Supernova shining brighter than ever
When I first met Jirka the founder & chief of Supernova he was super excited about the future that Supernova would be part of and which he would describe as automated design to code generation (for mobile apps). Supernova was fresh out of YC (btw did you know that Supernova was the first Czech startup to go through YC?) and full of dreams, ideas, and energy to go build it.
The age-old problem of hand-off between design and engineering. What Supernova was trying to solve sounded like an immensely hard problem that was tackled by a tremendously skilled team of engineers with a big vision. And they did deliver, the tool was functional, it was great to see in action (many jaws dropped for sure), but…it was not ready to be used for enterprise clients. The product around the functionality was missing. The team decided to do something about it. Not an easy task after months of blood and tears of hard work and development. A significant re-build into a new (and actual) product and strategy is probably a fair description of what happened.
Another thing that Jirka and the team got right and that was (and still is) a good guide on their journey was the importance of the digital experience for the users (I really mean the UX here). Many apps that we use on a daily basis, to stream music, communicate with our social circle or order a taxi have made us accustomed to the amazing design and simplicity (UX) that we now expect from all products that we come across.
Companies also realised the importance of digital experience that involves more functions (think more people in the design department). Design or digital experience is no longer just the “making it look beautiful” part at the end of the process. Design is a visual language. It is the way that users interact with a product or how a service is being consumed. It is both the workflow and the looks multiplied numerous times across multiple channels which require a more organised approach to designing and maintaining products. There are infamous stories of teams that coded a particular button 100+ times — just because nobody knew it was already created by someone else. Ensuring a seamless UX across product portfolios is extremely difficult at scale.
This is where Supernova comes in — with a solution that removes technological boundaries (often artificial) between cross-functional teams to allow for easier workflow and collaboration.
As proven already when pivoting from their initial no-code tool, Jirka and the whole Supernova team are relentless in achieving their dream which is now getting its first contours. We are extremely happy and honoured to be able to back them on their mission to make a difference in how teams organise around design and product.
