a hard deadline, which was the launch of iOS10, we had to stay focused and prioritize things that made it to version 1.0. Having a dedicated product manager to steer course helped tremendously.
Did you have a beta tester process?
We did reach out and recruit members of our community to test out the app and build an initial set of filters. We actually shipped the app with some of these filters.
How are you spreading the word about the app?
We’ve used our social channels and reached out to our media partners. We’ve also asked our influencers to promote the app through their social channels.
What are your future goals and aspirations for this application?
RAW by 500px is our mobile and photographer facing side of our Photography on Demand. This means we will be adding in photography Assignments in the near future. In addition, we are iterating on capture and editing tools so that taking and editing photos will not only be easy but also enjoyable.
Why should people download this app in one sentence?
RAW by 500px brings a simple and powerful photo capture, editing, and licensing workflow to your phone.
Word of advice to people looking to have an app built?
Stay focused and have fun!
You can download the app on Apple’s App Store here!
Have an app that you want featured? Contact us at contact@DiscoverPioneer.com
