Smart Tales - making STEM as easy as ABC

On this week’s edition of our Developer success stories, we spoke to Cristina Angelillo, who is the CEO and Co-founder of Marshmallow Games, a digital startup that creates educational apps used by millions of children worldwide. In December 2021 she was elected president of InnovUp, the association of the Italian innovation and startup ecosystem, for the three-year period 2022-2024.

Cristina went on to develop Smart Tales, an educational app for children that is full of animated stories and interactive games to stimulate the imagination and passion for STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Their audience is composed of parents who believe that technology can play a vital role in their children’s growth if it is used in the right way. The app is designed for preschool kids between 3 and 6 years old and, thanks to the constantly updated content catalog, it can follow children throughout their approach to primary school.

Read on to hear what Cristina had to say!

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About Smart Tales

So, Cristina, where did the idea for the app come from?

The first time I saw a child approaching smartphones and tablets, I was struck by the magic that was created between them which led me to wanting to take advantage of this natural predisposition in an education perspective. I've always loved fairy tales and children's stories and their educational potential, so with Smart Tales we decided to give new life to this format, making it interactive and animated.

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How did you go about creating it?

Immediately after having had the idea, I decided to create a first paper prototype of the app and take it to schools to test it directly with the children. After this first phase I created by myself a first digital prototype to be launched on the stores to verify that it was interesting for a wider audience. Thanks to the success of this first release, which was organically downloaded by over 10,000 users in a few days, I realized that I could truly transform my idea into something great. So, I worked to find investors who would give me capital to expand the team with professionals to create a high-quality product.

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What were the highlight points of the app development?

In the process of creating and releasing a new app, surely one of the hottest moments is the launch on the market, because it is the first time that your product reaches a large audience. Often there are very high expectations but we have learned that we must always have our feet on the ground and be ready to improve what we have already created. Probably the most critical aspect, underestimated by many, is distribution and marketing. It is important to immediately define a strategy that allows you to reach the first users in the first phase and then eventually allow you to scale.

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What were the biggest learnings and takeaways you got from building your app?

The biggest takeaway is that you need to create a great team of professionals that share the same vision and have all the different skills required to create an app.

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What impact has your app made since being released?

Our app, Smart Tales, has the ambitious goal of introducing children to STEM subjects in a fun way while also touching on important issues such as friendship, emotions, fair play, gender equality, respect for the environment and many more. So, the impact is an integral part of the product. From interviews with our users, however, we discovered that we have an even greater value as our product is widely used by children with special needs.

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What have been your biggest learnings after releasing your app?

The most important thing I've learned is that an app, as well as any digital product, is never really finished. We arrived at the launch with the first version but the real work begins after that. Updates, optimizations, new features and contents, there is always so much to do.

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?HMS Core and Smart Tales

Which HMS Core Kits did you integrate and what benefits or solutions did they bring?

We were committed in porting Smart Tales to AppGallery to take advantage of the fast-growing audience in the Huawei digital ecosystem. To achieve this goal, we decided to integrate the HMS capabilities that would allow us to have the full app functionality, like In-App Purchases and then Analytic Kit and Game Services in order to receive important information about app usage.

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What was your expectation of integrating HMS Core kits into your app vs your actual experience?

Once we started integrating HMS Core kits we found some initial issues related to the integration of the subscription model but they were easily solved thanks to the technical support. Ultimately it was very easy to integrate all the Core kits we had in mind.

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Which HMS Core Kit do you find most innovative?

I definitely see a lot of potential in the HUAWEI HiAI libraries. Thanks to the potentialities included, I think it will be very easy for developers to integrate cutting-edge features into their apps that allow to amaze the end user.

What HMS Core Kit are you excited to integrate or working on right now?

One HMS Core Kit that we would be interested in using is AR Engine which would allow us to integrate augmented reality features into Smart Tales that would expand the overall experience of our young users, engaging them even more.

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Advice for our Apps UP participants this year

What is the most important part of creating an app?

The most important part is to create something that users really need and then offer them the simplest solution paying special attention to the user experience.

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What are some of the mistakes or common pitfalls you've made or seen other developers make?

A very common mistake is not giving enough importance to data. In the first apps we developed we had integrated analytics but they were not actionable, as they did not affect the evolution process of the app. In Smart Tales our processes are data driven and allow us to have more control over what happens in the app and how we can improve both the user experience and the business goals. Over the years we have talked to many developers discovering that, even if in advanced stages, they did not measure anything or very little and I think this is a big mistake.

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What is the definition or the formula of a great app?

I don't think there is a formula, I think the idea is to start by identifying a market opportunity, validate it with a prototype or with a very simple first version of the app and, if the feedback and data confirm the interest of the end users, continue development and work hard on its evolution and optimization. Finally, you must avoid falling in love with what you are creating, but rather listen to users and build the best possible experience for them.

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What makes a great app developer?

Probably the most important thing is to have the right mindset, composed of passion, perseverance and the desire to experiment and discover new things. Certainly, having hard skills is useful but we believe the ability to learn new things and put them into practice in a short time is much more important.

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What is the importance of a developer community to the future and potential of apps and app developers?

The existence of a community is fundamental, it is an element that has always been present in the world of software development that is now extending to other areas of the digital, such as marketing of the product. I believe global developer communities will continue to grow and develop as they make access to technology more democratic.

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What are the key trends you're excited about or are looking forward to hearing about in the future?

One of the sectors that I expect to change the most in the near future is that of health. Changes in this field are slower as they require certifications and adhere to strict procedures. In recent years, however, significant investments have been made in this field and are continuing to grow, so I hope this can help improve people's quality of life.

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For those of you currently developing an app, it is important to keep in mind and consider the other aspects that coincide with developing an app other than coding. Promotion, marketing, product development, investment opportunities, growth scaling etc. are all part and parcel of developing a successful app. We’d like to thank Cristina for highlighting these aspects and giving such an in-depth look into how Smart Tales grew from an idea to a top performing app, which you can download here from AppGallery.

Interested in entering Apps UP?

Do you have an app that you would like to upload to AppGallery and take advantage of the fast-growing audience in the Huawei digital ecosystem just like Cristina and her team did? Would you like to do this while also being in with the chance of winning from our $200,000 USD prize pool? Then look no further as we are currently looking for the most innovative apps integrating HMS Core to enter in to our Apps UP competition!

Whether you have an existing app or have a great concept for a new one, simply integrate HMS Core for a chance to win in one of our award categories, ranging from Best Game, Best Student Innovation, Tech Women’s Award, to Best Social Impact App (to name a few!). Register now for a chance to win HERE!?