introducing
FLTRS app
Personalized and pre-designed geofilters for your Snapchat stories.
Release Date: September 2016
THE OPPORTUNITY
Converting an idea into a reality...
As an avid Snapchat user and geofilter designer, I saw an opportunity and gap in the market. I was receiving a lot of requests from friends to design custom geofilters for their businesses or events. I then had an "aha moment" and wanted to create a platform that would allow users to design their own geofilters without the need of a designer or previous design experience.
SNAPCHAT HISTORY 101
On Feburary 22, 2016 Snapchat released On-Demand Geofilters, a service that would allow users to publish geofilters to their server/personal account via desktop. Although Snapchat provided users with the ability to upload a personalized geofilter they didn't provide them with an easy way to implement those designs.
So I discovered an opportunity to make a users experience easier when wanting to create a personalized Snapchat filter for their next event.
THE DREAM TEAM
Prior to trying to develop this project on my own, I pitched the idea to my Creative Director, Jesse Flores at Photofy. I guided Jesse through my thought process for the app, in addition to the extensive research I had done on geofilters and the high demand of users who didn’t know how to design geofilters or want to spend more than $25 on a custom geofilter design.
Jesse saw true potential in the app and decided to jump on board as the Co-Founder of FLTRS app .
High level GOALS
- Conceptualize a mobile application for avid Snapchat users who want to create custom Snapchat
On-Demand Geofilters at an affordable price - Educating FLTRS users how Snapchat Geofilters work within the Snapchat web app
- Launching the app on a tight budget and timeline of 3 weeks
Our PROCESS
There's always a lesson to be learned
We conducted a competitive analysis and interviews with avid Snapchatters to gain a better understanding of their knowledge of geofitlers. This gave us insight to what type of geofilters would be high in demand and how much a user would be willing to pay for a personalized geofilter.
What we learned
• A few geofilter web apps had been launched in the market but none were mobile friendly or in any App Stores
• Snapchat users had very little knowledge on how to create or upload a geofilter to their Snapchat account
• Majority did not have any interest in designing their own because they weren't designers
• There was a high demand for sleek personalized geofilters
• Designers were charging $20-$200 per geofilter and this did not guarantee that Snapchat would approve the geofilter
• Our pre-designed geofilter templates needed to be 100% Snapchat approved to avoid a bad user experience
We created wireframes and high-fidelity mockups to communicate our designs based on insights we gathered from daily Snapchat users & potential users. Prior to releasing the app, we performed usability tests to identify any issues or bugs within the beta version of the application.
Together we wanted to enhance and simplify the creation and delivery process of an On-Demand Snapchat geofilter.
The launch
FLTRS app went live in the Apple store
The final platform enabled Snapchat users to select from over two dozen pre-designed geofilter templates
for the one time price of $3.99. After customizing their geofilter, users had the ability to upload their design to Snapchat from their iPhone. FLTRS was successfully the first app to offer pre-designed geofilter templates
in the Apple Store.
Release Date: September 2nd, 2016
predicting the future
A bittersweet ending, but truly rewarding
10 months after we launched FLTRS app, Snapchat released an update that enabled Snapchat users to
design a custom Snapchat filter from their phone on June 28, 2017. This allowed users to not only customize
pre-designed filters, it also allowed them to purchase pre-designed filters within the Snapchat app.
I think it is safe to say we predicted the future with great pride and a small budget! Happy Snapping!
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.”
― Oscar Wilde
Reflecting back
What I would've... could've... should've done
Let's chat so I can share with you what I would've done differently.
