Project Leads @ 46elks
With support from Mikko Pitkänen, business mentor from the Scaleup Launchpad program, an EU initiative.
| Carolina J. Säll | Eja Höglund | Niina Ebeling |
|---|---|---|
| Product Designer | Full-Stack Developer | GTM Lead |
| Marketing Specialist | ||
| Project Lead/manager | Mikko Pitkänen | |
| Business Mentor |
What if you could create a brand-new communication branch within your business—targeting a completely different audience?
That was the core question behind this project, which the executive team at 46elks tasked us with exploring in December 2024. The result became what we later called Ping Communication — let me explain how we got there.
Background
In December 2024, 46elks rolled out a new internal strategy that reorganized teams and introduced a number of focused internal initiatives. I, Eja, and Niina were asked to form a new team with the goal of creating a product aimed at a completely different audience than the company’s usual developer-centric base.
Our objective was:
A new standalone business unit, operating under its own brand, offering ready-made communication solutions for web agencies.
The initial target group was web agencies, but along the way the focus shifted toward their clients—companies with limited technical expertise but a significant need for effective communication tools.
Our Mission
We worked goal-oriented using an OKR (Objectives and Key Results) model, breaking our objective into three key deliverables:
- A proof of concept (PoC): technical concept, wireframes, business model
- A brand proposal: audience analysis, tone of voice, visual drafts
- A launch plan: marketing, sales channels, and strategy
Our Process
We started by interviewing 12 web agencies across the Nordics to understand their needs. A clear pattern emerged: their clients still relied heavily on SMS and email, but were unhappy with the tools available—both from a usability and GDPR standpoint.
From this, we developed a new product concept:
Ping Communication – an all-in-one platform for SMS, email, and future channels.
Key prioritized features:
- Sending and scheduling SMS
- Email campaigns with ready-to-use templates
- Editable contact lists
- Short links and statistics
- GDPR-compliant servers based in Sweden
- Simple onboarding for non-technical users
We then created platform wireframes, outlined a four-step MVP development timeline, and built a go-to-market business strategy.
Wireframes and Functional Scope
We focused on the platform’s functionality, with visual design and brand identity intended to follow in later stages.
SMS functionality
This sketch was based on core functions found in existing SMS tools, with added features requested via customer feedback, such as reusable templates, tag-based CSV imports, and full integration with 46elks’ short link service.
Email functionality
Agencies were particularly vocal about how difficult and time-consuming email campaign work had become with current platforms—especially when managing communications on behalf of clients.
We sketched a simplified email interface for users with varying levels of technical skill: from agencies to end-clients to third-party marketing partners. The user interface mirrors the SMS design to ensure consistency and confidence, and templates can either be built from scratch or selected from a shared community—similar to how Figma’s template library works.
Business Strategy & Sales Channels
Our goal was to develop a scalable communication platform—starting with SMS, moving to email, and eventually expanding beyond the scope of 46elks’ core offering. We explored two key sales channels:
1. Direct Sales (via agencies)
While agencies were originally our target audience, they became our most effective sales channel. Agencies already act as trusted tech advisors and can resell our solution as part of their service offering.
2. Community-Based Sales
We focused on building relationships—not just leads—through:
- Meetups
- Industry events
- Side events at major conferences
- A dedicated podcast
- Active presence on social media
This approach helps us build trust, brand awareness, and opportunities for collaboration.
Timeline for MVP Development
Companies today want long-term communication solutions with reliable partners. Our proposed MVP timeline was built to deliver a working, monetizable platform as quickly as possible, while beginning parallel development for future channels.
My Role
I was appointed by 46elks’ leadership to lead this project—from concept to final business proposal. My responsibilities included:
- Structuring and guiding the team throughout the project
- Defining the product concept, structure, and user flows
- Designing UI and UX wireframes for a broad user base
- Setting the brand’s tone of voice and preliminary identity
- Conducting user research and in-depth interviews
- Creating a final presentation and business report
- Planning a realistic product development timeline
- Contributing to the go-to-market plan, pricing, and business model
- Visualizing how the platform could scale over time
The Outcome
Ping Communication became a fully-developed concept with:
- A clear target audience
- Business model and go-to-market strategy
- Scalable technical plan
- GDPR-first foundation
We presented the project to 46elks’ executive team as a complete proof-of-concept, with a viable development timeline. The vision was for Ping to complement 46elks—serving broader audiences while 46elks continued to focus on developers and API solutions.
You can read more in our final report, which summarizes the project and the full business case.
Unfortunately, the leadership team decided not to move forward with the vision at this time, so the project concluded after the presentation:
A more detailed view is available in our final report: