Fiber optic network installation platform: Reducing customer churn by 17%
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Project overview
Low-code/no-code (LCNC) development platforms have their advantages. With their help, any company or solopreneur can quickly have an MVP up and running on a tight budget.
However, once the MVP finds its early adopters and starts growing, the limitations of an LCNC solution in scalability, performance, and flexibility become apparent. And so, you may find yourself outgrowing the LCNC platform altogether.
That’s what happened to our client, cIQ, a construction company based in the United States.
cIQ strived to launch the industry’s best data-driven solution for planning and managing fiber optic network installations. The platform connects customers with service vendors and facilitates their collaboration, from planning to payment and quality control.
To see if the idea would perform well with the target audience, cIQ decided to build an MVP using Quickbase, a low-code/no-code development platform. The MVP allowed our client to validate the business idea quickly and identify multiple value propositions.
However, the limitations of the LCNC platform became glaringly obvious. So, our client realized the move to a custom solution with a more flexible and scalable architecture was a must.
That’s where we came in.
Services
Business challenges
Our client’s main challenge boiled down to overcoming Quickbase’s limitations. While the LCNC platform was instrumental in validating the idea, it was no longer meeting the client’s scalability, performance, and user experience needs.
In addition to moving the solution off of Quickbase, we were tasked with revising the solution to improve the user experience and adding new features based on early user feedback. Furthermore, we had to improve the solution’s scalability, maintainability, and performance.
After an extensive discovery phase with our client, we outlined the key strategic business needs and technical requirements that defined the project’s deliverables:
Strategic business needs
01 Move away from Quickbase to a custom self-managed solution to remove reliance on a third-party LCNC platform and overcome its limitations
02 Implement new features to improve the product’s value proposition based on early feedback
03 Decrease customer churn and improve the net promoter score by at least 10% each with improved performance and user experience
04 Speed up time to delivery for feature updates with CI/CD and decrease change failure rate by at least 30%
Technical requirements
01 Improve the solution’s scalability and performance by at least 15% by migrating the solution to a self-managed MariaDB and Node.js backend
02 Optimize the solution’s backend and database to increase throughput and response time by at least 10%
03 Implement a CI/CD pipeline to speed up feature updates and ensure the solution’s stability and reliability
04 Integrate Google Maps into the frontend to enhance user experience
05 Ensure compliance with the WCAG UI accessibility criteria
06 Implement the UI customization options
07 Develop and implement new features: vendor management and installation quality control automation, project management tools, interactive data visualizations
We’ll help you scale its architecture, improve performance, and add the necessary features to make it a market-ready product.
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Solutions
To help our client overcome Quickbase’s limitations, we reviewed its existing architecture and pinpointed several improvements to optimize its scalability and performance. We also designed and developed the features cIQ required based on early user feedback, such as:
- Google Maps integration for a construction site map view
- Automated vendor quality control via photo submission
- Automated invoicing
- Data visualizations for production analysis and forecasting insights
Based on our client’s needs and requirements, we chose MariaDB for the multi-tenancy database and Node.js for the backend. The frontend, in turn, was powered by React, Ionic, and TypeScript to ensure its responsiveness, performance, and smooth user flows.
We also designed and implemented a robust CI/CD pipeline with automated testing and packaging. It cut down the lead time by 44%.
As a result of our collaboration, our client received a fiber optic network installation platform with enhanced user experience, scalability, performance, and functionality. The revamped solution allowed cIQ to grow its user base beyond the MVP stage, reducing churn and improving the NPS in the process.
Multi-tenancy database and enhanced backend architecture
To maximize throughput and minimize response time, we designed and implemented a multi-tenancy database using MariaDB. As a result, the database could easily support multiple clients, improving throughput by 18% and response time by 21%.
As for the backend, we opted for Node.js, combined with a Permission Rules Engine and a Business Rules Engine. We conducted a thorough code and architecture review to optimize the solution for scalability and performance. Our efforts paid off: the latency decreased by 18%, while the scalability index rose by 24%
Google Maps integration
The inability to visualize the construction site locations was among the recurring user frustrations with the initial MVP. This led our client to ask us to add an integration with Google Maps, along with functionality to review all relevant information for each site in the map view.
We implemented the integration and added all the essential site and project details to the map, contributing to improvements in the NPS (14%) and churn (17%). At the same time, we ensured the map didn’t bring down the UI/UX performance and responsiveness.
CI/CD pipeline implementation
Slow feature updates were a major concern for our client. We addressed it with a robust CI/CD pipeline that included automated testing and packaging. We used TypeScript, GitHub, GraphQL Playground, and Apollo Studio for the pipeline, along with Jest for comprehensive testing.
As a result, the lead time for feature updates went down by 44%, while the deployment failure rate decreased by 41%. The implemented automation also helped our client ensure better code quality, accelerate feedback loops, and mitigate risks more effectively.
Comprehensive project management capabilities
Facilitating collaboration on fiber optic network installation projects is the cIQ platform’s key value proposition. We refined its project management capabilities to enhance this value proposition.
Our improvements included a frictionless order creation workflow to speed up the process and a review desk for construction managers. The latter facilitates status reviews with automated analysis of submitted photos, reducing reliance on manual effort in quality control.
Automated workflows, incident tracking, and production analytics
To further enhance the solution’s value, we designed and developed new features like automated invoicing, incident tracking, and production analytics.
Automated invoicing streamlines financial and accounting workflows for both customers and vendors, saving them time. Incident tracking enables users to quickly identify and resolve any issues that may arise during the project. Finally, real-time data analytics for production analysis and forecasting gave users insights crucial for effective decision-making.
Customizable, accessible UI/UX with real-time data visualizations
To improve the user experience, we revised the data visualization and UI configuration capabilities. The key areas of improvement we identified included form and table interactivity, theme customizability, and dashboard intuitiveness and personalization.
We implemented the outlined improvements, ultimately enabling users to easily configure the UI with dynamic forms, tables, and dashboards, as well as customizable themes. We also ensured compliance with WCAG accessibility standards. These refinements contributed to the boost in customer retention and NPS.
Tech stack
Impact
Following the solution’s deployment, our client saw multiple tangible results from our involvement in the project. They included:
We’ll refine your development process, improve architecture, and speed up delivery without sacrificing quality.
Testimonials
We leverage cutting-edge technologies to develop powerful and innovative solutions.
The responsiveness, attention to detail and high-level communication from Darly Solutions was outstanding. Communication with the team was all online and was absolutely seamless. They were highly responsive, worked to tight deadlines and provided great feedback and communication throughout the entire project to ensure it remained on schedule and all quality requirements were being met. They exceeded all of our expectations, from design through to delivery.
LLC Darly Solutions's team performs well since the collaboration started. They are fluent in specific programming languages, they are also fluent in English, and they have a great response time. What is most unique and impressive about Darly Solutions is that everyone in the team is inherently communicative and understands the expertise of their respective fields. The team is very agile and can predict stress situations in which we work together to fix and maintain.
Darly Solutions' work so far inspires confidence, as they're skilled and trustworthy. The health platform is incredibly happy with their work. The team at Darly is communicative, responsive, and responsible. I’d recommend them to people looking to do more than build a simple little software.
By collaborating with Darly Solutions, there is a significant improvement in the project's quality of codes compared to their original codebase. They lead efficient project management and keep the client updated with their reports. They're a flexible team that delivers promising results. They don't just do as they're told, they actively participate in the design process, which is going to yield us a much better platform in the end.
Darly Solutions was able to develop the site with all functions running. The team was responsive throughout the engagement. They excelled at scheduling and delivered projects on the specified timeline. The whole team was a pleasure to work with. I am very glad that I entrusted them with my project, this is the best company for me!
The quality of their work is very high, and we get very good customer feedback on what our site looks like. They're very reliable and have a great overview of the technologies they're using. They meet our deadlines and are very accurate with their time estimations on a project. In addition, they're responsive and great with communication with a great command of English — it's very easy to talk to them. Moreover, we've integrated them into our development and scrum process, where we have daily stand-ups with their project manager and developers through Slack.
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