The phase increases $ 13 million to speed up the UX design process with its code-free platform
UX and user interface designers work in close collaboration with engineers throughout the development of products to build and implement design concepts and Wireframes for functional user interfaces. Communication, comments and regular tests are necessary for collaboration to work well and offers a user experience that aligns with the designed design objectives.
Nick Budden, a serial entrepreneur who worked as a user / UX interface designer, wanted designers to spend their days only in design work rather than transfer or meetings with engineers. To respond to some ineffective steps in the design process, Budden founded Phase in 2017.
“The implementation of the user interface is an expensive and long manual process involving designers, product managers and engineers,” said Budden in an exclusive interview with Techcrunch. “Complete user tests are also delayed until this process is finished.”
The startup based in Taipei and Berlin builds a code-free platform that helps user / UX interface designers to create fully interactive prototypes, and he said Thursday that he had lifted $ 13 million in Gobi Partners, New Economy Ventures, Palm Drive Capital, Shilling VC, Squareone, Wi Harper, 42Cap and 500 Global.
Today, the startup has published its first product, a user interface animation tool that will compete Adobe After effects and Figma. The phase indicates that its software allows user / UX interface designers and products to create interactive website simulations or “manual coding or coding [using] Plugins AI subject to errors. It can also export the ready -made user interface code for production, accelerating the design process.
Budden said that the phase product is much easier for a user / UX interface designer to be used than other tools like Adobe After Effects or Figma. “The key differentiator of Figma is the exhaustiveness of the prototype. Thus, on Figma, you can build a prototype which makes, perhaps 20% or 30% of what the real website does, then the 70% or 80% that the prototype does not do, you must then communicate with Engineers, product managers and people must understand this, ”said Budden. “Our product is under construction to do 100% of what a real website or application does.”
This is supposed to be the first in a series of launches, and it is planned to introduce three other design and code tools of its Wysiwyg platform (what you see is what you get) this year and the year Next to rationalize all the manual work required for UI / UX design, Budden told Techcrunch. The three new features will be: Advanced prototyping of the user interface, user interface design and user interface interface export.
“We do not see the animation of the user interface as an autonomous market for a long time – it is an opportunity to market today, but this window will close once tools like Figma integrated the animation As an integrated functionality, “Techcrunch, phase CEO, told Techcrunch. “Our strategy is to win an initial traction in animation now and descend our roadmap on larger markets before this change occurs.”
Sweet launch in South Korea
Phase presented its platform for the first time in South Korea in May after finding a reliable local partner to help launch.
The designers adopt new tools by observing their peers by discussing and using them, leading to the generalized adoption of design tools, explained Budden, but he stressed that this influence is often “hyper-local”. For example, London designers are mainly influenced by others in their region.
“Due to this local dynamic, we have launched the region by region, allowing us to engage deeply with each design community and to take momentum,” Budden told Techcrunch.
South Korea has around 100,000 designers and phase says that in a few weeks of launching its product, more than 10,000 have tested it. This practical approach has succeeded in launching community growth – at least in South Korea – but it did not work as well as the company hoped in other regions.
“The larger markets had more dispersed design communities, which makes the ground more difficult. After months of difficulty recreating the success of Korea, we have changed speed and opened a world beta version, “said the phase CEO. “With adjustments to our market strategy, we have seen rapid and sustained growth […] This momentum, combined with product stabilization, is the reason why we leave the beta version now. »»
The phase aims to enter the American and European markets as its next priority.
