While testing out the functionality and design of a product, there's just too many
steps that get in the way of recieving and delivering feedback. Taking a screenshot,
emailing it to your team members, making a spreadsheet, inserting comments.... it's
way too complicated. This struggle was what ignited Balto.
In order to solve this problem, one of our engineers spent time in between work to
make a simple prototype all by himself. Once we were shown the proposal of thebare minimum tool, we realized the massive potential it had. The friction between
delivering and receiving feedback could be solved with this tool.
After realizing the prototype's potential, we gathered designers and engineers to
build a small but focused team. With the motto of "making things we'd love to use",
we started our ambitious project. In March 2015, we released our open Beta.
We gathered lots of feedback from our Beta users and recognized that
Balto was not just a feedback tool. We saw the possbilitly of our project
becoming a communication platform that promotes constructive design
and conversations in improving the user experience.
After an interview with the users who tested the Beta version of Balto, we were
able to determine, once again, the potential of our project. We shifted our focus
from a feedback tool to a design communication platform. With our slogan of
"Feedback is Fun!", we started the redesign process.
As one unified team, we discussed new features and started building
our product step-by-step. We lined up our desks and got our hands
busy with the development process. With each member sharing their
ownunique knowledge and ideas, the team spent an exciting time fabricating something new.
And after spending countless hours of smashing keyboards and moving
mouses, we were able to release the newly redesigned Balto. Together,
we hope that we can make "Feedback Fun" and improve the quality of
your product one feedback at a time!