Towards the end of 2021, American entrepreneur Sandi Tibi approached us with an idea for a social media project, WOLO.
A small brief about the idea behind:
Think about how many photos you take every day and all the media where you share them. Instagram? Snapchat? TikTok? The list goes on.
Sandi wanted something simple without all the overwhelming features. A true photo-sharing app where you can pick and preserve only your best memories.
WOLO is a visual carousel of a lifetime - everyday you can upload a single photo to each album (WOLOs). You can upload in seconds, locate any image quickly via search, and share certain images with very specific people.
Challenge
The challenge for us was to build an MVP within three months so WOLO could get into the market as soon as possible. They wanted to quickly receive feedback from users and improve it based on that.
The whole idea of WOLO is to make it minimal - so that had to reflect on our design. However, we had to be CREATIVE with it so the users were not bored of it. Another operational challenge was to work around the difference in time zone between us (based in Nepal) and the client (based in the USA).
How we solved it
First and foremost, we set up a team with 2 well-experienced Designers, 2 Mobile engineers, 2 Backend engineers, 1 DevOps engineer, and 1 Quality Analyst to ensure we deliver a top-quality product.
To overcome the challenge of time zones, we set up a common timing for calls and demos. We kept in touch through email, Slack, and WhatsApp, which made the entire process more efficient.
We followed the agile methodology for the entire product development to make sure that all the feedback from the client was incorporated. After we had a clear understanding of the product and moved into design. We went with a minimal design approach with earthy color tones to make it easier on the eyes and create a calming ambiance.
After the design was finalized, we moved on to development. It was broken down into sprints of 2 weeks each. With each sprint, we targeted to deliver a usable feature that would lead the team towards its success.
Getting the work done with Scrum
As a scrum practitioner, we had Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review and Sprint Retrospective.
Sprint plannings were time-boxed for 4 hours. This was held at the beginning of a sprint to discuss the high priority work for the sprint. We had our daily scrum meetings every morning for 15 minutes to discuss how the work is going for each team member. We discussed their work plan for the day or if they were facing any kind of blockers.
At the end of each sprint, we conducted a sprint review meeting for around 2 hours to discuss what was delivered in the sprint. After the sprint review, we had another event sprint retrospective where we discussed the process and the areas we could improve in the upcoming sprints. We also had demos biweekly to showcase the updates on the products to the clients.
In this meeting, we collected feedback from the clients. With thorough discussions, we would prioritize the feedback and decide if those feedback can be accommodated in the same sprint or had to be taken to future sprints. There were numerous change requests during the development. These changes were handled carefully to align with the product goal and prioritized as per the needs.
Launching The APP
We introduced WOLO on AppStore and PlayStore, commemorating the occasion with a modest celebration at our office premises. Since then, WOLO has undergone several rounds of refinement and editing, shaping it into the app that it is today.
Applied Technologies
- Node.js for Backend
- React.js for Frontend
- React Native for Mobile
- Git for Version Control
- GitLab for Code Repository Management
- Apache JMeter for load testing
Delivered Service
- Minimalistic and easy to use photo sharing application
- In-app purchases within the application
- Successful load testing
- Successful automation testing
- Promotional Video
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Further Reading
From 0 to 100% Test Automation in Six Months : A Case Study
From concept to completion: How we delivered a sustainable fashion e-commerce site in three month
