DreamLabs
DreamLabs
[Case study]
Referral-based social app for beauty influencers
GlowCode went from idea to launch in eight weeks.
Flutter, Firebase, Figma, Notion
8 weeks
[What it is]
GlowCode (The Glowcode) is a social beauty app where people build a digital vanity of the products they use, review them honestly and share it through a personal link, and where influencers earn referral income from affiliate links and discount codes. DreamLabs took founder Sheryl Patel’s idea to a launched native mobile app in eight weeks. After launch, we led four user testing sessions that produced 24 points of feedback for product improvement.
GlowCode sets out to end beauty gatekeeping. Instead of guessing what is behind someone’s skincare routine or favorite lipstick, people can see a real person’s products and honest reviews, whatever their skin tone or hair type. In Sheryl’s words, the goal was “to build an MVP/proof of concept mobile app for beauty influencers and beauty product users.” That meant serving both sides: product users looking for real reviews, and influencers who wanted to share products and earn referral income.
The main risk was scope. A social app for two audiences can grow into a long feature list before anyone has used it, so the build stayed focused on the features that prove the idea.
[How it works]
We built the first version of the native mobile app in three phases over eight weeks, from idea to launch, for two user types.
User flows
User type: Personal user
User type: Influencer / Creator
User testing
After launching the first version, DreamLabs supported the user testing process:
Our free user testing guide covers how to structure, run and analyze sessions like these.
GlowCode is a Flutter app on a Firebase backend, which let one codebase ship to both the App Store and Google Play. We designed the product in Figma and planned the build in Notion.
The build took eight weeks from idea to launch, in three phases. The App Store lists version 1.0 of The Glowcode on March 25, 2024, and the app is also on Google Play. User testing followed the launch.
GlowCode launched as a working MVP, now available on both app stores, with the features needed to test the idea with both audiences: shareable vanities for everyday users, and affiliate links, discount codes, profile views and click tracking for creators. The user testing round turned four sessions into 24 points of feedback for product improvement. In her review, Sheryl said she was continuing to work with DreamLabs to support the app and, in the future, develop it further.
[Don’t just take our word for it]
“I felt lucky to have them come back to me with a full scope on how they could build what I had envisioned. They really wear multiple hats and do it well. From concept to launch, DreamLabs acted as not only the developer, but also a product manager, overseeing every detail from concept development to launch (feature prioritization, user interviews, optimizing user experience, etc).
As a product manager myself, I really appreciated their process driven approach to building an MVP. I have worked with other developers in the past, that make no effort to always have in mind the user and business case. As an entrepreneur, I got excited about adding more features, but they did an outstanding job of keeping me and the project focused on sticking to features that count.”
[See for yourself]
