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Building an online market for SME’s

Smeeple — an early-stage startup — was seeking to build a two-sided online marketplace for subject matter experts and advice-seekers. The service would connect the two parties via a personal video conference. Providing an efficient, easy-to-use and engaging user experience for all parties was the goal.

Smeeple mobile and web app showcasing profile creation and a video call. Smeeple mobile and web app showcasing profile creation and a video call.

At-a-Glance

Being a startup, Truefit had to bring the Smeeple solution to market quickly and create business impact. We explored ways to provide distinctive value and establish the Smeeple brand. Truefit built a web site for experts to sign up and establish their professional profiles. A separate mobile app enpowered consumers to browse, book, and purchase personal videoconference time with their selected experts.

Cross-platform mobile app development
Web-based interface for experts / admin
Stripe payment processing
Videoconferencing integration with Daily
Text notification integrations with Twilio
Google analytics integration

Delivering customer value that creates business impact

Desired business impact
  • Prove customer adoption of the platform for investors
  • Attract subject matter experts across a broad set of categories
  • Generate measurable revenue for subject matter experts as proof of the monetization model
  • Measure analytics to continually inform roadmap priorities
User benefits
  • As a consumer
    • Quickly find the answers I’m seeking
    • Find, book, and pay an expert with minimal effort
    • Seamless video conference experience that works reliably
  • As an expert
    • Easy-to-use and efficient sign up, profile, and schedule management
    • A fun and easy way to monetize my expertise and market my brand
    • Cross sell services between social media and Smeeple platform

Impacts to date

600+ vetted subject matter experts in 27 categories

80% re-booking rate for first-time users

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Truefit goes beyond being a typical tech company; they're fully invested in our product, from start to finish. Their dedicated involvement and attention to detail have resulted in the delivery of an exceptional software solution that surpasses all our expectations. — Calvin Holston, Founder and CEO
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I can finally stop wasting multiple hours on YouTube and the rest of the internet trying to find specific answers to my specific questions or situation! The app looks and works great, too! — from an App Store customer review

Product Details

Smeeple mobile app where users can find an expert.
Smeeple mobile app showcasing a subject matter experts profile.
Smeeple mobile app where users can book an appointment.
Smeeple mobile app where users join the video call.

How we did it

Kickoff

We learned about our clients product vision and segmented our user types.

Understand user needs and context

We collected insights from consumers in regards to user needs, market viability, demographics, and technical proficiency.

Market research

We spent time following trends for existing two-sided marketplaces and videoconferencing apps. In addition, we demoed other platforms to gain direct experience.

Technical R&D

To inform our product strategy, our engineers investigated multiple integration partners for payment processing, videoconferencing, chat, and SMS notifications.

Release planning

We collaborated with our client to generate a backlog and plan the build of the software in a way that met the key milestones needed for a successful launch.

Integrations and foundation

We conducted multiple calls with integration partners to make sure we selected the most reliable, scalable, and affordable options. In addition, we laid the foundation for video — the riskiest part of the project.

Marketing collaboration

We collaborated with Smeeple and their marketing team to establish an effective brand style and tone of voice to create a great user experience for customers and SMEs.

Build x 2

Our development team found an optimal way to balance the workload for max efficiency. Each feature had differing workflows for experts and consumers. In parallel, we designed and built a responsive, web-based solution for experts to sign-up and admins to manage the software.

Analytics

With the app built and ready for launch, we implemented Google Analytics to monitor user behaviors and trends.

An early advance release for SMEs

When the web app was ready, we released it to our initial SMEs so they could set up their accounts, rates, and schedule their availability. Smeeple also started their marketing to the SME community to expand their initial roster of experts and topic areas.

Deploying to the app store and consumer go live

Following the early SME sign up period, we assisted our client with setting up their app store accounts for approvals and ongoing management of the Smeeple mobile app for customers.

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