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Agency Spotlight : Putting Design First with Interpaul Digital Agency

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Interpaul Digital Agency is a French agency that we had the pleasure of meeting at App Days in Paris and were quite impressed by—with their strong focus and priority on design, it's easy to see why this agency has become a huge success. Their apps have been the envy of many GoodBarber users, and now they are letting us in on some of their secrets. 

Can you introduce us to your agency?

Everything started in April 2015 when I decided to make an app for a lingerie brand the company I was working for was operating, seeing how much importance mobile had taken in the web industry. 
The goal was to be able to offer clients and fans of the brand a more intuitive, personal, and well adapted medium for communicating information. 

I quickly decided on GoodBarber as a solution. Having no experience in this area, the simplicity of using the platform, the features that fulfilled all of our needs, and the back office and support available in French were major positive points for me. 

Having been convinced that applications were the future of the mobile sector as well as seeing what the GoodBarber platform would allow us to produce in record time, we got started right away in this adventure and launched Interpaul Digital Agency in December of 2015.

The first official project of the agency was in the blogging industry. Launched in January of 2016, "HappynGood" was a project that immediately won me over with its trendy concept related to nutrition, exercise, and overall well-being. 
I'll take this opportunity to say that was an incredible success—280,000 downloads in just one year! Thanks to this app, Julie (the blogger behind HappynGood) has become a real influencer.  
 
Today, our work revolves around influencers, local businesses, and larger brands. There are two of us working together : myself, who is in charge of managing the apps and websites, and Guillaume who takes care of websites. 

For us, just the idea of making an app alone is not what is appealing—we go out of our way to choose stimulating projects that are always evolving and improving.  

Can you explain the roles of your team members and what a standard project process looks like?

As far as the A to Z app creation process goes (structure, design, publishing, etc.), I'm on my own. A typical project starts with researching the industry and gathering as much information as we can on what kind of information and features users would like to see in this type of app. We then create a classic pencil and paper sketch with the primary elements before diving into the backend for the first go at the structure, design, and integrations. 

Then, once we have enough to test in the My GoodBarber app, we take another round of feedback on the ergonomics and user experience. If necessary, the modifications are applied, and the improved model is designed. After approval, the final version is published online. For us, user experience comes before everything, and is the fundamental key element that determines what makes an app appealing. 
 
Take a look at what some of their finished products look like :
 

The design of your apps is quite impressive. What does this kind of advanced customization entail?

For the design, I use the software “Sketch” (amongst others) to produce the mockups and graphics...a tool I discovered thanks to GoodBarber actually! We then use the plugin section and HTML menu that allow us to format the pixel accuracy produced in the preliminary mockup, or even hide categories or pages, to personalize the navigation. We don’t hesitate to use the GBJSTK, HTML code, Json, and other customization options available to make each page as attractive as possible.

Your apps have a huge number of downloads. What is the secret to your success?

The first step is to properly target your initial scan of the concept : who are you making an app for and why? Then, an app can only go so far without being effectively presented in the stores : we must know immediately what that specific presentation should involve, and what will elicit the desire to download the app in the elements proposed. In addition to an attractive design, the icon and splashscreen must convey what the content will be, while not giving any false ideas about what the user will get once the app is downloaded. A well thought through description giving an overview of the content and its value is a must.


Then, once the app is downloaded, users will make their judgement within the first seconds of its launch. This is why it’s so important to evoke the desire to explore the app’s content, while keeping UX and intuitivity in mind, all while maintaining an attractive design. Afterwards, an app is nothing without regularly updated content and impactful push notifications. This is not all, but the rest is our little secret ;) 
 

However, we can tell you exactly what NOT to do in our opinion, to end up with negative user experience and to up your chances of the app getting quickly deleted : obnoxious advertising and weak content (either low quality or deceiving). Users don’t appreciate storage-heavy apps, especially those that contain useless content taking up precious space on their device.
One last piece of advice : data analysis—it’s key for understanding user behavior. Letting the option GoodBarber offers to connect external tools such as Google Analytics or Flurry go to waste would be a shame. Don’t hesitate to revisit (or even delete) pages that have little or no visits in order to keep all content in the app effective. Also, consider running regular surveys with your users : what they like, what they don’t like, what they wish was there, etc.

Which part of your job do you enjoy the most? And the least?

Making apps is a passion above everything else! I particularly appreciate the creation process, from the initial to the integrations done with different sections, to the advanced customization that allows us to freely express our creativity.

The thing I like least—there’s nothing!

How do you see the mobile market evolving in the years to come?

The mobile market revolution has already shaken up our everyday lives, and continues to rapidly evolve with the increasing number of connected platforms. In my opinion, the mobile market of tomorrow will be based on user experience, while integrating holographic imaging, and both artificial and emotional intelligence. What’s sure is that apps will be a big part of it!

About Grégory and Guillaume

Grégory started out his career as a freelancer in a family e-commerce company from 2011-2015 as a graphic web and print designer. With no experience or studies in the industry, he taught himself everything he knows on the job—how to use all types of software, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign, Dreamweaver, etc. Impressive!
Guillaume also worked for the same company, starting at the end of 2010 as a graphic designer and web master. He did his masters in graphic design in Marseille.