Figma’s new website builder promises to unify design and web publishing in a single workflow. But does it deliver on that promise — or just stir up another layer of design-tool hype?

In a move that sent ripples across design Twitter (and a few Slack channels), Figma recently launched Sites, a no-code website builder integrated directly into its design platform.

The pitch? Design, prototype, and publish a fully responsive site — without leaving the tool you already live in. It’s a bold step into territory once reserved for Webflow, Framer, and the increasingly blurred line between design and development.

This isn’t just a new feature. It’s part of a broader trend: design tools are no longer content with the design phase. They’re chasing the entire product lifecycle, pushing deeper into the workflows traditionally owned by engineers. Figma Sites is the latest, and arguably boldest, expression of that ambition.

Out of the box, Figma Sites delivers a visually impressive experience. You get responsive layout controls with multi-breakpoint editing, prebuilt templates, drag-and-drop site blocks, and interactive components — all in the familiar Figma interface. You can even publish your site live to the web with a custom domain, no dev team required.

For solo designers, personal portfolios, and internal teams, it’s a compelling offering. The time-to-launch is absurdly short, and the learning curve is basically zero for anyone already fluent in Figma. It’s also a win for those tired of bouncing between Figma, Miro, Webflow, and Google Docs just to get a concept online.

But spend a few hours with Sites, and the cracks start to show. First, the underlying code structure is what some would call “div soup” — a mess of non-semantic HTML that undermines accessibility and long-term maintainability. There’s no way to export the code or host it elsewhere, meaning you’re effectively locked into Figma’s ecosystem.That’s a serious red flag for developers and anyone who’s been burned by vendor lock-in before.

Critically, Sites doesn’t support dynamic content, form handling, or any kind of CMS — features that are standard in tools like Webflow. Without those, Sites can’t support anything beyond static pages. Add in performance glitches, UI crashes, and missing polish, and it becomes clear this is still beta software wearing a production-ready badge.

Then there’s the community reaction. While many users are intrigued, there’s growing frustration that Figma prioritized this launch over long-requested updates to prototyping and collaboration. As one user put it: “Cool, but can we fix Smart Animate first?”

It’s impossible to look at this release without seeing it in the shadow of the failed Adobe acquisition. After a high-profile deal that was set to reshape the design software industry fell through due to regulatory scrutiny, Figma has been left to prove — to both users and shareholders — that it can grow on its own.

And that’s where Sites starts to feel less like a fully formed product and more like a strategic push to accelerate monetization and market expansion. Shipping a high-visibility feature like Sites sends a message: Figma isn’t standing still. But it also exposes cracks in the foundation. Instead of doubling down on refining its already market-dominant design tools, Figma seems to be stretching itself thin in an effort to look bigger, faster.

There’s a real sense that this isn’t just about product vision — it’s about optics, positioning, and pressure to prove post-Adobe independence. Whether that leads to meaningful innovation or a wave of half-baked features remains to be seen.

Despite its flaws, Figma Sites has struck a chord with parts of the design community. Indie creators are already using it to launch sleek personal pages. Internal teams at startups and agencies see real value in using Sites for prototypes, internal tools, and marketing experiments. In those contexts, where the bar for accessibility and code quality is lower, the appeal is obvious.

But few see it as ready for client-facing work. Enterprise teams and developers are unlikely to embrace a tool that doesn’t support code handoff, proper CMS integration, or performance tuning. For now, Figma Sites feels like a sidekick tool — useful, but not yet mission-critical.

On paper, Figma now competes directly with Framer and Webflow. But feature-for-feature, it’s not a fair fight. Framer offers a more robust CMS, cleaner code output, and greater production readiness. Webflow remains the gold standard for designers who want full control, dynamic content, and semantic markup — without touching a line of code.

Millions of designers already live in Figma. By adding publishing to the mix, Figma introduces tool consolidation as a differentiator. Even if Sites can’t beat Framer or Webflow today, its sheer convenience could reshape how teams approach early-stage design and prototyping.

If Figma commits to evolving Sites into a fully capable platform, it has enormous potential. Imagine semantic HTML output with accessibility baked in, a CMS built natively for designers, AI-generated code blocks, exportable handoff-friendly code, and performance insights built into the canvas. Add deeper integration with tokens and design systems, and suddenly Sites stops being an MVP and becomes an actual workflow hub.

That’s a big “if,” but not outside the realm of possibility. Figma has a track record of improving rapidly post-launch. If they can keep momentum — and not just rush to ship headlines—they might just build something game-changing.

Figma Sites seems to be more than a feature — it’s a statement of intent. It shows where the industry is headed: tighter loops, fewer tools, faster launches. But as of today, it’s not the Framer or Webflow killer some might wish it to be. It’s a sleek, undercooked beta that works best for prototypes, portfolios, and internal tools—not serious, client-ready websites.

Still, there’s something thrilling about what it hints at. And in a market where every tool is trying to do everything, Figma’s vision — if properly executed — could redefine what “designing for the web” means.

As online shopping continues to soar in 2020, the knock-on effect is the closure of more and more brick-and-mortar stores. In 2019, more than 9,300 physical stores were closed, up 59% from the total recorded in the previous year.

As if this wasn’t enough, the pressure to add an online component became all the more pronounced with COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdowns, which forced retailers to go online to survive.

There are many different ways retailers can undergo a digital makeover to offer more convenient ways to shop and improve the overall customer experience, and their common denominator is the integration of technology.

Loyalty programs focus on creating a long-term relationship between brands and their customers through special incentives, discounts or rewards.

Home Depot is one of the brands that has successfully managed to fuse the physical store and the online platform. Based in the U.S, the home store leverages its Pro Xtra loyalty program to meet its pro customers’ needs.

Signed-up customers receive benefits like paint rewards, volume pricing, and other exclusive offers.

Similarly, Starbucks offers free drinks to customers who sign up to their reward scheme.

To make things interesting, users earn two stars per every $1 paid through the app with a Starbucks Card. The stars can then be exchanged for different rewards. Simple but effective.

Loyalty programs aren’t always about rewards or earning points.

For instance, Nike has created a “member-only” program redefining its rewards program for any active member. Through its NikePlus membership program, members can access freebies and rewards such as birthday gifts, free shipping, etc.

When it comes to enhancing shoppers’ experience, brands are leveraging digital wayfinding technology and inventory data to guide shoppers through their purchasing journey.

To broaden its mobile strategy, Walgreens launched an in-store navigation app, called aisle411, offering pharmacy access and virtual mapping to all its stores worldwide.

Online retailers Target and Hointer also use in-store guidance solutions to provide a better in-store customer experience. In department stores’ isles, stores can also use custom QR codes to display product information and communicate offers and discounts in an engaging manner.

Most women will attest that trying out new makeup, hair color, or even lipstick can prove to be quite expensive and time-consuming before finding a style that aligns with one’s taste.

Brands like L’Oréal Paris, Maybelline, Sephora, and bareMinerals have invested in virtual try-on tools based on cutting-edge technology that lets customers try hundreds of makeup products digitally.

Through augmented reality, L’Oréal enables customers to shop online and try on countless shades even when they already have makeup on. The app has a virtual try-on feature that detects parts of your face, like the eyes and lips, and then applies virtual cosmetics to those places.

Furthermore, there’s also a lot of potential for the application of augmented reality in interior design. Big furniture brands like Home Depot, Wayfair, Target, and IKEA offer product visualization through augmented reality apps.

This is how it looks in practice:

As a bonus example, here is a throwback to 2009 and one of the first examples of augmented technology in retail. It was implemented in some LEGO stores, and kids could use it to see animated 3-D models of the completed set.

Another way to spice up a physical store with a digital layer is by implementing interactive digital displays which can be used to:

The fast-food industry was quick to adopt this technology in order to reduce long ordering lines. For instance, in many of McDonald’s stores, you can use an interactive digital display to make an order. Instead of queuing, you can sit down as you wait for your order.

A study by Forrester has found that long lines at the register are one of the top three reasons why shoppers would consider going to another physical store.

Two great examples of brands ahead of the curve are David’s Bridal and the mattress retailer Sleepy’s which have partnered with Ingenico Group to implement mobile contactless payment terminals in their physical stores and speed up their checkout process.

Furthermore, a natural evolution of smart payment systems has led to self-checkout systems, but not the outdated kind with bulky self-checkout stations that often require more human assistance than expected.

These QR payment solutions are prevalent in China, where they are available through Alibaba’s AliPay and Tencent’s WeChat. In the US, you can find the same technology used by Walmart. Shoppers can use a mobile app on their phone, connected to a credit/debit card, to scan QR codes and check out effortlessly.

Considering how smart payment systems reduce labor requirements and optimize the checkout process, it is difficult to imagine a future where they are not the standard in every bigger physical store.

To remain relevant in the retail landscape, brands must be ready to respond to modern customer needs and take the advantages that come with adopting new technological solutions.

Integrating technology leads to more closed deals – failure to do so will only lead to an expanded list of closed retail locations.

Traditionally, consumers have sought information about vehicles at car salons. Today, they find most information within seconds on Google. Do car dealers still have authority in this abundance of information offered, and what is their impact on consumer decision-making?

We discussed this and more in our interview with Nikola Galić, Marketing Manager at Volvo Cars, Adria region.

Although customers still purchase their vehicles at dealerships, a lot of research and influential moments happen online before the final decision-making. Some research suggests that a very high percentage of vehicles buyers, up to 95%, use digital channels as one source of information. Among them, approximately one-third collect all information they need online, from start to making the final purchase. This means it is critical for dealers to make the most out of the moments a shopper goes through before they ever step into the showroom.

The automotive consumer journey is among the most complex of all industries. There has been a lot of talk regarding how automakers need to worry less about the bricks and intensely work on the clicks. Although online tools can be highly beneficial in the search process, true added value still happens at the dealers’ premises. Here I’m thinking mainly of the test drive experience, final financial package, and additional value for customers involved in the delivery of high valued products and services.

For automotive dealers facing these challenges, the goal is to make the digital experience work in harmony with the dealership. For example, after the consumer perceives the initial brand communication messages through the media, the purchase experience starts with an online configurator where the customer goes through available options and builds the desired car from the comfort of their home.

After initial configuration, it is natural that the customer would like to experience the product in person, and this touch and feel experience is something that cannot be delivered online. After each configuration, we offer the customers to book the test drive experience. During and after the test drive, the customer can receive all relevant product information, and the sales consultant has another opportunity to elaborate on the brand story.

Automotive brands have traditionally invested a lot in the physical experience, and Volvo is not an exception. Volvo Retail Experience is a concept introduced in 2015 with the intention to make the customer feel as relaxed as if they were at home. For example, the customer area called ‘living room’ consists of beautiful Scandinavian furniture, free WiFi, lounge music, refreshing water in Swedish glass, and Fika – the traditional coffee break in Sweden.

But we are also giving the customer a view behind the scenes since the workshop will be visible through glass walls as a part of the unique concept of VPS – The Volvo Personal service. This concept aims to simplify, personalize, and upgrade Volvo’s relationship with the customer with the inclusion of a so-called ‘personal technician.’ That person handles everything related to the car service: From the service appointment arrangement to car service, even the paperwork. Basically, the service advisor becomes the technician, and the technician becomes the service advisor. Like a doctor who knows everything about their patient.

The most important part of the purchasing process in the automotive industry is the test drive, meaning the main efficiency measurements in a car dealership revolve around that event. For example, at the level of marketing efficiency, we monitor KPIs such as started and finished configurations, test drive/offer request related to overall website traffic, and specific marketing campaigns. At this point, retailers take over so on the retail level we measure percentages of performed test drives in relation to showroom traffic, and afterward the offers issued and the closing ratio.

We strongly believe in our products so we stimulate sales consultants to perform the test drive with every customer entering the showroom. And the numbers are pretty clear – more performed test drives result in more closed deals. So if the retail stores want to increase sales results, the first step is increasing activity in the area of performed test drives. We also think outside of the dealership walls – we’ve developed a mobile pop-up showroom and are organizing events across the region in areas where Volvo doesn’t have official showrooms. It’s important we bring our products closer to the potential customers.

There has been a lot of discussion about the future of sales in the automotive industry and the possibility of selling cars online. The most recent research shows that a vast majority of vehicle shoppers still want the dealership involved in the buying process, and it doesn’t appear that is changing with younger buyers.

That being said, car dealers definitely need to actively increase their online presence and optimize their efforts on traditional marketing channels because digitalization has reduced the need to visit dealerships. Over time, the average number of customer visits to the dealer before buying a car has dropped considerably: From three or four times to around two. This means making a good first impression is even more crucial than before.

Stay aware of the importance to keep transforming the customer experience and remain on top of the evolving customer preferences in the area of mobility in order to shape their retail services accordingly.

Digital technologies are disrupting the majority of today’s industries, changing the way we live and interact with the world.

Marc Andreessen’s prediction has come true – software is eating the world indeed, and people have gotten used to having an app for just about anything.

We are witnessing the metamorphosis from the front row as companies reach out to us determined to reap the long-term benefits of implementing modern technologies. Getting there often means having to completely rethink business models and market strategies.

Although the shift to digital holds ground for some industries and is a less obvious choice for others, most companies are finding themselves working or utilizing technology in one way or another.

In the proliferation of digital-first brands and industries which have partially or completely adapted to this new reality, it’s important to remember that implementing tech or embarking on a digital transformation is not a one-size-fits-all process.

Business leaders are often confronted with difficult questions when it comes to adopting new technologies. Operating a digital business requires investments, skills, and resourcing levels.

This is particularly evident with industry verticals whose primary sources of revenue come from physical products or services.

The pressure to innovate is there, but the vision is missing.

The financial services industry was able to make a complete transformation from brick and mortar to almost entirely digital.

Retail businesses are also reaping benefits after investing in new technologies, from e-commerce platforms to hybrid solutions like express in-store pickups or advanced drive-throughs.

Home appliance manufacturers are equipping their products with a range of connectivity and control functionalities.

Even consumer brands like IKEA, Nike, or L’Oreal are heavily investing in digital in ways that complement their respective brand narratives.

Why? Because consumers of today are digitally conscious and using their devices more than ever.

Yet, many brands make the mistake of assuming digital transformation doesn’t apply to physical products and don’t harvest the opportunity to reach potential audiences in their natural habitat.

One study found that 63% of shoppers choose mobile apps due to the convenience they offer, such as the speed of use, the option to store settings, as well as the benefits or collecting rewards.

Handy at all times, a mobile app is a practical tool for creating additional value around the core product, such as delivering convenience, personalizing the product offer, or incentivizing purchases.

Furthermore, brands use apps as a platform for exclusive content that helps use the core product more efficiently or more creatively, as well as a system for rewarding loyal customers.

Apps can also include features not necessarily related to the product’s main functionality, instead adding to the overall experience of using the product.

For example, many kitchen appliance brands use the digital platform to deliver recipes and cooking tips.

Furthermore, pharmaceutical companies might offer tools to track vitals, schedule therapy reminders, and improve patient well-being through improved drug adherence.

A running-shoe brand might offer a music player as a feature in their app, as the two are often used together while exercising.

Discovery workshops are a real gem for finding purpose and direction.

Apps don’t just provide additional value to end-users, but also give brands vital insight.

In today’s supply chain, there might be multiple degrees of separation between manufacturers and consumers. Technologies like big data, cloud computing, and machine learning enable direct communication between them.

Behavioral information, combined with details like demographics and location presents a valuable resource for companies who want to better understand their consumers’ habits and preferences.

With data from the analytics tools from real users, companies can revisit the product and offer an updated version of a product that can bring more value to the user.

However, due to regulations like GDPR and CCPA, companies must explicitly disclose how they plan on using personal information and give each individual an option to opt out, preferably without crippling the app’s main features.

Even if a brand’s product or service is 100% analogue in its nature, it can still respond to consumer demand for integrated experiences across multiple channels.

Disney, a global leader in selling experiences at scale, offers the Disneyland smartphone app that makes every visit more magical.

The app boasts features such as GPS-enabled maps for wayfinding, checking ride waiting times, booking dinner reservations, and even locating your favorite character mascots.

Another interesting example of seamlessly unifying both analogue and digital experiences is the stationary brand Moleskine.

Famous for its minimalistic leather notebooks, the team at Moleskine realized that consumers were shifting towards digital, and have created a series of innovative apps and products aimed at tech-savvy consumers.

Consider spending the night in a fancy restaurant or catching a movie at the cinema.

You could order Uber Eats or watch a film on Netflix instead, but these are two entirely different experiences.

Cinemas are offering complementary apps stimulating engagement and ticket purchases, but the core experience of watching a movie in an IMAX theatre is one that cannot be substituted.

Similarly, the majority of consumer products do what they are supposed to do as entirely analogue.

Think of a traditional vacuum cleaner. Sure, there is a wide selection of cordless robot vacuum cleaners on the market today, which can be programmed to cruise and clean exactly the path you set up for it, avoiding walls and other obstacles.

For many consumers though tidying up with the trusty dumb vacuum that plugs into the socket is good enough.

Just like many consumers won’t find enough value or justification to upgrade to the digitized, smart, and often significantly more expensive versions of traditional products, many traditional product companies are rightfully confused as to how or even why to invest in digitization.

With more gen-z consumers entering the workforce, we can expect more and more hyper-connected consumers with money to spend on enhanced physical products and services.

In addition to augmenting a physical product or a service, there’s also a more disruptive direction to consider.

Instead of creating a companion app, some companies are integrating technology into the product itself, thus creating smart products and connected devices.

Creating a mass production IoT device requires specialized skills and domain experts that go far beyond just manufacturing, such as industrial design, electrical engineering, R&D, and marketing.

It makes sense for brands to step back and consider whether the benefits outweigh the cost of research, implementation, deployment, etc.

Enhancing physical products and services with digital experiences is often not a straightforward process. The direction each business takes depends on the long-term vision, capacity, and opportunity.

Luckily, innovative businesses playing the long game are becoming increasingly aware of the profound impact of technology and taking action in the innovation department.

Is your business one of them?

The only feeling more exhilarating than scoring an amazing new project is seeing the satisfaction of clients when they see the results. The path to creating a digital product usually begins with a discovery workshop.

These workshops usually happen on-site or at our offices, with the majority of stakeholders present and focusing on the project. Over the years, we have delivered hundreds of projects and facilitated just as many workshops, most of them face-to-face.

However, narrow budgets, overlapping schedules, tight deadlines, or even global pandemics can get in the way of in-person workshops.

When that happens, technology comes to the rescue, and workshops go online. There are fewer breaks and fewer snacks, but remote discovery workshops are a crucial step in setting up the grounds for building a successful digital product.

We’ve been creating software long enough to confirm that our know-how in software design and development is best utilized when the entire team understands what they’re building – and for whom.

During a discovery workshop, we establish a high-level understanding of the client’s business and market, learn about end users and their needs, and flesh out possible solutions to the expected or existing problems.

Additionally, we sketch early concepts, define a preliminary tech stack, and discuss details such as roadmaps, priorities, and potential bottlenecks.

This framework has helped us run numerous remote workshops successfully. With every new iteration our team does, we keep perfecting it.

Remote workshops require more focus and discipline from all participants. It’s simply not as interactive as meeting in person, and sitting for long hours in front of a computer makes it easier for our brains to wander off.

To make remote workshops effective, the agenda should be tighter, and things are packed into a shorter time period – max 4 to 5 hours a day, down from 7,5 hours for in-person workshops. In one of our remote workshops, we decided to break down what would have been a one-day workshop into four 2-hour remote sessions throughout the week.

Make sure to communicate the agenda at least one week in advance. This is a no-brainer for any meeting, but it’s crucial for workshops because the goal is to have a bunch of data and information to work with by the end of each session.

Our teams have two agendas; one for participants and one for the facilitator. The former is a general one that we share with the calendar invite. The latter is much more detailed and plans out every ten to twenty minutes of the workshop. This way, the materials and resources are all in one place, and this also helps keep up the pace of the workshop.

The agenda should account for details like introduction, lunch, snacks, and bathroom breaks. A rule of thumb is to secure two 2-hour slots for high-focused work in one day and have everything else planned in between.

Workshops are most efficient with five to six participants. From our side, there’s usually a business development representative, a technical director, and a lead designer. From the client’s side, it really depends on what the project is about.

It’s important to define who’s going to be the project owner and have them present. Other stakeholders that will have direct oversight of the project are also crucial in this phase.

Keep in mind that people aren’t engaged when they have nothing to contribute to the topic, so tailor the workshop in a way to get the most out of each participant.

Giving out homework helps keep remote workshops more structured and goal-oriented. Questions you would typically ask during in-person meetings can instead be handed out via email in the form of a questionnaire.

The premise here is that the client knows their business better than anyone, so make sure to ask things like who your target audiences are, who the competitors are, how they are performing, where they draw inspiration from, etc. These questions will help you set the narrative and focus on what’s important.

For maximum efficiency, every participant should join the call from their own computer. Our teams use Zoom for remote calls (as the rest of the world, apparently) and sometimes Google Meet.

Encourage everyone to turn on their cameras, since it makes the entire experience more personal. Having said that, it’s useful to have participants check their internet connection to prevent major disruptions during the call.

It also pays to remind participants of the expected code of conduct, whether it’s muting the microphone unless speaking, using the raise hand option, etc.

Don’t rely on the chat function within the videoconferencing app because the transcript tends to disappear the second after you hang up, plus there is no option to upload files.

Also, you’ll want to have the entire correspondence from the workshop available at later times, and Slack has proven fantastic for that. You can dedicate a specific channel to the workshop and keep all the resources and links there. It is also useful for note-taking, sharing sketches, or any form of written feedback.

Unlike using sharpies, post-its, and physical timers, remote workshops require a different set of tools. To replicate the meeting room setting as best you can, try using digital tools such as Figma or Miro.

During workshop preparation, it’s best to pre-fill certain boards and just add the content provided by participants. There are a bunch of pre-made templates for drafting mood boards, user journeys, and prototyping. Our teams use a custom-branded set of boards.

While our list of steps for carrying out a successful remote workshop covers a lot of ground, the world will always be more unpredictable. Sometimes it’s the machine that will freeze. Other times, it will be the human.

We found that having good improvisation skills is just as important as coming prepared. If you feel you are not getting the expected results, don’t be afraid to make on-the-spot tweaks.

If you want to dig even deeper into the topic of remote discovery workshops, check out the ten ways to avoid remote discovery burnout.

We hope these tips help your team conduct better remote workshops in the future.

Keep in mind that being on the same page about the vision, anticipated outcomes, and the steps necessary to achieve them is more important than all participants being in the same room.

It isn’t yacht week, and the next season of Game of Thrones is not slated for release until 2019, but a quick glance at Google Trends can tell you the internet has gone crazy for Croatia. So what is it that has the world feeling Croatia, and Croatians feeling like champions?

For those living under a rock, Croatia’s national football team were runners-up at the 2018 World Cup, securing a silver medal and making almost every single person holding the Croatian passport extremely proud.

Organized by FIFA and paid for by the Russians, this World Cup was by far the biggest breakout for Croatia’s national football team. Led by the head coach Zlatko Dalić and captain Luka Modrić, the team played brilliantly. Argentina and Iceland were easy targets, but the suspense that followed was thrilling; first with Denmark, and then in the quarter-finals against home team Russia. Both were beaten at penalty kicks.

Even though England, the country that literally wrote the rules of modern football, had an arrogant kickoff, they couldn’t hold off the pressure from Modrić, Perišić, and the crew. For a game that was destined for extra-time, the goal by Mario Mandžukić declared that ‘it’s not coming home’.

This win meant Croatia’s up for the grand prize. They never made it this far, and the euphoria among fans hit new heights. Even though France ultimately went on to win the World Cup, Croatia rose to prominence simply because it’s, unlike their croissant-eating opponent, far smaller and less known.

The lesson here is winning also means pushing boundaries and surpassing own achievements, both as individuals or as a collective.

The official numbers aren’t disclosed, but an estimated 3.4 billion people across the globe will ultimately have watched this year’s World Cup. Now that’s a big number! 

As for Croatia, a global frenzy ensued after beating England in the semi-final. People were discussing and honoring Croatia in places where it’s expected, but also on some less obvious sites (looking at you PornHub).

Memes of all kinds were spawning across the internet. The conduct of Croatia’s president Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, hugging and kissing everybody during the award ceremony has for sure helped with the hype.

This was Croatia’s winning recipe for becoming an overnight internet sensation. Every person that never heard a thing about the country is suddenly trying to look it up on a world map. For a nation of some four million people, this really is a big deal. A graph by Mediatoolkit indicates that after winning against Russia, Croatia got more coverage than in the last 3 years combined. Croatian Tourism Board rejoice!

To many, football (or soccer) is a religion, and while some argue it’s the most important unimportant thing in the world, Croatia scored an impressive result and earned itself a fair share of the global spotlight for a brief moment in time. A spectacular homecoming that drew over 500,000 people to the streets was the culmination.

All in all, the country seems to welcome opportunities like the World Cup, where they can showcase their talents, determination, and character.

Luckily, football isn’t the only sport Croatians are good at. Whether it’s the Olympics, Wimbledon or the NBA, the country’s athletes have stacked up impressive results over the years.

Led by siblings Janica and Ivica Kostelić, with six and four Olympic medals respectively, Croatian representatives have scored a total of 44 shiny medallions. NBA legends Dražen Petrović and Dino Rađa have been enlisted in the Basketball Hall of Fame, alongside legends like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Shaquille O’Neal. There’s also Goran Ivanišević, a four-time Wimbledon finalist who entered the 2001 event as a wildcard before taking home the gold trophy.

It’s not a small feat for such a tiny Mediterranean country. Dozens of athletes are regarded as national legends and there’s no telling who might be next, but we’ll wrap up our trip down the memory lane and let curious minds explore further. To conclude, it’s safe to say sport plays a significant role in Croatia’s culture.

Finding Croatia on a map is like finding a needle in a haystack, but the country’s pride are not only athletes. Beyond sport, which is by far lighter for comprehension than science, Croatia’s history is marked by innovators and visionaries.

The inventor of the alternating current Nikola Tesla was born here. The modern parachute, mechanical pencil, torpedo and the antibiotic Azithromycin were all the results of brilliant Croatian minds. In more recent history, a programmer and student of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing in Zagreb created the AMP MP3 Playback Engine, which is considered to be the first MP3 player in the world and a predecessor of Winamp. And do you remember that lightning-fast car Richard Hammond crashed in? It’s the world’s fastest electric vehicle Concept One, devised by Mate Rimac, a Croatian inventor and entrepreneur.

Just this July, while everybody was fixated on football, Croatian mathematicians returned from the International Mathematical Olympiad. The young team brought five medals back from Romania. That’s also an achievement to be proud of!

As a bonus, the most irrelevant piece of garment, the necktie, originates from Croatia.

Now we’re getting to the juicy part. With over 1,000 islands, 8 national parks, 11 nature parks and 120 sunny days per year, Croatia is considered a tourism magnet. Rich in cultural heritage and tradition, packed with beaches, islands and mountains, serving up delicious Mediterranean cuisine, it truly is a destination that can satisfy even the pickiest of wanderlusts. Here are a couple of shots to whet your appetite.

The country was always considered a hidden jewel for culture-seeking aficionados, but it reached its full potential (read: discovered by the majority of Americans) only after the historical city of Dubrovnik doubled as the capital of Westeros in the Game of Thrones. The popularity of both Dubrovnik and Croatia immediately skyrocketed. A lesser-known fact is that the series was actually filmed across multiple locations in the country.

To most Croatian citizens that’s all good news, especially considering tourism accounts for up to a staggering 20% of GDP.

Now it’s out there, Croatia is a country full of smart people, great at sports and wants you to come visit. Look, there’s even a heart-shaped island to prove that.

We always knew Croatia is the place to be. That’s why we’ve created a special landing page for all of you who want to visit. This guide will give you a better picture of where the country is, and help you experience the best of what it has to offer.

Hopefully, this tickled your imagination, and whether it’s sports, history, innovation, or relaxation that piques your interest in Croatia, we hope you’ll consider it for your bucket list.

Update note, 22 June 2023: When we know better, we do better. There is a new and more thorough version of this blog post that we suggest you check out for our more recent take on the subject: ‘How Much Does it Cost to Make an App?’ – Wrong Question.

When it comes to building an app, the cost is often top of mind for business owners and corporate stakeholders. While apps present significant opportunities that drive efficiency and reach new audiences, they may also come with complex price tags.

Nobody’s keen to invest without a clear understanding of its impact on their bottom line. However, providing accurate cost estimates is rarely as simple as hearing a concept, identifying necessary features, and pricing it out.

Knowing how app development cost is estimated, and how you can best maximize the value, ensures a more straightforward process, for both you and the app development team.

Clutch, a leading B2B research company that reviews, ranks, and compares digital agencies, recently conducted a study of 102 app development companies from around the world. The goal was to better understand the cost of a building a mobile app. The report states that to accurately estimate the value of app development, you must adhere to three rules:

Be skeptical of app developers who are quick to provide a fixed quote. Be skeptical too of those who lack curiosity.

App development is a technical process with many moving parts, especially for larger projects. A price estimate will usually require a pre-research or discovery stage to accurately estimate cost unless you are asking for the simplest of apps. If you are unfamiliar with this process, take a look at how we approach research & discovery.

According to Clutch, nearly 70% of app development companies require a pre-research or discovery stage before moving forward with a project. These “workshops” typically include market research, user interviews, competitive analysis, and prototyping, among other exercises. The goals in this phase are to clarify the purpose of the app, identify target users, establish the feature set, write a technical specification and build a development timeline.

Moving forward with your app concept without a proper discovery phase can lead to confusion, missed objectives, and unexpected costs.

Let’s say you have a list of the features you want your app to have: push notifications, search, a payment system, etc. Can each of these features be assigned a price tag? The answer is a resounding, “No!”

Any feature can vary greatly in price, depending on the exact specifications of your project. A while ago, we even wrote an article how Android development takes longer than iOS. Times have changed since we first published that article.

For example, basic push notifications are typically easy to implement. But in some cases, there could be dozens or even hundreds of possible notifications, and even more potential destinations. Consider Facebook’s push notifications. Notifications can be sent for a wide variety of reasons and can send the user to any number of places. Complex mapping and logic like this can easily drive a price tag through the roof.

Here’s a survey excerpt we found particularly interesting. For example, Clutch found nearly 70% of app development companies reported push notifications as costing less than $5,000 to build. Push notifications are thought of as a simpler feature and typically aren’t too complex to build. However, one company reported push notifications as costing as much as $50,000 – $100,000 to build.

Integrations often add a lot of complexity to an app. Take Instagram’s
Boomerang app that relies solely on user’s camera and native sharing functions. An app like this is far less complex than say, an average mobile banking app.

The latter needs to be more secure and has to be able to fetch all kinds of data from the server, and this is done through an API. API’s take time to implement, and building custom APIs usually costs significant amounts of money because they demand extra development time.

On the other hand, these features invisible to the end-user can determine the success of a digital product.

Building a great app is like building a home, you get what you pay for. If your goal is to create a simple application that serves a basic need, you probably don’t need to invest a ton of money. But, if you are looking to build a more complex, visually appealing, and scalable product, the necessary planning, design, coding, and testing hours will require a significant investment.

Ultimately, you must be somewhat flexible when it comes to app development cost.

During the discovery stage, you may realize the app will require more investment, in both time and money, than you originally thought. It happened more than once that our clients shifted focus after we presented them with all our research findings.

Even further down the line, during development and testing, the project can pivot in a way that might affect the original plan. Nobody’s fond of scope creeps, and it takes expertise and understanding to see a complex project through.

Some companies may only provide a range, based on the time and talent needed for a larger-scale app project. Being comfortable with that range helps reduce your stress and ensures a satisfying end product.

A good partner also helps you stay within your budget by conducting thorough discovery workshops, establishes a clear roadmap and communicates regularly. For that reason, it’s wise to invest some time in choosing the right agency. After all, you’re after a long-term partnership, not a one-night stand.

Know that you know more about the cost structure, you may wonder how much time it takes to build an app. If you’re keen to find out more, consider reading this article by my colleague.