Stories of strong IT products almost never begin with a desire to “launch a startup.” They usually start with a real pain point. That is exactly how ecosbor.org appeared — a project that grew out of a practical need familiar to anyone working with environmental reporting, environmental fees, and customs data. At the start, it was a need for a clear and fast calculation tool; in the end, it became a full system that helps manage data, users, and internal workflows.

In this case study, we tell the launch story in interview form: how Yana Nazarova came to us with the idea of a smart calculator, why the task turned out to be broader than the original request, and how together we built a product where AI became not a buzzword, but a real working tool.

About the client

Yana Nazarova is an environmental specialist with more than 20 years of experience, an auditor, and a lawyer. She is a co-author of a training module on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), a speaker at the EcoProfi Club, a lecturer in the “Innovation Risk Management” course at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Smolensk branch, and an author of publications in the academic-practical journal Ecology of Production.

For us, this context mattered a lot: we were not just dealing with a client with an idea, but with an expert who deeply understands the domain, knows the regulatory framework from the inside, and looks at the problem not only as a specialist, but also as a practitioner. That level of involvement immediately raises the bar for the product.

What the pain point was

Yana Nazarova: The pain point was very specific. In environmental fee calculations, too much still depends on manual checks, recalculations, and cross-verification. When the data volume is large and the calculation rules depend on information from declarations and related documents, the risk of mistakes grows, time is lost, and the burden on specialists increases.

pmhub.ru team: We quickly realized that this pain point was not limited to a single calculator. In practice, the solution needed not only calculation functionality, but also convenient work with customs declarations, data validation, an admin panel for user management, and a clear system that would prevent specialists from getting buried in routine tasks. That became the starting point of the project.

How we arrived at the solution

Yana Nazarova: At first, I was thinking specifically about a smart calculator — a tool that would help calculate the environmental fee quickly and accurately. But the deeper we discussed the usage scenarios, the clearer it became: if we keep only the calculation part, we won’t solve the core problem. We needed a service that covers the whole workflow.

pmhub.ru team: We agreed with that direction. Instead of building a narrow solution, we created a system that supports users at different stages of the process: from data upload and processing to administration and final validation. We built AI into the parts where it truly speeds things up: structuring information, making suggestions, checking data, and reducing manual work.

From idea to product

We understood from the beginning that this kind of task is not about “simply calculating a number.” It requires a product that sits at the intersection of environmental practice, law, and operational routine — which means it has to be accurate, fast, and regularly updated. That is how ecosbor.org appeared: a digital system that helps importers and environmental fee specialists automate calculations, reduce manual work, and minimize the risk of errors that can lead to fines and additional costs.

Yana Nazarova: It was essential for me that the product be based on current legal requirements rather than loose templates. In the field of EPR and environmental fees, you cannot rely on memory: you need product categories, rates, calculation methods, and regular changes in the regulatory base. That is why we built the system logic around up-to-date regulations and the ability to update rules without stopping the workflow.

pmhub.ru team: The core of the solution is automatic environmental fee calculation based on customs declaration data. The user uploads XML files from the Federal Customs Service, and the system identifies the relevant product groups, applies the correct rates, and calculates the fee according to current rules. This removes manual entry, reduces errors, and makes the process much faster.

We also paid special attention to compliance with Russian EPR legislation. The system includes the current methodologies used by the environmental regulator, as well as logic for regularly updating rates and product lists. This is especially important for teams handling large data volumes who cannot afford discrepancies between the actual documents and spreadsheet calculations.

Yana Nazarova: In practice, this means not just convenience, but confidence. When a specialist sees that the calculation is based on current rules and that the data is loaded automatically, they spend less time on technical work and more time on review, analysis, and decision-making. That is exactly the kind of system we wanted to build.

Why AI became central

Yana Nazarova: I was cautious about AI at first. In professional areas, especially where calculations and regulation are involved, there is always a risk of ending up with a system that is “smart” but not useful. But the team quickly showed how AI can be used carefully: not instead of the expert, but alongside the expert. That convinced me.

pmhub.ru team: We designed the AI logic so that it supports people rather than competing with them. In some places it was used for recognizing and structuring data from declarations, in others for filling guidance, and in others for accelerating administrative workflows. In the end, the system became a fast assistant: it handles routine work, while the specialist makes the decision.

What we achieved

Yana Nazarova: The most important thing for me is that the project did not get stuck at the “good idea” stage. It became a working tool that saves time, reduces mistakes, and gives a real sense of control. And that matters especially in areas where the cost of inaccuracy is high.

pmhub.ru team: In essence, we built not just a calculator, but a fast and understandable digital environment for working with environmental fees and related processes. Where there used to be a lot of manual checking, spreadsheets, and disconnected actions, there is now one unified system. For a startup, that is especially valuable: you can test hypotheses quickly, scale the logic, and keep quality intact as the product grows.

What we learned

Yana Nazarova: The most important lesson for me is that a good digital product is created where technology is combined with deep domain expertise. In my case, that means ecology, environmental fees, auditing, law, and real document workflows. If you ignore that, you end up with just “another service.” If you build with it in mind, you get a tool that genuinely helps people.

pmhub.ru team: For us, this case once again confirmed a simple truth: strong products are not built in isolation from the expert. When the founder understands the domain, can clearly explain the pain point, and is ready to go deep into the details, and the team knows how to turn that into a system, the result is something both useful and scalable. That is exactly how ecosbor.org came to life.