Introduction 

After over 2 years of fast-paced product development by the Tragic team, the Drivey beta is ready to launch!

Building Drivey has been a journey to say the least, and like all journeys it has had both high and low points, and at times seemed like it might never end, but we are so excited to finally release this product into the wild. 

As a small software development agency, we are driven by crafting solutions for our clients, and during the pandemic we were given the opportunity to build two different solutions to solve our own frustrations. Not only did we create Drivey, but we also built Oversight, our new agency workforce management system which we will be launching in 2023. 

We learned that building your own solution can be both empowering and also provide you the opportunity to be a bad product manager, not being constrained by usual client scope or budget. But in the end it creates an opportunity to push the boundaries like never before, and we are proud of what we have built as a team! This blog will discuss a little background, along with the process it took to launch Drivey and if you’re someone that wants to better manage your cloud storage experience, you can learn more about Drivey at https://www.drivey.com.

In the beginning there was Drive Anywhere

Back in 2014.. god we are old.. we collaborated with a long-time colleague (who later went on to build GravityAI) and we built Drive Anywhere, an optimized Google Drive extension for Chrome. It was one of those projects with exciting potential..

Phase 1: Build Drive Anywhere

Phase 2: …

Phase 3: Profit

Unfortunately, Phase 2 never really went anywhere. The extension grew organically, but eventually the API changed, and we got busy, and we started getting bombed in the reviews on Chrome extension store.

So in 2019, we rebuilt the app. Quick and dirty, but we wanted users that used the extension to still get value from it. It currently has a thousand users.

The Elephant in the Room

Drive Anywhere was just the tip of the iceberg. We have had lots of frustration for years when it comes to cloud storage solutions. Lets just say they leave a lot to be desired, especially for a power user. As an IT firm, we also handle a lot of data backups, migrations, and a plethora of accounts across a huge number of services. We have been looking for a good solution to better manage all of our file storage. There are some multi-drive apps, but the bar seems pretty low.

Phase 1: Build Drive Anywhere
Phase 2: …
Phase 3: Profit

We had the itch to create a better multi-cloud file storage application, and the Covid pandemic provided the opportunity.

The Frustrations of Multiple Clouds

There are many obstacles that come with balancing multiple cloud storage accounts, the most common of which are organization and backups. According to a Gartner survey of public cloud users, 81% of respondents said they are working with two or more providers. Digital service professionals, especially IT teams, tend to have it the hardest as they have to support their own solutions as well as collaborate with a plethora of clients. Too many accounts, so many files, protecting sensitive data, changing UIs, needing redundant backups, and concerns of security breaches are all problems for users with multiple file management providers. We experienced these problems first hand, and decided to build a solution to solve them, because that is what we do!

The Process 

The map to complete Drivey wasn’t straightforward, but we stayed the course and reached the finish line. We followed an iterate product development process to take Drivey from inception to launch. 

1. Identify problem, confirm the gap, interview users

   While we experienced these problems first-hand, we were not sure if this was a viable market opportunity. We began exploring existing solutions on the market, interviewed clients and colleagues, and honed in on our solution and target audience. In this case, provide a better experience for managing multiple file storage accounts for IT experts, digital professionals, and freelancers.

2. Prototype, test, iterate

   Once we identified the problem and the audience, we began outlining features and prototyping user flows and wireframes for the application. We reviewed these prototypes with potential users, gathered feedback, and iterated on our concept.

3. Design, develop, test

   After the prototyping was completed, the core concepts outlined, and the nice-to-have features developed, we began designing high fidelity UI designs as we developed the front-end and backend systems for the application. This product required a huge number of integrations, along with some advanced data manipulation, and even some blockchain development. The integrations were completed, the application was extended, and it went through rigorous internal testing.

4. Marketing planning

   As we move toward launch, we have strategized our best organic and paid marketing opportunities. We will implement them post-launch, monitor their effectiveness, iterate and grow. One of our best opportunities for this product is the organic growth available by providing a strong freemium product in the Chrome and Edge extension stores.

5. Beta

   We are finally launching our beta, which is a two-phased program. First we have a small closed beta planned with several clients and colleagues which will further validate our features, and provide additional testing before we take it public. Our public beta will happen in late November 2022, and will be a short period where we open up the application to the public without any promotion or advertisement so that we can ensure platform stability before a larger go-live push. We plan to have Drivey out of beta and in the extension stores before year end.

Conclusion

We can’t emphasize enough the importance of iteration throughout the product development process. User-focused product planning ensures you are building a product that actually solves your audience’s problems. From the beginning, Drivey’s goals were focused on consolidating disjointed file management and cloud storage accounts, providing a better user experience to find, organize, and share files, while also making transfers and backups a breeze. The evolution of Drivey’s beta has been a rewarding journey. Tragic specializes in developing next-generation solutions with kickass technology, and Drivey is exactly that! Our commitment to pushing out Drivey is how we approach all projects, with strategy, planning, and the resilience to push through any obstacle to develop a cohesive solution.