Every so often a run of family events lands at the same time. This autumn we had a few close together, including a family wedding and an 80th birthday party, and we wanted something that would get everyone's photos up on a screen at the venue while the party was going on.
This is the story of how that turned into Snazooka, and what it says about building software products the sensible way.
The problem we wanted to solve
At any family event, dozens of people are taking photos. Very few of those photos ever make it back to the people who organised it. A few get sent around in a WhatsApp group, compressed and out of order, and the rest stay on phones forever.
We wanted guests to share their photos on the night, see them come up on a big screen, and leave the hosts with one album of the whole event. And it had to work for everyone in the room, from teenagers to grandparents, without asking anyone to download an app.
Why we didn't just use an existing service
There are services out there that do something like this, and we tried one. It did the basics, but it wasn't as flexible as we wanted, and we kept running into things we'd have liked to change.
When you build software for a living, the obvious next thought is "we could make this ourselves". So we did.
Building the first version
The first version was built for one event and nothing else. Guests scanned a QR code on the table, typed their first name, and their photos went straight to a screen at the venue. There was no sign up, no pricing and no admin dashboard, because none of that was needed for one party.
That's exactly how we'd advise any client to start. Build the smallest version that solves the real problem, put it in front of real people, and learn from what happens. We cover this in more detail in our guide to building an MVP in Ireland.
What happened on the night
The photo wall went down really well. Guests of every age were scanning the code and watching their own photos and messages appear on the screen, and the hosts came home with far more photos than they'd ever have collected by asking people to send them on.
Then something we hadn't planned for happened. People at the party started asking if they could use it for their own weddings, birthdays and parties.
From one event to a product anyone can use
That's the point where an MVP either stays a one-off or becomes a product. Because people were asking for it without being prompted, we decided to turn it into a proper software as a service product, which we called Snazooka.
Going from one event to many meant adding the parts a single party never needed:
- Accounts and events, so each host signs in and sets up as many events as they like, each kept completely separate.
- Simple setup, so someone who has never seen the product can have an event ready in a few minutes.
- Their own look, with colours, fonts, frames and images, and welcome text in any language.
- Printable QR cards, from table cards to posters, so nobody has to design their own.
- Pricing and payments, with a free plan to try it and one paid plan per event, handled through Stripe.
- An admin dashboard for us, to look after events, customers and discount codes.
- Privacy and data protection, with photos stored in the EU, a privacy policy and a data processing agreement.
None of this was in the first version, and it didn't need to be. Each piece was added because a real customer would need it, not because it seemed like a good idea at the start.
Keeping it good value
We wanted Snazooka to be something people could buy without thinking twice. There's a free plan for small gatherings, and the Event plan is €24.99 per event as a launch offer, including VAT, with no subscription. It's the same thinking we bring to all our work at GBA Solutions: build something of real quality, and price it fairly.
What this means if you have an idea of your own
Snazooka is a small example of a pattern we see again and again. A business builds something to solve its own problem, it works, and other people want it too. That's how TillageTrack started, with one Wexford farmer, and it's how a lot of good software products begin.
If you've built something for your own business that others keep asking about, or you have an idea you'd like to test, the sensible route is the same:
- Build the smallest version that solves the problem for one real user.
- Use it for real and see what people actually do with it.
- Only then add accounts, pricing and the other parts that turn it into a product.
A first version with us usually costs €3,000 to €8,000 and takes 4 to 8 weeks. You can read more about our MVP development service or what software costs to build.
And if you have a wedding, birthday or party coming up, you can try Snazooka free.