Create and edit ideas
Title, status (Insight, Concept, Prototype), a note for the team and a private note that stays on the device.
Prototype · iPad & iPhone
FFE-Connect: from shoe photo to collection.
FFE-Connect (Fuzzy-Front-End-Connect) connects the early ideation phase of product development: a native app for the creative start of collection development. Product managers capture ideas as an image with notes and place them in the collection matrix via drag & drop. Built by enpit for a shoe manufacturer.
iPad: screenshot of the app (matrix view in the iPad simulator, with sample ideas). iPhone: illustration (mockup), not a screenshot of the “New Idea” view.
The solution
Capture ideas, plan the collection and brief specialist teams later on
FFE-Connect is a native SwiftUI app for iPad (primary device) and iPhone with its own backend. The app is a tool for communication and coordination, not a design tool. It covers pre-production, i.e. the time before prototypes are built.
Client
A shoe manufacturer
A shoe manufacturer with several brands develops its collections with teams in Europe and Asia working together.
Background
The gap before the PLM
The PLM manages product data but barely covers the creative start of a collection. Quick ideas, images, comments and alignment across language barriers therefore happen outside the system.
Goal
Easy to capture, structured to hand over
Creatives capture ideas without filling in forms. Behind the scenes, structured data is still created that later feeds into briefs for specialist teams and the handover to the PLM.
Prototype scope
done
in progress
planned
Images from any source
Camera, photo library, files and “Open in …” from other apps, such as an image from an email or a photographed sketch.
Markups on the image
Numbered freehand markups with finger or Apple Pencil, each with text, a voice note and a focus area.
Focus areas, filters and search
Sole, material, upper, whole shoe or price range per idea and markup. One shared filter with search applies to the idea list and the matrix.
Configurable collection matrix
Freely selectable axes (at least category × price range), target quantity and actual count per cell. Place ideas via drag & drop or by tapping; the placement sets their attributes.
Repeats from the previous season
Take over products from the previous season into the matrix by product ID from the master data, linked rather than copied.
Sync with the demo backend
Ideas are synced with the backend, the private note stays local. The interface is available in German, English, Chinese (Simplified) and Italian.
Demo version via TestFlight
Signed builds from the pipeline, distributed via Apple’s TestFlight. Technical foundation: modular Swift 6 app, Node.js/TypeScript, PostgreSQL, S3, OpenAPI, CI with tests on every push.
Translation and voice input
Translate notes and markups (the original remains authoritative) and transcribe voice notes, right on the device. The services are in place; integration into the interface follows.
Briefs for specialist teams
Create briefs for last, coloring, material or design teams from an idea. Task view, status with a revision loop, feedback and sign-off.
Master data import and export
Read-only connection of lasts, soles and materials from the source systems. Structured export as a first step towards the PLM handover.
SSO, roles, privacy
Sign-in via SSO, roles and permissions, privacy by design and distribution via MDM for the full rollout.
AI outlook: A classification suggestion (product family, main category, product group, bottom type) is planned but deliberately on hold for now. The interfaces for it are already in place. No content leaves the device without approval.
Foundation
It all started with a remote interview with the business team
In a remote session, the client’s business team explained the desired workflow and showed screenshots of an existing click prototype. Requirements and backlog were derived from that, without detours through lengthy specification documents.
Interview and notes
The meeting notes were drafted with AI assistance and then checked for accuracy. They were complemented by six screenshots of the click prototype.
Requirements concept
MVP scope prioritized with MoSCoW, including non-functional requirements (data sovereignty, GDPR, works council co-determination) and open issues. Roles instead of names.
Backlog and plan
7 epics and 30 stories with acceptance criteria as GitHub issues, spread across increments and short iterations.
Get involved
Try FFE-Connect yourself
A first demo version of FFE-Connect is available via Apple’s TestFlight. Enter the email address of your Apple ID and we will invite you to the demo.
- The demo works with sample data and a demo backend, not with real product data.
- Requirement: iPad or iPhone with iPadOS/iOS 18 or later.
Submitting opens your email app with a prepared message to info@enpit.de. This page does not store or transmit anything. We only use your address for the TestFlight invitation.
Collaboration
Development partnership with a fixed budget
This is how we jointly expand FFE-Connect into a production-ready solution: as a service with fixed team capacity and a budget derived from the value you define. AI agents handle large parts of the implementation, while enpit engineers and the business team steer and review every step.
Fixed team capacity
A mixed team of strategy, UX and engineering under a service contract, billed as a flat fee per sprint.
Budget from your value
The budget is derived from the value the solution has for you, with a minimum budget. This determines the number of sprints.
Your environment, your code
Repository, CI/CD, AI assistance and guardrails run in your tenant from day one. The usage rights are yours, not enpit’s.
You are in control
Sprint reviews with value tracking. You can end the collaboration at the end of any sprint.
Delivery model: clear stages, you decide at every gate
- E0
Value workshop
Jointly determine the value of the solution. Result: value record, budget frame and stage plan.
Gate G0 - E1
Set up DEV and AI environment
Set up repository, pipeline, AI assistance and guardrails in your environment.
Gate G1 - E2
AI engineering sprint · 1 week
A joint technical spike: one external system (e.g. ERP, CRM) through all layers into the app. The result is a working alpha version with one fully integrated use case, so technical risks become visible before the main development starts.
Gate G2 - E3
Iterative development v0.x
Short sprints with reviews and value tracking. The business team signs off on each story, and interim versions reach test devices early.
Gate G3 - E4
Stabilization
Hardening, testing and pilot feedback on the way to version 1.0.
Gate G4 - E5
Handover and hypercare
Source code, documentation and the agentic development process are handed over to your IT team, accompanied by a hypercare phase.
Gate G5 - E6
Operation or phase-out
Your choice: phase out into in-house operation, or monthly maintenance and operation at the Basic, Plus or Plus + Development level.
At every gate you decide: go, adjust course or stop. We do not promise that every use case goes into production, since budget and approvals are yours. We promise not to build anything unless we know how it will go into production.
Next step
Start with a value workshop
The workshop fee is credited when you commission the project.
- Value record
- Budget frame
- Stage plan