Flat Therapy
FlexMade is partnering with AT Media to support the development and optimisation of its popular lifestyle content platforms, including Apartment Therapy and The Kitchen.
About the Client
AT Media is a prominent digital product company that operates a network of high-traffic lifestyle websites, including Apartment Therapy, The Kitchn, Cubby, and Dorm Therapy. The company creates engaging content focused on home, food, family, and well-being, reaching a substantial audience each month. AT Media’s editorial approach combines inspiration with practicality, making its platforms popular destinations for users seeking both entertainment and utility. AT Media is recognised for its high editorial standards, contemporary design, and user-centric approach.
About the project
The project involved the development and support of AT Media’s content-rich websites. FlexMade engineers contributed to feature development, key improvements, and system optimisation. Each platform has unique goals but shares a common architecture and tech stack. Our team worked on redesigns, new user-facing features, and internal tools that improved workflow efficiency.
Aims and Challenges
AT Media approached FlexMade with a requirement for experienced developers to support and enhance their suite of high-traffic websites. The primary objective was the development of new platforms and features, and the expansion of existing ones. A key challenge involved integrating seamlessly into an already established team structure with specific workflows. FlexMade joined the project in 2018, and we have remained actively involved ever since. At that time, AT Media was in the midst of a major technology transition – moving from an older platform to a new one. The legacy system was being gradually replaced with a more modern setup, requiring careful planning and coordination. We performed rapid onboarding from our side and began contributing immediately. Our team also had to support growth in user engagement, including improvements to visual elements and content visibility. One particularly important area was working with content publishing tools, which required both technical skills and sensitivity to editorial needs. We also had to remain agile and adapt to changing priorities whilst ensuring on-time delivery. As a result, our team became a trusted long-term partner for AT Media.
Approach and Methodology
We embedded our developers directly into the client’s distributed teams, with AT Media retaining project management ownership. Our developers received well-defined tasks and communicated progress efficiently, adapting quickly to the client's internal workflows. Despite working remotely, our team integrated smoothly with AT Media’s large internal team. We practiced proactive communication, helping identify potential issues early and suggesting improvements beyond the assigned scope. They also offered support to other team members. We prioritised clean, maintainable code and used asynchronous tools effectively for cross-timezone collaboration. FlexMade’s flexible staffing allowed the client to scale our team size as needed without process disruption.
Apartment Therapy
We have enhanced several sections of this platform, including redesigning page layouts to improve usability, adding "Tutorial Tips" blocks across content pages, and implementing a "Save Board" feature that allows users to store posts, products and images. We have also optimised product blocks to increase CTR, contributing directly to revenue growth.
The Kitchen
Our work included implementing the “Send Me the Recipe” feature, enabling users to save recipes via email, print them in clear formats, and select various display options. This significantly improved usability and user retention, particularly amongst returning readers.
Feeds and Syndication
We assisted in developing and maintaining the infrastructure to syndicate AT Media’s content to platforms such as Yahoo, Apple News and Microsoft Start. Our improvements to this feed system significantly increased content reach and traffic.
User Interaction Improvements
By incorporating interactive components such as tooltips, clickable CTAs, and intelligent navigation, we have increased user engagement metrics across all platforms.
Task completed
The Solution
FlexMade provided a stable and adaptable team that integrated seamlessly into AT Media's development process. Over time, we contributed across multiple areas of the platform – including back-end services, user-facing features, publishing tools and analytics dashboards. Our ability to adapt to varying project phases and priorities allowed us to remain involved in almost every part of the system. Whether it was building new modules, improving existing components or creating internal tools, we functioned as a dependable extension of the client's team. Our collaboration evolved beyond simply delivering features, to helping shape the platform's evolution.
The Outcome
Our collaboration with AT Media resulted in marked increases in user engagement, content interaction, and revenue. Click-through rates improved significantly due to more effective UI placement and more intuitive content formatting. SEO optimisations increased organic traffic across multiple platforms. The "Save Board" and "Send Me the Recipe" features were particularly well received and contributed to higher retention rates. Content syndication enhancements resulted in greater reach via third-party platforms. The successful launch of Cubby and Dorm Therapy further demonstrated the effectiveness of our development support. Internal teams at AT Media praised our developers' initiative and professionalism. The results demonstrate how deeply integrated collaboration can transform content platforms. FlexMade continues to play a strategic role in the ongoing development for AT Media.
The technologies
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React
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Node.js
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Google Cloud
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PHP
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Docker
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Client feedback
Mark Wilkie
You have been a great help. We appreciate everything you are doing.
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Get in touch
- Telephone Number: +1 (425) 247-0867
- Email Address: [email protected]