Building a mobile platform with community DNA
Bringing sharing, community, and education into one app
Shareitt and Sharyoo faced a multi-layered challenge: build a scalable digital platform that unites community building, sharing economy, education, and sustainable interaction in a modern mobile user experience. Two platforms under a shared holding, same founders, shared platform logic — and at the same time two distinct brand identities, audiences, and growth paths.
In parallel with the strategic positioning, product vision, technical requirements, user flows, prioritization, team structure, and digital visibility had to be built and coordinated — without one pillar slowing down the others. The kind of work where an in-house agency tends to drown in complexity and where what's actually needed is an experienced product owner with strategic depth plus an orchestration-capable network — exactly the brief that our transformation programs are built for.
Strategy, product ownership, and team sourcing — all from one hand
Strategy and platform logic
In the first phase, positioning, platform logic, and feature strategies were sharpened — for both brands separately and within the shared holding context. UX and engagement concepts for the different audiences were defined and continuously evolved. What runs on which platform? What do they share? Where is the differentiation profile deliberately broad, where deliberately narrow?
Product ownership and requirements engineering
The core of the engagement. Michael owns the structured translation of vision into actionable requirements: user stories, feature definitions, acceptance criteria, prioritized backlog. Including moderation and safety concepts for community features — a topic that in 2025 has shifted from "nice-to-have" to "regulatory must" (DSA context, trust & safety). Technical and organizational processes between design, engineering, and business stakeholders are closely accompanied so the team doesn't drown in translation friction.
Marketplace, community, and EdTech functionality
Conception of platform features that only work when they fit together: marketplace mechanics (listing, discovery, transaction), community features (profiles, engagement, content), EdTech functionality, and overarching sharing, gamification, and reward mechanics. Engagement loops are not nice-to-have — they decide whether a community platform lives or stalls.
Sourcing and coordinating a hand-picked tech team
Through the AOT network, external specialists and development resources were identified, coordinated, and onboarded across project phases — mobile development, UX, design, quality. A "plug-in-the-right-people" model rather than a fixed agency contract: the right team per phase, with Michael as the single point of contact for strategic steering.
SEO, content, and visibility
In parallel with platform development, SEO, content, and visibility strategies were built so organic growth doesn't start months after launch — it grows along with the product.
What the collaboration changed for Shareitt & Sharyoo
Strategic clarity for a multi-platform ecosystem
Two platforms under one vision without one cannibalizing the other. Clear positioning, clear platform logic, clear separation lines — and where synergies actually exist, they're used honestly.
Product requirements that let tech teams ship
Structured requirements engineering replaces gut-feel briefs. User stories, acceptance criteria, cleanly prioritized backlog — handover to engineering runs with fewer follow-up questions, faster iteration, and more predictable delivery cycles.
Scalable mobile-app and marketplace concepts with engagement mechanics
Reward, sharing, and gamification mechanics aren't bolted on — they're woven into the platform logic. That's the foundation for organic community growth that doesn't depend on marketing push alone.
A tech team that grows with demand
Sourced, coordinated, and managed via the AOT network — the right configuration per project phase, without fixed agency contracts or in-house build-up risk.
Voice from the founder
"Michael brings over a decade of experience in digital product development and innovation to the team and is convincing in his role as product owner for Shareitt and Sharyoo. The collaboration combines visionary and strategic thinking, technical understanding, and modern product development in a way that has become rare."
— Katharina Serafimova, CEO Shareitt International
[Translated from the original German quote — original wording preserved in the DE locale.]