discussion
Would you recommend this product?
Lisa DziubaFlawlessApp.io Founder
Maker
For the last 4 years, I’ve been working with community building in design & development industry while running my startup, @flawlessappio.
We used many community-building techniques by ourselves and learn from great companies in our space — from Sketch, Adobe, Abstract, InVision, Figma, Marvel. Those companies make tools for designers. Some of them have huge funding, others - don't.
But what they have in common: all of them invest time in working with the design community. And when you look around, all companies try to win users' loyalty and build community.
Engaged community drives product development and spreads the word about the product. It gives a dream viral growth, while the company keeps building a sticky product.
But how to build such a loyal engaged community?
I and my team put all our learnings into one research on How Design Companies Build Communities. In short, you can follow 8 steps to grow your community 👉
1) Give the best learning opportunities for the community.
2) Provide resources community might need
3) Invite the community to contribute.
4) Empower the community to build plugins & extensions
5) Actively communicate with the community
6) Get community offline
7) Be proactive in existing communities
8) Manage community efforts
Good luck with your community building and feel free to ask questions!
GraemeMaking Prototypr.io and Letter 💌
@flawlessappio @lisadziuba and congrats all the makers, there isn't any resource out there like this that captures community activities during a crazy explosion of competing tools in 1 industry..useful to see how to win customers with swag lol
Fajar Siddiq👨🏻💻🇸🇬🏝️ Serial Entrepreneur, Singapore
@flawlessappio @lisadziuba CONGRATULATIONS FOR THE LAUNCH!!!! this is amazing! how do i join this community?
Ahmed Sulaimancrosspatch.io Maker | Harmonica Player
Maker
@flawlessappio @lisadziuba @graeme_fulton Thank you so much, Graeme, for your support!
People should never underestimate the great power of SWAG! 😁
GraemeMaking Prototypr.io and Letter 💌
@flawlessappio @lisadziuba @fajarsiddiq haha Fajar it's not a community itself - it's a research on how the different design tool companies built their own communities/user base
Ahmed Sulaimancrosspatch.io Maker | Harmonica Player
Maker
Valia Havryliuk
Maker
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲!
Have you ever thought about how the companies get a huge community of users? The main reason is definitely the right product, which solves a huge need. But growing a community around this product isn't less important.
Why building community matter? With community, you can get users, traffic and first sales. It’s always invaluable feedback, information, and ideas.
That's why we made a huge report on how SMM, content, event marketing can help you to build a social community with practices form the biggest design companies! Please, take a look 💛
Yannick MatheyDesign + code + CEO — Techstars '18
Building a large community is probably the hardest thing to do but also the best thing that may happens to a team building a service. IMHO that's the first thing to care, thank you for this precious resource! In which domain did you built your first community @valiahavruliyk ?
Ahmed Sulaimancrosspatch.io Maker | Harmonica Player
Maker
@valiahavruliyk @yannick_mthy Thanks, Yannick! That's so true, community – is an indispensable part of any product development. If one wants to succeed with the product, the community piece is absolutely necessary.
Yevhenii PetelievMac Software Engineer at MacPaw Inc.
Awesome! You've done a lot of work. I can’t wait when I read practices in more detail. Congratulations)
Ahmed Sulaimancrosspatch.io Maker | Harmonica Player
Maker
Tkachenko Arthur ~UA~Building code for Food Tech projects
perfecto!
Ahmed Sulaimancrosspatch.io Maker | Harmonica Player
Maker
@arthur_tkachenko Thank you so much for your support, Arthur! :)
Lachlan KirkwoodHelping Makers Look Better 👕
Such a valuable resource 🙏
Ahmed Sulaimancrosspatch.io Maker | Harmonica Player
Maker
@lachlankirkwood Really glad you find it valuable, Lachlan! 🤗
Lisa DziubaFlawlessApp.io Founder
Maker
🌟 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 🌟
An example from @marvelapp on being proactive in existing design communities.
* * *
Many designers love Product Hunt and visit it often. Being active here is a winning tactic for engaging with the creative community.
The Marvel founder @mutlu82 himself is also pretty active on Product Hunt.
Murat Mutlu hunts not only Marvel products but also tools and resources from the community. For example, he hunted Prototypr.io, a popular design resource, and Planable, a cool marketing tool made by our friends. You can often see Murat commenting products here too. Such a proactive approach from Murat makes Marvel a good citizen of the Product Hunt community. That pays back every time they launch something Marvel-related and help engage with all design community here.
* * *
Wow, it's a super detailed research! Are you planning to extend it and add new companies?
Lisa DziubaFlawlessApp.io Founder
Maker
Lisa DziubaFlawlessApp.io Founder
Maker
🌟 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 🌟
An example from Sketch on getting community offline.
It’s super cool to gather an existing community of loyal users and supporters in the real world. People can exchange knowledge and ideas, find mutual opportunities, and have fun. Sketch is great at gathering the design community offline.
* * *
Sketch meetups are really global
We met Galya and Todor from @sketchsources in 2015, when we’d just started Flawless App. They ran the first-ever Sketch meetup in Ukraine. Now Sketch lists 103 local meetups all around the world.
Sketch also partners with design-oriented companies. One example is MacPaw in Ukraine, who then organized Sketch meetups on their behalf.
* * *
Stephen OlmsteadVP, Chief of Staff @ InVision
Congrats on the PH launch folks- love your community focus (how meta!).
Lisa DziubaFlawlessApp.io Founder
Maker
@theolmstead thank you for always supporting us :) You are the best!