Editorial system for Abimanufaktur GmbH

Since April 2022, we have been supporting Abimanufaktur GmbH in developing smart software to digitize and simplify the content creation and layout process for Abitur yearbooks. With our digital solution, graduating students can plan and design their yearbook individually and conveniently.

consulting

strategy

UX/UI

frontend

backend

Services

The development of Abimanufaktur GmbH's digital content management system requires interdisciplinary expertise and close collaboration. The collaboration included the following aspects:Product definition workshopConsultancyStrategyUI/UXFrontend & backend development

Relaxed workshop atmosphere in the typedigital office. 3

Project overviewAbimanufaktur GmbH is a young company based in Augsburg, offering an easy way for creating and printing Abitur yearbooks for graduating students.Since April 2022, we have been supporting the company in developing a smart software solution to digitize and simplify the content creation and layout process. With our digital solution, graduating students can conveniently and individually plan and design their yearbooks.Since April 2022, we have been supporting the company in the development of smart software to digitalise and simplify the content creation and layout process. With our digital solution, the Abitur students can plan and design their Abitur yearbooks individually and conveniently.Our roleThe project was an end-to-end project in which we redeveloped a digital product for the target market. This service requires the work of our interdisciplinary team consisting of designers, developers and project managers and includesstrategic consultingWorkshop to define the most viable productCreation and testing of design prototypesSoftware development based on the latest web technologiesContinued maintenance and product improvement after market launch In a strategy workshop, we collect important information that serves as the basis for the development of the MVP - minimum viable product. ProblemThe young company did not have an adequate solution to digitise and simplify the content creation and layout process for Abitur yearbooks and therefore decided to develop a digital product.Previously, Abimanufaktur GmbH relied on a third-party app. However, due to its limited functions, this was no longer up to date and only scalable to a limited extent: processes were too cumbersome and the provider no longer met Abimanufaktur's requirements. In particular, the user experience and data export for layout programmes were unsatisfactory. In order to remain competitive, Abimanufaktur therefore needed a customised and scalable software solution.It also had a limited budget. Our brief was therefore to develop a digital product with given resources that would enable both an optimal user experience for all user types and scalability of Abimanufaktur's services.In concrete terms, this meant creating a visually appealing, user-friendly and optimally functioning web app with limited possibilities, which is also perfect for use in marketing to attract new customers.SolutionOur service covered the entire process. We supported Abimanufaktur from the initial idea to the software launch and beyond. Due to limited resources, we developed a strategy to make the process lean and efficient. The process can be divided into the following phases:MVP definitionDesign phaseDevelopment of the productProduct launchMaintenance & enhancement. Abimanufaktur GmbH needed an end-to-end solution. We divide this type of project into different phases. MVP definitionIn a workshop, we gathered knowledge about the target group and created personas, on the basis of which we developed the user story mapping. User story maps help agile teams to define which user flows and features the software must contain. They make it possible to prioritise functions in order to align and control iterative product development.In addition, we analysed competing products to find out what we could do better in order to develop the result, a top notch web app.Development of the productWe work according to the agile Scrum method. This enables us to react flexibly to unforeseen situations and to iteratively apply the knowledge gained during the development process: In this case, the first hosting provider went up in price, so we had to take evasive action, as our goal was still to develop a high-quality product within the given financial framework.In terms of the technologies used, we utilised microservices in Go. This ensures high cloud performance when exporting print data. We also used Next.js as a React framework and an integrated backend.We used individual modules or building blocks from existing design systems, which we customised and expanded to meet our needs. This has the advantage that we were able to build on something instead of reinventing the wheel.It is important to us that customer are involved in the project at all times. For this reason, we had weekly sync meetings throughout the entire design and development process.ResultThe new editorial system has excellent usability and is tailored precisely to the requirements of Abimanufaktur GmbH. The product was optimised for the target group, as the students have the opportunity to design the structure of the Abizeitung themselves by adding chapter headings and content types such as personal pages, rankings or collections of quotations. Deadlines can also be defined so that each participant knows by when everything has to be completed.In terms of the user interface, the software includes brand-specific elements such as the company’s logo and color scheme. In addition, the company has access to more features than with the third-party solution. Data collected from the app can easily be sent to users as a PDF. Abimanufaktur’s graphic designers can independently export XML files, perfectly structured for working in Adobe InDesign. The registration process is also simpler: class representatives can share a link via WhatsApp with their classmates and add them directly to their group. In numbers, this means: just two months after the app’s launch, the company had already generated over 200 users from 20 graduating classes. By the end of 2023, the company projects around 20,000 additional registered users from 200 classes in the app.Our goalWe achieved our goal of developing an optimised product despite the limited financial framework: The company now has a top-notch software solution and can save an estimated 4,000 working hours per year and around €10,000 in licence costs per year thanks to the new editing system. By improving the export of data and the resulting increase in efficiency, further savings amount to around €40,000 - €60,000 in layout costs.The app is an important foundation for the future of Abimanufaktur and is built in such a way that it can grow and continuously improve in line with the company's requirements.Your digital productWould you like to bring your digital ideas to life? Then we invite you to develop an innovative digital product with us. Our team of experts can't wait to hear about your vision!

Testimonial

Abimanufaktur´s testimony about us

Thanks to the help of typedigital, we have developed an app, that is specifically tailored to the needs of our customers, of our clients, the high school graduates. and makes the creation of an Abi yearbook a breeze.