large_Illusion@3x.png

medium_Illusion@3x.png

small_Illusion@3x.png

thumbnail_Illusion@3x.png

Illusion@3x.png

Projects that we designed, learned from, and built from scratch.

Are you investing in similar projects or building them yourself?

Interested?

"...team did a great job, very thorough and knowledgeable. Build us a comprehensive plan to bring a concept to market..."

Case Studies

2good2go, food waste, predicting future, future, product discovery

large_Cover (5) (1).jpg

medium_Cover (5) (1).jpg

small_Cover (5) (1).jpg

thumbnail_Cover (5) (1).jpg

Cover (5) (1).jpg

large_cover2g0ood2go.png

medium_cover2g0ood2go.png

small_cover2g0ood2go.png

thumbnail_cover2g0ood2go.png

cover2g0ood2go.png

Ljubljana, Slovenia, Apr 2023

Our product discovery takeaways on Slovenian restaurants and reducing food waste in Europe.

The UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development reflects the increased global awareness of the problem of food loss and food waste. Goal 12.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals calls for halving global food waste at the retail and consumer levels by 2030 and reducing food losses in production and supply chains.

We care about food waste so much, that this year, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopted the Decision on declaring a **Slovenian Day without wasted food on April 24**. 

At Shape we decided to take this product discovery into our hands and research restaurant food waste, asking **Where do the biggest losses happen?** first. And also,

# Why isn't a product like 2Good2Go available in Slovenia yet?

In part 2 of this article, we’ll be sharing how we structured our research, what we discovered and what are the main issues that are preventing products such as 2Good2Go to launch in Slovenia. Find out how to apply our product discovery steps to your own ideas in [Part 1](https://www.shape-labs.com/case-studies/product-discovery-food-waste-prevention)

## Our Food waste Research methods

We had an idea for a solution similar to [2Good2Go](https://www.toogoodtogo.com/en-gb) before we started, but knowing that [product discovery is important](https://mixpanel.com/blog/what-is-product-discovery/) before building, we went out and researched the problem by its core. In the restaurants and catering businesses. To prepare for the interviews we did not prepare a business plan, solution, or a business model pitch. Instead, we focused on **listening by asking about their personal experience** with food waste issues and specifics of their industry, to understand the problem more. 

![food waste .png](https://shape-landing.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/food_waste_f4a32ddd6f.png)

Next was the good part. Literally. We took the initiative and tested ordering on the 2Good2Go app in Vienna, to observe their Order & Pickup flow.

## Preparing Questions for Restaurant Owners

We contacted and spoke with the owners and managers of some of the biggest Slovenian restaurants to better **understand their operations** as we looked into food waste issues there. This was our research question sheet:

- How are you currently solving this issue?
- What kind of produce goes to waste the most & how do you trash it?
- What types of servings are the most wasteful? Brunch, catering, dinner nights?
- What kind of results do you expect from a new solution?
- When would you expect to see those kinds of results?
- What are the must-have features of a solution?
- Is this solution something you see yourself using?
- Do you already see some HACCP-related issues?

## What we discovered?

Some restaurants even have a really good system of using excessive amounts of food for employee lunches and can take the food home. However, there is an opposing side to this issue: restaurants that forbid employees from taking meals home to avoid any conflicts. We mentioned the first bits of our discovery in [Part 1](https://www.shape-labs.com/case-studies/product-discovery-food-waste-prevention). 

While ordering on 2Good2Go we discovered that the main things to consider are **scheduling orders and pickups** from a customer’s point of view and **the importance of the cancel option** in the app.  Here’s how it works:

- Orders can be placed in the morning by a certain time (around 10 am) - This makes sense, as this way, restaurants do not need to pack items that won't be picked up. Plus, restaurants have a guaranteed customer for the leftover meals.
- The collection time is usually limited to 1 hour (say between 10 pm and 11 pm) and the customer has to identify the order with a code.
- Most restaurants have a fixed (pre-calculated) number of leftover meals available per day.
- There is a cancelation button, which is important, as it is **better to cancel than to prepare and leave at the restaurant without picking it up**.

## Main issues when implementing Saas products for preventing food waste in restaurants:

The main issue they all seemed to mention is the strict [HACCP regulation](https://food.ec.europa.eu/safety/biological-safety/food-hygiene/legislation_en). The EU has some of the **strictest food regulations in the world**, with rules covering every aspect of the food supply chain from production to consumption. Failure to comply with these regulations can result in fines ranging from a few thousand euros to millions of euros, depending on the severity of the violation, so we can imagine no one wants to put their business in a risky situation like this. But as 2Good2Go is already seamlessly operating in Austria, we believe this obstacle can be dealt with with a correct approach.

One of the main problems restaurant owners are worried about is a **change in consumer habits** with an app like 2Good2Go around. They fear that providing p2p (peer 2 peer) reviews about excessive meals at the restaurants could possibly draw the original guests away, or that the guests would make a habit to wait for a cheaper meal just a few hours later. 

Another thing is that established restaurant brands with famous chefs, don’t want to be branded on “leftover meals”. We proposed marketing it as “saved bites” or something similar to target its positive impact.

Read more on **how to apply our product discovery steps to your own ideas** and **why we started researching food waste** in the first place:

**[Part 1: Product Discovery: food waste prevention in the Slovenian restaurant business](https://www.shape-labs.com/case-studies/product-discovery-food-waste-prevention)**

### If you're interested in starting a business that addresses food waste, we'd love to hear from you. Let's connect and discuss this further!

👉 [Schedule a meeting today](https://calendly.com/meet-shape)

Why 2Good2Go didn't come to Slovenia yet?

slovenia, food waste, predicting future, future, product discovery

large_Cover (1)-min.png

medium_Cover (1)-min.png

small_Cover (1)-min.png

thumbnail_Cover (1)-min.png

Cover (1)-min.png

large_perspectalog_world_made_of_food_trash_68c2b02e-e548-4881-8671-0a26a8e25704-min.png

medium_perspectalog_world_made_of_food_trash_68c2b02e-e548-4881-8671-0a26a8e25704-min.png

small_perspectalog_world_made_of_food_trash_68c2b02e-e548-4881-8671-0a26a8e25704-min.png

thumbnail_perspectalog_world_made_of_food_trash_68c2b02e-e548-4881-8671-0a26a8e25704-min.png

perspectalog_world_made_of_food_trash_68c2b02e-e548-4881-8671-0a26a8e25704-min.png

Ljubljana, Slovenia, Mar 2023

Learn how we plan to tackle the food waste crisis with product discovery and how you can apply these steps to your own ideas.

Food waste is a global problem. According to the World Wildlife Fund, around one-third of all food produced in the world is wasted, and the food industry is responsible for a significant proportion of that waste. If you want to make an impact and create meaningful solutions, you need to start with yourself. And that's precisely what we did. We started our product discovery by researching and about this problem in Slovenia asking: 

# How to waste less food?

First, some sad stats on why this problem needs our attention:

- The estimated food waste in Slovenia is around 180,000 tons per year or approximately 88 kilograms per capita. (Slovenian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Food, 2019)
- The catering industry accounts for around 14% of this waste.
- The average food waste per capita in the European Union (EU) is even higher - about 173 kilograms per year. (European Parliament, 2021)
- The most commonly wasted foods in Slovenia are bread, vegetables, and fruit.
- Pre-prepared food donation is not a common practice in Slovenia (strict HACCP standards), but some businesses are working towards reducing food waste through food recovery and redistribution.

And whilst all this, there is a lack of Saas products, that could help to tackle this problem in the restaurant business. Let’s level up this product discovery!

## Undefining the core problem in the restaurant business: Where do the biggest losses happen?

To investigate food waste problems in Slovenian restaurants, we contacted and interviewed their owners, seeking a better understanding of their businesses. This is what we found out so far:

- If they offer catering it sources the majority of food waste. There are different reasons for every event, like bad weather, low attendance, the date and timing of the event, and so on.
- The food waste problem often peeks on weekends, when guests rather eat a-la-carte than from daily made brunch menus.
- Offering cheaper meals at the end of the shift could lead to another problem - changing guest habits to wait for tor the discounted menu, rather than eating in before.
- Restaurant kitchens operate on strict optimization to prevent further food-waste problems and prepare the exact number of ordered meals, to keep the business steady.

## What we really discovered

At first, we had the idea to tackle this restaurant business problem by building something similar to [2Good2Go](https://www.toogoodtogo.com/) which is an innovative food-saving app that connects users with unsold food from restaurants and cafes at discounted prices.

But product discovery isn’t about listing ideas that might seem possible to implement. If fact, it is the opposite. The main goal of product discovery is to gather information and insights that can inform the development of a successful product.

After our interviews, a bigger picture showed up. (product discovery 101) The restaurant business is way more than just food preparation. We found out about another way to solve this problem at the root by making predictions about how many guests there will be at the event. Imagine a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution helping catering businesses to predict how many guests are going to show up based on different inquiries. Sort of an anti-food waste fortune-telling.

This is just a reminder of how important product discovery really is. The insights gained from any product discovery (quick or thorough) can help ensure that the resulting product meets user needs and addresses a real market opportunity.

## Tips2go for validating your own ideas:

- Have a vague idea of what you want to build.
- Don't start building it! Yet …
- Find 10 customers that you think could help with your idea.
- Contact them and present them with the idea.
- Forget about your own idea and listen closely to the feedback. Ask as many questions as possible.
- Go home, rethink your idea, and wait for chapter two of this article. :)

## What’s next?

By researching the problem of restaurant food waste in Slovenia we aim to raise awareness of the issue and promote action to reduce waste, as well as help identify key drivers of waste and potential tech (hopefully AI) solutions.

Based on the insights provided, we are currently working on questions and ideas to present to restaurants next time. We will check whether this solution is viable for others as well during our next presentation. If you have to remember something from this experience, let this be it:

> **Questions first, building next!**  

For more about the specifics of the Slovenian restaurant business, the main issues concerning food waste prevention Saas product, and what else we (product) discovered **[read in part 2!](https://www.shape-labs.com/case-studies/challenges-and-opportunities-for-2good2go-in-slovenia)**. 

### Interested in food-waste prevention business too? Contact us and let’s talk about it. Join us on our mission to combine tech solutions with a sustainable future!

Product discovery: food waste prevention in the Slovenian restaurant business

large_ecb1979088828d49a3274314f65a2320.jpeg

medium_ecb1979088828d49a3274314f65a2320.jpeg

small_ecb1979088828d49a3274314f65a2320.jpeg

thumbnail_ecb1979088828d49a3274314f65a2320.jpeg

ecb1979088828d49a3274314f65a2320.jpeg

large_Screenshot 2022-07-29 at 09.35.41.png

medium_Screenshot 2022-07-29 at 09.35.41.png

small_Screenshot 2022-07-29 at 09.35.41.png

thumbnail_Screenshot 2022-07-29 at 09.35.41.png

Screenshot 2022-07-29 at 09.35.41.png

New York City, USA

Hectic parking is made easy with a mobile booking app

"Their knowledge of mobile app development, user experience, optimization and project management were very impressive."

Since paying for parking has become a predominantly mobile thing, a client's wish was even more understandable - transforming their web business into a mobile experience.  
> Find a parking spot with a couple of taps

Our team advised on best practices and built an app in React Native that now serves thousands of users in one of the most densely populated cities in the world - New York City. 

The apps’ main features:
- map view for easy navigation
- payment system and booking calendar
- gamified rewards (for frequent parkers)

If you ever park there, there is a good chance you will be using the experience we built.

NYC Mobile Parking

large_Cover.png

medium_Cover.png

small_Cover.png

thumbnail_Cover.png

Cover.png

founders, problem, startup, funding, shape, pablu.tv

medium_1_HXYSKNdLP3Kl5lgrAE5HDQ.webp

small_1_HXYSKNdLP3Kl5lgrAE5HDQ.webp

thumbnail_1_HXYSKNdLP3Kl5lgrAE5HDQ.webp

1_HXYSKNdLP3Kl5lgrAE5HDQ.webp

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Case study of our venture Pablu.tv and its beginnings

Hello everyone! I am Marko and I come from Slovenia. My personal mission is to create people-friendly digital products that people actually need.

In my full-time job, I am helping startup founders create User experience design. I do so by asking questions to “early product customers”. Most of the time I mimic behaviors that people are already used to and validate ideas using lean approaches. Everything I do — I do with my remote-first team [Shape](http://www.shape-labs.com/). I am a big fan of behavioral economics, behavioral design, privacy, and digital ethics. Lately, I have been trying to build in public.

## Agenda
1. The beginning
2. Validation of the idea
3. Low-code prototype and fails
4. How to get and track early traction
3. How we got a Funding

![1_HXYSKNdLP3Kl5lgrAE5HDQ.webp](https://shape-landing.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/1_HXYSK_Nd_LP_3_Kl5lgr_AE_5_HDQ_35bdffcd72.webp)
*Three founders in the middle of a labyrinth. Deciding which path to take.*

## 1. the beginning
It started in Istria, Croatia. As previous agency owners, Aljosa, Ziga, and I each had many ideas stacked on our shelves. We all felt like moving towards building our own startup but didn’t really do so until Istria. While we were providing a development service it was always a discussion to move towards the products side soon. Our minds were focused on a particular “cash” KPI, but the problem was that we kept increasing the KPI every year. We decided to put a stop to that.

You know how this goes. Whiteboard, three founders, and long endless discussions. Finally, we settled on an idea that can be summed up in three words “Livestream shopping marketplace”. We all felt like eCommerce was rusty and that people needed a new way of shopping. Besides that China was doing really well with this type of tech.

Objectively speaking Istra trip was a success, we made that step. The only problem was that we didn’t know a shit about how eCommerce works.

> Starting tip: We didn’t start with a pain point. Pain point gives you a rough idea about your early customers and there is already proof that someone needs your product. Always start with someone's pain or do something 10x better than someone else is already doing. The probability of success is much higher.

## 2. Validation of the idea

An idea is just an idea until you throw it under a potential user. Even back then, before the no-code movement all of us were big fans of lean approaches, and we didn’t want to spend too much time building before we learned about what our predicted target audience really wanted. In other words, we didn’t want to develop a scale-ready product before we know what that MVP (minimal viable product) should be made of. The goal was to sell something through live shopping without building out a full product.

### Here are just a few ways of testing the idea that came to our mind:
- Add Facebook Live streaming to a webpage and add UI with a Stripe button to it. At the time Facebook didn´t have its own version of Livestream shopping.
- Use Twitch streaming in the background, and a UI layer on top with a chat and Stripe Checkout form on it.
- Use live streaming services that provide APIs.

We decided to go with the second option due low effort of implementation and low cost. It took us two weeks to build out a low-code solution.

> Alternative solution: Since we eventually wanted to build out a full-blown two-sided Marketplace, it would make sense to start with building one side — a strong demand community. Instead of testing on our own webpage, we could have started selling through Instagram where we could leverage Instagram's push notifications for when going live. This would be one way to hack initial demand.

Idea was to start with supply and get initial demand through supply. If we manage to get larger sellers onboard they are going to bring their own customers. Sales were a bit tricky at first. Our goal was to onboard e-commerce business owners, that sell online, but getting through to them was harder than we thought. Often there was no reply or some interest, but generally, it was hard to get on the call.

![1_dESCit9ZdBrSZGToI2pITg.webp](https://shape-landing.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/1_d_ES_Cit9_Zd_Br_SZG_To_I2p_I_Tg_9f5679e1b9.webp)
*First [pablu.tv](https://www.pablu.tv/) Prototype design.*

We decided to partner up with a local [Accelerator](https://abc-accelerator.com/) that helped us with warm intros to a couple of e-commerce owners. Partnering up with someone with a strong network of business owners in our area meant more than money.

## 3. Low-code prototype fails

Still, remember **that first Pablu show**. This is what we call a single Live shopping event where sellers turn on live video camera, presents their products, answers questions from the chat, and sells!

Since our Frankenstein prototype of a product didn't include a custom streaming app we were using 3rd party to stream to [Twitch](http://www.twitch.com/). On our first show Žiga controlled all status changes through the Firebase database manually, Aljosa sent out sms reminders manually and I was in charge of support through email, Instagram, and phone.

![1_nF8C7vW7QtmB-0Bi05rn3w.webp](https://shape-landing.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/1_n_F8_C7v_W7_Qtm_B_0_Bi05rn3w_b147a4dfbd.webp)
*Moments from [pablu.tv](https://www.pablu.tv/) shows and advertising campaigns.*

Live shows were pailing up and eventually (we had one show per week), we got one event that burned our prototype. One of our hosts ran a giveaway and if visitors wanted to participate they needed to write “I want this” in chat. Once 1000-plus people did so multiple times things went southward. At that moment we were somewhat sad. We were all hoping for a proof case, and that event hammered down numbers. Nowadays I am able to look at it more objectively, actually, that was good kick-to-start fundraising. There was no other way to have a live-streaming platform without coding it for two months or scaling it needed more resources.

## 4. How to get and track early traction

Early traction can be tricky. Nowadays I would say **get customers first and then build out the product**. That is the reason why starting with a community-building approach has gained so much attention lately. The number of active community members that want to solve a common problem can by itself be a good indicator of early traction. This means your problem has been heavily discussed and people that joined you feel it.

Our way was a bit different. We focused on solving an issue on a smaller scale. A live-stream shopping marketplace is a huge idea, but tracking just one live shopping event is a more obtainable goal and more trackable. This way we could [filter out many unimportant features](https://www.shape-labs.com/articles/build-an-mvp) like onboarding, multiple shows, calendar, etc. that are eventually needed for the scale of the product. This limitation brought us to the following questions that measured visitor engagement:
- How many people are interested in the event?
- How many people actually come to an event?
- How long do people stay at the event?
- How much do they spend?

After that, it was all about the perfect Pablu show. Events had different hosts, different product lines, different times, etc.

### Eventually, we got the following:
- 40% of visitors bought the product
- best-performing categories were Fashion, Craft, Health supplements & Collectables
- best selling products were under 30€

## 5. How we got a pre-seed VC Funding

Getting an investment really starts with your ask. It is funny that this slide is usually the last one in the pitch deck, but getting an investment without knowing how to invest it in your company doesn’t really make any sense at all. Answers to this question can be of different natures.

### Here are three examples of why you should get funding:
1. My current no-code product is generating x amount of MRR. I need x amount to finish the product. This means my MRR will double.
2. Currently, our product is organically growing by 2% per year. We need X amount and it will grow 10% per year.
3. Our current ROI is 2.0 with X amount we can sell more.

Founders that raised money before are better off since they already have a network to start with. We weren't that lucky. We began with 
F6S and then tried talking to as many investors as possible. While doing that we build this [list investor list of 300+ contacts.](https://shapelabs.gumroad.com/l/notion-template-investors)

At one point **we had pitching calls every other day.** As I mentioned in the tweet above — one should always be changing the pitch deck. Unless you have stupid good metrics it is very unlikely that your first pitch will hit the nail on the head. For this reason, start off by sorting out your investor contact list by priority. First, pitch to the ones that are at the bottom of the page. This way your pitch will be at its best when you work your way up. At that point, you will be able to know how to define your problem with one sentence and describe your solution so your mom gets it.

Essentially combination of clear communication and metrics is what got my team $200.000 of pre-seed investment for building out the product and with that a chance to find our product market fit.

## In part 2
- Team passion towards industry sector vs Target Audience
- Product, Chicken, and Egg
- How we measured progress
- What would I do differently

### Subscribe to our monthly newsletter and get reminded about the next part. ❤️

How We Build a Prototype in 6 Weeks, Got Traction, And $200.000 Pre-seed Funding — Part 1

article, summarizer, extension, read, articles, AI, add-in

large_image (10) (1) (1).png

medium_image (10) (1) (1).png

small_image (10) (1) (1).png

thumbnail_image (10) (1) (1).png

image (10) (1) (1).png

Building the Free Chrome Extention for Summarizing any Web Article using the Power of AI. Updates every month!


This February we worked on a short side project, which was very helpful for our daily workflow.


#### February 2023 updates
# We built an article-summarizing Google Chrome extension

In less than 7 hours we fully developed a low-code [AI-powered Google Chrome Extension](https://article-summariser.webflow.io/) that summarizes any article online - Article Summarizer. 🙌


## Why did we start building?

Anyone who scrolls through masses of articles on a daily basis can probably relate. They can get long, boring, and mislead the key points. Getting an article summary has to be quicker.

Naturally, we turned to [Open AI](https://openai.com/api/) for the answer. AI model named text-DaVinci-003 was able to summarize long and unstructured articles in seconds, even highlighting only the main points of the story. Unlike us, **AI finds access & knows how to read closed/paid articles** from bigger publishers like NY Times, The Economist, etc., and returns an article summary. 

If you need an evaluation of the specific article’s content Open AI provides the quickest look into any article online. Chatting with ChatGPT is cool and all, but this could be quicker.


## How did we do it?

But how to get the same article summary in just one click? While ChatGPT struggling at its capacity during our prime work hours we would usually have to wait for the article summary. To make it easier for our workflow we decided to build a Chrome extension to speed things up & as we build in public, to share it with other content creators online. 

We built this Chrome extension using a **low code approach**, using React for the front end, MUI for styling, Open AI, and Lambda for security. 🧱

This is our most efficient way to build Open AI Chrome extension yet. We’re enabling you to get access to **any online article summary** and **increase reading efficiency** with only one click!

![63f525ebb14cc8cd158ccfa4_Chrome Plugin-p-800.jpeg](https://shape-landing.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/63f525ebb14cc8cd158ccfa4_Chrome_Plugin_p_800_4c43aa7f01.jpeg)

## What went wrong?

Too good to be true to the Google Web Store ... Our first version of Article Summarizer got **rejected** by Google on our first try. **We made a little mistake** & mentioned things that are considered a violation of the Google Web Store’s Terms. But we fixed that soon and now it’s up!

> With Article Summarizer we’re enabling you to access any online article summary and increase reading efficiency with only one click!

## Where to find it?

If you are interested in what we made, feel free to take a look and try it out. IArticle Summarizer is available in the [Chrome Web Store](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/summarize-article/neaojoggfnkoimnhaedohmmignohhebh) - check it out and leave a review. We’d love to hear what you think and when our build comes in handy for you!

#### March 2023 updates

## New organic stats

2 weeks ago we published our V1 of Free Article Summarizer extension & here are our current stats:

- 50 new users per week 
- 66 weekly active users
- 505 Impressions
- 7 Google Reviews

## What we plan for V2 

- Licence checkout for advanced users (paid version)
- Upgraded security
- Better precision (All features are based on user feedback and starts)

We are talking about:
- c/p feature
- using new chat GPT API
- showing key points while generating the summary

### find out news about our projects first and subscribe to our monthly update newsletter 

Building a Chrome Extension: Article Summarizer

large_dones_ki.jpg

medium_dones_ki.jpg

small_dones_ki.jpg

thumbnail_dones_ki.jpg

dones_ki.jpg

large_Doneski_banner_3x_671aaba148.jpg

medium_Doneski_banner_3x_671aaba148.jpg

small_Doneski_banner_3x_671aaba148.jpg

thumbnail_Doneski_banner_3x_671aaba148.jpg

Doneski_banner_3x_671aaba148.jpg

Brisbane, QLD Australia, Jan 2020

We built an App for all the people that need help at fixing things in their homes.

"The project team has delivered to the vision and added to it for a better MVP."

> We built an App for all the people that need help at fixing things in their homes.

Consider this: You just moved into a new flat or plan to change something in your current one. You want to add an electrical socket, move the washing machine or repaint a room. Finding the right person for this, used to be quite a task if you haven't had any handy friends on your contact list.

Imagine if you could just take a photo of your problem, add a description about it, click ‘post’ and wait for somebody to reach out. Our client decided to do just that and asked us if we could turn this into reality. We were intrigued and together we started to work on Doneski.

![renders.d42dd85b.png](https://shape-landing.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/renders_d42dd85b_bd7746dcea.png)

# What did we do:
- Mobile application for Android and iOS
- Backend API
- Content management system

We decided to build on our experience from our previous project and utilize React Native as our framework. It gave us the needed flexibility to try out different ideas across the iOS and Android environment, without wasting too much time on pivoting on features that we identified as weak and not delivering the right value to the MVP.

The backend pipeline consists of multiple servers, allowing us to test and review versions. The production server is running Node.js with Koa layer on top leveraging async functions. For our main database, we picked PostgreSQL. The platform is mainly connected using the REST architectural style and used Firebase to handle live updates on some features of the app. We utilized Firebase which convinced us especially through the persistent hash data structure in the cloud and the realtime database which offers seamless synchronization of data across all of the users.

![logo.bdbf14d2.jpg](https://shape-landing.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/logo_bdbf14d2_da2d596f27.jpg)

Although our bread and butter are helping startups and companies build the technical side of their businesses, we strongly believe that tech is the easy part when we want to build new things.

This is something we keep in mind when working with clients on new novel Ideas. We understand our position in this relationship not only as technical workers but as advisors. We build Doneski in a way that gives our client enough agility to pivot fast without sacrificing too many resources on rewriting the codebase. This gives our client more time to focus on identifying and validating the right business model, the thing that matters most when building a company that is here to stay.

Handy hand just one post away

medium_eh_app_cover_faf69b81b5.jpg

small_eh_app_cover_faf69b81b5.jpg

thumbnail_eh_app_cover_faf69b81b5.jpg

eh_app_cover_faf69b81b5.jpg

medium_eh_app_3e0733e448 (1).jpg

small_eh_app_3e0733e448 (1).jpg

thumbnail_eh_app_3e0733e448 (1).jpg

eh_app_3e0733e448 (1).jpg

Dallas TX, USA, Aug 2020

"They provided a structured, organized environment that enhanced the professionalism of the business interaction."

The client's vision for the product was powerful, yet simple: connect artists from across the country and make it easy for them to start collaborating on their projects.

![Eh post 2 copy.jpg](https://shape-landing.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/Eh_post_2_copy_9706f454d9.jpg)

We designed the platform with music in mind. Soothing dark colors with accents of Ear Hustlaz green bring elegance and a professional look to the product. Custom icons and state illustrations make it unique.

![Eh post 2.jpg](https://shape-landing.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/Eh_post_2_40926a29a8.jpg)

The platform is built as a PWA (progressive web app) to attract as many artists as possible without the hassle of downloading a mobile app. The backend and database are run on a highly scalable PaaS infrastructure.

Ear Hustlaz story is far from being over. Stay tuned!

[www.earhustlaz.com](https://www.earhustlaz.com)

EarHustlaz

large_iDS cover@3x.png

medium_iDS cover@3x.png

small_iDS cover@3x.png

thumbnail_iDS cover@3x.png

iDS cover@3x.png

large_iDs@3x.png

medium_iDs@3x.png

small_iDs@3x.png

thumbnail_iDs@3x.png

iDs@3x.png

Washington DC, USA, Nov 2018

A platform connecting the dance community

"Shape Labs acts like my co-founder in every sense of the word."

> We have built a React powered platform to guide you from learning your first steps to attending world class events.

IDanceSocial is a Washington based company with an idea of a platform that connects dancers around the globe and shows them dance events in their neighborhood. This was the start of a great journey and we are proud of being there from square one. Our partners’ openness to suggestions allowed us to explore optional features that could benefit the product in the future. From a technical standpoint that meant one thing: We have to be agile.

## Solution
We’ve achieved our goal of developing a location-based platform and connected dancers from around the world.

![screens-ids.png](https://shape-landing.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/screens_ids_9496a04d6f.png)

## Deliverables
- mobile applications for Android and iOS
- Web application
- API development

React Native was the logical choice for our undertaking. It gave us the possibility to have one team focused on both iOS and Android which sped up the development process considerably. As much as we believe that native solutions are the way to go for bigger companies with a proven business model and user count, React Native is a great alternative for startups that have to focus on their key features and business model rather than financing multiple development teams.

The backend pipeline consists of multiple servers, allowing us to test and review versions. The production server is running Node.js with Koa layer on top leveraging async functions. For our main database, we picked PostgreSQL, since rapid growth was expected. The platform is mainly connected using the REST architectural style or using full-duplex protocol WebSockets depending on the case.

Web version of the application is written in ReactJS.

![schema-ids.jpg](https://shape-landing.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/schema_ids_3f370f7000.jpg)

## What happened?
As we moved forward with development, the dancer number steadily increased. Because of our agile architecture, we could react to their feedback and implement new features without breaking the budget. At this point, IDanceSocial is way past the initial idea. Not only the dancers can find events on the platform, they also can:

- Live chat with each other
- Create their own dance circles
- Earn dancer recognition points by visiting events
- Earn money by creating channels where they can share dance videos and stay in touch with their followers
- Gain access to exclusive content on the channels by paying a monthly fee
- Create events, sell tickets, sign up event organizers, track stats and scan tickets
- Selection of screenshots

## Our workflow
We work on weekly sprints always starting with a design sprint to understand, plan, prototype and test our product to minimize the development cost. Following that we plan numerous development and testing sprints to finish and present our product to the client or the public. The project was micromanaged using SCRUM principles through Jira. Besides that, we used Slack and Meet to communicate and debate the details.


iDanceSocial

large_vr_unity_shape.6bc7d074.png

medium_vr_unity_shape.6bc7d074.png

small_vr_unity_shape.6bc7d074.png

thumbnail_vr_unity_shape.6bc7d074.png

vr_unity_shape.6bc7d074.png

Berlin, Germany, Oct 2017

Creating new ways in how to listen to music in Virtual Reality.

There is something magical about listening to live music. It’s not only about the quality of the sound but also about the space in which the experience happens. Hearing the same track through normal stereo speakers often doesn’t really live up to the real thing. The reason for that is that hearing sound isn’t just about the tones that we hear. As we stand in a concert hall, sound waves come at different speeds and angles to our eardrum. Our brain needs that information to tell us the location of the sound source. If there are more sound sources, they start to represent a sound mix. As we move through space, the mix changes accordingly to the position. If we listen to music through the speakers, this is not possible, because we always hear the same music mix. Virtual reality is the first medium, which could make the whole listening experience more real. We took it upon ourselves to find out how this could work.

# Solution
We created 4 boxes in Unity and each of them acted as a source of sound (instrument). We implemented a few algorithms that would change the sound of those instruments according to our position in the virtual room. After that, we started to create 3D elements for the room. We decided to go with some planets, to make everything a bit mystical. The “sound boxes” have been placed on the main planet in a circle and the user in the middle. There have been 11 boxes which the user could move freely around with the HTC Vive controllers in his hands. Each box represented an instrument from David Bowie's Space Oddity.

![schema.421eeb8c.jpg](https://shape-landing.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/schema_421eeb8c_b40f1729f2.jpg)
Our project shows that listening to music in virtual reality adds a layer of reality which is not possible to achieve on common stereo sound systems. The main elements that adds to this effect is the active head tracking through which we manipulate the sound mix according to the current position of the head. Furthermore also the ability to interact with the sound boxes makes the experience more personal. Imagine yourself all alone on the planet, listening only to Bowies vocals. It gets under your skin.

David Bowie in outerspace

large_yum copy@3x.png

medium_yum copy@3x.png

small_yum copy@3x.png

thumbnail_yum copy@3x.png

yum copy@3x.png

Ljubljana, Slovenia, May 2017

Yum is a concept location-based application that helps you find your gastronomic cravings in your area.

The idea originated from too many scattered options for lunch out of which we never could really find what fits us at lunchtime. We wanted everything in the same place ordered by your food preferences and proximity to your location.

![yum-dribbb.jpg](https://shape-landing.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/yum_dribbb_d84a136ab2.jpg)

## Challenge
The main challenge of the idea was getting as many restaurants on the platform as possible. We had to offer them a solution that will convince them to start using our service as their menu drafting solution of choice.

## Solution
Our solution consisted of 4 main components:

- Web application
- Restaurant management solution
- API development
- iFrame plugin (ability to embed the menu on your restaurant’s site)

![yum-tech.jpg](https://shape-landing.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/yum_tech_81ce194cf3.jpg)

We’ve built a location-based web application which sorted the restaurants by their proximity to your location. Each restaurant is presented with most importantly - their current menu. Visitors could favorite restaurants and filter them or search them by food options.

> First site you think about when hunger strikes

Restaurant management solution was built to be the only menu software a daily lunch cafe or restaurant needs. The software allowed restaurants to schedule their menus in advance and even implement (daily, weekly, monthly) recurring menus if such existed. With custom templates, they could print the menus and use them as an offline marketing strategies. Upon finalizing their menu design (adding their brand colors, logos etc.), they could implement it directly into their own web pages with our plugin. Different user roles allow some restrictions on the restaurant's dashboard.

API written in NodeJS with ExpressJS on top ran a scheduling algorithm that kept an eye on the overlapping of menus and served appropriate data to all of our front-end components.

Front end application was written in AngularJS, back-end server was running on NodeJS and Express JS. We used MongoDB as a database of choice, due to the needed flexibility in data structure.

![yum-tablet.png](https://shape-landing.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/yum_tablet_e027c8b1b8.png)