About the client
Being an early-stage entrepreneur in the USA market, our client was ready to bring disruption into a slow-paced conservative market of death care services.
After having personal harming experience and requiring to deal with numerous problems manually, the client decided to create a platform helping to plan and manage all death-related activities. For example, they had to cancel all subscriptions and inform numerous institutions that their user had died. That is painful in both moral and time consuming aspects.
This experience defied the basic functional scope which was enriched by interview instances with the target audience. As far as the goal was not to cut the market of the funeral homes but to offer a complex platform empowering their services, this approach revealed the pain points most critical for potential users without necessity to redraw the market and its existing players.
The biggest challenge the customer faced when trying to prove the concept and work with individual freelancers was the absence of vision and competence in solution development. Even after numerous research and problem interviews done by the marketing team, each designer tries to bring something trendy instead of searching for a comfortable solution for the final user. The same was with the coding part – no guarantee or at least argumentation on the decisions was given in the process.
All that led to frustration and time loss due to checking numerous instances and iterations of the concept having the same core flaws over and over again.
We needed to build the MVP platform user-friendly for an audience with specific requirements, strong enough to get funding and scale into a highly conservative market with a total value of $18.4 billion.
Luckily, as far as the product was in the concept phase, the team did not require a lot to analyse and rebuild within the platform. It allowed us to outline what techniques caused the weak condition of the platform and missed vision with its potential audience.
Based on the analysis, we identified key points to address:
Having no possibility of solving key points with the platform by themselves and willing to refer to the checklist we outlined in the web visibility report, the customer decided to cooperate with us. To win users’ trust with our platform, we had to deliver a seamless experience that would make a complex and painful process as simple as possible. Here’s a brief overview of how we achieved this.
To ensure better reliability and further scalability of the product, the team decided to start with the modular architecture of the platform. Modular development allows teams to work on different components simultaneously. This parallel development significantly reduces the overall development time, enabling faster product launches which was very important for the project owner.
Leveraging this approach, we implemented the following functionality:
Guided will creation process with templates and legal information. It includes option to connect with legal professionals for review or execution. Digital witnessing and attestation features (where legally permissible) as well as integration with executor notification and will retrieval systems were ensured with several APIs.
After automated identification of active subscriptions (via user input or connected accounts), the cancellation requests generated and sent to service providers. Cancellation status and confirmation are tracked to allow for manual intervention and management.
Inventory of assets (financial accounts, properties, digital assets, etc.) where the user can select designation of beneficiaries for digital assets and other items including passwords, account details, and important documents. Tools for communicating with beneficiaries after death and create a digital legacy.
Templates and forms for different types of LPA (health and welfare, property and financial affairs) are provided together with curated guidance on creating an LPA. Tools for registering and storing the LPA with the relevant authorities. Notification system for attorneys and relevant parties.
We faced several challenges while developing and deploying these features. Discover how we managed to find the right solutions and deliver the final result.
The team decided to start by testing the founder’s assumptions and validate the product’s general idea. That would allow getting early investments easier with market proofs and feedback from early adopters and not just vague product features. To achieve this, we took the following steps of the product’s initial discovery:
All preliminary work led to the creation of a priorities roadmap with the steps on design and development of the platform in parallel modules to speed up the delivery and market approval. After implementing the basic functionality, we had to make sure the solution works as intended in every case. So we conducted a separate phase of testing, both manual and automated.
As far as the product handles exceptionally sensitive personal data and financial data, the team had to take special measures to ensure its security. Moreover when people interacting with Deathtech are often in a state of emotional vulnerability. Data breaches at this time can cause amplified trauma which was one of the biggest red flags for our client.
As the first step, the team implemented strict access controls to limit who can access sensitive data. For the users of the platform, we applied strong authentication methods, such as multi-factor authentication and several layers of identity checks including Google authorisation, etc. To enhance the effect, we encrypt sensitive data both in transit and at rest to prevent unauthorized access.
As far as the platform deals with numerous data from third-party services, we introduced Data Loss Prevention technologies to prevent sensitive data from leaving the organization’s control. To suit the requirements and legal obligations, we develop a comprehensive incident response plan to address potential data breaches.
After we completed the platform began to attract customers, our client recognized the advantages of the product and made a strategic decision to start communicating with the investors to receive the first rounds.
As the part of preparation, we refined the business plan of our customer and outlined the business model, market analysis, competitive landscape, financial projections, and team. All was finalised in the pitch deck – a separate document with as much visualising as possible for better perception under limited time restrictions. Regarding the area of the product, it was important to tell a compelling story and focus on the solution for the market, its strong points and opportunities.
The next step was to find a proper investor in the domain interested in such a product. Our team helped with the selection among our partners and other investors around the globe. After selection, we helped to tailor the pitch deck to highlight the aspects of the business that are most relevant to their interests. After initial contact, we communicated with the investor to tackle our valuations, expectations, legal obligations and other terms.
As a result, the client successfully received the pre-seed round and the investor got a growing startup in their portfolio.
As the result of the development process together with a user-friendly platform, the client received the following benefits:
Funding received
The product successfully passed the seed round and received investment in the amount of 2KK and preparing for more in their roadmap.
Strong security and privacy practices
Prioritizing user data protection was paramount as far as the product deals with personal data, financial subscriptions, etc.
Clear and concise legal information
We aimed to provide accurate and easy-to-understand legal guidance as far as the audience requires clear description of any policies concerning the services offered.
Partnerships with trusted professionals
As far as the platform functions requires numerous collaborations with various institutions, collaborating with reliable legal and financial experts enhanced credibility.
Effective marketing and communication
Reaching the target audience and building trust was placed as goal after receiving funding, so we build the complementary plan with crucial milestones for any marketing activities the platform required to become outstanding. Together with the MVP launch, the client started marketing activities to receive the first users and improve the product. That resulted in smooth client growth and reliable feedback collecting.
Business Development Officer,
Savings Management Company
“EVNE Developers is proactive, responsive, and have a versatile team to tackle the diverse needs of a project in the financial domain. They take into account overall dependencies for successful project operation instead of just doing the tasks assigned. Thinking about the product’s future is one of the core points they took into account when making important decisions. They are honest and upfront about any issues and always come up with solutions, not problems.
EVNE Developers can help you build a cost-effective yet scalable product that will allow you to meet user needs and grow your business. Tell us about your goals and we’ll gladly discuss possible solutions that align with your vision.
