Case Studies

Case Study #1

Project Scope:

This construction-industry client wanted to attract homebuilders to list building projects on their website, so that site visitors could review the builders’ features and product offerings.

Based on this relatively simple requirement, Tender initially built a WordPress website, with some basic static content pages. When a change became necessary, the client would log in and update the site.

As the client’s business grew, they wanted to add more functionality to their website. WordPress is not optimal for a rapidly growing website, so Tender recommended the website be rebuilt with a new framework to improve the security and robustness of the system. After intensive discussions and reviews with the client, they opted to move forward with CodeIgniter Framework.

A team of 5-6 Tender developers then commenced the project and completed it quickly, delivering a stylish and functional high-end website for the client.

Product Features:

Search Engine

The strongest feature of the website is the Builder’s Search Engine, the backbone of the client’s digital presence. The search algorithm driving the search engine was built by Tender, and allows site visitors to filter by criteria such as location, building type, price range, etc. The search engine then produces results according to the criteria selected, and prompts the user to contact the builder for more detail.

The search results page has the ability to return listings in a photo gallery format, allowing visitors to save the photos and share with friends, as well as downloading floor plans. Visitors can also submit their reviews of each builder.

Homebuilder’s Dashboard

Tender added functionality for builders to register a vendor account within the website, giving them the ability to create and maintain their public profile, and to access a dashboard to manage the presentation of their profile, project listings, gallery photos, special offers, and more. We also developed a for-fee premium campaign feature which generated incremental revenue for the client.

Team Member User Profiles

We created the ability for builder employees to create and log into their own subaccounts, permitting them to interact more personally and directly with potential customers on behalf of their employers.

Customer User Profiles

We also built an option for end customers to register – using either their email address or Facebook account – an account profile, giving them the ability to forward project photos to their friends and contacts, and to submit photos to their personal “idea board”.

Delivery and Impact:

In the early stages, this client was struggling to conceive and execute what they wanted to achieve. Tender’s design suggestions provided the direction and confidence they needed to move forward with the implementation of a successful web presence. The client now has over 17,000 builders registered in their system, with an average of over 5,000 unique visitors for each builder. As of this writing, Tender is continuing to maintain the website and develop additional functionality for this client.

 

Case Study #2

Project Scope:

A smaller client with a business model focused on web app integration provides their core functionality as SaaS. Their suite of applications enables their customers to access and manage multiple web portals including Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, and others from a single, consolidated interface. This avoids the need for their customers to log in to each portal individually, and streamlines the process of managing business messaging and user interaction across the web.

Our initial task for this client was to develop a basic website and content, including a description of services and profile of the company. We implemented this website functionality via WordPress.

Building on the success of that relatively simple project, the client asked us to help design and improve their core suite of web applications. To that end, we developed web extensions for unified management of contacts, email, invoices, and other key data. The extensions are available for customers to purchase as a package, and permit customers to integrate in one application suite the services from various major web portals. We developed these applications with a four-member team of developers using CodeIgniter and jQuery.

Product Features:

In addition to integrating multiple web platforms, the application suite also maintains contacts (saving the contact details from all platforms) and permits a Bulk Email feature to send emails to the saved contacts across platforms.

Some of the functionality built by Tender for this client includes:

  • Gmail service within the platform permits the user to create, reply, forward and view messages in their Gmail account.
  • Google Drive integration allows files from a specified Drive account to be created, shared, and browsed from within the app. Customer and project files can be maintained for users in the same place for Users, permitting the easy linkage to user documents from within the application.
  • Google Calendar Connects the user’s Google Calendar account and syncs all events and tasks.
  • Xero integration enables the creation of invoices for contacts maintained within the app. Users can create, edit, send, and delete invoices, import and tag existing customers, and use the application to data automatically create new customers from the data.
  • Mailchimp functionality allows users to sync their contacts and create bulk email distribution lists.
  • doTalk API allows users to initiate calls to their contacts from within the application, and to display call details including Call Duration, Call Type, and Date of Call in their feed. Users can also record and play back calls for training and quality assurance.
  • Facebook integration enables users to post status updates and track statistics for each post, such as Like Count, Share Count, etc. The application keeps track of new likes and user engagement on business Facebook pages. Users can promote their business by posting to and maintaining their public Facebook profile without the overhead of logging into the Facebook site or application itself.
  • Twitter functionality similarly permits users to tweet from within the application, and will report stats (such as ReTweet count) for each post.
  • WordPress plugin captures contact form content and e-commerce order details to the client’s account via an authentication access token from client’s website to the application. Website inquiries automatically create a new contact, importing their data and tagging them as configured by the user.

Delivery and Impact:

Initially, this project was small in scope and the user base was relatively minimal. With functionality across platforms not integrated, the products were scattershot in nature, leading to material wasted user effort. After our integration of the application suite and structured design to achieve a centralized architecture, user satisfaction improved significantly. The client has since been successful in selling the application package to a large user base which is growing by the day.

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