BuzzFeed
We have assembled a dedicated team of 15 professionals who have been working with BuzzFeed Media Group for over 12 years. Our team is fully integrated into their processes, collaborating seamlessly to deliver high-quality results. This long-standing partnership reflects our ability to adapt to our client's evolving needs and consistently contribute to their success.
Regarding the client
BuzzFeed is a well-known American digital media organisation recognised for its diverse content, spanning news to entertainment, viral trends, and material suited for social media. As the world's foremost independent digital media platform, BuzzFeed creates a wide range of content, including serious journalism, entertaining listicles, quizzes, and engaging videos designed for ease of sharing. Some of its most successful ventures include BuzzFeed Quizzes, Tasty, News, and Videos, each catering to different interests and demographics. BuzzFeed's mission is to inspire, entertain, and inform through inclusive, empathetic, and innovative storytelling, fostering connections amongst its global audience and sparking conversations that resonate deeply.
About the project
The BuzzFeed Portal project involved expanding BuzzFeed's engineering capabilities by establishing a dedicated, remote development team with expertise in web and mobile technologies. FlexMade became a long-term partner, providing engineering support that contributed to the development and maintenance of BuzzFeed's platform for breaking news, video content and shareable online media.
Aims and Challenges
BuzzFeed, a prosperous and rapidly expanding media company, sought efficient means to enhance existing online products and develop new ones. Being aware of FlexMade's skilled talent pool in web and mobile development, they opted to explore the prospect of partnering with them. BuzzFeed was looking for a development team that shared its values and mission. In 2012, it was essential to feel that your remote development was not only skillful but also reliable, accessible, and predictable.
Approach and Methodology
FlexMade's approach focused on assembling a remote team that could operate effectively alongside BuzzFeed's internal engineering department. We began with 2 mobile developers, 4 QA engineers, and 3 front-end developers, and the team eventually grew to 15 members. We prioritised engineers with excellent communication skills and requested that our Europe-based team members work shifted hours for specific key roles to guarantee significant overlap with the New York timezone. Our emphasis was on convenient collaboration and providing high-quality services.
BuzzFeed Website
The BuzzFeed web portal is a vibrant, user-friendly platform designed to deliver diverse content through multimedia formats such as articles, videos, quizzes and lists. Its homepage is visually engaging, organised with trending stories, popular quizzes and segmented news categories for easy navigation. The portal incorporates a responsive design, making it accessible across devices, and optimises social sharing to encourage engagement. BuzzFeed's portal is known for its interactive features, such as reaction buttons and customisable feeds, which personalise the user experience. It also uses real-time data analytics to dynamically adjust content placement based on trending topics and audience interests.
Video Content
BuzzFeed's video section is a dynamic hub showcasing a variety of content, from short-form entertainment clips to longer, more in-depth series. It is organised into channels and themes, such as Tasty (recipes and cooking tips), BuzzFeed Unsolved (mystery investigations), and Ladylike (lifestyle and beauty content), catering to diverse viewer interests. Each video page is visually appealing, with clear titles, descriptions, and social sharing options. The section is optimised for mobile viewing and encourages audience interaction through comments, likes, and recommendations. BuzzFeed's videos emphasise storytelling, humour, and relatability, often focusing on popular topics and viral trends.
Quizzes
The quizzes section is a highly interactive area where users can undertake personality tests, trivia challenges, and themed quizzes on various topics such as popular culture, relationships, and personal interests. Known for its colourful and playful design, the section has easy-to-browse categories, allowing users to explore trending quizzes or search by theme. Each quiz includes vibrant visuals, witty questions, and shareable results that users can post on social media. Famous for its fun, light-hearted approach, BuzzFeed's quizzes keep audiences engaged and returning, often encouraging users to delve deeper into related content across the site.
Amusement Arcade Games and AI-Powered Instruments
BuzzFeed's Arcade section showcases cutting-edge interactive games, powered by advanced AI tools that elevate the user experience to new levels. Leveraging technologies such as Stable Diffusion for dynamic image generation and language models like GPT and LLaMA, we have crafted engaging, responsive games that adapt to users in real time. These AI integrations allow us to create unique gameplay experiences, where players can interact with customised visuals and narratives generated on demand. Our AI-enhanced games have transformed BuzzFeed Arcade into a hub of immersive entertainment, blending fun and innovation to captivate audiences in fresh, interactive ways.
Tasty
Tasty is BuzzFeed's popular food brand, offering easy-to-follow recipes, cooking tips and engaging food-related content. Launched as a digital platform, Tasty has gained significant popularity for its visually appealing, step-by-step recipe videos, which are widely shared on social media. The brand covers a diverse range of cuisines and meal types, making cooking accessible for everyone, from beginners to experienced chefs. Tasty also offers a mobile app with personalised recipe suggestions and kitchen gadgets, such as the Tasty One Top, designed to enhance the cooking experience. The platform's focus on quick, fun and delicious meals has made it a global favourite.
BuzzFeed Mobile Applications
BuzzFeed mobile apps offer users a streamlined, interactive experience that allows them to access various digital content, from breaking news to entertainment and viral trends. Designed for ease of use, the apps feature a personalised feed that adapts to user preferences, making it simple to discover articles, videos, quizzes and recipes. They integrate seamlessly with social media, enabling quick content sharing across platforms. With push notifications for trending stories and user-friendly navigation, the BuzzFeed apps ensure that users stay updated and entertained whilst on the go, catering to a broad audience with its diverse range of content.
Task completed
The solution
FlexMade began with a small group of engineers, which eventually expanded into a large team focused on developing mobile applications, enhancing BuzzFeed's web platforms with new features, building numerous internal services from the ground up, and providing high-quality QA services to ensure a stable and user-friendly experience. FlexMade ensured team members were available during overlapping hours with New York to maintain efficient communication and effective project management.
The outcome
BuzzFeed have consistently expressed satisfaction with FlexMade's work, regarding our team members as key contributors to their projects. A high level of mutual trust and respect characterises our long-term collaboration. The expanded team enabled BuzzFeed to accelerate development, enhance existing products, and maintain its position as a leading online media platform.
The technologies
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React
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JavaScript
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TypeScript
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Nextjs
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Node.js
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Swift
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Kotlin
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AWS
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Python
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Golang
Client feedback
BuzzFeed
FlexMade has become an indispensable component of our development endeavours. The level of trust, the dedication to quality, and the readiness to collaborate as an extension of our team have rendered this partnership exceptionally valuable to us. We anticipate a continued and fruitful collaboration.
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Get in touch
- Telephone Number: +1 (425) 247-0867
- Email Address: [email protected]