The idea is simple. We all get too many notifications on our phones. Snowball helps you never miss an important one—by hiding all the rest. It's like a priority inbox for your notifications.
I worked closely with the founding team of Snowball to launch a major new version of their notification tray for Android.
I helped them define the a basic narrative of the app, a core UX model, visual design, and brand definition. After launch, I continue to work with the team on growth and engagement features.
There's a lot more to a successful launch than just having a great app. Your brand and launch strategy are equally important. I helped evolve the current brand and build out Google Play Store marketing materials, a new version of the website and well as various social media assets—all under one new consistent brand voice.
The first thing I did after coming on board was to help define the core narrative of the app. I put together a few basic narrative story arcs of what the app did and then put them in front of real Android users to see which messages they responded positively to. I then pulled those core stories into the main marketing messages we use anytime we are talking aobut Snowball. Now that the app is live, we continue to talk to real users and modify our core messaging as we get new pieces of feedback.
Because Andoird already has a notifications tray, we needed to set Snowball apart with some character of its own. Daniel Burka had previously designed Steve the Yeti as the core brand character—so I decided to double down on Steve's personality. I pulled in Carlos Rocafort to put Steve into a variety of fun scenarios that we could use throughout the app and in promotional materials. Besides being lots of fun, this decision has given the Snowball brand a lot of recognizability and ownability. I look forward to Steve getting into lots of mischief in the future.
