Inst News (previous Nbber) was a news app facing the Brazilian market that gathered news from diverse media channels and recommended customized news to its users. Its first launch was in October 2015. The app achieved 120,000 downloads in the first three months and was ranked as one of the top 3 most popular local news apps during its first month.
Main Features:
- Gathering news from various media channels- Recommending news based on each individual’s interests, and user behaviors- Building up a community through the app where news lovers can comment, share and connect- User can read news easily and fast even under bad internet connection
About the Project:
The project started in 2015 when the IT industry was developing fast thus more and more people began to use smartphones to read daily news in Brazil. There were already various news apps with similar features in the market, however, none of them could gather news from diverse media channels and recommend customized news based on the users’ reading preferences and habits. Thus, the idea of developing a news app that knows its users’ interests and needs was born. After 3 months of intense development, Inst News was created. The app was performing very well at the beginning, however, it did not survive due to the severe competition in the market.
My Role:
Product Manager, UX Designer
My Input:
- Collaborate with prospective users and clients to understand and anticipate their needs and translate them into product requirements
- Create a product road map based on the product vision
- Manage the product backlog and prioritize them based on changing requirements
- Oversee all stages of product creation including design and development
- Make strategic product decisions based on the data analysis
- Examine the product features and align stakeholders with the product vision
- Build storyboards to conceptualize designs to accurately convey project plans to clients and senior management
- Develop and maintain design wireframes (basic mock-ups of applications) and specifications
- Conduct user testings and research
