Yubl is the social media magpie targeting Facebook’s disaffected youth

Vaughn Highfield June 8, 2016

It’s no secret that the social networking landscape is changing. While Facebook is still alive and well, and Twitter seems to be getting by somehow, there’s been a rise of more immediate platforms, especially amongst a younger demographic.

Yubl is the social media magpie targeting Facebook's disaffected youth

Yubl intends to be one of these new platforms, ready to hoover up the fallout from Facebook as young users become disinterested in its parent-saturated nature. Having already gone hands on with Yubl and written an in-depth profile on the app and its designers Ben Copping and James Parker, I couldn’t turn down the chance to chat to Yubl CEO and co-founder Gareth Evans about what Yubl means to him and the team.

Where did the big idea for Yubl come from?

In 2013 Jonathan and I recruited two young designers, Ben Copping and James Parker, to consider how best to turn our pre-existing, globally patented, IP into commercial opportunity. After many months of research, design and discussion, the result was Yubl.

What’s the big problem that Yubl solves?

gareth_evans_-_01 Gareth Evans – co-founder and CEO

Yubl moves ‘digital conversation’ significantly closer to genuine human interaction. By offering the opportunity for people to express their individuality in real time, and to also remove the need to continuously jump between apps, Yubl evolves social messaging to a new place.

We feel that its interactive buttons break the mould of current social apps, allowing interactions to be more like real conversations, often in real time. Everything in Yubl has been designed to address daily ‘pain points’. The live shared screens, unique creative canvas and Yubl buttons (Count, Vote, Whereabouts, Pinpoint, Link) completely differentiate us from other messaging and social networking apps, bringing users closer to the people and things they love.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve overcome since starting Yubl?

I’d say our biggest challenge was really overcoming the technical challenges of delivering the initial design in order to bring Yubl into everyday use. We were determined and deliberate in starting the process by designing a product without considering technical barriers – and then worked to solve them.

Where do you see Yubl in five year’s time?

I hope that Yubl will be a global social messaging phenomenon. We want to contribute to bringing people closer to each other through the digital space and build relationships between commerce and customers in a way that is constructive, rather than intrusive.

Yubl will be an invaluable tool for daily living, as opposed to an interruptive or trivial experience.